Wild Ride Rancher

“I’d want the camp to start this June.” She could see he was doing some fast thinking. Yes, it was already April, but she didn’t want to lose another summer. If she started in June, it wouldn’t be much, but it would be a beginning. “We’d probably just have a handful of girls for the first camp, but by July we could handle a dozen or more.”

“And you’d be there? Overseeing it all?”

“I would.” She winced internally at the thought of being away from her new business for days at a time, but she had a cell phone; she could work through email and her tablet had a good battery. She could do this. She would do this, if it meant success.

“I’ll think about it,” he finally said.

“Really think about it,” she asked, “or pretend to think about it while giving it a few days before calling to say no?”

One eyebrow lifted. “When I tell you something, it’s the straight truth. I said I’ll think about it and let you know. And I will.”

“Okay, I believe you. But don’t make me wait too long, all right? I’m not really patient, and the wait will probably kill me.”

He laughed shortly. “Gotta say it again, you’re nothing like I expected. So I don’t know what to make of you yet.”

“And that’s important?”

“Good to know who you’re dealing with.”

“Fair point.” After all, she didn’t know quite what to make of him, either. She knew she wanted him. Knew he could be irritating. But beyond that he was a mystery, and maybe that was feeding her body’s reaction to him. “If you say yes, we’ll get to know each other really well, because I’ll be at the Perry Ranch until the end of the month.”

He frowned and she had to take that as a bad sign. “Yeah,” he said thoughtfully, “you would be.”

Into the suddenly strained silence, he turned his head to stare out the window and into the street beyond.

“What is it?”

“Take a look at that. The storm,” he murmured, narrowing his gaze on the rain, now coming in sideways, riding the wind. The downpour was so heavy, it was as if it were erasing the world it rained down on. “Saw it on the horizon when I left the ranch. Thought we’d have a few hours. We don’t.”

“That looks bad,” Chloe whispered. And even as the words slipped out, she recognized them as a major understatement. Lightning cracked the sky, and thunder rolled down with a deafening boom. When a heavy storm like this roared into Houston so quickly, it meant flooding wasn’t far behind. She’d seen it before and the currents that swept away cars, animals, even people.

“We should go.” Liam grabbed her arm, but Chloe pulled free long enough to snatch up her purse and tuck her tablet inside. Slinging the bag over her shoulder, she hurried behind Liam as he strode for the front door. They hadn’t taken three steps when a sudden microburst of wind hit the big window, shattering it. Liam whirled around, pulled her in tight against him and tucked her head down against his chest.

* * *

Liam felt the power of the wind and the slash of the rain, but neither of them, luckily, had been cut by the glass. The back of his shirt and his jeans were soaking wet, but he didn’t feel any pain. They’d gotten lucky. Chloe had her arms wrapped around him and he felt her shaking. Easing back just far enough that he could look down into her eyes, he shouted, “You okay?”

Stupid question, but she nodded, looking past him at the devastation of her office. The wind howled like damned souls released from Hell, and the heavy rain swept into the room like a blanket of water. Everything was wet and glass was everywhere. Outside, the streets were already flooded up to the curb and the water was still rising. With so much water coming in so quickly, the city’s drains couldn’t keep up. The flooding, he knew, would get worse.

“Are you all right?” She had to shout to be heard over the wind.

He kept one arm around her, snatched up his hat from where the wind had blown it, then pulled it down tight on his head. “Yeah. Fine. We’ve gotta get clear of this.”

“My car’s down the street.”