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"Later, Bishop," I whisper.

He stares at me for a long moment like he wants to say something, but then he just shakes his head, grins, and touches my bottom lip. "Goddamn, I'm a lucky man," he mumbles before striding toward the door.

"Maybe I'm the lucky one," I call before he disappears into the hall.

He stops walking and glances over his shoulder at me. The way he looks at me…God, that look is everything. But he doesn't say anything. He just winks and then disappears around the corner.

"What am I going to do about him?" I groan, burying my face in the pillow. I have no answer, though. At least, not one that doesn't feel like it's going to break my heart.

And that's the scary thing. He's already becoming something necessary, something I can't live without. In a few short days, he's become everything. How the fuck am I supposed to choose between him and my dreams when the time comes?

I don't think I can. I really don't.

And I don't know what I'm supposed to do about that.

He swore he wouldn't chase a woman like me. But God, I want him to do it. So badly, I'm terrified we might both break next weekend. And still…I don't want to stop whatever this is between us. I don't think I can.

What am I supposed to do?

Chapter Nine

Bishop

"Yo, Bishop!" Walker shouts.

I lift my head, wiping sweat from my brow, to see him standing on the far side of the corral, motioning for me. Fuck. I do not have time for whatever he wants right now. I've still got ninety things to finish before I cut out for the day.

But I loop my rope around a post, dust my hands on my jeans, and head his way.

"You've got a visitor," he mutters, jerking his head toward the west side of the ranch, where the offices are located. "Cody Swanson."

"Motherfucker."

"Problem?"

"Not for me," I growl, my eyes narrowed. "Might be for him."

"This about your girl, Callie?"

I whip my head around to look at him so fast, he chuckles, smirking at me. "We're discreet, not stupid, motherfucker. Everyone on the fucking ranch knows who you're babysitting for Calamity."

Am I surprised? No, not really. These nosy bastards love to gossip, and they've been trying to get me to talk for a week straight. But it's not like I know what to say.

So I settle on, "It's complicated."

"I'm getting that," Walker says, glancing back toward the offices. "Is he after her or something?"

"Nah, nothing like that. The little prick stole money from her. Now, he wants back in her good graces."

Walker's grunt says everything there is to say. Like me, he has no use for motherfuckers who take advantage of women. Most of the guys around here feel the same way.

Doesn't mean I'm ready to pour my heart out to them, though. I'm still trying to work through shit, figure out where it all fits. I don't need everyone here in my business, complicating it further.

It is complicated, though. So goddamn complicated.

I always swore I wouldn't be the sad bastard chasing after a woman like Callie, one with big dreams and no time to be tied down. I figured if I ever got married at all, it'd be to a woman who loved this town and the simple life as much as I do, one who didn't need the stage or a life like my mother's.

Now, shit isn't that simple. The woman I fell for belongs on that stage. And I'm realizing that maybe I never saw shit from my dad's side to begin with.