They love me. They’re just independent. Adventurous.
Uh-huh.
“I understand. I’ll pack up and be out of here by the end of the day.” Turns out it was a good thing her belongings fit into the trunk of her car.
“No, that’s not what I mean,” Ellie said. “I know that I don’t know you either, but I like you, Daisy. And you seem a bit sad and lost. I don’t want you to leave. Sounds like you don’t want that either.”
“I’m just. . .tired.”
“Yeah, I get that. When I crashed during that snow storm, I was exhausted from taking care of my parents for years. They were sick. Or at least they made me think they were sick. I did everything for them and I was just tired. Then I met Bear. And he showed me that there are people out there who are good. Kind. Honest. Now we look out for each other.”
“I want that.” Shit. Did she just say that? “Damn, I think that chocolate last night had something in it that loosened my tongue.”
Ellie giggled again. “Look, why don’t you stay awhile? See if you like it here?”
“Jed doesn’t want me here.”
“Jed ain’t God.”
She let out a startled laugh.
“Look, I might be loyal to him because he’s one of us, but that doesn’t mean I can’t be loyal to you too. Just don’t hurt him and we’re good, all right?”
“I didn’t know Jed lived here. Honestly. This is some weird coincidence. saw this house online and felt like it was where I was meant to be.”
“I get that,” Ellie said quietly. “Don’t go. Jed probably won’t even notice you’re still here.”
She sucked in a breath at that. Ouch.
“I didn’t mean that the way it sounded,” Ellie said quickly. “Oh shit. I just meant that he hardly ever leaves the ranch except for work. That’s all.”
“It’s okay,” she said quietly. “You’re right. He won’t notice.” And even if he did, well, she’d just have to make it clear that she hadn’t stayed because of him.
She just had to figure out how to do that.
“I’ll stay.”
The squeal that hit her ears made her flinch and then grin. Well, at least someone was happy she was here.
4
“I’ve decided to try online dating,” Daisy told Ellie as soon as she picked up the phone. She was sitting in front of her laptop, staring at the dating website in front of her, her stomach rolling with nerves. She felt so ill she thought she might vomit. Even the big bowl of ice cream with Hershey’s chocolate sauce poured over the top wasn’t tempting her. In fact, she’d barely managed to eat or sleep these past few days.
Since Jed told her to leave.
Part of her worried that he would turn up again, demanding to know why she hadn’t done what he’d ordered. The other part of her was disappointed that he hadn’t arrived on her doorstep, demanding to know why she hadn’t done what he’d ordered.
Contrary much?
When he’d looked at her so coldly a part of her shriveled up and died. She didn’t like that she was so vulnerable to him. She thought she’d built up walls to protect herself. Turns out that didn’t work against Jed. She hadn’t made them Jed-proof.
Damn it.
“Shut up,” Ellie said.
“What?” she asked distractedly. What sort of photo did she have that she could upload? Did she even have a current one?
“You are not online dating.”