“Brad—”
“What it is currently is kind of irrelevant, Colt. If Deirdre and Lorne dig, and you know damn well they will, and they find something that even remotely colors the judge’s opinion of you being honest about the relationship, you could still lose it.”
“You’re joking.”
“I wish I was, man. Stranger shit has happened in court rooms. You get the wrong judge, and they find the right piece of dirt that proves there was intent to defraud here?” He spreads his hands. “It’s game over, buddy.”
I let the air out slowly and sink back in my chair. “Fuck, Brad. Anything else you want to brighten my day with?”
He chuckles. “Plenty. But I think you’ve taken enough of a beating today. Let’s call it. Tomorrow, we can start talking legal strategy, alright?”
I nod and stand with him. I walk through the house, and I groan. Every single surface—every inch of this place reminds me of Tansy now. And I don’t even mean places we’ve screwed, those that’s basically every surface of the house at this point.
I look at the sofa in the living room and remember the movie we watched curled up together. The kitchen where we’ve made dinner. The front porch where we lay in each other’s arms on the bench swing, or had a picnic under the overhang when it was raining the other day.
It’s been no time at all. But somehow, Tansy’s managed to slip into every part of my life. And fake or not at the start, I know what’s real now. I know what we have is real, and powerful, and bigger than anything I’ve ever even come close to feeling.
In the driveway, I shake Brad’s hand.
“Tomorrow, Colt. This isn’t over by a long shot, so don’t stress. We’ll talk and we’ll come up with a realistic plan.”
I nod grimly as he steps into the car. When he’s gone from the driveway, I turn and wander around the side of the house. I walk slowly through the garden and find myself at the cottage door. I know she’s not home, but I open the door and step in anyways. It smells like her in here. It feels like her. I walk through it slowly, trying to imagine a life without her in it.
I fuckin’ hate that life, whatever it is.
In her bedroom, I run my hand over the pillow. I start to sit, when suddenly I hear the sound of her truck screeching to a stop in the gravel driveway. I frown and stand. But I’m barely to the door when I hear her yelling my name.
“Colt!!” she screams. “Colt!!”
“Tansy!” I roar, lunging for the doorway. But when she spots me from across the garden, I realize she’s not in trouble. She sees me, and she grins widely as she bolts towards me.
“Tansy—”
“I need to show you something!”
‘What?”
“I’m not sure, but I think it might fix everything.”
12 Tansy
I don’t think he’s expecting it. But when I crash into his arms, they instantly go around me, pulling me close. I press my face to his chest, inhaling his scent before I look up into his gorgeous eyes.
He smiles curiously. “What?”
“Nothing, I just—”
I catch myself. My lips snap shut before I can say the utterly insane thing I was about to say to the man I’ve known for all of two weeks. Instead, I lean up on my toes, and I kiss him softly on the lips. He groans and pulls me closer. He kisses me back, and my heart skips all over the place.
“What’s going on?”
I pull back and rake my teeth over my lip. Then I hold up a flash drive.
“Um, okay? What—”
“I need to show you something.” I grin as I take his hand and pull him into the cottage. Inside, I grab my laptop and sit on the couch. Colt slides in next to me as I open it up and pop in the thumb drive.
“Okay, don’t ask me how I got this.”
He smirks.
“But, here…”
I open the image first, of the side-by-side chemical compound. Colt peers at it. “What am I…” He frowns. “What the fuck?”
“Recognize it?”
He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a slim case. From that, he pulls out wireframe glasses and slips them on. I stare at him, biting my lip.
Jesus, how is it possible that this man gets even hotter every single day?
He slides my computer into his lap and studies the screen. “Yeah. It’s the compound for the additive to Mare-Mate. But,” he frowns. “Well, the one on the left is. The other one is almost identical, but it’s… not.”
I can feel my pulse quicken. When I read over the emails and saw the slightly different formulas, I had a hunch. But I need the man with the chemistry know-how to confirm it.
“What’s different?”
“This,” he points to a part of the formula. “It’s a similar function, but this is a different alkaline.”
“Is it for the enzyme layer?”
He turns to look at me curiously. “It is…”
I slowly start to grin.
“Tansy, what’s this all about—”
“I think I know what’s wrong with Chance.”
His eyes widen. “Yeah?”
I nod. “Yeah, except…” I look down as my lip catches between my teeth. Colt moves closer and takes my hands.
“What is it, Tansy?”
“I know what’s wrong, but if it gets out, it could destroy your company.”
He blinks, frowning. “What?”
“This isn’t the same enzyme, right?”
Colt shakes his head. “No, it’s…” suddenly, I see the metaphorical lightbulb flicker on above his head. “Oh shit.”
“Yeah.”
“Oh shit!” He groans. “My enzyme coating can only be digested by mares. This one—”
“Stallions can too,” I finish. “Chance can’t get a boner because he’s been chowing down on estrogen enhancers and fertility drugs.”
Colt’s face pales. “Fuck me.”
“I’m sorry, baby,” I whisper as I squeeze his hand. “If we use this against Deirdre, it’s going to destroy your company.”
“Maybe,” he nods. But then slowly he
