Page 13 of Fall or Nothing

What the fuck? Here I was with a chance of inheriting millions, while she’d been working multiple jobs just to save away $250? Our different worlds smacked me in the face.

“I’m thinking an extra-large in shirts. About a 36 waist? Try these on.” She pointed to the fitting rooms to the left of us.

A few minutes later, I emerged. Everything fit. “Don’t know how you did it, but good guesses on the sizing.”

“I’ve worked here long enough to judge most men pretty well.” Why didn’t I like the idea of her sizing up any other man but me? I didn’t have any claim on her.

I stepped in front of the mirror—and hardly recognized the cowboy standing there.

She moved behind me and around me, adjusting the tuck of my shirt and humming. “There’s only one thing missing.” She grabbed a brown hat off the nearest peg and placed it ever so carefully on my head. “There. A rather fine cowboy, Carter.”

The transformation scared me. Fortunately, my eyes had something else to admire—her peach of an ass in her tight jeans as she stepped away. An ass I didn’t need to be chasing right now in my predicament.

I cleared my throat.“There’s one problem. I don’t… I have no money. The bikers took my wallet.”

“I’ll put it on a tab. You can pay it on payday.”

I hesitated. Payday?“Yeah. Right. I’ll pay you back.”

“You better or Ivy will come after you. She’s a pretty shrewd businesswoman.”

I reached for the pair of boots I’d come in wearing—Chris’s Luccheses, still sitting beside the fitting room curtain where I’d left them.

Her expression shifted.“Those are very nice. Where’d you get them?”

“They were my dad’s.” I didn’t even hesitate.The lies kept adding up, coming out way too easily now.“One of the few things I kept after he passed away .”

She softened. “The coat I threw over you… was my dad’s too. Loss makes you hold on to the funniest of things.”

“Yeah. It does.” In reality, I’d kept nothing of my father’s but his last name. Standing here with Sage, who carried her father’s coat like a piece of armor, made me feelthe absence sharper than ever. She was opening my eyes to things I hadn’t realized I was missing—and she had no clue she was doing it.

I struggled the pair of boots on, and the weight of them held me down like an anchor. Montana was already making a point. I should stay and see this through.

A few minutes later, she’d written out the bill. Oddly, it totaled just shy of $250 dollars.

“I know it’s a lot of money. Just pay what you can each payday. I’ll smooth things over with Ivy.”She yawned.“I’m tired, and I’ll bet you are, too.”

I followed her out; she locked up the store and then led us up the stairs to an apartment above. At this point, speechless, I rolled with it.

Her apartment was small, hardly any bigger than my penthouse walk-in closet. In one glance, I counted seven different plants crowding the windowsills, their leaves a vibrant, healthy green that practically glowed under the soft lamplight.

These plants were thriving. Lush, well-tended, clearly cared for every single day.

Does she talk to them too?A quiet jolt of recognition hit me for the first time since arriving in Montana. I wasn’t the only fool who found comfort in green things.

A knitted blanket lay splayed over the back of the couch. Books sat stacked on a side table, not placed there for effect, but actually read judging by the creased spines. Small kitchen and dining area, hallway splitting the middle. It was all cozy and lived-in, nicely kept in bright yellow colors and with floral accents everywhere. Itsmelled of lavender, too, like her. A tiny vase held a sprig on the kitchen counter.

“You can take the couch. Bathroom’s down the hall.” She set her purse and keys down.

I couldn’t help the sigh of relief escaping me.

“Oh. You didn’t think that we’d… tonight…” she gestured between us.

“What? No, of course not. I mean, we just met.”I scratched the back of my neck.“Even though you’ve seen me mostly naked.”

“And I have a pretty healthy imagination for the rest,”she muttered under her breath, taking her boots off. But I caught it and cocked an eyebrow. Her cheeks pinked again—a sight I liked way too much.

She yawned again. “I’m getting up early in the morning to head back to the hospital. I’ll drop you at the ranch beforehand.”