Reining in the Bad Boy - Jacki James Page 0,6

but a few months, and I'd noticed him the first time I saw him in the coffee shop. He was tall and lean, with dark brown hair, green eyes, and the most charming smile. He was just my type.

That night when he'd insisted on bringing me to the ranch instead of back to his place like I'd suggested, I got the message. I might have given it another shot after that just in case I'd read the situation wrong, but I didn't have to hang around with Ripley and Cap long before I heard all the stories about what a player Miller was. And that was fine if that's what he was looking for. But that wasn't what I wanted. I wanted what my friend Cody had with Eli. The kind of love where nothing mattered more than the other person. Not your job, not your reputation, nothing. I didn't want to settle for anything less.

I was about halfway to my destination when I pulled into a truck stop to get a drink and go to the bathroom. I checked on my passenger, and she was doing fine. Then I hurried inside to get what I needed. Once done, I got back in the truck. I took a drink of my soda and then checked my messages on my phone. I might be willing to talk hands-free, but I made a point to never check my phone while driving.

I’d missed a few texts. One was from my mother—that would have been before she called. That's what she did. She sent a message, and if you didn't respond quickly enough, she called. One from a friend of mine back home asking if I would be in town. One from Cody asking me if I wanted to go to the city shopping this weekend. And one from Miller that just said call me as soon as you can.

My heart fell when I saw that message. He probably wanted to tell me he'd thought it through and had changed his mind. Something I would have welcomed a couple of hours ago when I was trying to decide if this was a good idea or a bad idea. But now, after I just told my mother that he was coming, and finally gave a name to the imaginary boyfriend that I'd been dating for months, thinking he was going to back out was not a welcome thought at all.

No reason to put it off, though. Might as well go ahead and let him say it so I could spend the drive figuring out what to do next.

I pushed the call button on the phone and waited, but not for long. He answered on like the first ring.

“Landon, hi,” he said.

“You wanted me to call?”

“Yeah, you just got back to me quicker than I expected. Are you already there?”

“No, I'm sitting in a truck stop parking lot, and saw your message.”

“Okay, umm, well, I needed to tell you something. Have you talked to anybody back on the ranch?”

That wasn't what I expected at all. “No, why? Did something happen? Is everyone okay?”

“Oh, yeah, it's fine, at least I assume it is. I left a couple hours ago, but everything was okay when I left. So, I kinda maybe messed up.” I’d never heard Miller sound so nervous before.

“Okay, what did you do? If you already had plans for Thanksgiving or something, it’s okay. I'll figure something out.” I had no idea what, but something.

“No, it's kind of the opposite. I may have told the guys I was dating someone.”

“The guys? You mean like your friends. The people I live with and work for. Those guys?”

“Yes, those guys. I know we didn't talk about how far we were going to take this but—”

“We were going to take it all the way to Oklahoma, Miller. Way far away from River Gorge.”

“I know, but they were talking and I just kind of blurted it out without thinking.”

“Without thinking, huh? You just happened to blurt out that you had a boyfriend? What the hell?”

“Hey,” he said firmly, sounded a lot more like the Miller I knew. “Pot meet kettle. We're in this mess because you needed a boyfriend, remember?”

“I know, but I can't lie to Ripley and Reed.”

“You can't lie to your friend and your boss, but you can lie to your mother and your grandmother. Is that what you're saying?”

“It's not the same,” I insisted.

“It's exactly the same. You have your reasons for letting your mother think you