The Front Runner (Gold Rush Ranch, #3)

by Elsie Silver

Death sucks. This is something I already knew, but watching something so young and innocent die is different. It’s just wrong. It makes me feel almost nauseous. All the prepping, all the money, all the knowledge. None of it matters when the universe shits on you.

There’s a special place reserved in hell for men who hurt women, and I plan to ensure he gets there.

The one where I spread my mother’s ashes. And beneath the big weeping willow to the east of the water, I dig a hole. This place is about to become a cemetery for everyone I can’t manage to keep safe.

Her friends call me Dalca the Dick, but right now is the first time I’ve actually felt like one.

Away from the public eye, this man is a farm boy, with glowing skin from days spent working in the sun.

I’m momentarily transported back in time to the horse I had as a child. The same color as this foal, but not with flashy white legs and face. An entirely different type of horse. But he was mine. He was my reprieve from the hell that was living in my childhood home.

“Because he’s going to make it. A name ties him to this world. It gives him an identity. Means we recognize his existence.”

“Never settle, Mira. Sometimes what you want isn’t what you need.”

“Oh, come on, Stefan. We both know this is just an obnoxious power play. That you’re trying to prove you have the upper hand. That you have me up against a wall.”

“Trust me, Dr. Thorne, if I had you up against a wall, you’d be the meal.”

“You owe me a carton of eggs.”

“You are not the pawn, Mira. You are the prize.”

“And I love to win,”

Step one: talk to her. Step two: woo her. Step three: win her.

“Because I can fuck myself better with Mr. Purple than any man ever has.”

“Challenge accepted. But I’m not going to fuck you until you’re begging for it.”

“You know what’s wild?” I announce to the entire table. “I’ve answered a lot of questions tonight. And it’s been an absolute pleasure meeting every one of you. But not a single person has inquired about my family planning agenda or implied that I might be close to my expiration date on becoming a father.”

“I find it fascinating that no one has ever asked me that as a man, but somehow it’s polite dinner conversation for a young woman with lofty career goals and an enviable level of focus.”

“Maybe you can ask her about the premature foal she saved this month instead?”

“The next person to make that woman cry will wish they hadn’t.” I push my chair back calmly and turn to Nana. “Thank you for the beautiful meal. I look forward to meeting you again.” Then I turn to Mr. and Mrs. Thorne. “Thank you so much for hosting me in your home. I had a lovely time.”

“You are. You embody it. With you here charming everyone and then burning the place down to defend me… I feel like I could have it all. The career, the family—I could have someone like you. But that’s not real. This isn’t real. I can’t have that.”

“I’m sorry. My family problems must feel very trivial to you.” His hawkish eyes shoot over to me, glinting like emeralds. “Definitely not. Anyone who thinks they can speak that way to you in front of me is in for a rude awakening.”

“He was mostly a pet. But he was mine. He was my best friend. My heart horse. My reprieve from my life. I could spend all day out in a field with that horse, pretending I was anyone in the world. A knight, a traveler—the options were endless so long as I didn’t have to be a boy stuck in a violent home. On the bad nights, I curled up and slept on the floor of his stall in the small barn we had. When Constantin sold him to teach me a lesson… well, the only lesson I learned was that when a heart breaks, the pain never stops.”

“You feel like this is how it’s supposed to be.”

“You have beautiful hands. Almost as beautiful as your mind and heart. Sometimes I find myself staring at them while you work, so elegant and strong all at once. Hands that heal. Hands that save lives.” His voice drops. “Hands that belong in mine.”

“I don’t think I do. You’re like a safe, and I think I’m close to figuring out the combination. So don’t worry, Mira. I’m going to get in there and learn all your secrets. I’ll keep them for you, too. Especially the one about me being exactly your type.”

“No, B. It’s…” I worry my bottom lip between my teeth as I search for the right label for Stefan and me. “It’s real.”

“You are so beautiful.” My voice is breathy, almost desperate sounding. “Inside and out. Every last piece of you.”

“You’re not morally gray. You walk the line of being intensely supportive without being overbearing perfectly. Look at Nadia. Look at me. Life gave you some sour fucking lemons, and you added the sugar and made yourself some lemonade. You love so fiercely. I think she’d be proud of you. Just like I am.”

Looking into Loki’s wide black eyes now, watching his soft lips nip at the button on my jacket—trying to pull it off, I might add—I wonder if I’ve met a second heart horse.

sometimes get lost staring at his hands when he’s fucking me, the way they flex when he grips the sheets and drives into me harder. I never knew such a generic part of a man’s body could be so distracting.

“I sleep. I work. I workout. I run the farm. I obsessively check on Loki. I try to keep my sister on the straight and narrow. And then I either spend my free time with you or thinking about you. You’ve put a spell on me. You’re all I think about.”

“You know what, Billie? Fuck you. This isn’t the moment where I need you to be right. I needed you to be wrong.”

I take one look into my newfound father’s eyes, and something passes between us. An understanding. An agreement. I only just found him, and now I might lose him. But if I don’t at least try to get her out of there, I will lose myself. He nods at me, and with his blessing, I push through the line of firefighters.

“I can’t lose her.” He gives me a solemn nod. “I know.” “I just can’t.” “I know.” “I love her.” He sighs. “I know, son. I know.”

“Poor sweet fool. That girl was coming back for you. Don’t you know her well enough to know she doesn’t quit? She walked into that barn because that’s the type of person she is. A little prickly, but as loyal as they come once you get her. And don’t worry, you’ve got her. I rather think you’re stuck with her.”

would walk through fire for you any day. Over and over again.”