My orgasm faded, and Wyatt’s breathing slowed. When he was finished, he dropped his hand to my ass again and squeezed it hard.
“That’s…damn, that’s exactly what I needed,” he breathed.
“Can’t disagree,” I replied haughtily.
He reached forward and undid the rope, my hands dropping free. Behind me I could hear him moving around, rustling through some clothes. I turned, pulling up my pants and fastening them before slipping the blindfold off my face. What I saw when I took it off gave me a jump. Wyatt had the camera in his hands, his brow furrowed as he looked it over.
“What are you doin’?” I asked, trepidation in my heart as he looked up.
He grinned in reply. “Taking pictures of the horses is nice and all, but I’m thinking about some other stuff we could snap some shots of.”
I grinned, some of the fear melting. He wasn’t flipping through the pictures. “Something in mind?”
“You know what I’m thinking,” he said. “Maybe some pictures of you right now. The two of us. A shot of you looking all hot as hell and freshly fucked.”
It sounded good to me. My hands still on the rail, I turned toward him, sticking my ass out, my tits hanging down. “How’s that?”
“Perfect pose.” He raised the camera and snapped a few pictures. “There we go.”
I loved the idea of Wyatt having some pictures of me. It was easy to imagine him alone, flipping through them, his cock hardening.
“How about you?” I asked. “Not fair you’ve got some of me but I’ve got none of you.”
“I suppose you’re right about that,” he said. He stepped over, his cock still hard, sheened with my wetness. I couldn’t help myself and groaned aloud at the sight of him.
“Damn, girl,” he said. “Still got an appetite after all that, huh?”
I dropped to my knees in front of him and looked up at him through my lashes. He reached down with one hand and gripped my hair as he brought his dick to my lips. I wrapped my mouth around his head, the sweet and salty taste washing over my palate. He groaned with pleasure as I dragged my lips up and down his length.
“That’s…that’s worth another picture.” I glanced up, grinning through the blowjob. He aimed the camera and took another shot.
Wyatt was packing a lot – more than enough to fill my mouth. I continued to suck him, my hand working in tandem with my lips and tongue. He placed his hand on the back of my head, guiding me down lower and lower. To my surprise, I was able to take nearly the entire length of his long, thick prick into my throat.
It didn’t take much of this before he erupted again. Wyatt shot another load, this one spraying into my mouth. He grunted in that impossibly sexy way he did when he came, and I eagerly swallowed every last drop of him.
“One…one more,” he said. I looked up and he snapped another shot as a bead of wetness trailed down my lips. “Holy hell, girl,” he said after taking another breath. “That…that was somethin’ else.”
“Happy to please,” I said after he withdrew his cock and I wiped my mouth.
Still basking in the afterglow, we put our clothes back on. When Wyatt was done, he dropped onto one of the bales of hay, the camera in front of his face.
I glanced up and saw him staring at the screen. Before I could say anything, he spoke without looking at me as he perused the pictures.
“Just reviewing – see what I might want to put in my portfolio.”
His face darkened as he scrolled, and my heart sank. I knew what he’d seen and was furious with myself. I’d gotten so wrapped up in the work and the sex and everything else that I let him scroll thoughtlessly. The expression on his face made it clear as day that he’d found the other photos.
He held up the camera, a shot of him on the display. “I’m gonna need an explanation for this,” he said, anger in his voice. “And I’m gonna need it right fuckin’ now.”
Chapter 15
WYATT
What the fuck was I looking at? I couldn’t fucking believe it. I didn’t even wait for Jess to give an explanation before I returned my attention to the camera, hitting the back button again and again.
At first, I thought, no, I hoped, I was imagining shit. But with every picture reality became clearer and clearer. Jess, for God only knew what reason, had nothing but shots of me and the ranch on her camera. I was wearing different outfits in the photos, meaning they’d been taken at different times.
Anger and confusion boiled inside me. Jess said nothing, and I could tell she knew she was busted.
“One more time,” I said through clenched teeth, holding up the camera. “Explain this shit right now.”
The color had drained out of her face. Jess was fully clothed, her hair still mussed from the sex we’d just finished. “I…I can’t.”
“You can’t,” I stated, letting my voice lower in my anger. “You can’t or you won’t?”
“I can’t!” The words were panicked.
I didn’t know what to say. The camera still in my hands, I went all the way back to the beginning of the photos. When I reached the start, I hit the delete button for each and every one. “You’ve got pictures of me and the ranch,” I seethed. “Well, you did. Gettin’ rid of them right now.”
“That’s…fine.”
It took me a minute or two, the silence tense as I completed the deleting. When it was done, I dropped the camera, not even wanting to look at the damn thing. I glared at her as I spoke. “This is your last chance to tell me what the hell’s going on, Jess. Because whatever it is, you’re gonna need a damn, damn good explanation.”
She took a deep breath as she wrung her hands together. I almost felt bad for the girl – she was scared shitless.
“If…if I had an explanation, I’d give it to you. But I don’t.”
“Let me guess,” I said, sarcasm dripping off my tongue. “You don’t remember why these are here.”
“That’s right,” she retorted, more strength in her voice as she defended herself. “I found those pictures and was as surprised as you are right now.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Alright, so you knew about these? How long have you been hidin’ this?”
She chewed her lip. “I found the camera a few days ago. I was looking through my bag and it was in a side compartment. I went through it and saw those pictures and didn’t know what the hell do to.”
“So, you’ve known about them for a while,” I mused angrily, shaking my head. “And you thought the best plan was to hide them from me? Even after I asked you time and again if you had any other information?”
“What was I supposed to say?” she asked, her voice rising. “Hey, Wyatt, I found all these pictures on my camera of you and the ranch. Not sure why they’re there, but probably because I was spying on you.”
I did my best to keep my anger in check. The situation was fucking strange as hell but screaming at Jess wouldn’t have done a damn bit of good.
“You should’ve said somethin’, Jess. I’ve been sayin’ to you that we can’t have any secrets between us. I was thinkin’ we were on the level with each other, but this whole fuckin’ time you’ve been hidin’ this. There a reason why?”
“Because I wanted to wait for my memory to come back. There has to be some good explanation for why I took those pictures. I guess I figured I’d remember, and then I’d tell you and everything would be cool.”
I snorted. “Everything’s not ‘cool’ Your memory didn’t come back, and now I don’t know if I can trust you.” Her memory of the conversation she shared with Amy popped in my head, and my eyes narrowed. “And then there’s that shit with Amy. Who the hell are you, Jess? What kind of damn woman have I let into my life?”
She opened her mouth, but no words came out. I’d asked her a question she couldn’t possibly answer. I realized there wasn’t a single reason the conversation needed to continue. I was asking her for an explanation she couldn’t provide. I bent, picked up the camera, and tossed it in her direction. Jess cau
ght it, looking down at the thing like it was radioactive.
Then I rose from the bale. “I’ve got a lot of shit to think about,” I said. “Until then, I don’t want to see you.”
“But…” No words came after that. Good thing, because anything she had to say, I didn’t want to hear it.
“Put your jacket on, it’s cold out,” I growled as I left. “And close the barn when you’re done.”
I almost didn’t want to leave the animals. They’d provided comfort in their snorts and snuffles. I could lose myself in their care and untangle my thoughts. But I didn’t want to be in the barn with her, and Juniper and Red were perfectly fine
Red. I shook my head as I stepped out of the barn and headed for my cabin. I’d named my damn horse after a woman who very well could’ve been lying through her teeth from the moment we’d met. Hell, maybe the memory loss had been a lie she’d whipped up too.
Once I was in my cabin, my eyes settled on Jess’s things. Most of her belongings were still in the room at the main house, but I needed to do something about what was at my place. Throwing her out in the cold wasn’t all that appealing, but at that moment I sure as shit didn’t want to see her until I had a better idea of what the hell was going on.
Amy. I had to call her and see if I could figure out what the fuck was going on. Phone in hand, I stepped into the kitchen and poured myself a shot of Maker’s Mark. Angry drinking wasn’t usually my thing, but I was riled up and knew a little nip of something would cool my blood. Once the shot was down the hatch, I dialed Amy’s number and waited for her to answer.
“Wyatt,” she schmoozed. “This is unexpected.”
“Jess Whitman,” I grumbled. “Tell me what you know about her. And no bullshit this time.”
There was a pause. “Hm. Jess…what-man? Name doesn’t ring a bell.”
“Dammit, Amy!” My tone was edged with anger, and I forced myself to calm down. I inhaled, exhaled, and said, “Amy, I know you know her. Now, we can fuck around for the next half hour until you finally tell me what’s going on, or we can get to it right now. Your call.”
“Wyatt, I don’t know who you’re talking about. I haven’t met anyone by that name. Maybe you’re confused.” She chuckled mischievously. “One of the horses give you a hoof to the head and get you all discombobulated?”
Amy wanted to play games, and I was in the mood for anything but. Some choice words formed in my mind, but I knew if I were to let them out, they’d cause nothing but trouble.
“Jess Whitman. I found her on my property a few days ago. She’d had taken a spill, lost her damn memory.”
“Wow. Bummer.” She clearly didn’t give a shit.
“Decided to let her stay at the ranch until her memory came back.”
“Very nice of you, Wyatt,” she retorted dryly. “There a reason you’re telling me this?”
“There sure as hell is. The other day some memories came back to her, ones of you and her having a conversation. She said you guys had met, and I was the subject.”
Silence on the other end. I was onto something.
“Then I find a camera that belongs to her, one that’s full of pictures of me and the ranch, like she was spying on me or somethin’.” I paused. Silence. “Now, I ain’t a damn detective, but it’s lookin’ like you tried to pull some underhanded shit and I wanna know about it.”
“I don’t know wha—”
“You toss another lie in my direction and you’ll find out just how hard I’ll fight in court to make sure you don’t see a damn dime more than I already gave you. And I got a feeling the judge won’t take too kindly to this sort of underhanded shit.”
“Now hold on just a damn minute,” she replied haughtily. “Don’t you accuse me of being underhanded.”
“Amy.” I said her name as if it were a curse word, halting hers. “You know God damned well you’re not gettin’ another damn penny. Now tell me what the fuck you did! I’m done playing!”
More silence. There was a good chance Amy was whipping up another lie, but I hoped she’d realize her back was against the wall.
“Fine. Jess Whitman,” she finally said, elongating the name. “If you really want to get technical about it, it’d be Jess Whitman, PI.”
“PI?” I asked, a scowl on my face. “What the hell’s that? Like…a private investigator?”
“Sharp as ever, Wyatt.” I held my tongue. “Not sure how close you’ve gotten with the girl, but I’m guessing it wasn’t enough for this little secret to come out.”
“Get to it, Amy. Tell me what you did.”
“Where to begin?” she mused with a small snicker.
“Pick a place and start. When you met Jess comes to mind.”
She sighed. “Wyatt, you know I’m looking to cover myself during this nasty little process.”
“If you wanna call it that,” I said scathingly.
“To that end, I aimed to see if there was any kind of…leverage I could use to my advantage. Maybe something about the squeaky-clean Wyatt Walker that might do me some good in the courtroom.”
“Sounds like the Amy I know.”
“You want me to explain? Then let me.” The anger I remembered crossed the phone line.
“Fine.”
“Jess came highly recommended –one of the top PIs in Houston. Once I’d had a chance to look over her record, I set up a meeting. She told me the first step was to hear my side of the story and go from there.”
“And when you met you told her nothing but lies.”
“I told her my side of the story,” she defended. “Jess was all too eager to help, especially when I told her what I was willing to pay.”
That didn’t sound like the Jess I’d come to know. I reminded myself to keep in mind that while Amy was supposedly coming clean, she was still Amy to the core. Trusting every word that came out of her mouth would be a stupid idea.
“Go on,” I said.
“We met up, like I said. I told her my side of the story, and we signed on the dotted line. She agreed to work for me.”
“And what kind of work are we talking about here, exactly?”
“The kind of work you might find on a digital camera,” she replied sarcastically. I could imagine her rolling her eyes. “I paid her to keep tabs on you, let me know if she found anything of interest.”
“What’d she find?”
She laughed. “You think I’m going to give away everything?”
“You’d better.”
“It doesn’t even matter. She told me she was going off the radar for a little while, scope out your place and find out what she could. I never heard back from her.”
I said nothing, waiting for more. When she said nothing, I asked, “That’s it?”
“That’s it. What were you expecting?”
Truth was, I was expecting some kind of explanation for what had happened to Jess out in the snow. But it was looking like it’d been nothing more than an accident – Jess had likely slipped and fallen in the process of spying on me. Fucking spying. Never in a million fucking years would I have guessed Jess would be in that line of work. A PI? It was almost too crazy to believe.
“I want to know what you told her about me and you. I wanna know exactly what your side of the story was.”
I could imagine the bullshit sob story Amy had put together for her. I hoped was the case, anyway. Knowing Jess could have some money dangled in front of her face to do work like this didn’t sit right with me in the slightest.
“I said I’d tell you how I knew Jess, and I did. You want to know more, you can give me what I want, Wyatt. Or we can see each other in court.”
I needed to get off the phone. “Weren’t you listenin’? You’ve got nothin’, and you know it.”
“We’ll see.”
The line went dead. I tucked my phone into my pocket, my eyes going to the bottle of bourbon. Part of me wanted to chug it, but I knew it wouldn’t be a smart idea. Blasting my brains into oblivion with booze wouldn’t hel
p – I needed a clear mind to handle this.
A knock sounded at the door, one that was soft and wary. Had to be Jess. As much as I didn’t want to see her, I needed to hear her out after what I’d learned. Maybe she had a side to the story that would make more sense.
I opened the door. She stood on the threshold, a worried expression painting her stunning features, and it was clear whatever she wanted to say, she was having a hard time with it. Without saying a word, I stepped away from the door and let her inside, letting her close the door behind her.
I dropped onto the couch and Jess sat across from me. It pained me a bit to know only an hour ago if we’d been alone, she’d be right next to me, my arm around her shoulders as she curled up against me. Instead, she was tense. Her back was straight, and her hands were on her knees, her fingertips kneading anxiously into the denim.
“You know Amy,” I said, getting right to the point. “I just got off the phone with her. Turns out you’re some kind of private investigator. She paid you to spy on me.”
I don’t know what I expected. If Amy was right, it was the truth, and laying the truth out on a liar had a way of coaxing the rest of the story out of them. But Jess was an unusual case – she had no memory. Or that’s what I’d been led to believe.
She shook her head. “I don’t know. I…don’t know.”
“It’d sure as shit explain those pictures on your camera,” I said, leaning forward. “Those weren’t some friendly snapshots – those were taken from far away.”
Jess was hurting, no doubt about. But now I was wondering whether it was all an act.
“I don’t remember anything,” she murmured. “I met with Amy, that’s true. But I barely remember the conversation and I don’t remember anything else about the job. Or about being a PI. Wyatt...I don’t know what to say.”
Fucking hell. More blood from a stone.
Cowboy's Baby: A Secret Baby Ranch Western Cowboy Romance Page 14
