Off to the Races (Gold Rush Ranch, #1)

by Elsie Silver

I am only human after all, and the man is hot as sin. Yes, I will enjoy the hell out of this view, but from a safe distance. Because men like Vaughn are a trap I will never fall into.

Billie Black isn’t a done-up kind of hot, she’s just… naturally alluring. I’m sure men stop and stare at her, but can’t quite put their finger on why. At the risk of sounding like some sort of new-age chump, there’s just an energy about her. Something gravitational.

“Well,” I say, gazing ahead, “why don’t you introduce me to the new man in my life?” He turns towards me slowly with a grave look on his face. “He’s going to be a lot of work, Billie.” “Of course, he is, Hank. Men always are.”

I’m trying to be as upbeat as possible, but I admittedly get grumpy when I’m hungry and low on sleep. Super grumpy. Hangry. Slangry? Where sleepiness, anger, and hunger collide into one terrible mood.

And thank you? A fucking thank you? After we both just completely incinerated each other? With chemistry like that? I don’t think so, Billie.

“How long you been staring at me, Boss Man?” she mutters. “Since day one,” I whisper in her ear. “Take the sappy shit somewhere else, Vaughn.” I snort. “There she is.”

“I don’t want to talk. We’re not friends.” His words are like a paper cut. They sting, but don’t produce any blood. “What I want is you, straddling me, and I don’t let friends do that.”

Close a high-stakes business deal? No problem. Fire someone? I’m your man. Talk to a girl you like and respect? I guess I’ll just crumble instead.

I secretly want him to drive up to my front door, press me against a wall and kiss me breathless. I want to see that manicured facade slip. I want all that testosterone lurking beneath the surface to spill over. I want him to choose me. I want him to work for it.

“Let me redefine that line you keep talking about: you are more than my employee and I am more than your boss. I’m done giving you space that we both don’t want. It’s not at all complicated. You’ll work with me during the day and underneath me at night. Every night. There will be no tiptoeing. There will be no running. There will be no one else.”

Out of context this is kinds weird

The man makes me crazy; hot, cold, excited, angry, comfortable, anxious, safe. He’s chosen me, and I don’t think that anyone in my entire life has truly chosen me or gone after me when I ran away. And here he is, invading my space in the most delicious way, demanding that I choose him back.

“Please don’t ever pretend we never happened.” He slides back up to look me in the eye, cupping my head with both hands. “You’re even more insane than I already thought if you think I could ever forget us.”

She snuck up on me, planted the seeds, and I let the roots take over, wrapping themselves around every pulse point, filling up my darkest corners, squeezing painfully at my heart. We are intertwined now, and the thought of ripping her out—it’s too painful to bear.

We sink into each other. Ravenous. Two broken people, damaged by the ones meant to love them the most, finding solace in each other’s arms.

He’s the rock I need. The rock I’ve been searching for my entire adult life.

“Among the Romani people we would say that Double Diablo is your Heart Horse. Your equine soulmate. A horse you understand like no one else can.”