Her Cowboy Billionaire Bad Boy - Liz Isaacson Page 0,2

from the curb. “So settle in. We’ve got a two-hour drive.”

Knobs got adjusted and conversations started, and Ames focused on getting on the freeway and away from the airport. He talked easily with Cy about how the proposal had gone. Ames had been on speaker phone, but he hadn’t been there in person. Cy had said it wasn’t a big deal, and he wasn’t acting like it was either.

He talked about it for a while, and he seemed so happy.

“So what’s going on with you?” he finally asked.

“Nothing,” Ames said, and that was so true it wasn’t even funny. His voice still sounded false, though.

“Sure,” Cy said dryly.

“I’m telling everyone at the same time,” Ames said, throwing his brother a glance.

“Are you kidding me?” Cy practically hissed. “I always get to know before everyone else.”

“Well, Gray already knows,” Ames said. “So that’s not true this time.” His fingers clenched around the wheel, because he hadn’t told Cy first the way he normally would have.

“What is going on?” Cy demanded.

“Nothing,” Ames said again, glaring openly at him now.

“We’re all here then,” Cy said. “If Gray already knows.”

“Cy,” Ames said, but his twin was already turning around.

“Listen up, guys,” he called to everyone else in the car. “Quiet down. Shh. Ames has something to tell us.”

The chatter in the back of the car stopped, so Ames’s voice sounded really loud when he said, “No, I don’t.”

“You said you were going to tell us all at the same time,” Cy said. “So tell us.”

“Gray’s not here,” Wes said.

“Gray already knows,” Cy said, glaring holes into the side of Ames’s head. He folded his arms. “So tell us, Ames.”

Ames looked in the rear-view mirror and found everyone looking at him and waiting. His chest pinched, and he wanted to stride away. Put some distance between himself and this situation.

But he’d put this off for long enough. It wasn’t like he could keep this secret with everyone here, and he wanted them to know.

He did.

“I quit my job,” he said. “Months ago. Maybe four or five.”

The silence in the SUV was suddenly far too loud and unbelievably heavy. Ames shifted in his seat and glanced at Cy. “Happy now?”

“No,” Cy said, the word barely audible.

“You quit your job?” Wes said. “At the police station?”

“Yes,” Ames said.

“Four or five months ago?” Colton asked.

“Before I came to Coral Canyon in the fall,” Ames said. “So yes.”

“Why?” Cy asked. “You love being a cop.”

Ames looked out his side window, because he couldn’t answer that question. He hadn’t been able to when Gray had asked, nor when his parents had wanted to know. His boss had been stunned, as had his partner.

Heck, most of the time, Ames would wake up in the morning in a state of pure panic, thinking he was late for work.

“I don’t know,” he said. “It just felt like the right thing to do.”

“You went to Texas, right?” Wes asked.

“It didn’t feel right,” Ames said, hating the words. But he knew no one would question his decisions if he said they just felt right or didn’t feel right.

“You should come to Coral Canyon,” Colton said.

“No,” Ames said, practically growling the word. “I’m not looking for job recommendations or life advice. Okay? I’m fine. I’m doing fine.”

He focused out the windshield as it started to snow again, and he flipped on the windshield wipers.

He wasn’t doing all that fine, but Gray needed help around the farm, and Ames had plenty of time to do that now. They ran at the gym together after dropping Hunter off at school, and Ames managed to fill his afternoons and evenings with…something.

Quitting his job on the Littleton force had felt like the right thing to do. He couldn’t meet a woman as a cop, and he really just wanted to find someone he could fall in love with. They could start a family, and his life would be filled with good things again.

“What about private security?” Cy asked. “You’ve always wanted to do that.”

Thankfully, his phone rang, and Ames kept both hands on the wheel as he glanced at the screen where the call came up.

Sophia’s name appeared there, and Ames sucked in a very audible breath.

“I thought you two broke up,” Patsy said from the back seat, and Cy wore a look of intense interest on his face.

“We did,” Ames said, reaching to press the red icon that would end the call.

Cy’s hand shot out and blocked Ames’s, and Ames had half a second to growl before Cy tapped