CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO – LILY #2
“Of course.” A soft smile plays around Otley’s mouth before he quickly snaps back into mission mode. “Cooper, help switch the bags over and then head down that side road. Hopefully, they’ll waste time checking out the diner, but if they see you, they’ll think we’re trying to make a run for it.”
It’s my turn to be surprised. I thought Otley would want to get back to Tristan as quickly as possible. “You’re coming with us?”
Otley doesn’t look back at me, but I can clearly hear him murmur, “Wild horses couldn’t keep me away.”
I smile as I text Zander that we’re here, and as we round the last big rig in the shadowy lot, the door to his twenty-foot trailer pops open.
He told me it’s a top-of-the-range horse float and camper, with a kitchenette, bathroom, and sleeping quarters, along with enough room for two very pampered horses.
As we come to a stop beside him, Zander gives me a sly smile from under the brim of his cowboy hat.
“I knew you couldn’t resist coming to meet our girl. ”
“She’s here?” I gasp.
“All tucked up in bed with her new best friend.” He nods a welcome to Otley as he lifts Leo from my lap and carries him into the trailer, placing him carefully on one of the twin beds.
I quickly follow, helping Cooper load our bags before he dashes back to the SUV.
When Otley doesn’t follow, Zander looks at him curiously.
“You comin’ along for the ride, Mr. James? ”
“Of course.” Otley glances at me. “Where are we going exactly?”
Zander snorts and I feel my cheeks redden. “Um, Colorado. Zander’s dropping off the horse Ellis bought, so I thought we might tag along.”
I can’t resist a quick peek at Leo, who’s sleeping happily on his bunk, and Zander squeezes my shoulder. “Horses,” he corrects me in his gravelly voice. “Now, you want to say hello, or not?”
I look longingly at the dividing door between the living area and the float at the back. “We need to get some distance from the car tailing us. But I’d love to get acquainted later, if that’s okay.”
“Perfect,” Zander says, then cocks a brow at Otley. “You stayin’ back here, or you want to ride up front?”
“Back here,” he replies without even glancing at the older man, and Zander snorts again, but just nods at the kitchenette. “Got it stocked with all the beef jerky a cowboy could want, so help yourselves.”
Otley doesn’t try to hide his grimace, and Zander chuckles all the way out the door and into the truck hitched at the front.
As soon as I feel the trailer jerk into motion, I sit down at the small booth and rest my elbows on the table.
After the anxiety of the last few hours, it’s comforting to be surrounded by the scent of horses and the hum of the road under the trailer tires.
I think Otley must feel the same way, because his shoulders relax as he pushes up the sleeves of his Henley and sits in the seat opposite.
The booth is so small, his knees brush mine under the table, but neither of us move away.
“This is a really good plan,” he says in something close to a purr. “I’m impressed, Lily.”
“Thanks.” I’m guessing I’m as red as a firetruck right now, but it’s not every day I get to surprise someone like Otley James. “I know it’s all kinds of forward to just turn up at your ranch like this…”
He shakes his head, reaching across the table to take my hand. “I meant it when I said I’ll give you keys to every place we have. And you can stay as long as you want, even after this bullshit dies down.”
I smile my thanks, but I shiver at the thought of those faceless people out there, hunting us in the dark. I can’t help but squeeze his hand tighter. “I wasn’t really planning on leaving the state, but I’ll do anything to keep Leo away from all this. If he read the things they’re saying…”
My voice catches, and he cups my cheek, sweeping away the first tear to fall. “Ssh. None of this is okay, but it will be. I promise.”
“How?” I can feel my eyes blurring even more as they land on Leo’s sleeping form.
He looks so small and fragile under the blanket, and all my fears and regrets come bubbling back to the surface.
“I thought I was protecting him by never talking about Ellis, but he’s not ready for any of this.
I haven’t prepared him at all for your world, and now it wants to chew him up and spit him out… ”
“Lily, come here.” Otley pulls me up from the booth, wrapping his arms around me as I start to cry.
They’re quiet tears, but they feel like they’re being dredged up from the bottom of my soul.
“You’re right, sweetheart. This is the worst part of fame, and people will say and do shitty things to get a piece of you and Leo.
But you need to know that Ellis will protect you in every way he can, and so will I.
It might get ugly sometimes, but we will always put a stop to it. One way or the other.”
He's been stroking my hair softly, but now I pull back to look up into his face. There’s violence brimming in his eyes, but it’s a cool, measured kind, like he knows he’ll never have to lash out with his fists to destroy his enemies.
“The other side of fame is influence,” he tells me, brushing his thumbs over my damp cheeks, “and I have a team of people who are using all of my resources to end this, as fast as possible.”
“Really?”
He nods solemnly. “Even if it takes a couple of weeks to stamp out this story, they will never, ever get within an arms-length of you or Leo.” A faint smile curves his mouth and it’s hard not to stare.
“Especially on a thirty-thousand-acre ranch where castle doctrine is in effect, and there are plenty of gullies and ditches to hide the bodies.”
I blink at him. “I hope that’s not Plan C.”
His smile grows, his face suddenly handsome on a devastating scale. “I like to keep all my options in my back pocket, along with the local Sheriff.”
I snort so loudly, I cast a quick glance at Leo, but he’s blissfully unaware. Just the sight of his deep slumber makes my eyes heavy, and Otley trails a finger down my cheek, no doubt tracing the tear tracks. “You look exhausted. Let me take you to bed, Lily.”
A part of me wants to argue that I’m fine, but we’d both know it’s a lie. Instead, I cast a doubtful look at the narrow bed. “Do you think we’ll both fit?”
“I’m pretty determined to make it work.”
I smile, and Otley walks me backwards until I’m sitting on the edge.
He drops to his knees to remove my shoes, then grabs a bottle of water and a protein bar from the mini fridge while I wriggle out of my jeans.
I leave the rest of my clothes on, and Otley does the same, sliding behind me to put his back to the wall.
I curve into him as neatly as a little spoon, although I don’t think cutlery could feel as electric as I do when he wraps his arms around me.
“Too much?” he murmurs in my ear, and I shake my head. “Then sleep, Lily. I’ll watch Leo for you.”
I don’t protest, even though I doubt I can drift off when I can feel every long, muscled line of him behind me.
But the soft purr in his chest eventually lulls me to sleep, and the next time I open my eyes, he’s trying to climb past me without waking me up.
I grab his sleeve, casting a worried glance at Leo’s empty bed.
“He’s saying hello to the horses,” he tells me, nodding at the connecting door. “We’ve just stopped at a gas station to grab some breakfast.”
“Really?” I rub my eyes as I sit up, peering at my phone. “Wait. I slept seven hours?”
Otley smiles at the disbelief in my voice. “You needed it. We’ve crossed the border and are close to the Grand Mesa. We should reach the ranch before lunch, but if you want to get out and stretch your legs, now’s a good time.”
I nod, but a wave of remorse hits me as I remember that we didn’t just leave the awful headlines behind. “Logan and Tristan! I forgot to text them about the change of plans.”
“I took care of it,” Otley says, extending a hand to pull me to my feet. “They’re going to switch cars and follow, although they’ll be a few hours behind us. Come on, Zander got us some gas station coffee.”
The look on his face is enough to make me giggle, and I’m still smiling as Zander greets us on the other side of the door.
He’s parked the trailer close to a picnic table on the edge of an empty field, providing us with a little cocoon of privacy.
The coffee might not be up to Otley’s standards but there are also breakfast burritos, cream cheese bagels, and fruit cups on offer.
It’s not long before Leo is tripping down the trailer stairs, drawn by the lure of food.
Although, as he tucks into his breakfast, all he can talk about are the horses.
“Mom, you should see Moondance! He’s got a spotted coat, and long legs, and he looks at me like he’s just waiting for me to jump on his back and go for a ride.”
“I bet he does, bud,” I murmur, smiling as he crams a bite of burrito in his mouth.
“And the mare is so pretty! She’s a Morgan, which means she’s got Arabian blood. Zander said that dad wants to call her Tomorrow’s Roses, but he has to lodge some papers, or something, to make it official.”
I look at Zander, the name stirring all kinds of memories, and he chuckles at my blush. “Ellis said she had to be fit for a queen. But you tell me what you think, ‘cos that’s all that matters.”
I rise from the table, breakfast forgotten as I climb the trailer steps and head towards the float.
The first thing I notice is that comforting scent of warm horseflesh and fresh hay, but a few more steps into the trailer and I’m lost in a dark, liquid gaze.
The Morgan’s Arabian blood gives her an elegant shape, with an arched neck, broad forehead, and wide, expressive eyes.
As I run my hand over her glossy, chestnut coat, I realize I’m already more than half in love with her.
“She’s perfect,” I choke out, while Leo squirms in agreement, his worshipful gaze locked on the young Appaloosa at her side. Both Zander and Moondance snort their approval, but it’s Otley’s gaze that brings the blood rushing back to my cheeks. “But how? I mean, Colorado is only temporary…”
“The ranch has the facilities to look after them,” he says, watching me closely, “but if you want to transport them back to Knotty Falls, we can do that, too.”
I bite my lip, uncertain, but Zander nudges my arm, jerking his head towards the front of the trailer. “How about we get back on the road, and in a few hours, you can see for yourself?”
Otley is still holding my gaze. “What do you think, Lily?”
Would I want to be anywhere else, even if I wasn’t being hounded by the world’s press?
“Sounds like a plan to me.”
“Woo-hoo!” Leo hoots, hopping from foot to foot. “Hear that, Moondance? We’re taking you home!”