by Katy Kaylee
“Huh,” Beth sat back, nodding, “You know, I already liked her. But now I really like her.”
“Thanks so much.”
“You’re welcome.” She said with a shrug, “Sounds like you deserved it. Don’t feel bad for you one bit. What’s that?”
She changed the subject so fast I found myself answering before I’d even really thought about it.
“Another ridiculous attempt from Howard Calhoun to steal our family’s land and legacy.”
“Really? Let me see.” She didn’t wait for me to hand them over, just grabbed them from my desk and read them herself before tossing them back where they’d been. “You’re right. It is ridiculous. There’s no way that would ever hold up. Even if great-great-grandad Calhoun owned the land once, he lost it to the bank, and it was sold fair and square.”
I nodded in agreement but there was something in her voice that had me asking. “What else is it?”
Beth gave me a guilty look. That same one I knew well from childhood. She never could keep anything from me.
“I’ve heard some things.”
“What sort of things?” I demanded under my breath, afraid of where this was going to go but I knew I needed to hear it.
“Rumors about the ranch. And about you.”
“If you’re talking about those god awful lies about Owen hurting the animals and stealing I already know. And you know that’s exactly what they are. Just lies.”
“That, and other things. That you’re growing drugs up here.”
“What?!” I stared at her in shock. “God damn Calhoun’s. Damn them all.”
“You know it’s not all of them, Jake.” Beth pleaded, “It’s mainly Lucas, and Howard of course, nasty old man. Him and Agnus Lockley would be a match made in hell.”
I shuddered at the thought of both of them together.
“No one’s taking it seriously but you know Sheriff Copper is going to have to come check it out.”
I shot her a look. “I’m not worried about Sheriff Copper.” The man was, well, he wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed.
“No, but I just wanted to let you know what I’ve heard. There’s something else too.”
What else could their possibly be?
“Go on.” I said, as calmly as I could.
“I guess Lucas got real drunk one night at the Solace bar with Dominic and started running his mouth about how this property belonged to the Calhoun’s and how he was going to take back what was theirs by right. A bunch of other crazy shit about lost family heirlooms and old maps but Dominic said he sounded pretty serious. He was threatening to ride over here and take it from you if he had to. I know it’s just the crazy Calhoun’s, but…I wanted to let you know so you can keep an eye out. Owen’s so young, he could get hurt. Or Westley, or god forbid Zoe.”
I touched a finger gingerly to the sore skin around my right eye.
“I think Zoe can take care of herself.” I said, trying to joke but Beth’s expression was serious. “I know. I’ll make sure everyone is careful. Maybe it’s time I go over there and settle this once and for all.”
“No! Just…just be careful, okay? That’s all I wanted to say.”
With that, Beth jumped to her feet.
“You should apologize to Zoe.”
“What? She’s the one that gave me the black eye remember?”
“Because you scared her. She’s…I don’t think she’s as strong as she pretends to be. I think maybe she’s running from something she left behind. Something bad.” Beth looked sad for a moment and her words hit home. It was the same exact thing I had thought when Zoe had first started working at the ranch. “Go talk to her.”
Beth turned and left and I sat there for a long time, long after the sound of Beth’s jeep pulled out of the drive and disappeared. I sat, and thought.
12
Zoe
I tossed and turned, but no matter how long I lay there in bed I couldn’t fall asleep. Because it was the bed I had shared with Jake. It was the bed we had made love in. I could still smell him on the pillows, on the blankets.
It was spicy and earthy and one hundred percent male. And it was driving me insane. It made need claw at me, right along with the guilt that still sat inside me like a lead weight in my stomach from earlier.
I felt terrible for what had happened in the barn. Not so much for punching him because, damn it, he really had scared the holy hell out of me.
For one awful moment, he had reached for me from out of the dark and all I could think about was my monster man. All I could see was my nightmares coming to life in front of me and I’d reacted.
If I was honest with myself, I was a little proud. At least now I knew for sure that I would fight back if I had too. If I was threatened. If he ever found me. A part me had been terrified that I would just freeze. That I would cower in the corner like a scared little girl but my first instinct had been to fight back.
No, it was the other thing that had guilt eating away at me so that I couldn’t sleep even though I should have been exhausted. It was the lies.
I had lied to him, made up some silly excuse about a rat that I knew he didn’t believe for a minute. But he’d let me go along with it, even with doubt and disbelief written in bold across his face and that somehow made it even worse.
I hated the lies, but how could I tell him the truth? I hadn’t spoken about it to anyone in a year and even more than that, wheat if he didn’t want me working here after he found out? The though sent a chill of dread through me.
I had just found a place I was happy, a place I was safe. A job that I was surprisingly good at, and even more, a job that I liked. And a man who was complicated and moody and wild and sweet. A man that I wanted to know more about.
But I also knew that Jake cared about the ranch more than anything in the world and he would do anything to protect it. And if he found out I was being stalked by a maniac? A maniac that I could potentially lead back to the ranch, to his family?
I knew what he would do. Anything. Anything to protect his ranch and his family. And that didn’t include me.
I don’t want anything serious, I reminded myself, staring up at the ceiling. My life was already complicated enough. The last thing I needed was more complications. But I knew one thing for sure. I wasn’t going to get a wink of sleep until I made things right with Jake.
He hadn’t done anything to deserve being lied to. Even if I couldn’t tell him the truth, I could at least apologize. Maybe saying I’m sorry would be enough. Maybe he would let it be at that and not dig any deeper.
I got out of bed and slipped down the stairs. I knocked on his bedroom door but there was no answer. For a moment I wondered if he was in there and just ignoring me. Maybe he just didn’t want to see me after everything that had happened.
But as I turned away to head back upstairs to face the rest of this sleepless night, I caught the glimmer of lights coming from the office outside. Surprised I glanced at the clock above the stove in the kitchen. It was after midnight! Was he still working? This late? Had something happened?
My thoughts went back to Josie. She was doing better, I’d seen that for myself, but maybe she took a turn for the worse.
I didn’t think. I just rushed outside in the tiny satin tank top and short shorts that I used as pajamas and headed towards the office.
I knocked on the office door and it opened at my touch. The thing never really latched. I should get another door knob for it, I thought absently. Stalling I knew from walking inside and facing Jake but the door was open and he was sitting there behind his desk, staring at me, waiting, expectant.
I walked inside and closed the door behind me, pulling it tight and jiggling the hand just so that it would stay shut. I didn’t want anyone overhearing, though I knew Owen had gone home hours ago and Westley had retired for the night.
Slowly, I turned back around to face him and drew in a deep breath.
“You’re going to have one hell of a black eye.” I
said softly, trying desperately to break the awkward tension filling the tiny space. “I’m sorry about that, by the way.”
“It was my fault.” His voice just as soft as mine with a predatory edge that had all the need that had bothered me earlier come back with a rush. Desire stained my cheeks and I licked my lips nervously. God, this man could turn me inside out with just a few words. Just a look.
Because I could see that same wild desire there in the depths of his wolf-like gaze. But neither of us moved. I couldn’t. Not yet. I had to make things right, first.
“I’m sorry for lying to you, as well.” The apology came out stiff but at least it came out at all. He just raised one dark eyebrow. “I lied to you. There wasn’t a rat. It was just a stupid excuse and I didn’t know what else to say. You were so mad and I just needed something to tell you so that–.”
“I wasn’t mad.”
“What?”
“Okay, maybe I was a little…taken off guard by the sucker punch. But that didn’t make me mad. I scared you and you reacted. I get that. What made me mad was the lie.” He was still staring at me with that gaze that seemed to see all the way inside me, and it made me squirm. “There’s obviously something you’ve been hiding. From the beginning.”
“I used to live in California.” I said hesitantly, picking my words carefully, “I had a fiancé, Elliot Hemsworth. We were engaged for two years.”
He drew in a deep breath, “Was it your fiancé? Did he…did he hit you? Did he hurt you? Is that why you’re so jumpy? Why you screamed when I scared you? You can tell me the truth, Zoe. I know what it feels like to be betrayed by someone you care about. It sucks.”
I bit my lip. He was asking me to do the one thing I couldn’t. I couldn’t tell him the truth. What if I lost everything? After just finding it. Finding him. And truth, it was so much more awful and so much more complicated than this neat little lie.
For the past month, I had almost been able to forget about my monster completely. And somehow, I knew, If I said it out loud, if I told Jake the whole truth, it would make it all real again, it would bring him back. As if the very mention of him was enough to conjure the man who had stalked me, who had destroyed me, who had destroyed my life.
So, even though I knew it was wrong, I nodded my head. Better to let him believe this, than to make my nightmare real again. I couldn’t live through it. I didn’t think I’d be able to survive him looking at me with horror, or worse, pity.
“Zoe,” The way he said my name made all the worries and fears and doubts and guilt melt away. He held out his arms and my body moved towards him before I’d even decided to. It was is if it knew, as if it was drawn to him like a magnet and I was helpless to resist. But I didn’t want to. I just wanted to sink into his embrace and forget the nightmare. Forget the terror. Forget the awful, numbing fear.
My lips found his as easy as breathing, and it felt just as natural. Like it was already second nature for me to turn into him. It probably should have worried me more than it did, but I was already too lost in my need and want to pay it any attention.
Besides, his hands were already sweeping up my sides, under the hem of my tiny tank top and we both let out a deep groan of gratitude as he cupped one breast in his palm. He teased my nipple, rolling it between his thumb and forefinger with just enough pressure to have me gasping out but needing more.
He sensed my need. Sensed the desire already roaring through me and trailed his mouth down my neck, pausing to sweep his teeth against my hyper sensitive skin before lathing it with soothing kisses.
By the time his mouth made it back to mine I was desperate for him and I didn’t wait to tear at his clothes, pulling his shirt off over his head and tugging at the buckle with trembling fingers.
He lifted me up and perched me on the edge of the desk, sweeping off papers in disregard. They fell to the floor, forgotten.
We were both too impatient to wait, too impatient to take our time. But even still, he teased me with his fingers, sweeping one through my wet desire, then thrusting it inside me. He was going too slow and I speared my hands through his hair, grasping and pulling, trying to make him go faster but he wouldn’t be rushed.
I could see how much it cost him. Could see the agony of need in his wolf-like gaze as he glanced up at me as if he wanted to eat me whole and it sent a thrill skittering through me.
“You keep teasing me, Jake. No more teasing.” I whispered the words against his lips, punctuating them with kisses and love bites, “Give me what I want.”
“I just want to make sure you’re ready for me.”
“I am!” I let out on a desperate laugh, “Can’t you feel how ready I am for you? Can’t you feel how wet you make me? How much I want you?”
“Fuck, Zoe.” He groaned out the words, my own tipping him over the edge and finally he tore off my shorts, both of us fighting to get his down enough that we could join together. He paused long enough to slip on the condom and even that small delay was enough to make me growl in frustration.
Finally, he was back and both of us came together in a rush. Even desperate with need, he hesitated, going slow, letting me adjust to his size. I had to grit my teeth against the torture. I grabbed his hips, bringing him all the home and he hissed out a breath.
“God, you’re so tight,” The words were torn from his throat, “I don’t want to hurt you.”
I pulled back so I could look him in the eyes.
“Believe me, Jake. You are not hurting me. You are the exact opposite of hurting me,” I kissed him, his thick cock still buried all the way to the hilt inside me. “I will tell you if you do, okay? But I just, I want you to…I need you to…” I couldn’t put it into to words, my thoughts muddled with him, but he knew. He knew exactly what I needed.
Then he was moving, thrusting against, taking me hard and fast with every inch he had. My head fall back on a cry of pleasure, his hips moved like pistons, faster and faster until my whole world narrowed down to that incredible well of pleasure deep inside me.
It was just as good as before. Somehow, impossibly, even better. He had learned what I liked, what made me gasp, what made me cry out his name in ecstacy and he used that knowledge ruthlessly. I came hard and fast, holding on to him as the storm broke around me but he didn’t stop, he didn’t slow down.
He just pushed me higher and higher until I wasn’t sure I would survive the fall, but then we were both tumbling over that edge together, both of us gasping and clinging to each other as the endless waves of orgasm rocked us.
I fell back on the desk with a laugh. “My legs are useless. I might just sleep here.”
“That would be quite a shock for Westley in the morning.” Jake said, warm laughter in his voice and it was so much better than the anger of before, than the doubt. I moved to get up, resigned to making the shaky walk back to the farmhouse but before I could get my feet under me, Jake swept me up in his arms as if I was weightless.
I let my head fall against his chest, totally replete.
“A girl could get used to this,” I joked sleepily as he carried me inside. But I knew it wasn’t a joke. Not really. I knew if I wasn’t careful, I really could get used to this. I could fall for Jake. It would be so easy. And that was the last thing in the world that I needed.
My eyes were heavy and sleep was calling me as Jake laid me in bed and a moment later I felt his weight dip the mattress down behind me. I thought I heard him say something that sounded like ‘I could too’ but it didn’t make sense to me. I was already asleep, with the sound of music playing sweetly in my dreams.
13
Zoe
I finished re-arranging the bright, summer-colored flowers in the face on the kitchen table and stood back to admire my handy work. One final bloom moved just so and it was…perfect. It was such a small, simple thing. A bunch of wildflowers that Jake his picked on his walk from the barn but when he had handed me the limp little handful my heart had nearly melted right then and there.
He’d muttered something, looking embarrassed before disappearing out the door again before I even had a chance to say thank you but it didn’t matter. The whole thing filled me with a giddiness like that of a high-schooler with her first crush but that didn’t matter either. Jake had brought me flowers.
It used to be a nightly occurrence. After every performance the fans would crowd around in the lobby or the reception, wherever I was placed on display for the moment. Dozens upon dozens of red roses. Hundreds of them. But none had ever meant as much to me as these half wilted wildflowers did.
A new-found sense of joy filled me as I looked around the old farmhouse. Over the past months, it had become almost like a real home to me.
There was the hand knit blanket I’d found in a closet upstairs thrown across the back of the rocking chair. The window boxes that had sat sad and empty and were now blooming with colorful flowers.
The small paintings that had been stashed in the attic were now hung in mismatched frames on the wall in a cheerful tableau of an old French countryside. There was a cat flap on the back door so that the ranch kitties could come in out of the rain when they needed.
One, a grey striped tom cat I’d named Wolfgang, had taken up residence and didn’t seem too keen to get back to his job chasing away mice from the barn but I’d talked Jake into letting him stay.
He still came and went as he pleased, but for now, he lounged happily on the couch, his tail swishing lazily and his eyes shut in an expression of pure cat contentment.
It really did feel like home, I thought, looking around with my own sense of contentment. It was an entire world away from my old life. And I liked it that way.
Moments like this, it was easy to forget what had brought me here. The past I had left behind. The expensive dinners at exclusive restaurants. The travelling. The penthouse apartment I’d shared with Elliot.
Thinking about him now didn’t even cause a pang of regret anymore. The only thing I felt was grateful. Grateful that I didn’t marry him. That I didn’t end up stuck in a life as a Corporate director’s perfect, doting wife.
