I walk over to the window and look outside. It’s not like they aren’t used to thunder up here. What are they barking at?

The door to the stable swings open and closed in the wind, the light left on and casting a glow as the rain pours. Mud puddles dance as drops hit, and I buckle up my raincoat, heading out the shop door.

I walk across the room, opening the bay door and stepping outside.

Running to the stable, I squeal as water hits my jeans, and I dash inside, throwing off my hood.

Danny howls as Johnny runs up to me, and I give him a quick pet, hearing Shawnee thrashing in her stall. She whinnies, jumping up and down, her hooves hitting the wooden door.

What the hell?

I run over, grabbing her mane and pulling her down to me. I stroke her nose.

“Hey, hey, it’s just rain.” I chuckle, giving her a good rub. “You’ve gotta be used to storms by now.”

“It’s not the storm upsetting her,” someone says.

Tiernan

I twist around, my heart thundering in my chest as a hooded figure steps out of the next stall. Smoke billows into the air as he drops a cigarette to the ground and grinds it out on the cement.

The overhead light swings back and forth in the breeze, casting him in shadow every few moments.

“Who—?”

But I stop as he slips off the hood of his jacket, and I see Terrance Holcomb turn to face me. Rain has darkened his sweatshirt and glistens across his face as he looks me up and down.

No.

I didn’t hear bikes approach. There are no vehicles outside. He arrived undetected.

He snuck in here.

Quickly, I glance around for anyone else and take a step back, toward the exit.

“We didn’t invite you on the property,” I bite out. “No one wants to see you here.”

“There’s no one here except you, though,” he says, eerily calm. “You’re all alone, right?”

Keeping my eyes locked on him, I reach over and pull a rake off the wall that I can see hanging there out of the corner of my eye while slowly reaching behind me to pull my phone out of my back pocket. His eyes are fixed on my weapon.

He chuckles, stepping toward me as I step back. “At least it’s not a shotgun,” he jokes, and I remember Kaleb and Noah, armed and rushing to the pond to get me away from this guy all those months ago. “It’s cute how they try to protect you.”

“They don’t have to.” I squeeze the long handle. “Leave.”

“What if I came just to talk to you?”

“By lurking in our stable on a dark, rainy night?”

Yeah. This isn’t a social visit. He either saw the Van der Berg’s in town without me and seized his opportunity, or he’s been here, waiting for them to leave.

I retreat another step, his boot crawling heel to toe and approaching.

“Kaleb is going to be charged over the damage he did to those bikes last November,” he says.

I press the power button on my phone and try to swipe in my security pattern behind my back, listening for the small click over the rain that tells me it’s unlocked.

“And yet, you’re here and not the sheriff,” I point out.

I try a few more times, my fingers shaking, but I finally hear the click.

“I’ll say it was an accident,” he tells me. “I’ll take his side and back him up.”

“What makes you think I care?” I tap the screen where I know my phone icon is located.

Terrance grins knowingly. “Everyone saw you two in town today,” he replies. “It was really a no-brainer. Women love assholes, especially the quiet ones. He was always going to have you, even if just a piece.”

My chest is too heavy to breathe. He tries to close the distance between us, and I retreat, the rain growing heavier outside the door behind me.

“You sponsor me, and I will not pursue him,” Terrance proposes. “I’ll get the sheriff and my team to back off, and you and he can live happily ever after.”

“You have a sponsor.”

“I had a sponsor,” he retorts. “They pulled their support when Kaleb destroyed the bikes.”

I cock my head, leveling my eyes on him. Kaleb caused some damage, so he lost his sponsor? Really?

He shrugs, knowing I’m not buying it. “And they got wind of some other things, too,” he admits.

I nod. Yeah. Like his clubhouse, maybe. Or any one of a million shady things I’m sure he’s up to, because he’s a sleazebag. A reputable business doesn’t want him representing them.

Kaleb may be fined—he’ll definitely have to pay damages—but he’s not getting arrested.

“So what do you say?” he asks.

I hold his eyes.

He doesn’t want to hear no. He came up here when he knew I’d be alone, because he’s prepared to coerce me.

Will he leave if I lie and agree?

A ring pierces the air, my phone vibrating in my hand, and my heart stops.

He bolts for me, and I throw the rake at him before spinning around and dashing for the house. I splash through puddles, rain pummeling my head, the storm heavier now, and I don’t look behind me as I cry out and race through the open bay doors, into the dark shop, and up the steps to the house.

Swinging the door open, I barrel inside and answer the phone, seeing Jake’s name on the screen.

I hold it up to my ear but see a dark form in the kitchen and stop, dropping my hand.

My lungs empty.

“Hello?” I hear my uncle on the other end of the phone.

But I look around, my attention only on the two other men in the kitchen whom I don’t know. I can’t get a good look at them in the dim light.

“Hello?” Jake calls out again.

“Get out!” I shout, more to alert Jake than order the strange guys.

My stomach churns, and I circle the island, pushing pots and pans at them to keep them back. Why would he bring back-up? What is he planning?

I don’t want them to know someone is on the phone or they’ll take it. I stick it in my pocket, leaving it connected.

Terrance charges in the same way I came, breathing hard and his blue eyes look at me, almost amused. I stare at the three of them.

“Just think about it,” he presses. “You’ll control the purse strings, meaning you’ll control me and my racing. I’m good for other things, too… when you want.”

I shake my head. He thinks that’s where this is going? I’ll support his endeavors, because I’m a pathetic, rich little orphan who needs some love?

“I’m not romantic.” He gazes at me, determination on his face. “I won’t be faithful. But I’ll be at your beck and call. You can push me around all you want. Don’t you want to be the one on top now?”

A boy toy is what he’s proposing? Someone to use for affection without any romantic hassles. Without getting my heart invested.

In exchange, all I have to do is pay him.

“You’re thinking about it, aren’t you?” he croons.

But I straighten, never more disgusted. I know what perfect feels like. I don’t want anything less.

“I’m thinking you remind me of my father.” I grab a knife out of the butcher block. “People like you hurt the soul.”