by Emily Bishop
“And that’s why you shut down at the mention of journalism and the media. And to think…I’m a journalist. And vegan. And you hate the media. And you own a cattle ranch.” Summer fumbled over her words, the anxiousness rolling past her lips. She looked more and more uncertain, and I witnessed her retreat into herself. She leaned back, away from me, and folded her arms around herself, almost insecurely.I couldn’t blame her. We were opposites in every way. From our lives to our beliefs and values. The logical part of me knew that this could never work. Whatever was happening between us… there were too many obstacles in our path.
But an inner part of me was so fiercely attracted to her, so hungry for her touch, that it bypassed all logic.
I couldn’t help but snort. We were planets away from each other. “Yeah we don’t exactly have many things in common.”
“Not even sci-fi, apparently. But then again, you do listen to Bon Iver.” The joke slipped out weakly from Summer, but I couldn’t help but smile half-heartedly at her. “Well now you know my history with Bruna, as well as my wonderful experience with the media,” I said sarcastically. “I hope you understand why it’s hard for me to agree to your proposal to do a story on me?”
Summer considered my words, tugging at the napkin in front of her and fiddling with it. She dropped her head down, away from my piercing gaze.
“I get it. Every person has their side to the story, or a belief system in place. I have my own. I happen to think journalism can be good. If it’s used in the right way. And that’s why I’m here. I’ve been given a chance by Discover Magazine to document the cattle ranch industry and write a piece about ethical sustainable farming and meat consumption. I was deeply unhappy with my previous job, and now I have the opportunity to make a difference. To write a story that has some meaning, that gives me purpose. I don’t think that makes me a dishonest individual or a bad person.” As Summer finished speaking up again, she raised her head up and met my eyes defiantly. She looked strong again. Composed and determined.
The certainty was back. I realiszd there and then that Summer would stop at nothing to get this story. There was something there that I could relate to. We were both fighters.
I mulled over her reply, nursing the beer in my hand.
I had met Bruna at the Barber Shop earlier that afternoon, and to say it hadn’t gone well was an understatement. Turns out, Bruna had no interest in money. She wanted me back. Plain and simple. And just like Summer, she would stop at nothing to make me listen to her. Her threat of tearing up my ranch still remained, as strong as ever. I had told her to come by tomorrow to talk things out.
But now… my path had yet again crossed with Summer, and it was almost as if her tire was meant to flatten in the middle of the storm. Maybe her arrangement wasn’t such a terrible idea.
“This business proposal of yours…” My voice trailed away.
Summer’s eyes lit up in anticipation. She squealed again, laughing. “I knew you would come around!”
“Whoa. Hold it right there, missy. I never explicitly said I would agree to it, but hypothetically speaking, what’s the plan?” Every part of me screamed that there was no turning back from this.
“Like all deals, it’s strictly business. We convince Bruna we’re engaged and I’m the love of your life, and she finally realizes she can’t have you back. She leaves you alone and goes back to New York. I write a fantastic investigate report, and my time in Dripping Springs comes to a conclusive end.”
My stomach churned at the word end.
My throat dried up suddenly, and I literally couldn’t speak.
It’s strictly business. It’s strictly business. It’s strictly business. Her words rang in my mind loud and clear.
There was no mistaking it. This was only a business arrangement, a means to an end. We would part ways once her story wrapped up, and that would be that.
I said, coolly, “Business and pleasure don’t mix well.”
This time, Summer looked taken aback. Her eyes widened for a fraction of a second, but then she composed herself and cleared her throat unnecessarily aloudly. “That’s right yes. If you…” Summer faltered, and then quickly regained herself. “If that’s what you want, then yes of course.”
The silence was immediate. We stared at each other almost challengingly, and this time Summer was the first to break contact with my knowing gaze.
“We can start tomorrow. Bruna is actually swinging by. It would be a perfect time to launch this little arrangement of ours. And me and Atohi have a lot of work out on the fields. You can start doing whatever it is you journalists do. But under one condition.” I halted for a beat, waiting to read Summer’s reaction.
She stared back at me, dead serious. “Go on.”
“You will sign a non-disclosure agreement. My name stays out of the story. There will be no investigating me, no digging up my identity.”
Summer hesitated, frowning. “All good journalists know not to sign an NDA. Signing contracts can restrict our ability to report on a story in an objective way. Basically, we’re shooting ourselves in the foot if we do that.”
There was truth to her statement, but I wasn’t letting up on this. I had been fucked over by the media in the most ruthless way imaginable, and I wasn’t going down that road again.
I shook my head. “This is a non-negotiable thing. Either take it or leave it.”
My cold words had impact. She glared at me, eyes heating up in anger and frustration.
“Will you at least give me time to think about it? She snapped.
Her feistiness was back. I bit back a grin.
“I can draft something up in a heartbeat. Read it over, get acquainted with the terms and conditions. Spend all night reading the doc, hell, be my guest.” I shrugged.
“All night?” Her eyebrows perked up at that comment.
I smirked. Did she think she was going back to her charming little motel tonight? “You’re staying here tonight, of course. Juanita has already prepared the guest bedroom upstairs.”
Summer inhaled sharply. I had surprised her. Again. She tugged at her bun and pulled it apart. Locks of blonde waves cascaded down, and my heart tugged at the sight of her.
“I’m not sure that’s a good idea,” she said quietly as she raked a hand through her long hair. In one quick second, she wrapped her hair around in that disheveled bun of hers, and I watched it all, drinking her in.
I didn’t hesitate. Rolling my eyes, I said sarcastically, “What, do you think I’ll let you go back and drive in a flimsy car across a storm, when you’re accident-prone and also prone to almost hitting animals along the road?”
Summer snorted. “I can take care of myself. But I’m too exhausted to drive back tonight. Draft up this disclosure agreement, and I’ll read through it first.”
As I made eye contact with her again, I came undone. So many emotions passed through her eyes. Hurt, anger, defiance, and unwavering determination.
Holy fuck. It was going to be difficult to reign myself in if she was going to continue looking at me like that.
*
As the night came to a wrap and I showed her the guest bedroom, I thrust the NDA in her hands.
She looked at me long and hard, her expression almost almost surly, and then bit back a grin. “How on earth did you find time to draft this up?”
“While you were in the shower,” I admitted. Inwardly, I shuddered at the thought of her naked skin, standing under the hot water. It had been hard, so damn hard, to not touch myself as I had attempted to draft up the contract in the space of twenty minutes. All I had been able to think about was Summer…and her nakedness in my bathroom. It had nearly driven me crazy.
Summer blushed. “Well, goodnight then. I’ll read this through and umm…” She cleared her throat, as her eyes continued to bore into mine, a pool of immeasurable green in contact with mine.
“And you’ll…?” I couldn’t help but tease her.
“I’ll…” she stammered, unable t
o form a sentence.
I took this as a sign. I stepped closer, bridging the gap between us. The floorboards creaked on impact, and Summer sucked in a breath, her eyes brightening in comprehension.
“Confer with you tomorrow morning, of course.” Summer fumbled over her words, another tell-tale sign that she was feeling what I was.
It was madness. It was insanity. How could another human being get under my skin like this?
No amount of self-control could stop me.
So I went for it. It was a whim, an impulse, but I fucking needed her, right now.
And then my lips were on hers, her lips were on mine. I demanded her to let me in, and she opened her mouth for me, receiving my tongue.
A moan escaped her, and that was all I needed. Letting out a growl, I lifted her off her feet, amazed yet again at how light and small she was in my arms, and I carried her to the bed, resting her down against the mattress.
She kissed me back with an intensity that did it for me.
We tore each other’s clothes apart as quickly as possible, frantic in our want for each other.
Holy fuck. She wasn’t wearing panties or a bra underneath her clothes.
I shuddered as the realization hit. She was like an unwrapped present, ready for me to devour.
I captured her nipple in my lips and started sucking slowly, feeling her tremble and gasp underneath my mouth.
She raked a hand through my hair and gripped tightly as I continued to explore her honeysuckle skin.
Teasingly, I planted one, kiss, two kisses, three kisses, going all the way down the smooth curve of her belly, past her abs, down to her pelvic muscle, until finally I was home.
Resting a finger on her swollen clit, I began to massage while my tongue found her pussy, so wet, so ready for me.
Fuck, she tasted so good, so fucking sweet, with a hint of my pine oak soap. It sent me closer to ecstasy.
Summer whimpered underneath my touch, and her legs spread open, welcoming me in, trusting me with the honor of making her come.
I pulled my head up, giddy with desire, catching her heavy-laden eyes.
“I want to feel you come. I need to feel you come.” I murmured, in a low voice. Summer’s eyes widened, and she nodded. No words were needed.
I returned to my task, sucking and cajoling her with my tongue, and slowly the momentum built until her legs trembled.
Arching her back against the bed, Summer let out a load cry, shuddering under the impact of my tongue. She spilled into my mouth, and I took all of her in.
Summer didn’t waste a minute. Surprising me yet again, her small determined hands found my hard cock, and she rested it in her hands, massaging my shaft, teasing me in return.
I inhaled sharply and tossed back my head. Fuck, this was torture.
Summer continued, determined as ever to have the most intimate part of me, and I obliged. She whimpered and pleaded, she wanted me.
Growling, it was time for me to be inside her, now.
My cock swelled and ached as I slipped inside her wet pussy, feeling her tilt her pelvis backward as I entered the deepest part of her.
A moan escaped her lips, and I growled in return.
Summer was so damn sexy. So sexy. I couldn’t keep my hands away. I gripped her hips as I closed the last inch of distance between us, until I slid fully inside, feeling her shiver under impact. I fit inside her so perfectly, so completely, that an inner part of me knew that this was it.
Her lips found mine, and we kissed like nothing else mattered. Gently, I began to rock into her, building the momentum, while my fingers brushed against her swollen clit, circling expertly.
Summer closed her eyes as I thrust slowly and then quickly.
This wasn’t sex anymore. It was something deeper, something so intimidate that it made me spiral forward, falling into her.
I followed suit and closed my eyes, feeling every part of her come together with me, but Summer wasn’t having it. “No, James, it’s my turn to see you come.” She rasped, her breaths growing shallower.
I obeyed. Cracking my eyes open, my turbulent eyes found her green ones watching me.
In one fluid movement, I lifted her up from the mattress until she was saddled in front of me, her long legs wrapped around my back, clinging to me as I pounded into her harder and harder.
My groin tensed up, and all thoughts were wiped out of mind as the coming orgasm seized me. Numbness gripped me, yet in complete paradox, my cock was on fire, tingling with intensity.
And then I came, spilling into her, and Summer cried ou, as she met me head on.
Slowly I began to breathe again, pulling myself back together.
I slipped out of her gently, and Summer plopped back on the mattress, panting. I joined her, collapsing next to her, completely spent for the second time that night.
My body moved of its own accord, tugging at Summer, until her sticky sweaty body was wrapped tightly in my arms.
Summer rested her head against my chest, listening to my erratic heartbeat, listening to how she made me feel.
So damn alive.
Business arrangements be damned.
Almost as soon as we had made the business deal earlier that night, it had gone out the window in a heartbeat.
Reading my thoughts, Summer murmured, “Some business deal, huh.”
Sex had never been so heavy for me before. Not even with Bruna. So weaved in with emotion as well as physical desire.
I brushed my fingers against Summer’s hair and settled against her naked body, pressed against mine.
Tomorrow, we’d try again at this whole business arrangement thing.
Chapter 9
Summer
I opened my eyes and was greeted by stillness. Utter stillness. Except for the birds, of course. They brought me back to where I was, in his bed, wrapped in his silky sheets. Reaching over on instinct, I grappled for his touch but was met with emptiness.
I hauled myself upright and turned my head to the side, but James wasn’t there.
I fought disappointment as it tugged at me like a sulking child.
You’re in deep, Summer.
The business arrangement had been my idea, but the business with no pleasure had been something we had both reluctantly agreed to last night. Yet when he looked at me like that last night, that dangerously dark gaze of open desire, I had literally melted into myself.
Heat flushed my body as I recalled last night’s events.
How was it that two people who couldn’t be more different kept knocking heads? The way he made me feel—the way he made my body tremble with ecstasy—it was a foreign fluttering feeling that made me alive. Happy even.
Smiling, I climbed out of my bed and noticed my clothes from last night were clean and dry, folded neatly on the armchair, along with the NDA document propped on top.
James had left that there on purpose.
Sighing, I grabbed hold of it and began scanning through the document. As I read the clauses, I visibly relaxed.
There was nothing untoward in the contract. The only thing James cared about was to keep his identity a secret and to omit the ranch’s location and all employees’ names, including Juanita’s.
When he had first mentioned the NDA, I had gotten defensive. At first, I had thought, what an irony it was, to be silenced in a profession that championed whistle-blowers and serious investigative reporting. But now, the contract made sense. James was adamant about keeping his life private, no matter the cost. Like me, he was fiercely ambitious, a go-getter. He had agreed to the arrangement not out of the goodwill of his heart, but because he had wanted something in return. To shut down his ex once and for all.
Tugging the clothes aside, a black pen slipped off the chair and clattered noisily down.
That man, seriously. He knew I was going to sign and had provided the goods to do so. I scribbled my name down on the paper, satisfied that my investigative piece was going to start today.
After quickly getti
ng dressed, I made my way downstairs to the unmistakable smell of sizzling butter.
As I entered the kitchen, I was greeted with Juanita’s bent back, hovering over the electric stove, caught in the midst of flipping a pancake over on its head.
My stomach groaned at the sight.
“Good morning, Summer. Did you sleep well?” Juanita asked, not bothering to turn around.
I swear her and James both had eyes on their backs. They were both so intuitive.
I plopped down on the wide oak kitchen table and watched Juanita busy herself with the task.
“I slept like a baby.”
And screamed out in multiple orgasms, but hey, who’s listening?
Juanita pulled me back from my dirty thoughts. “These are vegan pancakes, in case you were wondering. James had to bend his back trying to find a store that sold coconut oil, because he’s convinced that’s an essential vegan ingredient,” Juanita said, shaking her head.
Wow. James’s charm continues.
Grateful for his thoughtfulness, I let myself relax as I watched over Juanita’s head, through wide French windows overlooking a lusciously green garden filled to the brim with plants and blossoming flowers of all shapes and sizes.
“Now that’s what a garden should look like,” I murmured, without thinking.
Juanita turned around and caught my gaze, smiling. “James is a gardener. On top of his million other hobbies.” She chuckled, rolling her eyes.
I instantly warmed to this woman.
“How does he find time to run an entire ranch, garden, and do whatever else he does…?”
“He’s actually a board member of his previous law firm back in New York as well. Occasionally, he flies out there for meetings and such.”
Oh my word. His sex-godliness continued. He rode horses, he guided cattle, he tended to his plants, he was a board member of a law firm for god’s sake. I bet he was also a secret lord or something. Judging by the size of his ranch mansion, I wouldn’t be surprised. He was definitely well off, that’s for sure.
