Ride by Cat Johnson Page B

uncle may need it.”
    “Got it right folded up safe in my wallet.” Chase patted the front pocket of his jeans.
    “Good.”
    He glanced at the clock next to the bed and cringed. “It’s early still, and those guys were pretty plastered last night. Maybe I’ll just leave Garret a note. Or text him later from the road.”
    Watching him make excuses, she smiled. “You don’t want to lie to him.”
    Chase laughed. “Hell no. I’ve lied to him before, about you for instance. I just don’t feel like dealing with them right now.”
    “Okay. Your choice.” Leesa didn’t quite believe him.
    Chase put both bags down and bent over the desk. He scribbled something on the pad of paper lying next to the phone. Leesa did her best not to stare at his butt in his jeans as he did. When he straightened again, she wrestled her gaze back to his face.
    “Okay. Done. Ready?” He waited for her answer.
    She nodded. “Ready.’
    “Then let’s go.”
    With a surge of adrenaline, Leesa followed Chase out into the hall, holding her breath the entire walk to the elevator. When the door slid open and she saw past Chase that it was occupied but she couldn’t see by whom, her breath caught in her throat. She didn’t breath freely again until Chase dropped the bags on the floor and shook the hand of the cowboy who stepped out.
    “Mustang.”
    “Hey, Chase. You heading out?”
    “Yup, we are.” Chase nodded. He moved to the side and took a small step back so he was standing next to her. “This is Leesa.”
    The man named Mustang—bull riders sure had strange names—tipped his cowboy hat to her. “Nice to meet you.”
    “You too.” She nodded and managed to answer past the lump that had lodged in her throat when she had thought maybe Bruno and the goons were on the elevator. She had a feeling that fear would stay with her all the way to Oklahoma, if not forever.
    Meanwhile, the cowboy’s eyes had dropped to her left hand and she saw his eyebrows rise at the sight of the wedding band that, ridiculously, she was still wearing. They should probably take them off. It wasn’t like the marriage was real or anything. She supposed she was afraid she’d lose the band if she did take it off and stuck it in her pocket.
    The cowboy’s eyes moved to Chase, who had noticed where his friend was looking too. “Um. We’ll talk later.”
    Mustang nodded. “I think we probably should.” Then his eyes caught the glint on Chase’s hand and they flew open wider. “Yeah. We definitely need to talk.”
    Chase laughed. “I know. I’ll call you.”
    “You do that.” The cowboy tipped his hat to her. “Ma’am.” Then he was gone.
    Chase pushed the button to open the elevator doors again, since they’d long since closed during the strange exchange between the two men.
    She waited once more with bated breath for the elevator to arrive, hoping with all her might that it was empty and that the search for her had moved elsewhere. She glanced up at Chase’s profile. “You know, we can take these rings off so you don’t have to keep explaining them.”
    “I know.” He looked down at her but made no move to take his off.
    “You don’t want to?”
    “Nope.” Chase shook his head decisively.
    “Why not?”
    “Because I kind of like how it feels on.” With a grin, he scooped the bags off the floor as the doors slid open again. Then waited for her to get in first.
    “Oh, okay.” She considered that as she stepped inside.
    Chase stepped in after her and then pushed the button for one of the parking levels. Good. They weren’t going through the casino. “That all right with you?”
    “Uh. Yeah.”
    He leaned down and planted a gentle kiss on her lips and her stomach gave another flutter.
    “Good.”
    Huh. This gave her entirely something else to consider.
    “How long will it take us to get to your place?”
    “It’s about a sixteen-hour drive, not counting any stops we make. I figure we’ll drive maybe ten hours today, find a