Natalie Acres by Sex Retreat [Cowboy Sex 6]

leading to the water. “Let’s see what we can rummage up to eat. The caretakers were supposed to stock the house and the refrigerator down at the lodge. I hope you found whatever you needed.”
    “Nay,” Cash said, waving his hand. “Lance’s driver took me grocery shopping before he provided a lift out here. I had pretty much everything I wanted anyway.”
    “Good. Good.” Mitch walked ahead of him.
    “Is that woman you told me about meeting you here?”
    Mitch stepped onto the front porch of the house, found the brass key he needed, and unlocked the door. He motioned Cash inside and flipped on the overhead track lighting. “No, I don’t think so. She’s out of town and I haven’t talked to her.”
    “Hmm,” Cash said, the mischief dancing in his eyes. “Haven’t seen her since you’ve been out?”
    “No,” Mitch replied. “I tried. My attempt was met with great opposition.”
    “What kind of opposition?” Cash asked, following him to the galley kitchen.
    Mitch tossed the keys on the breakfast bar, opened and closed a few cabinets, and checked the refrigerator for snacks and drinks. “Can I fix you something to eat?”
    “I’m not hungry.” Cash sat on a barstool. “And you’re avoiding the question. This opposition…did it appear in the form of two men, those fellas you once thought of as your buddies?”
    Mitch faced him. “As a matter of fact, it did. Why?”
    Cash shrugged. “Just askin’.”
    “How long were we cellmates, Cash?”
    “Four years.”
    “You know me as well as anyone else. Right?”
    “Probably so. All a man has when he’s behind bars is great conversation and endless dreams. We talked a lot. I consider you a friend. Figure we know one another pretty well. Why?”
    “Do you think I should give up on Trixie?”
    Cash stroked his chin. “How come you’d ask me? Only you should know the answer to that one. If you haven’t seen her yet, I wouldn’t make a final call until you do.”
    “At the risk of sounding like a stalker, here’s what happened. I stopped by here the day I was released, but couldn’t tell you how I ended up here. I don’t know how long I stayed.
    “I must’ve consumed a lot of alcohol. The morning I left for Asheville, I woke up to a wastebasket full of beer cans and a filthy ashtray.”
    “Were you drunk when you arrived?”
    “No,” Mitch replied. “At least I don’t think so.”
    “Go on,” Cash encouraged him.
    “Anyway, I didn’t stick around. The memories here were enough to drive me over the edge. So I hired a driver and headed to North Carolina.”
    “And you saw the little woman?” Cash scooted to the edge of the stool.
    Mitch grabbed two beers from the refrigerator. He passed one can off to Cash and opened the other one. “I saw her but she didn’t see me.”
    “Sounds a little stalker-ish to me.”
    “I hate to think of it like that but yeah, okay, I was lurking around in the shadows, spying on her.” Mitch shook his head. “I don’t know what I was thinking. Turns out, according to Trixie’s sister, she knew somebody was watching her. Poor thing thought she was going crazy.”
    “Poor thing indeed,” Cash muttered.
    “Anyway, Brock and Rory found out I was in town. They paid me a visit. Told me—rather than asked me on a favor like good, decent friends might do—to leave her alone. They left and I made up my mind to go see her anyway. I drove out to their place this morning and they were already gone.”
    A slow smile crept across Cash’s face.
    “You think this is funny?”
    “I do,” Cash replied.
    Mitch took a drink of his beer and studied his buddy. This was what bothered him about Cash. The guy had always had a tendency to act nefarious at the oddest times. Cash seemingly found weird amusement in the strangest situations.
    “This isn’t a laughing matter. I love her, man. I’ve always loved her.”
    Cash turned up his beer and took several drinks before he said, “Well maybe you can tell