The Maverick Meets His Match (Hearts of Wyoming Book 2)(86)
She hadn’t expected a commitment from him. She should be happy that he agreed to a child with her, right? And since she wasn’t pregnant yet, continuing on would be convenient for her as well. She shouldn’t expect more from him.
“I’m okay with it.”
He shifted, and his hand supported her back as he bent her down to lie upon the blanket. The ground was hard, the blanket itchy, and all she wanted was him. He’d been all she ever wanted. He sidled up beside her and stared down into her eyes. “Let’s make a memory, Mandy. A good one.”
Expecting more than a memory was just asking for heartache. Her head knew that. Too bad her heart hadn’t listened.
Chapter 21
Ty stared at the offer letter and then looked back at the resolute man sitting across from him in the office that used to be JM’s. Stan Lassiter settled back into the folds of his chair. The offer was 50 percent more than Stan had offered the first time. A fair offer, even considering the AFBR opportunity. Prescott bulls had just finished another good weekend on the tour, bucking off contestants to pull strong scores. How Stan had gotten wind of it so fast was amazing, though Ty shouldn’t have been surprised. The rodeo stock community was a small one, as industries go.
“It’s a legitimate offer. A damn good one and you know it. You have the bank’s statement saying they’d approve the line of credit.” Stan had read Ty’s pause as concern.
He guessed he was concerned. Things had been going so well, and there had been no serious nibbles in quite a while. Ty had been so sure he wouldn’t have to sell Prescott, wouldn’t have to disappoint Mandy. The AFBR opportunity meant Prescott Rodeo Company was in better shape, and he’d fulfilled his promise to JM.
He’d even allowed himself to hope that he could make things permanent with Mandy.
The months he’d spent with her had shown him a woman he didn’t know existed, didn’t know he wanted. He’d begun to think JM had outfoxed them, though he couldn’t be certain Mandy felt the same way. At the creek, he’d intended to ask her to stay married to him, but she’d seemed so surprised he’d sold his condo, surprised he’d given up his job, the words got caught in his throat. Instead, he’d asked to stay on longer, and given she hadn’t conceived yet, she’d agreed. He may have fallen for her, but he couldn’t be sure he wasn’t just a convenient sperm donor.
He’d decided to wait and take the opportunity to show her what she meant to him now that he’d negotiated more time together and, when the time seemed right, pop the question, maybe at their six-month anniversary.
He’d bought rings, taking one of her rings she’d left on the dresser to the jewelers for size. The engagement ring was a large diamond set in platinum, and the matching wedding band had several smaller diamonds because that’s what Mandy was—a diamond surrounded by others.
He’d been thinking about different ways he could propose. Like having Jace Parrish announce Ty during the rodeo parade and handing Ty the mike, taking her for a plane ride and engaging the autopilot so he could propose, hiring a skywriting plane to write it in the sky, or handing her a gift for the baby, with the ring tied to the ribbon.
Now, mere weeks from the six-month deadline, he held a lucrative deal in his hand. One he couldn’t walk away from, however much it would break Mandy’s heart.
“I’m just surprised. This is quite a bit more than your original offer, Stan.”
“I’ve tried for years to crack the AFBR. You’ve done it in a matter of months.” He steepled his fingers, resting his hands on the chambray shirt covering his rounded belly. “I won’t admit this in public, but your bulls have really come into their own. And the AFBR saw that. Breeding them to my stock and running them in the AFBR, well, it will set me apart.”
Just as it could set Prescott apart. Except that hadn’t been his charge. His charge was to financially secure the future of the Prescott family.
Ty ran his fingers through his hair, wishing he could make the offer and its complications vanish, but he couldn’t.
“I need to review this with the other stockholders.” And particularly Mandy.
“I know you can okay this deal on your own. Hear tell JM set it up that way so the decision could be objective and not emotional. I doubt your wife,” he said with a sneer, “would ever agree. So I need to know if I’m doing business with the right person.”
“I’m the right person.” For a few more weeks anyway. “But that doesn’t mean I will move without discussion.”
“I have thirty days to access this line of credit. That’s all, Ty.”
“Believe me, this will get the highest priority.” Ty rubbed his hand across his chin. “Let me ask you something. Did you let that bull out?”
Stan pressed his hand across his heart. “I don’t do stuff like that, Ty. Now whether one of my men may have gotten carried away, I couldn’t say. But I suspect there are more than a few people who wouldn’t want to see Prescott succeed.”
Ty didn’t believe that Stan couldn’t say…but it was water under the proverbial bridge. There had been some local publicity, but Harold had made sure that it hadn’t happened again, and there hadn’t been any additional fallout from it.
Stan rose and extended his hand. Ty shook it.