by Joanne Rock
Her story.
But she wanted to get to know them first to determine if they could be reasoned with. After what their father had done, though, she was doubtful they would be trustworthy, having been brought up by such an awful person. Alonzo hadn’t restricted his hurtful deeds to just her father or her mother. He’d harmed her, too, and she’d only been a teen at the time.
Her father had turned her out of her home.
Marcus Salazar was fair game if he could lead her to answers, especially since she suspected his business had been built on income from her family scandal. As for the pretty brunette who lingered inside the spa, she could be an important piece of the puzzle. A way to get close to the Salazars. Regina watched as the woman brushed a tentative hand along her lips, as if remembering Marcus’s kiss even now.
Regina needed to figure out who she was and her connection to the Salazar family. If she was important to Marcus, that made her important to Regina. For entirely different reasons.
A twinge of conscience stung at the thought that the woman might be innocent. But Regina tamped it down by reminding herself that if the woman really was innocent, Regina would be doing her a favor to keep her out of the Salazar web. And clearly, the man meant something to her, which made her biased about the Salazars. Someone not to be trusted.
With Marcus well out of sight, Regina sidled around to the front of the building and searched for a way to let herself inside. The sooner she learned more about what the Salazars were doing in Montana, the sooner Regina could enact her plan for revenge.
* * *
In the middle of a stern mental talk with herself, Lily heard a rustling sound near the front door of the spa.
“Marcus?” She straightened from her spot at the counter, instantly alert. “Is that you?”
It was frustrating to see how quickly her heart rate ratcheted right back up.
“Hello?” The feminine voice coming from the foyer quickly deflated those thoughts. Then the voice’s owner, a petite brunette in dark work clothes and tennis shoes, strode into the room. “I’m looking for the manager?”
“I’m a guest of the ranch. Lily Carrington.” She extended her hand.
The woman smiled, dimples flashing in a way that transformed her face from pretty to stunning, all without an ounce of makeup as far as Lily could tell. The rich olive tone of her skin seemed to make her silver-gray eyes stand out all the more.
“Regina Flores.” The newcomer squeezed Lily’s palm quickly before letting go. “I live nearby and thought I’d see about a job here.”
“The ranch manager is Cooper Adler. He could probably help you. His office is in the main guest lodge.” Lily pointed in the general direction.
Regina nodded, hair sliding over one shoulder. “I’ll definitely check in with him.” She hesitated, her quicksilver eyes taking in the spa features. “So no one is working in here today? I’d love to book an appointment sometime, but I’ll bet all the services cost a small fortune.”
“I’m not sure.” She didn’t know how to answer that since she didn’t think the spa was going to be open to the general public, just to guests. “The ranch manager unlocked the building for me to look around because my company is doing some advertising for the ranch.”
“Lucky you.” The woman’s gaze darted to Lily as she gave a conspiratorial grin. “Maybe having a job here will help me get access to the spa, too.”
“Would you like me to take you over to the guest lodge?” she offered. “I can introduce you to Coop.”
“No need, but thank you just the same.” Regina waved off the proposal, and as she did so a paper fell from her pocket. “I’ll go in a minute.”
“You dropped something.” Lily bent to retrieve the brightly colored drawing from the white tile floor. It looked like a map.
“Oh. Right.” Regina took the paper quickly, blushing as she tucked into her pocket. “I’ve been trying to memorize the trails around here before I put myself in front of the ranch manager. I really do need a job, so I want to be able to fit into whatever role they need. Trail guide. Animal care. Cattle driver.”
Regina’s willingness to accept any of those jobs said a lot about how much she wanted—and needed—the work. Lily felt a swell of empathy for her, knowing that without her grandparents’ support, she would have been in a similar situation. They’d cut off Lily’s mother completely, which had occasionally put Lily in the impossible position of mediating between them.
Would they be as quick to withdraw their support of her now that Lily had made a huge decision that would affect Carrington Financial without consulting them? A deeper sense of doom resounded through her as she considered the broken engagement in that light.
“Are there many trails for riding?” Lily asked in an overbright voice, determined to redirect her thoughts back to her job. “I’ve been meaning to explore the whole property.”
She needed to make her position at Salazar Media unassailable, no matter which Salazar brother walked away with control of the company. She had to be indispensable.
“There are tons, especially on the side where the ranch borders the Bitterroot National Forest.” Regina pulled a packet from her other pocket while tucking her personal papers even farther out of sight. “I have an extra map of the area, if you’d like one. It has a few public trails marked around the perimeter of the ranch.”
“Thank you.” Lily opened the packet, which looked like it might be from a welcome center or local chamber of commerce. “I appreciate that.”
After a few more polite exchanges, the woman departed to seek out Coop, leaving Lily to her own devices again. She would study the property in more detail tonight and plan for a ride the next day. It would keep her focused on her job, which was critical right now. And as an added bonus, it would keep her away from the ranch, ensuring she didn’t fall into Marcus’s arms again.
* * *
What the hell had he done?
Restless and edgy from the kiss he’d shared with Lily, Marcus urged his horse to go faster as they headed toward a high point on the Mesa Falls Ranch property. He’d intended to make his interest in her crystal clear so she’d stay away from him. Instead, she’d stunned him to his toes by flashing that bare ring finger of hers.
She’d ended things with her fiancé. In part because of something he’d said in his ramble down by the river. But was that all there was to it? Or had the attraction between them played a role?
Marcus bent low over his mount’s neck, feeling the Appaloosa’s deep, even breaths as she surged higher up the hill. Together, they broke through a last stand of trees, emerging into a rocky clearing at the top. The horse slowed her pace naturally, and Marcus eased back in the saddle, gathering his bearings.
Jumping down to the ground, Marcus let the horse catch her breath while he walked to the edge of a cliff overhang to check out the view. A cold Montana wind stirred snow flurries from the trees. He tipped his head into the icy flakes, needing the crisp air to blow away the cobwebs in his brain. Or at least let him recover enough brain cells to figure out what had made him kiss Lily like his life depended on it.
Damn.
The move had been unwise at best—mixing his personal and professional worlds wasn’t a good idea—and downright risky to his goal of maneuvering his brother out of Salazar Media. Lily was Devon’s friend. Devon’s confidante. And no matter what she said to the contrary, she was almost certainly Devon’s spy this week.
Why else would his brother send the chief operating officer in his stead when he got stranded in India? If Devon had truly been concerned about his brother closing a deal, he could have sent their best account rep.
Turning from the view of the river valley, Marcus stalked toward the opposite side of the hilltop to peer back down in the direction he’d come from. Through the trees, he could see a few ranch hands creating a new pasture area with electric fencin
g, a never-ending task with the sustainable ranching model Mesa Falls had adopted.
Beyond that, farther down the long slope, Marcus glimpsed a corner of the spa building where he’d left the newly single Lily Carrington. He could make out a gabled roof over the side door and a hint of the gray slate pathway bracketed by snow-dusted bushes on either side.
In fact, was that her now, hurrying down the steps?
A dark-haired figure in black rushed down the path and darted out of view so quickly he almost thought he’d imagined her. Was it Lily? She’d been wearing a silky pink blouse when he’d been with her earlier. He remembered the feel of the fabric against his fingers when he’d pulled her to him and tasted the lips he’d dreamed about too many times. She could have a black jacket, though.
As he lingered there, reliving the kiss he probably shouldn’t have claimed but couldn’t ever regret, Marcus spotted a flash of pink. Lily—even from this distance he knew it was her—strode out of the spa at a more leisurely pace than the woman he’d just seen. She turned back toward the door briefly, as if checking the lock or making sure she hadn’t left something behind. While he watched, she zipped up the placket on a plum-colored coat.
Had there been someone else in the spa when he’d spoken to Lily? Had someone witnessed the kiss? Not that it was a huge secret or something forbidden. But it rankled him to think someone might have been there without them knowing. His brother’s words from an earlier phone call rattled around his brain.
If I wanted some kind of secret updates on you, I think I’d send someone who doesn’t stand out as much as Lily.
Could Devon have done something like that? It seemed far-fetched, even for Devon. The woman was more likely someone who worked at the ranch. He put her out of his mind for the moment as his gaze tracked Lily until she disappeared from view on the gray stone pathway.
Even from this distance, she drew him.
And now that she was unattached...
Cursing himself for letting his brain wander in that direction, he turned away from the cliff’s edge and stalked back toward his horse. He had enough trouble of his own without borrowing the kind Lily Carrington would bring into his life. He should be focused on finding a way to buy out Devon’s share of Salazar Media. Or figuring out how to obtain the papers that his father had left for Devon and him to open together.
But memories of Lily in his arms taunted him. The flash of heat in her pale blue eyes before he’d kissed her. The astonishment he’d glimpsed there afterward. Had it been surprise because he’d kissed her in the first place? Or might she have been rattled at how much it had affected her?
She’d felt so damned good against him, her subtle curves tempting his hands to explore every inch. And in turn, her fingertips had been hungry and restless as they’d skimmed over his arms.
A crow cackled in a nearby tree. Glancing up, he found the bird perched in a ponderosa pine cawing down at him like a troubled conscience, as if it was chiding him over how foolish it was to think about Lily when he needed to leave her alone. Marcus called to the Appaloosa, knowing it was time to get back to civilization when he was starting to find meaning in random bird noises.
Mounting the mare, he patted the horse’s neck and steered her toward the path back to the ranch. He had work to do, for starters, and he would just avoid Lily for the next few days. She was bound to be upset by the broken engagement, so he had no business confusing her with the attraction he felt for her. It was just lust, pure and simple.
Strong as hell, yes. But lust nonetheless.
It had to be. Because Marcus knew better than to feel anything more complicated than that for a woman with strong ties to his brother, her very presence threatening what he held most dear—his business.
Five
Lily sat at a game table in the great room of the lodge the next afternoon, poring over maps of the ranch. In theory, she was plotting a ride around the property to get a better feel for the area and the client’s needs. Her encounter with Regina Flores, the helpful local who’d lent her a map, had given Lily the inspiration she needed to quit brooding about the unexpected kiss from Marcus and the inevitable fallout with her grandparents when they learned she was giving Eliot back his ring.
As long as she was in Montana, she might as well make the most of it. Shuffling the paper maps, she reminded herself she had work to do. Marcus may have made light of her role here, but she planned to do her part to help Salazar Media secure Mesa Falls Ranch as an account long-term. In particular, she wanted to find a way to share the experience of this beautiful property with the world. Her company had often kicked off a client’s social media campaign with an event. The photos made for great posts and invited additional engagement. Lily had a few basic ideas, possibly with a charitable tie-in, but she wanted to see more of the land herself to find a unique angle or backdrop. Talking to people who worked the ranch could help, too.
Moreover, riding the ranch herself would give her time to enjoy the beauty of western Montana and provide some distance from Marcus. The man seemed to lurk in every corner of her thoughts since that heated encounter in the spa.
Her cell phone vibrated on the game table, sending a rush of anticipation through her before she could quell it. No doubt Marcus would want to meet again soon.
But the caller ID screen showed Devon’s name instead. An odd mixture of relief and disappointment swirled through her.
“Devon?” She shifted her focus to business. “Has there been any word from the embassy?”
“I’ve been cleared to travel,” he told her, his words spoken over a rush of other voices in the background. “I’m at the airport now.”
“That’s great news.” She wondered briefly what that meant for her. Should she pack her things? “I think the meeting with Marcus is better left in your hands.”
Maybe she’d recover from the crazy attraction once she was back in her office on the other side of the country.
“Actually, Lily, I’d prefer you don’t mention my travel status to my brother.” The background noise grew louder for a moment and quieted down.
“Why?” She felt a sinking sensation in her chest, hating to be put in a position of keeping secrets, given Marcus’s distrust of her. “It’s important for you to both be here since your father left paperwork—”
“I’m aware of that.” Devon sighed with a hint of impatience. “I’ve got to board soon, so I won’t be in the States until tomorrow anyhow. But I have some urgent business errands to run before I head to the ranch. I’m worried about—”
The call cut out.
Lily checked her screen and saw the phone showed the connection was still live. “Devon? Are you there?”
“Sorry.” His voice came back with a crackle. “I need some more information about that paperwork before I sit in the same room as Marcus to hear whatever bombshell Dad might have dropped.”
Nervous tension had Lily on her feet, pacing around the table, her riding boots quiet on the Aztec rug.
“I don’t understand.” She glanced toward the entrance of the room, ensuring she was still alone. “You think he knows what those papers contain?”
“I heard rumors about my dad’s secret work for years,” Devon said cryptically. “But I thought a lot of that was because my mother—well, there were a lot of hard feelings between her and my father. I just know I need to investigate a couple of possibilities before I get blindsided right in front of Marcus.”
Lily recalled Marcus’s expression when Cooper had informed him of the paperwork. He couldn’t have faked that surprise. “I really don’t think he knows anything.”
“But he wants to buy me out.” Devon’s words were clipped. Brusque. “Marcus will use anything to get control of the company. I can’t risk giving him the upper hand.” For a moment, a loudspeaker announcement in the airport muted anything Devon said. “I’m boarding now, Lily. Just keep
quiet that you heard from me, okay? And—most importantly—be careful of Marcus.”
The call disconnected.
Be careful? Just what did that mean?
Worried about her new role keeping secrets from Marcus, Lily felt a kink in her neck that spiraled down into both shoulders. When she was back in the office, she would give Devon a piece of her mind. She might still report to him, but she was no longer his assistant, and she didn’t appreciate being dragged into corporate politics. She’d earned her promotion because she was supremely well qualified for the job. Devon had no right to take advantage of their friendship.
She tapped her phone against her chin, thinking.
For now, she supposed it couldn’t hurt to do as he asked. She just wished he hadn’t called her at all and put her in this position.
She heard footsteps on the hardwood floor outside the great room, and Marcus appeared in the archway. Her belly did a flip as she tucked away her phone.
Dressed in dark jeans and boots, he looked as if he’d been out riding again. She’d seen him on horseback multiple times since arriving, which surprised her. She’d always thought of him as more of a tech guy with his knowledge of the digital side of their business. He set aside his snow-dusted jacket on a bar stool, his long-sleeved T-shirt stretched tight across his shoulders.
“Lily.” He stopped near the empty bar, watching her. “I didn’t know you were in here.”
Could he make it any more obvious that he was giving her space? Or did he simply regret that kiss?
Rattled for more reasons than she cared to pick through right now, Lily moved toward the table and began gathering her papers. She should be pleased that Marcus was wary of her, since it would make it easy for her to be careful around him, as Devon had put it.
