Her Cowboy Billionaire Bad Boy - Liz Isaacson Page 0,1

Sophia in his rear-view mirror too.

Don’t be so salty, ran through his mind, in his mother’s voice. She’d told him that so many times growing up that Ames had the words imprinted on his soul.

Ames took another deep breath and decided to just go to the pick-up zone. There would be airport personnel there, making sure no one pulled up and parked, but Ames didn’t care. He was feeling salty, and he’d argue with the crossing guard if he had to.

“He’s not a crossing guard,” Ames told himself. “Be nice.” He had to be nice for the duration of the next week, and he was determined to do it.

He just wished he wasn’t the only brother without a woman to spend Christmas and New Year’s with. His thoughts went straight back to Sophia, but he refused to so much as look at her social media.

He’d made his decision. She’d made hers.

He eased around the corner and into the lane that led to the pick-up zone on the bottom of the Denver airport. There were five levels here, and at least it was covered so there wasn’t snow piled everywhere. They’d had quite a few storms in the past week, and without Gray and Hunter to help, it was all Ames and his father could do to keep the road to the farmhouse clear and the path out to the barns and stables walkable.

Ames stopped against the curb, tapped on his phone screen, and listened to Cy’s line ringing. He kept glancing in the rear-view mirror, expecting the man wearing the orange traffic vest to notice Ames had been there longer than five seconds. But he was helping someone with their luggage, and Cy answered in the next moment.

“We’re on the way out now,” his brother said.

“I’m outside door twelve,” Ames said.

“I see you,” Cy said. “Red SUV?”

“Yep.” Ames got out and let his brother hang up. He opened the back gate so the traffic guy would know Ames’s people were coming. He turned, and his face split into a grin when he saw a carbon copy of himself coming toward him.

Well, Cy wore his hair longer than Ames ever had, but everything else was the same.

“Ames.” Cy laughed as he abandoned his suitcase a couple of steps away and embraced Ames. They laughed together, each pounding the other on the back. Ames moved to Patsy and lifted her right up off her feet as they hugged. He’d been so angry with her this past fall, but she made Cy happier than anyone else ever had. She’d made things right between them, and she loved his brother with her whole heart.

Ames set her down and looked at her, half a dozen unspoken questions streaming between them. He’d told her she could text or call him anytime she didn’t know what to do with Cy. If she needed help dealing with him.

Cy was an amazing man, but he struggled with some mental issues that Ames could feel, even from hundreds of miles away. But he’d waited for Patsy to text before he’d just barged into their relationship. And she’d only reached out to him a few times.

She nodded at him now, and Ames moved on to Wes and then Colton. Everyone loaded their luggage in the back of the SUV, and then the jostling for seats started.

“Let’s put Michael in the back,” Bree said. “And Patsy and I will ride back there.” She looked at Wes. “That leaves Annie, Colt, and Wes for the middle. Cy can ride up front with Ames.”

“It’s a plan,” Wes said, ducking into the SUV to get the car seat buckled in where it needed to go. Ames marveled at the change in his brothers. The past few years had brought a lot of changes to the Hammond family, and Ames sure did like seeing the little dark-haired boy on Bree’s hip who looked so much like Wes.

Elise and Gray’s daughter was only a couple of months old, and she was so much lighter than Michael. That came from Elise’s nearly-white features, and Jane had been born bald, but she had some wisps of blonde hair coming in. Her eyes showed some evidence of Gray, because they were a dark brown that almost didn’t fit among all of her pink skin.

With everyone situated in the SUV, Ames got behind the wheel and adjusted the air that was blowing. “This thing has four temperature zones,” he said, feeling the extra weight in the vehicle as he eased away