by Jess Bentley
“You mean instead of letting me take your clothes off and admire you?” I leaned around and kissed her lips once. “Instead of kissing you, like this.” Kiss. “Then undressing you.” Kiss. “And putting my mouth—”
Meredith gasped when I whispered the rest of my sentence in her ear, then bit gently on her earlobe. My hands, still working her shoulders, were pulled downward when she covered them with her own. Following her lead, I slipped them down inside the collar of her shirt, my fingers finding their way over the smooth mounds of her breasts. I slid my hands free only long enough to turn her around to face me, then pulled her legs around my waist, securing them behind my back with one hand around her crossed ankles.
She leaned her head up and looked at me, giving me full access to the graceful arch of her neck. I started at her collarbone, taking my time moving up her neck to her ear. I felt the vibration of her voice in her throat beneath my lips when she said, “What are we doing, Colt?”
We. She didn’t say you, to ask what are you doing. We meant that we were in this together. Now we were both in this.
“Enticing you to stay?” I murmured hopefully, but I could feel her shaking her head as I continued to nibble at the soft skin below her ear.
Despite her silent protests, her hands worked their way under my shirt and raked soft scratches down my back. I could have laid her back on the countertop and fucked her right then and there, just to feel that sensation one more time. But I reminded myself she was skittish.
“You know I want to so bad it hurts, but I can’t. I have a life in Chicago, a job. I have to go back.”
I switched tactics then, trying to appeal to her sense of reason. “Come on, the part won’t be here for a while yet and you can’t exactly call a cab in these parts. This ain’t Chicago, you know.”
“Trust me, I’m painfully aware this isn’t Chicago. If it was, I’d be enjoying some sushi then catching an Uber back to my place!” She actually stuck her tongue out at me after she spoke, and it was like a flash of electricity through my thick skull, reminding me of when we’d been kids.
“That car from the airport won’t come cheap,” I hinted, leaning my elbows on the counter on either side of her, pinning her in her seat and grinning at her.
“Gee, if only I knew a billionaire who owned an airplane, a helicopter, and a fleet of vehicles…” She looked thoughtful for a second, then kept on mocking me. “Oh well, a girl can dream! It’ll be fine, I promise. I can call a car service from the airport, it’ll come out of the budget I was supposed to use to fly down here in the first place instead of trying to road trip it in my poor old car.”
“You know, I got another reason for asking you to stay.” I paused, and she finally looked up from her work for a second. “That party I told you about…”
“The Barons’ Ball?” she asked, confused.
I had just off-handedly mentioned it to her on our ride to the orchard. At this point I was grasping at anything to coax this filly to be mine.
“Yeah, sorry. It just doesn’t exactly sound like my crowd, or yours either. I’m more comfortable photographing these people’s houses than playing dress up and eating caviar with them.”
“I know, but I’m supposed to get this award. I could really use a sweet little thing by my side. It would be a big help. Almost like you were saving me from a pack of wild coyotes.”
I gave her the best charming smile I had when she narrowed her eyes at me.
“What award? I’ve been talking to you about your ranch and your eco-farming for a major magazine article, and you never mentioned an award!” Meredith turned back around to the countertop and grabbed her notebook.
I gave out an exhausted breath. I wasn’t going to get anywhere with this wild filly till she got this damn article off her mind. She took notes while I mumbled half-heartedly about it, and I couldn’t help but hope it intrigued her at least a little bit.
“Well, when does this fancy affair take place?” she asked, sounding almost like she’d be willing to go along with it. I cringed, and hesitated so long that she looked up from her notebook and watched my face. “Maybe Diana would want me to stay and cover the award?”
“Next month.”
“Next month? Are you insane? I can’t stay here for a month just to go to a fancy party!” she shrieked, but then she smiled at me with a sympathetic look. “Look Colt, I’d have been honored to go with you, really I would. But it’s just not possible.”
“I guess I knew that... I was just hoping, that’s all.”
In the end, though, none of that managed to change her mind any. To be honest, if anyone had tried to get me to stick around just to go to the stupid Baron’s Ball, I’d have packed my bags even faster. Damn waste of time, dressing up in a ridiculous outfit to stand around with a bunch of other richer-than-God idiots, pretending we were all somehow important and useful to society. Meredith was the only thing that could make that night bearable.
Instead, only an hour later, she was sitting on my front porch with her camera bag in her lap, waiting on a ride.
“You don’t have to do this, you know,” I reminded her for the millionth time. It was a struggle, but I managed to keep most of the whine out of my voice. “You could just stay, get your work done, relax a little.”
“No, I can’t,” she answered, looking straight ahead. She wasn’t even rocking in the old chair beside mine. She just sat perfectly still, looking uncomfortable. “If I don’t go now, maybe I won’t ever go. Then where would you be?”
I started to answer, “In heaven,” but knew that would only scare her into taking off running up the road to meet the car service halfway. Anything I said would only make her bolt out of here even faster. The only answer I had was… don’t. Don’t leave, don’t turn away. Just don’t. But she didn’t want to hear that.
We rocked in silence, neither one of us admitting what we were feeling. From time to time, Meredith’s phone would ping with another text, no doubt from her editor demanding to see the pictures and at least a few words of the article. It was annoying, but at least it let me know she was telling the truth. She really did have to go.
We heard the car making its way up the dirt road long before we could see it. Off in the distance, the cloud of red dust that floated over the vehicle gave away just how close it was. Meredith stood up and shouldered her bag, watching for the car.
“You’ll come back, won’t you?” I asked hesitantly, taking her hand before sliding my arm around her waist.
“Of course,” she said, but her voice was as empty as her promise. “I can’t wait to see what you’re installing in the north pasture over there. You told me about it, but I bet it’s really something when you see it in working order.”
When the dark blue car pulled up in front of the house, the driver got out and came towards us. It’d been a long time since I wanted to punch someone so badly, even though common sense told me he didn’t have anything to do with this. This was just me being pigheaded, and Meredith being her stubborn, adventurous self. She’d rather take off back to the big city than give me a chance… or give us a chance, that is.
“Well, bye,” she said awkwardly before turning and heading down the steps. “I’ll send you a message when the article goes out, and I’m sure the PR department will send you a few copies. And…um, thanks.”
I was frozen in place, unable to run down the steps and throw myself in front of the car. I felt something dangerously close to hope when I saw her through the back window, I swear it looked it like she’d reached up and wiped away a tear. Even if she had, it wasn’t enough to make her stop the car and come back to me.
Having her here for just these few hours had been like waking up at last. I hadn’t realized I’d been in a deep sleep, one where I didn’t dream or even really rest. The sleep was nothing more than holding still and trying hard not to hurt, until Meredith showed up on my doorstep and woke me.
They pulled away, and there was nothing left for me to do but head back
to work. A few backbreaking hours in the scorching heat might help me think of something but Meredith, and if I was really lucky, I’d forget she was ever here.
Chapter 10
Meredith
It’s really hard to look professional while you’re choking on your own tears in the backseat of a car. The driver had glanced in his mirror once or twice at the sound of my muffled sobs, probably just to make sure I wasn’t going to throw up or jump out of the moving car, but then had the blessed courtesy to let me be. The last thing I needed was to make small talk about where I was headed.
How did I get myself into this? It was supposed to be a great opportunity to get my work some more attention, maybe lead back to the kinds of assignments I used to thrive on. I’d gone on hundreds of assignments that didn’t end with falling into bed with my old childhood crush, so what had gone so horribly wrong?
You’re weak, that’s what happened, I chastised myself. You saw him standing there, dripping wet and half naked, and you turned back into a giggly teenager. And you have the nerve to call yourself a journalist.
Almost as big as the hole in my heart where Colt had been only a few minutes ago was the nagging feeling that Diana was going to learn about this, and that would be the end of my career. That thought actually made my stomach churn, and I carried a tense feeling in my neck every time I thought of being called into her office. My only hope was that the draft I send in this afternoon would redeem any wrong I could commit, and that was a big “fat chance” considering I was going to be writing it in an airport restaurant.
There’s no point in worrying about it, my inner voice reminded me. What’s done is done, now just do your job.
Even without the threat of my job hanging over my night with Colt, there was someone else to think about: Bryant. How would he react if he knew? I sincerely doubted he’d send a bottle of champagne with a note that said, “Congrats on banging my baby sister, hope it was fun.” In fact, picturing my big brother’s face if he ever found out the truth nearly had me ready to vomit in the back of the car.
Mercifully, we arrived at the airport without too much conversation. The driver left me at my terminal, and since my luggage was still sitting in my dead car’s trunk, the check in process was a breeze. Before too long, I was seated at the bar of some non-descript restaurant near my gate, working on my article and waiting for my flight.
“Is this seat taken?” a thirty-something business traveler asked, pointing to the bar stool next to me. I looked up long enough to note the row of empty chairs that ran along the gleaming bar, and then shot him a look.
“Um, yes. I’m working here, so my bag kinda needs that chair,” I explained kindly, pointing towards my laptop open in front of me.
“Come on now, all work and no play makes a beautiful girl like you a pretty dull person,” he answered with a smirk, moving to sit on my other side. He leaned against the bar, propped up on his elbow, and basically leered at me. “Besides, life’s too short to spend it working all the time. You gotta leave time for fun.”
“Oh, do I? And what kind of fun would that be?” I answered sarcastically. “I don’t usually hang out in the airport to go looking for entertainment.”
“I know a few places around here that can be a lot of fun, if you catch my meaning.”
I seriously avoided looking at him, certain that his idiotic attempt at a pickup line would be followed by a suggestive wiggle of his eyebrows.
“Like I already said, I’ve got work to do. Thanks for the offer of ‘companionship,’ but this seat’s taken.”
“Well, this one’s not,” he answered with a laugh, pointing to the empty stool on my other side. I grabbed my bag and quickly moved it to that seat so he would get the hint, but instead, it only made him scowl and clench his fists.
“Sorry, but like I said three times now, I’m working here. I don’t really have time for small talk... or your idea of airport fun.” I went back to staring at my computer screen intently, sending the clear message that I wasn’t going to be disturbed.
“There’s no need to be a bitch, you know,” he snarled close to my ear. “An ugly cow like you should be so lucky that a guy like me was willing to give you a few minutes of my time.”
He stomped off, and I stared at his retreating back to make sure he left the restaurant. His hateful words stung for about five minutes, then a weirdly peaceful feeling erased them as images of last night came to mind. There was a time when that cretin’s words would have reduced me to a puddle of self-conscious tears, but the memory of Colt holding me, kissing me passionately, asking me to stay, all made me smile. A smoking hot billionaire cattle rancher wanted me to attend an event with him. The insults hurled at me by some middle-management nobody looking for a quickie in the airport bathroom just didn’t hold any weight, knowing that Colt had desired me. Even if it wouldn’t last.
The only rain on that parade was knowing that I wanted him every bit as much…but I couldn’t have him. Diana would strangle me with my own camera strap for fraternizing with the interview subjects, after marching me down to HR to have me fired and escorted from the building, that is. Then there was my brother to think of. Bryant—and probably my parents, too—would go ballistic. It would mean the end of his lifelong friendship with Colt over the violated trust, and would make every interaction with our families awkward and distant.
And then there was Colt. I had to admit, there hadn’t been any wild declarations of love or confessions about how he’d always cared about me. We’d had one incredible night together, followed up by some great morning after sex, and he happened to mention this ball he had to go to. That was it. He never said anything about the long term, so I wouldn’t either…even to myself.
I blinked my eyes against the tears that threatened to well up, and got to work. Of all the articles I’d ever written in my short but adventurous career, this one was probably the easiest. Every room in Colt’s house, every stylized feature, was burned into my memory. I’d either seen them a thousand times over the years or I’d just come to appreciate them for the first time, but either way, I could picture them in front of my closed eyes without even trying hard.
By the time my flight was ready to board, I’d worked out a first draft and sent it off to the editor. It was strange how weightless I felt after sending it, as if the only thing I had left to do that tied me to Colt was that story. But with it gone and out of my grasp, so was Colt.
Chapter 11
Colt
“Boss? Hey, boss man! You hear me?” the foreman asked. I blinked rapidly and looked over at the neatly stacked rounds of hay. Oversized shipping crates dotted the pasture where the hay had been growing only yesterday, and heavy equipment stood scattered around, ready to get digging.
“Uh, yeah. It all looks good. Let’s get started.” I approached the first crate and helped my crew unbox it with crowbars.
After one crate was opened and its contents laid out, it was on to the next one. Each crate took us more than an hour to open, unload, and clean up, and with twenty crates scattered across the field, I would have plenty to keep my mind off of Meredith for the foreseeable future.
We worked for the entire day, only stopping for water breaks and a quick lunch before getting back to work. Little by little, each crate was emptied after the crew split up to make the work go faster. And every time I thought I had put last night behind me, something would break my concentration. It might be the sunlight reflecting off the field that made me think of her hair, or the way someone said my name when I wasn’t paying attention. Even the feel of the soft leather on my tool belt in some small way thrilled me, making me envision her soft milky skin with my scarred hands pressed against it, digging in deep until she cried out in pleasure…
Get it together, I warned myself. She’s gone, and you’ve got work to do.
“You lost somewhere, boss?” the foreman asked, coming up beside me and grabbing a bottle of water from the cooler. He tossed it to a guy behind him and jerked his
head, sending the younger man away. “You don’t seem to have your head in this.”
“No, I’m fine, Remy. Just thinking, that’s all.”
“Thinking about ripping out a whole chunk of your winter feed supply to put in a solar farm? Or you thinking about a cute little redhead who came out to see you yesterday?” the older man teased.
I whipped around to look at him, making sure he wasn’t suggesting anything untoward about Meredith, but his expression was more of a sympathetic smile than something lewd.
“No reason it can’t be some of both, I suppose,” I finally admitted. “How’d you figure she was something I might have my head muddled with, though?”
“Well, that Mrs. Claire who works up in the house is a true gem, but when she walks in on you with a girl over your shoulder, she’s gonna talk about it… loudly!”
“Oh great! Now everyone is talking me up?” I looked around at the crew where they stood in clusters, grabbing a water break.
“Now hold on, she wasn’t telling everybody. Just me. Um, when I came up to eat my breakfast with her this morning.”
It took me a second, but I opened my eyes wide with surprise when I finally got around to figuring out his meaning. The foreman and the housekeeper were an item?
“Why Remy, you old dog!” I said, laughing and lightening my mood immensely. “Well, good for you. There’s some kick left in you yet. You just make sure and treat Mrs. Claire right!”
“I aim to, boss. Been after her for a while to let me fix the name after the ‘missus,’ but she says as much as she’d love to, she can’t leave you on your own while she goes off to go tend someone else’s house.”
