“Me?” Nikki gasped. “How? I don’t understand.”
Wade turned to face her, his eyes sober, his expression stern. “Pursuant to the execution of Raymond Powell’s will, you, Nicole Marie Powell, are the sole owner of over twelve hundred prime acres in Madison County, Montana.”
“This was my father’s place?” Nikki was at first stunned, then fury set in. “Damn you, Wade! You knew all this time and said nothing?”
“No.” He shook his head. “I didn’t know all of it until this morning when I reviewed the will. The property is yours free and clear, by the way. I pulled all the real estate records and checked for liens.”
“You’ve let me fret and worry for days!” she accused. “Why didn’t you tell me any of this before?”
“I couldn’t. I swear my hands were tied. Legally, you had no claim to any of it until you could prove your identity, and now you have.”
Nikki was still shaking her head in disbelief when Wade came around to open her door. She hopped down from the SUV and Wade followed, retrieving a thick envelope from his breast pocket. He pulled out a bundle of documents from inside. “According to the plat, there’s two full sections here.”
“Sections? What’s a section?”
“In farming communities land is generally parceled in sections and quarter sections. A section is a square mile.”
Nikki stared dumbfounded over the river, the grassland, and the mountains. “You’re saying I own two square miles of this? How on earth did my father come by all this land? He was a heavy equipment mechanic, for goodness’ sake! You are really telling me that he owned this cabin and twelve hundred acres?”
“Yup. According to Evans, who closed the deals, your father fell in love with the fishing here twenty years ago and bought the first quarter section when land was still cheap as dirt. He added to the property over time when his investments started to pay off.”
“What’s the place worth?” she asked.
Wade pursed his mouth and dug his boot heel into the dirt. “Can’t really say.”
“Surely you have some idea,” she insisted.
“Real estate’s taken a nosedive in the past few years, but my best guess would be about fifteen hundred per acre for the grasslands, plus the cabin.”
Nikki’s performed mental calculations that made her heart race. “That’s got be close to two million dollars!”
“More than that, sweetheart. The waterfront is worth a lot more than the grazing lands. Allie could tell you more precisely about the entire value. She specializes in large acreage and high-end ranch properties. There’s something else,” he said. “Your father also left behind a substantial sum in bonds and annuities.”
“Wh-what do you mean substantial?”
“Close to a quarter million. Your father was either an incredibly savvy investor, or a damned lucky bastard. He bought several thousand dollars of cheap tech stocks in the late eighties—including shares in Dell Computer and Microsoft—that paid off big-time.”
“Oh. My. God.” Nikki’s legs gave way beneath her. She sank to the ground, gaping up at Wade. “I can’t believe all this. It’s all too much to process.”
He squatted down with a grin. “Kinda puts matters in a different light, don’t you think? Now you can tell your be-atch of a boss to kiss your sweet, rosy-red ass.”
Nikki stared at the cabin shaking her head in disbelief. “This is really all mine?”
“Yes, Nikki.” Wade pulled her back to her feet and then produced a key. “I have his will in my hands. We still need to go through the formalities. Do you want to step inside for that?”
“I don’t know,” she murmured. “It doesn’t seem right somehow.”
“You shouldn’t feel that way,” Wade said.
When he unlocked the door and Nikki stepped over the threshold, she wished she had taken some time to prepare herself. The cabin was a distinctly a male domain with a bearskin rug in front of the big stone fireplace that dominated the great room. A number of mounted animal heads—elk, mountain sheep, and even a bison hung on the walls. She noted the hunting rifles and fishing poles and the copies of fishing and hunting magazines scattered about the room. Her gaze lit on a pair of reading glasses sitting beside a half pack of Marlboro red cigarettes, on the side table by an overstuffed leather recliner. “I remember so little about him. I feel like an intruder.” She stroked her fingers over the glasses, suddenly struck by the loss of the daddy she never knew.
“You’re his daughter. Just because you didn’t see each other for a long time, doesn’t mean he forgot that fact. Wanna sit down now, Nikki? I need to go through the legalities of your inheritance. It’ll only take a few minutes.” He handed her a copy.
“All right. But I’m not very fluent in legalese. No doubt you’ll need to interpret it all for me.”
“I doubt that. It’s a very simple will.” Wade opened the enveloped he’d carried inside, reading aloud, “I, Raymond Albert Powell, of Twin Bridges, Montana, revoke all former wills and codicils and declare this to be my Last Will and Testament. I am not currently married. The name of my only child is Nicole Marie Powell. All references in this Will to my ‘children’ are references to the above-named child. I direct that all my debts and funeral expenses be paid from my estate. I direct that my residuary estate be distributed to Nicole Marie Powell of Decatur, Georgia…”
Nikki stood abruptly, blinking against the burning sensation in her eyes. “He tried to make things right between us, but I wouldn’t let him.”
Wade stopped reading. “It’s not your fault, Nikki. You were only a child.”
“Not when I got the letter,” she argued. “I told you he sent me one. It arrived eighteen months ago but I never read it…well, not until it was too late. I shoved it in a desk drawer and ignored it. I didn’t want to read it, but I couldn’t bring myself to destroy it either. Then when I got the phone call from the hospital telling me Daddy had died, I finally opened it.”
“What did he say?”
“That he was sorry and that he’d always loved me. He said he couldn’t have raised me because he was on the road all the time. He admitted he drank too much and thought I was better off with my mom. He swore he sent me letters and cards for years, but they all came back as return to sender. I never knew anything about them.”
She swallowed down the lump in her throat and covertly wiped her leaky eyes on her sleeve. “My mother had no right to do that to me—to let me believe a lie. My father and I were estranged for twenty years because of it. I always thought he was a no-account loser like all the rest of them, but that wasn’t exactly true. Maybe he wasn’t the best man in the world, and he certainly wasn’t the ideal father, but he was the only one I had. I feel cheated, Wade. The whole damned thing just makes me feel so sad and angry…and empty.”
“So it was his letter that brought you up here?”
“Yeah. I came hoping to find a way to deal with it all. I thought maybe I could lay all the hurt to rest along with him.”
“It hardly seems that he blamed you, given he left everything he owned to you. Shall I continue?”
She nodded.
“I nominate Nicole Marie Powell, of Decatur, Georgia, as the executor without bond or security. My executor shall have the right to administer my estate without unnecessary intervention by the probate court…”
As Wade read through the articles of the will, Nikki wandered the rest of the great room. The television was the old tube-style. Beside it was a rack of VHS tapes. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d even seen a VCR and tapes. She squatted down to the case wondering what he liked to watch. Deliverance and A River Runs Through It held places of honor on the top shelf. Beside these were a number of John Wayne and Clint Eastwood movies and then there was another well-worn case—They Call Me Trinity.
She pulled that one loose and almost choked on the vivid memory of eating Jiffy Pop and watching old spaghetti Westerns with him. He’d loved both. So had she. “I didn’t even know him,” Nikki interrupted. “How can this all be mine? Somehow, it just doesn’t seem right.”
“You don’t have to accept the bequest if you don’t want it,” Wade said. “You could always donate it to some worthy charity—maybe even start one of your own.” One corner of his mouth kicked up. “How about a foundation to save the pronghorn antelope?”
“Are they endangered?” She gave him a dubious look.
“No. Not yet, but you could be proactive.”
His levity did the trick. Nikki couldn’t help grinning back. He always seemed to know just what she needed. She loved that about him—how easily he read and understood her. “I admit I feel guilty about the inheritance,” she said. “But I’m not crazy. Of course I want it. I just have to get used to the whole idea.”
“Yeah, you do have a lot to think about. Let me finish up the rest of this with you.”
“How much more is there?” she asked.
“Only another two pages,” he said. “Mostly legal jargon that protects you from liability.”
“Go ahead.” She nodded, only half listening until he got to the end.
“I, Raymond Albert Powell, the Testator, sign my name to this instrument this 5th day of June 2008, and do thereby execute it as my free and voluntary act for the purposes expressed in this Will, and that I am of sound mind and under no constraint or undue influence.” Wade looked up. “It was witnessed and filed by Jack Evans. Everything’s in perfect order, Nikki. Will you be changing your travel plans now?”
“Is this my lawyer asking?”
“No.” He came behind, wrapping his big arms around her. “I checked that hat at the door.”
She closed her eyes and inhaled him. God, it felt so damned good to be wrapped in Wade. She let her head drop back against the warm and solid wall of his chest. She wished the feeling could last forever, but knew it couldn’t. His life was here and hers was two thousand miles away. It was just getting so damn hard to remember that. If wishes were horses, Nikki…
At length, she pulled herself out of his arms. “How long will it take to settle everything?”
“Guess you want the lawyer now instead?” He released her with a sigh. “Although Montana probate law is pretty simple, there’s still a time-sensitive process you need to follow. It begins with posting a death notice in the paper that has to run for three weeks to flush out creditors. Then you have insurance policies to deal with, financial documents to transfer, as well as locating all of his account statements. This includes insurance, bank, brokerage, social security, unpaid bills, and his prior tax returns. You’ll need to find the title to the truck and the deed to the house in order to get those titles transferred. This all has to be done before you can dispose of any assets. There’s a shitload of paperwork.”
“So, how long?” she repeated.
“Given the size of the inheritance, it’ll be several weeks at least, more likely a few months.”
“Months?” She stepped back with a frown. “I can’t do that. I only have until the end of the week. My flight is Friday. I can maybe stay one more day, but if I’m not home by Sunday, my job is at risk.”
“You’re still planning to leave? You really need to rethink that plan. Settling your father’s estate is going to take some time.”
“Can’t I hire you to take care of things for me? That’s what you do, isn’t it?”
“Yes. It’s what I do—at a considerable cost. I could help you dispose of assets and close out the estate, if that’s what you want, but my time is expensive, Nikki. I’d have to bill you for simple things that you could do yourself for free. I don’t have a choice in that. It’s not my practice.”
“How much are we talking about?”
“The legal fees in settling an estate often run into thousands. So, you see? In the long run, it would be worth it for you to stick around.”
“But I have a job—”
“That you hate.”
“A family—”
“That you hardly speak to.”
“How do you know that?” she asked defensively.
“You’ve been stranded here, for all intents and purposes, and you haven’t called any of them.”
“No. I haven’t,” she confessed. “I have a half sister I’m somewhat close to, but she’s a major screwup, and my mother—well, don’t even get me started there.”
“Got a house or do you rent?” he asked.
“I rent.”
“Got a dog?”
“Nope.”
“A cat?”
She shook her head.
“How about a goldfish?”
She laughed outright this time.
“Then what’s keeping you there?” he asked.
“What are you suggesting? That I just stay here in Montana?”
He shrugged. “It’s not so bad. I think it might even grow on you if you give it a chance, though Bozeman might be a better fit for you since you’re a city girl.”
“But what would I even do with myself? What is there for me here?”
“Do you really need to ask?” He bent his head and plied a warm kiss to her neck. “I’d sure like to think I could make it worth your while to stay.”
She shook her head, tamping down the shiver of lust. She wondered what it would be like to spend every night with him. To spend her life with him. His suggestion both thrilled and scared her witless. “I can’t believe you’re even saying this. We’ve only known each other a few days.”
“Long enough for me to know I don’t want you to go yet.”
Yet. Nikki latched onto that word and held it tight as she pulled once more out of his arms. “Why try to turn this into something that could never work out? Your life is here and mine is a couple thousand miles away. For all that, it might as well be in the next galaxy.”
“It’s not so complicated, Nikki. You’ve just said so yourself. People do it all the time. Move to new places. Start over. Just look at Bill and Paula.”
“The couple from the restaurant?”
“Yeah. They had a life in Hawaii. Now they have a new one in Montana. Doesn’t sound like there’s much to hold you in Georgia, is there?”
“How can you expect me to just walk away from my entire life?”
“Why can’t you trust in this, Nikki? Why can’t you trust me?”
Trust. How many times had she made that mistake before—trusted pretty words and promises? Though she wanted to believe Wade, she couldn’t suppress the doubts. Nikki clenched her teeth, her protective instincts kicking in full force. Why would he want her when no one else ever had?
“Maybe because it’s too good to be true. Damsel in distress is rescued by a charming cowboy in his not-so-gleaming white pickup and they live happily ever after?”
“Why not?” he said.
“Because it’s a fairy tale, Wade. I don’t believe in fairy tales.”
“Bullshit,” he hissed and spun her around. “Don’t try to feed me that line. You think whatever this is comes along every day? I’ve sure as hell not experienced it. You can’t just ignore it and hope it goes away, ’cause I won’t let you, and it won’t anyway. We fit. Can’t you see that?”
Hope it goes away? In time she hoped it would, but right now the ache in her chest was excruciating. “You say all these things now. Maybe you even mean them now, but it will all change. I already know it can’t last. Feelings always fade with time.”
“Why do you want to believe that? Why are you fighting me when all I want to do is prove this is real? That I want you?” He made an exasperated sound. “Damn it, Nicole! Do I look like a man who doesn’t know his own mind?”
“But it can’t work,” she insisted. “I have no family here, no friends, and no connections. I’d only have you and I don’t like the idea of being totally dependent on one person.”
“Because it requires trust?” he said. “How can you be so cynical? Hell, if anyone has cause for cynicism it’s me. Yet, here I stand with open arms.”
He spread them wide and her heart slammed in her chest. It was all she could do not to throw herself into his arms, but this whole idea was crazy. Common sense held her back.
“Please,” she pleaded. “Let’s not ruin this with pointless arguments. I’m going to take care of my father and then I’m going back home to Georgia.”
“Are you sure that’s what you really want?”
No. It wasn’t what she really wanted, but she’d made far too many mistakes from emotional decisions. It would be so easy to let go…to let herself believe in him but she refused ever again to let her feelings overrule her good sense.
“How can I possibly know what I want?” she replied. “For the first time, I’m going to have the freedom to do whatever I like. Now I need time to figure out exactly what that is.”
She ventured to the window to look out over the shimmering river. “I think I’ll bring his ashes back here to the river. It’s what drew him to Montana, after all. I can’t help feeling it’s what he would have wanted.”
“He didn’t state a preference so the choice is yours.”
She turned back from the window and announced, “I’m going to check out of the Moriah and stay here for a few days.”
“Here?”
“Yes. I might as well. The electricity is still on, isn’t it?”
“Nothing’s been disconnected yet,” Wade replied.
“Then it makes no sense for me to pay for a motel. It’ll still be a couple of days before I get the death certificate so I’d like to use this opportunity to go through his personal effects. It’s going to take some time and I only have a few days to do it. When the death certificate arrives, I’ll go back to Sheridan and take care of the arrangements for his cremation.”
“If you stay here, you won’t get anything else done,” he argued. “There’s no Internet connection and the cellular signal is iffy at best.”
“Then I’ll sort through everything I find over the next day or two and bring it all back with me to your office.”
“You don’t have a car,” he argued.
“What about my father’s truck? I have my license now. Can’t I have use of it?”
“Yeah. You can use it. The truck is fully insured.” Wade retrieved a set of keys and wallet from his pocket and dropped them in her hand.
“Thank you, Wade.”
“Please, Nikki. Come back to the ranch with me tonight and I’ll help you with all of this tomorrow.”
“With Allie there?” She snorted. “Yeah, right.”
“I told you there’s nothing—”
“I believe you, but it would still be awkward as hell.”
“Then I’ll stay here with you.”
“No,” she said softly. “I have a lot to do and so do you. I’ve already monopolized far too much of your time. Besides, I need to be alone to think about everything.”
“Are you telling me to leave? If that’s what you really want, say the word.”
She didn’t answer straight away. “It’s probably for the best.”
“I’m not comfortable with you staying here by yourself, Nikki. It’s too remote.”
She bristled at that. “Since when did you become my keeper?”
“I’d say about the minute I laid eyes on you, sweetheart.”
“Really?” She spun on him, hands on hips. “I’ve been taking care of myself just fine for the past decade—thank you very much.”
“Do you really like it that way?”
“Yes,” she spat. He held her gaze and probed deeply. “Well, not always,” she finally confessed.
“Then why are you doing this?” he asked.
“Doing what?”
“Pushing me away when I only want to help you. I get the feeling you’ve been trying to sabotage this thing between us from the start, and I’ll be damned if I can figure out why.”
Was it true? Was she subconsciously trying to sabotage herself just to prove she was right and he was wrong? At a loss for reply, she opened her mouth, and then closed it again.
Wade walked out shaking his head and cursing under his breath, the door slamming behind him. Nikki shut her eyes to that vision, his expression of pain and frustration.
She stood with her back to the door, fighting the well of tears, listening for the car engine and the crunch of gravel beneath his wheels. Minutes later, she was surprised instead by the crash of splintering wood.
What the heck?
She cracked the blinds to find Wade standing beside a wood pile, shirtsleeves rolled up and ax in hand. Any other man she’d ever been involved with would have torn out of the drive in a cloud of burning rubber after such an argument, gotten drunk, and then looked for someone new to screw.
Wade wasn’t any other man.
She tried to tear herself away, but her feet were nailed to the floor, and eyes glued to the window. After a few more stokes of the ax, he slammed it into the block to pull off his shirt. He threw it down and then yanked the ax head back out of the block. This was a side of him she’d not yet seen—the angry outdoorsman. Watching the play of his flexing muscles, Nikki’s mouth went dry. God, he was one gorgeous man. Wade was everything she thought she could never have. What kind of fool was she to be inside feeling sorry for herself when he was still here and still hers…for three more days.
* * *
Wade had to leave the cabin before he exploded. The last thing he needed was to act like an asshole, make a big scene, and give her a legitimate reason to mistrust him. He’d then have about a snowball’s chance in hell of getting her to stay. By the way she was pushing him away he knew he was already on shaky ground. It seemed all he’d done was piss her off by pushing her.
Why the hell was this happening? He’d just bared his damn soul to her. He’d never done that before, yet she seemed all too prepared to walk right out of his life. Now he felt like a real jackass, but he was desperate to buy more time with her. The thought of her leaving in three days nearly had him in a tailspin.
In retrospect, maybe he should have given her some time to sort out her feelings about her father before springing anything else one her. He should have waited instead of pressuring her for decisions she wasn’t yet prepared to make. She didn’t need the added stress of his emotions right now. He took in a ragged breath and exhaled on a curse. “Fucked that up good, didn’t you, cowboy?”
He was frustrated as hell and even more pissed off at himself. Hell, what he really wanted was a stiff drink—a mighty dangerous thought after two-and-a-half agonizing years of sobriety.
He needed to blow off steam something fierce, but couldn’t leave her here alone. Desperate for something, anything to occupy his mind and body, Wade paced the yard until spotting an ax lying against the wood shed. It’d been a helluva long time since he’d split a log, but under present circumstances, it seemed the ideal therapy.
Discarding his jacket, he rolled up his sleeves, and picked up the ax. His actions were thoughtless and methodical. Standing the log on end, he raised the ax, and then slammed it down with splintering force. Mechanically, he stacked the two pieces, then grabbed the next log. It was mindless work, but he threw himself into it with a vengeance, relishing each blow of the ax, until his muscles screamed and his lungs burned. He’d no doubt regret this like hell in the morning, but it felt damned good right now.
He didn’t know how long he’d been at it before he noticed her leaning against the pickup, watching. Judging by the four-foot-high wood pile, it must have been at least an hour. Although the temperature probably wasn’t much above fifty degrees, he’d long since shed his shirt. He paused to wipe the sweat from his brow. Their gazes met briefly, silently, before he focused back on the task. Slamming the ax down again with a crash, he threw two more logs onto the pile.
“I’m sorry,” she said.
“For what?” He paused again, leaning on the ax handle. “I should be the one to apologize for making demands you’re not ready for. I guess I’m just used to going after what I want.”
“And also accustomed to getting it?” she supplied.
“Yeah,” he confessed. “I’m ruthless when I want something, Nikki. And I want you. I don’t like being thwarted.” He took up the ax again.
“It wasn’t fair, Wade. I have so much to think about. I’m feeling very overwhelmed. Why does it have to be all or nothing with you? We don’t exactly live in the Stone Age, you know. There’s cell phones, texting…and airplanes.” He noticed she spoke the last word with a grimace.
“So what are you suggesting? Weekly Skype sex?” He drove the ax down again, planting the ax head solidly into the chopping block and then snatched up his shirt.
“That’s exactly my point, Wade. How can you expect me to give up my life when I don’t know if there’s anything more between us than just great chemistry? Can’t we just wait this out a bit and see?”
He went to her, pinning his arms on either side of her. “Do you intend for us to see other people?”
“No. Do you?”
“I’m not the one who’s ambivalent.”
“I just need some time to think.”
“How long?” he demanded. He knew he was being an asshole. Again. But he was damned if he’d make it easy on her.
“I don’t know.”
“You complain that I want all or nothing, but you seem to want it both ways. You can’t have your cake and eat it too, Nikki. I’m not interested in a protracted long-distance relationship.”
A hurt look flared in her eyes. “So you want to see other people?”
“No. Damn it! That’s not what I’m saying. I’m looking for your trust. I want you. Here.”
“I want you too,” she admitted softly. He recognized the flicker of lust. “Want isn’t a problem for me. That part isn’t an issue at all.” Her gaze met his, and then tracked lower, sweeping slowly over his torso. An unmistakable look of hunger flared in her eyes. Her hands followed her gaze, sliding down his sweat-slickened chest and abs to toy with his belt buckle.
“That isn’t how I meant it,” he said.
She licked her lips then traced his fly with her fingers. “But I did. We still have three days together, Wade…”
He knew what she wanted and was resentful as hell that she’d initiate sex when they hadn’t resolved anything. “Don’t play with me, Nikki,” he growled. “You’re running hot and cold and I don’t like it.”
Her gaze flickered up at him with uncertainty. “So you don’t want to?”
He was growing rock-hard despite himself, which only pissed him off even more. Yes, he wanted her. He didn’t think he’d ever stop wanting her. As if reading his thoughts, she pulled his head down to kiss him greedily, drawing his tongue into her mouth. The contact sent a jolt of molten lust through him. His frustration suddenly found a new outlet.
He lifted her, guiding her legs around his waist. She clung to him with feverish kisses as he walked around to the back of the truck, removing one hand from her ass only long enough to drop the tailgate. The minute he set her down, they went to work on buttons and zippers. He pulled off her boots, tossing them on the ground, then kissed and licked down her belly as she wriggled out of her jeans. His mouth wandered over her thighs, before stopping to suck her through the thin fabric of her panties.
“Now who’s playing?” She bucked her hips with a whimper. “I want you now, Wade.”
“Do you?” He retrieved a condom from his pocket and quickly sheathed himself. “Seems this is the only part of me you really want. If that’s the case…” He jerked her hips to the edge of the tailgate, then spread her wide, gritting his teeth as he thrust to the hilt. “Be careful what you wish for…” If she wanted a frenzied fuck on the truck bed, he wasn’t about to deny her…or himself.
He drove into her, fast and punishing. She urged him on with whimpers and moans, squeezing his ass with both hands, meeting him with every grunting, panting, flesh-slapping thrust. Wade pounded into her, using raw sensation to dull his equally raw emotions. She squeezed harder, forcing him deeper. The moment her climax began, he pumped to his own, pulling out the moment he’d shot his load. Wordlessly, he disposed of the condom, helped her up, and then handed her the jeans and boots she’d discarded. No kisses, no tender touches, no endearments. It was manic, mindless, and ultimately empty and unfulfilling. For the first time he was left wanting more—and hoped she felt it too.
Her hurt expression as she wiggled back into her clothes told him she did. “You must know this isn’t how I wanted it to be.”
“I didn’t perform up to your expectations this time? Sure sounded like you were enjoying yourself.” He felt a slight pull of conscience at the lash of his words.
“Why are you doing this? I thought we’d agreed—”
“We agreed to nothing. I offered to stay and you told me to go. Your message was pretty damn clear. Have you changed your mind?”
“No.” Her blue-green eyes met his. “I’m going to take care of my father and then I’m going back home.”
“So I don’t even factor into your equation?” He waited, needing an answer. “For the last time, Nikki, I’m asking you not to go.”
“Why are you making this so difficult?”
“Because I want you to stay.”
“I told you I can’t just blindly leap into something when we’ve known each other less than a week. How can you even expect it?”
“You can’t always play it safe, Nikki. Some things in life are worth a gamble.”
She stared back at him, her eyes flickering with emotion. “That’s easy for you to say, when you aren’t the one giving up anything.”
“But you don’t have any real ties. I do. You know that. I have to stay here at least until the ranch is sold. After that maybe I’ll want to make some changes too. I’ve got a life to live too, Nicole and I’d like you to be part of it.”
“I told you I need to think. Why can’t you understand that? Things have happened so fast my head is spinning.”
“That’s the difference between us. I don’t have to think about ‘us.’ I’m willing to take the chance.”
“Because you have nothing to lose!” she insisted.
“In reality you don’t either,” he insisted. He jerked his head toward the cabin. “Take a good look. This wasn’t a bad haul for you, Miz Powell. You came to Montana without a red cent, and will leave shortly with a net worth in the millions.”
Anger flashed in her eyes. “I can’t believe you said that! You make me sound like some gold digger when you know damned well I had no knowledge of my father’s estate. Please, just go, Wade. Let’s not let this get any uglier than it already has.”
Nikki spun on her heel, leaving him staring after her.
“Now it’s over,” he muttered with a shake of his head. Part of him ached to follow her inside but he was done making an ass of himself.