Chapter 4
Corrine
I sat there and tried to appear calm and collected but this was it. This was the moment that I had been waiting forever since Ms. Fletcher had had to sell Stormy.
And now, here I sat beside the best-looking man in the world.
I fingered the bag in my lap that held what I hoped was a substantial amount of money to purchase Stormy.
While I sat there, I watched some of the cows, bulls and goats come and go. However, I kept snickering at the auctioneer, how in the world was he able to even be understood.
And I noticed that Mr. Denton had also been softly laughing with me.
“How is he even able to talk normally after all of that?” I tried to keep my voice low however I realized I had failed when several others around us had also chuckled at me.
“Lord knows, heck I get a sore throat if I so much as yell too loudly.” I smiled at that. I could only imagine that deep timbre yelling out.
‘Horses are coming up next. The rules are the same. The highest bidder takes the animal. Vet check at your request. Now here comes a beautiful…’ As the auctioneer went on, I moved to the edge of her seat.
“What’s the cap?” I looked at him expectantly.
“Nine thousand. She’s worth more than that but that was all I could take out at one time.” The moment Travis lifted his eyebrow I shrugged.
“Okay.” Though I couldn’t read Mr. Denton’s expression I was sure that he thought I was insane.
‘And now here comes an old soul but he still has a lot of miles left in him. He is said to be twenty-three years old. We will start the bidding at one hundred dollars.’ When the auctioneer said that, I shivered, surely, he was worth more than a measly hundred dollars.
And as I watched the bidding that was taking place, I had a revelation, Mr. Denton felt the same way that I did.
That was why when someone bid five hundred for the gelding that he wanted, I had heard someone bid out one thousand dollars, I knew the timbre of that voice.
The man right beside me definitely felt the same way I did.
That was why he was announced the highest bidder for that gelding. The gelding would have a forever home now.
It was at that moment that I saw that older man in an all-new light.
“Congratulations, what are you going to name him?” I asked him.
“Not sure yet. What do you think?” I was shocked.
Had he really just asked my opinion on something.
That was completely foreign to me.
“Titan.” I left that name out there in the open. I hadn’t missed that he hadn’t responded, nor had I heard him give me an answer.
Seventeen horses came after, and then finally I spotted Stormy up next.
‘Ladies and Gents allow me to introduce to you a wild mustang. She is roughly four years old. Shall we start the bidding at five hundred dollars?’
I glanced around the room as bids were taken and thrown in the air. I was about to have whiplash if I paid any attention to the numbers that were flying, at least that was until I felt a firm but gentle squeeze to my thigh.
When I looked at a hand that was tanned and darkened by the sun, I followed it up the arm and up to the face of Mr. Denton.
“I’ve got this.” I wondered idly if I could really trust this man, and all the while I wanted to kick my own butt.
I would soon discover that this man was someone that I could trust beyond measure.
I heard the bidding and at last count, they were up to five thousand dollars.
All at once, another voice came through the room, a bid of seven thousand dollars. I glanced to where I had heard that bid and almost stopped breathing. That was the same man that had bought Stormy and sold her the first time. That was the same man who…
“What is it?” Mr. Denton asked me as he was steadily placing bids so I could take home the horse.
“He was Stormy’s second owner. I even tried to buy her from him and then he… he tried to corner me in the stable. If it hadn’t been for one of his hired hands walking in the stable…” I hadn’t felt how tense Mr. Denton had just gotten.
Nor had I sensed how heated his temper was becoming… not until I heard “Fifteen thousand dollars.” From the big man at my side.
When I turned shockingly into his direction, I saw that his face was hardened, and he was staring directly at the sleaze bag that had tried to corner me.
‘Fifteen thousand dollars going once, fifteen thousand dollars going twice,’
Then I heard twenty thousand dollars from the other man.
My big stout silver-haired rancher didn’t back down. No, he stood up and stated, “Thirty thousand dollars.”
‘Sold for thirty thousand dollars.’ Came from the auctioneer. I was shocked and completely befuddled.
Had that really just happened had Mr. Denton just spent thirty grand on a horse and he had just taken my word for it?
“Mr. Denton, do you realize what you’ve just done? I don’t have that extra cash.” I started to fight back tears, I had just gotten so close to having Stormy back, but now, I was about to lose her.
“Come with me, Corrine, and please call me Travis.” I looked down when I saw that he had his hand outstretched to me.
Without a moment of hesitation, I placed my smaller dainty hand in his and allowed him to lead me from the room.
We passed by all of the other individuals, the moment we were free of anyone and any other noise, Travis pulled me to the side against one of the empty pens.
“First of all, I didn’t ask you if you had the extra cash.
Second of all, last time I checked, I only go to bat for someone that I care about.
And third, since I am half owner of the auction house, and I have already invested way more than thirty thousand dollars, you can consider this horse yours free and clear.
” The moment he finished; I could feel how close his body was to mine.
No one had ever managed to get that close to me and no one had ever wanted to be that close to me. The words he had spoken about Stormy being mine free and clear should have registered in my mind a lot faster than they had.
However, his words about the fact that he only goes to bat for those that he cares about were playing repeat in my mind.
Then I just followed my gut. I leaned all the way up on my tiptoes and kissed his downward turned jaw.
The stubble on his chin tickled her lips. That was also the first skin of male flesh that I have ever felt.
I heard Mr. Dent… Travis, breathing hard before I actually saw his chest moving.
“Someone, you care about?” I couldn’t believe my ears.
“Yeah. You’ll find out what that means. But we will table it for now. Let’s go register your girl.” Travis placed his hand at the small of my back and led me to the register where when the lady saw him, she smiled real big.
I saw that smile. I knew what that smile meant. I have never given that to anyone, but I had seen it more times than not.
That was one of the flirtatious smiles a woman can give a man.
“Mr. Denton, pleased to see you again.” The woman said seductively.
“Mrs. Rivers, nice to see you. I bought two horses. One of them I’ll be paying for and the other I believe I have money in my account still from the last sale to cover the balance.
” All of his words would have gone over my head, however, being that I was an accountant on my regular job I knew what he meant.
I also hadn’t missed the fact that he had replied to her name as that she was married.
It also showed that he wasn’t interested in her in the slightest.
I saw the moment when it dawned on the other woman because, in fact, I received my own deadly stare from Mrs. Rivers.
“Okay.” Then she turned a cold shoulder to Travis, and that was something that I hadn’t liked.
“Since he is technically your boss, I don’t think that it would be in your best interest to look at him with that much disdain in your eyes.” I allowed that to hang in the open air for a moment.
Then what I least expected to happen, happened next, he bent his head and placed a gentle kiss on my forehead.
Which was followed by a soft word next to my ear, “Thanks.”
With that, I hadn’t seen the registration forms that he had filled out.
Not until he handed me a form.
The form was the registration papers for Stormy. It was then that I saw that her registered name was in fact Corrine’s Storm. Ms. Fletcher hadn’t told me that she had done that.
While I was still speechless, I allowed Travis to lead me with his hand at the small of my back, all the way to the back of the building.
There I walked as fast as my shorter legs could carry me. I smiled when I saw that we had passed by the horse that he had indeed purchased and led me straight to my horse.
Straight to Stormy.
“Hey, girl. Guess what? You are mine.” I stood there as I watched Stormy bob her head up and down as she whinnied. She knew.
I still didn’t know how to tell him thank you.
I took the halter that was around Stormy’s head and removed it.
I then began to walk out of the single stall that she had been held in and smiled when I heard Stormy following behind me.
We paused when Travis attached a lead rope to the other horse and then we continued on.
I paused for a moment when I heard him say, “Come on Titan, let’s go home.”
That man was breaking down all of my walls without even trying that hard.
All around me I saw people watching as I led the so-called wild and dangerous mustang from the building.
However, I loved Travis’s smile when he noticed that fact as well. Then in went Stormy into the horse trailer without a single fuss. There was my girl that I missed.
That was after I had pulled a new halter for Stormy out of my bag and attached a lead rope. When I handed it to Travis, I cooed to Stormy so that she would know that she could trust him.
The moment we had Stormy, and the other horse loaded in his trailer, I said, “Travis, I… I really don’t know how to say thank you. What you just did for me…” I was shocked, still, right down to my core.
“Can you cook?” With that, he had blindsided me like a big one-eighty. I had wanted to tell him thank you, not for him to ask me that.
“I can. I mean, I’m not a chef like on television, but I like my cooking. I haven’t starved yet.” I let out a little chuckle.
Then, there was that little smile that formed on Travis’ lips. “Think you can come to my ranch three nights a week and make dinners or lunches that can be stowed in the freezer for me? I can’t cook and I haven’t found a cook that didn’t have some ulterior motive.”
I understood about all of that too. I did have eyes. “You’ve got a deal, but Travis, dinners don’t cotton to around thirty grand.” I paused as I pulled out my measly nine grand and attempted to hand it to Travis.
However, he just shook his head and smiled.
I was about to argue with him and then I thought better of it.
My own mother had taught me to never look a gift horse in the mouth.
“Okay, well thank you. Any allergies I should know about?” Even though I had decided I wasn’t going to push the matter anymore, I doubted if he would notice a twenty here and a hundred-dollar bill there at his home, when I would be there to make dinners.
With a little plan in place, I settled into my seat and allowed the tunes that were coming through the radio speakers to drown out the silence.
Every now and then I had asked him what his favorite meal was, his favorite dessert and so on, and so on.
Those questions I had asked him had led to an entire conversation on our favorite foods.
It seemed that he was curious about me as well.
We had also stopped by the little general store in town to grab noodles and the right cheeses for a lasagna.
Since it had only been a little past noon, I would have plenty of time to make the lasagna sauce from scratch and maybe leave a twenty-dollar bill lying around somewhere.
However, that little stop where we didn’t veer far from each other, and unknown to us, had started the rumor mill.