Enticed (Two Marks 3)

I decided to start by checking out the building farthest from the ranch house—my great grandparents’ original place on the far eighty plot. There was a rutted and rugged dirt road to get to it and I knew it would be hard to access in the winter, but it was sturdy, had electricity, well water, and a big fireplace for heat. I’d be fine. And it didn’t have pink walls or K-Pop posters.

As I approached, two things surprised me. One, the structure was no longer standing. It had been burned completely to the ground. And two, I wasn’t alone.

Two wide-backed cowboys were hiking around the outskirts of the ruins.

Not just any two men.

My men.

Well, not my men, but the men who’d starred in my dreams last night. What the hell were they doing here? It was like fate kept putting them in my path.

And dammit, they were trespassing. Good thing I always brought a rifle when riding the land. I swung off Daisy when I reached the partially charred fence, and grabbed the weapon.

“Gentlemen.” I aimed the Remington at Theo’s cowboy hat, and pumped it. “I believe you’re on private property.”

Far from looking dismayed, both offered me up the sexiest grins in all of Wyoming as they lifted their hands in the air. They didn’t seem too concerned about being shot.

“Ali,” Holt rumbled. “We were hoping we’d run into you again.”

I shifted, still aiming down the barrel of the rifle. “Don’t take another step. I’m a very good shot. What are you doing on my land? Again.”

“We were curious about the cause of this fire,” Theo said, thumbing over his shoulder, but he didn’t seem curious about anything but me. The way both men looked at me was like they were hungry. Starved, actually. And I was their next meal.

“Why?” I countered. “Sadly, it was probably a lightning strike. You can see how the grass was burned down the hill.” I pointed in that direction.

“We told you yesterday. We’re working a statewide meth ring.”

“Yeah, but here?” I swallowed hard. “You have a search warrant?”

I had no idea why I asked that. Something about them riled me. Why them? Why now, and in my space? It was as if they were here to thwart my plan to move into the old cabin. The fire had been recent, but fresh grass was shooting up amongst the black ash, meaning it had happened at least a few weeks earlier. They hadn’t started it. Why would they have done so? So why was I pushing my disappointment at seeing the place destroyed on them?

Holt walked slowly toward me, his manner completely open and friendly, his hands still loosely in the air. He wasn’t in his uniform but a pair of dark jeans and white t-shirt. “I’m sorry, we don’t. We saw the burned structure from the service road, and ducked under the fence to have a better look. I don’t recall hearing about a fire out here from the local department.” He glanced around. “Do you know when this happened?”

I lowered the weapon since all three of us knew I wasn’t going to use it on them. I cocked my head to the side. My braid slid across my back. “Why are you asking?”

He sniffed, his nostrils flaring. “Cooking meth can sometimes go wrong. A burnt-out structure can be a sign of nefarious activity.”

Nefarious activity. Weren’t those the same words Trina had used when talking about fucking them?

Don’t think about having sex with these two men. Don’t think—

I pulled my cowgirl hat off and fanned my face with it. The sun was high and strong, and I could feel sweat trickling down between my breasts. Yeah, that was the excuse I was using for all of a sudden becoming warm all over. It wasn’t because of the hotties in front of me.

“Look, you’re looking in the wrong place. This cabin was my great-grandparents’ original homestead, and I can assure you they weren’t cooking meth. It hasn’t been used since my great-granny died when I was in kindergarten. This is the first I knew it was even destroyed. I’d been hoping to… well, it doesn’t matter now. My father hasn’t mentioned it, so I assume he wasn’t aware either.”

“I’m sure you’re right,” Holt replied easily. “You said yourself, you’ve been away. Do you mind if we take a few samples for chemical testing? It would be great if we could rule this place out, steer our attention elsewhere. I mean, I can come back with a warrant, but you know how that’s going to set your dad off…” Holt flashed that panty-melting grin at me again and I was a goner.

“You’re saying that meth was being made here on my property? That… what, the cabin was burned down when something went wrong?”

Theo shrugged his broad shoulders. Gone was the DEA windbreaker, although it was replaced with a navy t-shirt with the letters on his pec. His well-formed, impressive pec. “Or someone was trying to hide evidence.”