The Billionaire's Colton Threat

Halle was different. She was the kind of woman who put an end to a man’s casual dating life. Because she would be the one he’d always compare anyone else to.

* * *

Halle had to ignore the lump in her throat. Being alone with any off-limits single man she was attracted to, day and night for four days, would have been difficult. Make it a male like Alastair Buchanan and it was downright excruciating to be so near yet unable to even pretend there could be any hanky-panky. And they still had one more night to get through. Of course her hormones were humming. At least that’s what she told herself. It wasn’t that he was special. A man she could sink her teeth into, have a real relationship with.

Besides, even if he wasn’t a client, he lived the better part of five thousand miles away. She hadn’t been able to maintain a romance with a man she’d been dating in Austin once she moved to Shadow Creek, only thirty miles apart.

“Not happening,” she muttered to herself and Buttercup as they wound through a field of dead sunflowers on a narrow clay path.

“What was that?” Alastair’s brogue was lovely, even when he showed flashes of the vigilant CEO he must be to run such a lucrative business.

“I said we’re getting closer to the fun part of the day.” The low rumble they’d had in front of them for the past mile or so had turned into a loud roar. The river crossing was going to be interesting, but nothing she couldn’t manage. She navigated the narrow trail, passed through a field and onto a rise with the river in sight, where she waited for Alastair to fall in next to her.

“That looks no wider than a creek. It’s shallow, I take it?”

“Not sure, and make no mistake, this is a river. Shadow Creek River. With all the rain, it might be higher than usual. One thing about flowing water in the Western US is that it’s very deceptive. I’ve waded in my bare feet through it when I was a kid, and ridden across it on several different horses. But each time it’s different. I’ve had to turn around and come back before, when it was too deep or the current too strong.”

“Our lochs, or lakes, as you say—” he put emphasis on the vowels in “lake” and “say,” making them rhyme “—are the same. They drop off with no warning to unfathomable depths.”

“Well, you won’t see Nessie here, but we have to take our time crossing.” She hoped to relax him with the Loch Ness Monster reference. Halle wondered how much of a challenge the crossing would be but didn’t see a need to alarm him about it.

“I’m game for whatever.” The statement was bold and she thought his profile was a little stiff with arrogance.

“I know you’re a good horseman, Alastair, but you have to trust my judgment about the river. It’s not like a still loch in Scotland.”

“And you know so much about lochs?” The sun caught the flash of his grin and her gut tightened. He was so damned handsome. Too much.

“Haven’t I told you yet? I spent my junior year abroad in Glasgow. I traveled all over Scotland and the UK.” It had felt like a second home and she’d always wanted to return. But then life after college had her deep into her career, and then her father’s death, and now her life’s work at Bluewood got in the way.

“I’d love for you to see Scotland now, as an adult, without the baggage of a student budget.” His insight stilled her. It sounded as if he had a normal upbringing, not one of privilege.

“You sound as if you backpacked across Europe on a budget, too.”

“I did, in a sense. My father was very strict with my spending until I graduated and became fully employed with the company. Sure, I knew I had a fallback if I needed it, but I kept my spending to what he gave me. It taught me how to budget and where to save money.” He laughed and she loved the rolling sound. Easy and strong, like a Highland brook. “It’s crazy, I know, coming from someone like me, but I do appreciate frugality. Easy to say when I’ve never had to do without anything.” She liked how he was self-deprecating when it came to money. Alastair was in touch with how regular people lived, even though he had a billionaire’s life and all the sparkly things to go with it.

“Someday I’ll see Scotland again, and a lot of the rest of the world. For now, running Bluewood is enough for me.” She allowed herself to share his glance for a heart-stopping moment before refocusing on the river. “At the moment I’d say we’ve got a tough crossing on our hands.”

“No worries, Halle. Your word is my command.”

“Good. As I said, it’s important that you rely on my commands as we cross. I need you to stay right alongside me as we approach the water and hopefully get across without issue. Let’s see how deep it is.” When there were younger children on the tour she liked to ham it up a bit here, emphasizing how the personality of the river could change on a dime. With Alastair the last thing she wanted to do was add any drama to their time together. She had to focus on keeping any hormonal chaos she had going on to herself.

The horses’ hooves were leaving prints in the clay bank of the river, the water lapping impatiently at their powerful legs. Halle took it all in, but not before checking out Alastair’s profile. Satisfaction unfurled in her rib cage, knowing he was moved by the scenery. In this fleeting moment she knew she’d done her job. The strong breeze, the white rapids where the water raced around the bend, the quieter area farther downstream that would be too deep to cross—all played their part to showcase the spectrum of the river’s strength. “We’re going to have to cross here, where it’s still shallow enough. See that part, where it looks like it’s not moving?” She waited for him to nod. “That’s most likely a deep ditch from the current. We want to steer clear of it. The horses know what to do but we need to stay steady and confident as we guide them.”

“Yes, ma’am.” His smile was almost a smirk, but not quite. Part of her wished he’d fall off his damned high perch, but a bigger part wouldn’t ever want to put Buster at risk of rolling over or breaking a leg.

She answered his grin with her own. “Ready?”

“By your side, yes.”

Damn it, he took her breath away. She couldn’t blame it on the Scottish accent any longer. She had a major crush on her sexy billionaire cowboy. It was going to remain a secret crush.

“Let’s do it. And please put your phone away, Alastair. You don’t want to become another tourist who loses their device because of a lack of judgment.”

“Okay, you’re the river crossing expert but I’m the tech expert. My phone is in a LifeProof case and will survive any submersion in water. It also floats. And it’s quite secure in the saddle, where it’ll stay while we get our horses across safely.” He pointed at the phone nestled in the holder he’d brought with him. The contraption fit perfectly around his saddle horn, and while she admired its convenience she preferred to keep her phone in her wraparound thigh pocket when riding. Her mobile was for emergencies only out here on the trail.

Alastair didn’t move.

“Good to hear. We don’t need any distractions. Paying attention is key.” She wasn’t in the mood to fish him out of the river if he went in.

“I’ve got this, Halle. Trust me.” He patted Buster’s neck as he spoke, his focus clearly on his mount and not the phone he’d tucked back into its holder.

“Whatever. I warned you.” She urged Buttercup into the river and waited for Alastair to do the same with Buster. Just as he promised, Alastair took Buster into the river without hesitation. He stayed with her, following every suggestion to maneuver Buster as she gave them. Until a loud ding sounded over the gushing water. To her horror, Alastair looked at the phone. Her gut twisted, cutting off her air.

“Pay attention. Your horse needs you.” Her voice sounded weak over the roar of the river and the gusty wind that blew her hair from its ponytail.

“I just need a minute, Halle.” Alastair’s face was grim, his mouth pulled down. He’d pulled the phone out and scrolled through some message or other. After he finished whatever he was reading he shot her a huge grin and placed the phone back in its makeshift saddle holder. “Just teasing you, Halle. I wouldn’t be so stupid as to risk Bust—whoa!”

Buster’s manners, decent until now, fled as a large, fallen tree that had been swept into the river came into view not more than one hundred yards away. It appeared to be aimed straight at them. The large horse bucked and bolted across the river, as if reaching the other shore in record time meant life or death.

Alastair, unfortunately, didn’t make it to the bank with Buster. As soon as Buster bolted, Alastair flew through the air and landed with a large splash in the middle of the river. When he disappeared under the water Halle panicked. If he hit his head and was unconscious, he’d drown in minutes. She slid off Buttercup and slapped her rump. “Go, girl!”

She waded to where she’d watched Alastair’s body submerge. There was no sign of him. She stood on solid ground, able to withstand the force of the river but unable to see one flash of his clothing. Nothing but the froth of the water from the sudden uptick in current. And then his head popped up, his arms working around him in the water. Did he think he could outswim a swollen Texas river?

“Alastair!” He turned toward her and grinned. They were moments from a cold death and he was grinning like a fool. Or someone whose brain was operating in a fog. Panic rose as she realized he might already be hypothermic.

Her boots filled with water and her soles slipped on the rocky river bottom as she reached for Alastair, her fingers desperate to reach his shirt or jeans and haul him up. Instead the current knocked her against him, her entire body plastered against his in the freezing water.

Blue eyes with no evidence of the danger they were in sparkled at her. “Now th-th-this is what I c-c-call a T-Texas adventure!”

“Look at me, Alastair. Can you walk?”

“Of course.” Alastair stood up. Dripping wet, he started to shiver. Violently. “D-d-don’t b-b-be m-m-mad at m-m-me.” In spite of his body’s immediate reaction to the frigid water, his eyes were alight with genuine contrition. If she weren’t so afraid for his life, she’d find the situation comic.

“We need to get to the other side. Now!” At which point she was going to strip the wet clothes off of him, wrap him in a first aid space blanket, start a warm campfire and then kill him for his ignorance.

“D-d-don’t w-w-worry.” He leaned heavily against her and she braced her boots in the silty bottom of the river. They made their way, one step at a time. As they neared the bank where Buster and Buttercup patiently waited, the river stilled. “L-l-look, it-t-t’s all b-b-better.”

“Shut up, Alastair.”

* * *

Halle Ford had saved his life. Alastair prided himself on his inner strength, the core of his being that had gotten him through the bullying he’d endured as a grade schooler. His entire school career, actually, until he’d grown taller and his shoulders wider than those of his mean classmates. The same financial status that had blessed him with such a protected life in many ways had been his enemy then, as jealous classmates went after him with a vengeance. He’d never told his parents; he’d used his brains to outwit his adversaries and taken the punches he’d had to.

Until the school psychologist had called him in and insisted he confess to the beatings, the terrorizing episodes of being dragged out of bed in the wee hours and hung by his ankles outside of his dormitory window. His enemies had been expelled and he’d faced another uphill battle, working with the counselor to undo the years of abuse and anxiety.

He’d thought he’d survive anything after that. Scaled mountains, in fact. Yet a river in Texas had almost done him in. Without Halle, he’d never have waded out of that cold water.

“You’re okay, Alastair.” She placed her hand on his shoulder for a brief moment as she rubbed his legs. The pins and needles sensation hurt like hell, but somewhere in the icy sludge of his brain he recognized she was preventing hypothermia.