Ride It

Chapter 2

A bit disoriented, I look at the man with a stupid look on my face. My brain still tries to process what the hell just happened.

I was about to fall off the cliff... so how did I get tugged back?

I look at the rope around my waist and feel my eyes widen as the thought occurs to me.

"Did you just - did you just lasso me!?" My voice is tinged with my disbelief.

There's no way that just happened.

My self-pity and sadness get overshadowed by the ridiculousness of the situation.

"I sure did, sweetheart. C'mon, let's get you up." He bends and grabs my arm to tug me off the ground.

I wince as I get to my feet and stumble into him.

He wraps his hand around my waist and holds me steady so I can catch my balance.

Embarrassed, I push myself out of his arms and wince as I limp a few steps backward.

The stranger's eyes glance down at my limp. "You hurt yourself, lass?"

It's so dark that I can barely make out his face.

"Why did you do that?" I ask, my hand moving to untie the rope that he has trailing from my waist to his fist.

He tugs his hand and makes me stumble forward, a chuckle spilling from his lips. "Sorry, sweetheart. It was too tempting not to."

My face gets heated as I realize that he's toying with me. This isn't funny at all.

I try to untie the rope from my waist again, only to get tugged forward.

A frustrated sound slips past my lips as I look at the stranger in exasperation.

"Stop."

"Right, sorry," he raises his hands in surrender and takes a step back, the rope still tightly wrapped around his fist. He doesn't seem too intent on unraveling it, either.

I go back to fumbling with the thick rope and find that I can't get it undone. It's firmly wrapped around my waist.

My heart slowly drops as I look up at the man warily. Is he going to do something to me?

"What do you want?" I ask, keeping a safe distance between us.

"I should ask you that. You're on my property. You tryna dump a body?"

I freeze, my mind blanking out for a second. "Dump a body?"

He points at the cliff. "You tryna kill yourself? What got you wanting to do that?"

"I..."

"Cat got your tongue?"

I didn't know that this was someone's property. I thought it was just a hill. Do hills have owners?

Feeling a bit guilty, I apologize. "I'm sorry. I didn't realize this is your land."

I look around at the large expansion of trees doubtfully and furrow my eyebrows. "This is your land?"

There isn't any house.

He opens his arms and gestures around us. "This whole area is my land, sweetheart. I own this estate."

An estate...

I only know one estate. I look out towards the large house that I saw in the distance and feel my eyes widen in surprise.

Is he talking about the Langston estate? The largest ranch in town whose crops basically dominate the markets? That estate?

"So? You gonna tell me what a pretty lady like yourself is doing tryna kick the bucket? You look injured." His eyes scan my body from head to toe.