Chapter Three: Pine Ridge Ranch
814 Words
Chapter Three: Pine Ridge Ranch
Kylie woke up to the sharp crunch of gravel beneath the truck tires.
Her eyes fluttered open slowly, neck stiff from sleeping against the passenger window. For a second, she forgot where she was.
Then she saw the mountains.
Massive peaks stretched across the horizon, glowing gold beneath the early morning sun. Endless fields rolled beside the dirt road, broken only by wooden fences and grazing horses in the distance.
Montana.
Her stomach sank immediately.
Chris rubbed a tired hand over his face as he turned down a long private road. “We’re here.”
Kylie sat up straighter, blinking sleep from her eyes.
The ranch was enormous.
She expected something small and rundown — maybe a farmhouse and a few animals. Instead, a massive property unfolded before her like something out of a movie. Acres upon acres of land spread beneath the mountains, along with horse stables, fenced pastures, and several large buildings farther back.
And sitting in the middle of it all was the house.
No.
Mansion.
The three-story home overlooked the ranch from a hill, built from dark wood and stone with giant windows reflecting the sunrise. Expensive trucks lined the driveway beside a black SUV that probably cost more than her father’s yearly salary.
Kylie stared openly. “You brought me to a billionaire cowboy?”
Chris parked the truck but didn’t smile.
“He’s not a cowboy.”
The engine shut off.
Silence filled the cab instantly.
Kylie looked over at her father, suddenly uneasy again. “Dad…”
Before she could finish, the front door of the house opened.
A tall man stepped outside.
And Kylie forgot how to breathe for a second.
He moved with slow, effortless confidence, like the entire ranch belonged beneath his boots — like everyone around him simply knew better than to get in his way. Sunlight caught against dark brown hair that looked slightly messy in the most unfairly attractive way, the strands pushed back like he’d run a hand through it moments earlier.
He wore a fitted black button-up with the sleeves rolled to his forearms, revealing tanned skin and strong veins running beneath them. The shirt stretched across broad shoulders and a chest built from years of physical work rather than gym mirrors. Expensive watch. Worn boots. Dangerous combination.
But it was his face that made Kylie’s stomach twist.
Sharp jawline. Slight stubble. Lips that looked permanently caught between irritation and amusement.
And eyes so intensely blue they almost didn’t look real.
Cold enough to intimidate someone.
Pretty enough to ruin their life anyway.
He looked older than Kylie — maybe late twenties — but there was something about him that felt heavier than age. Controlled. Untouchable. The kind of man people listened to without needing him to raise his voice.
The kind of man girls warned each other about.
Chris stepped out of the truck first.
Kylie stayed frozen inside.
The two men met near the front bumper, speaking too quietly for her to hear. Nolan barely looked at Chris before his attention shifted back toward the passenger side window.
Toward her.
Those blue eyes locked onto hers, steady and unreadable.
Her pulse jumped instantly, which only irritated her more.
Chris finally opened her door. “Out.”
Kylie climbed down slowly, folding her arms across her chest.
Nolan stopped a few feet away from her.
Up close, he was devastating.
Taller than she’d realized — easily six foot three — with a presence that seemed to crowd the air around him. The faint scent of cedarwood and smoke clung to him, warm and dangerously intoxicating. And then there was the scar slicing through one dark eyebrow, subtle enough to go unnoticed unless you looked too long.
Which Kylie absolutely did not do.
Not when his gaze made her pulse stumble the second it landed on her.
“So,” he said evenly, voice low and rough enough to send unwanted heat down her spine, “you’re Kylie.”
She lifted her chin immediately. “And you’re the billionaire my father apparently sold me to.”
Chris exhaled sharply. “Kylie—”
Nolan held up a hand, stopping him.
To her surprise, the corner of his mouth tilted slightly.
Not a smile.
Almost worse.
“No one sold you,” he said calmly.
“Good,” she shot back. “Because I’m not staying.”
Nolan studied her for a long second, those impossible blue eyes holding hers without blinking.
Then he looked at Chris.
“You didn’t tell her.”
Her father’s silence answered for him.
Something dark flickered across Nolan’s expression before he looked back at Kylie again.
“You should come inside,” he said quietly. “There’s a lot we need to talk about.”
Kylie’s chest tightened instantly.
Because suddenly…
This didn’t feel like a summer trip anymore.
- Writer
