Read Online Bad Boy Billionaire: F#cking Jerk 3 by Tawny Taylor - Free Book Online

after grabbing one of his protein bars for breakfast, I began my search for a piece of paper and pencil to make up my list. My search started in the kitchen. But all the drawers and cabinets were paper and pencil-free. So I moved on, searching the side tables and credenza in the great room. At one point I hesitated, after locating some letters from his sister Carrie. This felt so wrong. I wasn’t the kind of girl who sifted through other people’s things. Sure, I doubted Clay would care. But still, I felt a little guilty. That was, until I reminded myself that Clay had told me to make the shopping list. Surely he would expect me to write it on something.
    I moved on to one of the unused bedrooms. This room, like the rest of the house was furnished tastefully, the furnishings totally masculine. More a library than a bedroom, it had an entire wall covered floor-to-ceiling in bookcases. I gazed for a moment at the books, old hardcover volumes that had probably belonged to Clay’s parents. Then I checked out the rest of the furnishings. The table next to the bed looked like a small antique writing desk, with three shallow drawers running along the top. I pulled the center drawer open and discovered a stack of papers, printed on an attorney’s letterhead.
    My gaze went to the top lines, where it said in big, bold letters: Purchase Agreement. Silver Sage Ranch. Dawson, Wyoming.

 
     
     
     
     

Chapter 7
    Purchase agreement.
    There had to be some kind of mistake.
    Clay wouldn’t do this to me.
    He couldn’t!
    He loved me.
    My insides twisted. The pain. It felt like a blade ripping, tearing through me.
    He fucking loved me! Nobody did something like this to someone they loved!
    My hands trembled as I lifted the document and tried to focus on the black letters filling the page.
    Purchase agreement.
    It was a sales contract. For my ranch. My ranch.
    How could he sell it to anyone? It belonged to me!
    This had to be a mistake.
    I flipped the pages. I couldn’t read a damn word. I was blinded. By shock. Confusion.
    On the last page I saw a series of blank lines. No signatures. Did that mean the sale hadn’t gone through yet?
    What the hell was I thinking?
    How could a sale take place without my consent? As far as I knew I hadn’t lost the property. Not yet. The lawyer, Hardin, hadn’t contacted me. He would have told me if I’d lost the property, wouldn’t he?
    Yes. Of course he would!
    Or had he been trying to tell me I’d lost it when I met with him?
    Shit! What had he said? I couldn’t remember.
    “There you are!” Harper said, jerking me out of my coma. Reacting out of guilt, I smacked the drawer shut and stumbled backward. “What are you doing?”
    “I was looking for a…for a…” Something wedged in my throat and I couldn’t spit out the rest of the words.
    “What is it? What’s wrong?”
    “I…” That thing in my throat swelled to double the size. “I…” I wheezed and teetered.
    My ranch.
    Clay.
    The contract.
    What the fuck?
    The world dimmed. Stars twinkled.
    Harper rushed past me and yanked open the drawer. Then she grabbed my hand and led me from the room. “That fucking bastard!” she yelled as she dragged me down the hall and into my room. She kicked the door shut behind us and steered me to the bed.
    I sat, tears spilling from my eyes. “It’s not what it looks like, right?”
    “It looks like Clay sold your place.”
    “But he can’t. It isn’t his to sell,” I reminded her…and myself.
    “I don’t know.”
    “This doesn’t make any sense.” I rubbed my head, trying to stimulate my brain. Think. Think. I needed to think.
    What the hell was going on?
    “Maybe it went to him after the fire?” she suggested.
    “No. It didn’t. Not yet. I don’t think. I just met with the lawyer. He didn’t tell me I’d lost it… yet . At least…I don’t think he did. But even if I did, Clay wouldn’t sell it out from under me. He wouldn’t do that.”
    Softly, she murmured, “It