Chapter Nineteen
Jett woke with a start. The room was still dark, but the other side of the bed was empty. “Autumn?”
He fumbled for his phone, but it wasn’t on the table. He had left it in the living room. He had no use for it the past hour or two. He threw his legs over the side of the bed, then reached for his boxer briefs.
A chill had settled over the room. The empty room. He flipped on the lamp. Her clothes were gone too. Had that woman just made love to him twice and snuck out of his house without a goodbye? He yanked the door open and hurried down the short hall to the living room.
“Are you leaving?” he said to Autumn’s back.
She spun around, clutching her hand to her neck. “Jett, geez. You scared me.”
“Were you going to leave without saying goodbye?” Had he been the one to be used? That thought had never crossed his mind until this moment. He had believed her posturing about him taking advantage of her. And those noises she made while he had his hands all over were pretty convincing too. But use him for what?
“I have to get home, and I didn’t want to wake you.”
“What’s the hurry?” He grabbed the phone off the table. “It’s only three in the morning. Your whole house is asleep.”
“I have a child. I don’t want her to see me coming in when she’s getting up.” She slid into her coat.
“You could’ve woken me.” He wanted to say goodbye to her. Maybe even try to convince her to stay a little while longer as long as they were both up.
“Why are you so upset about me leaving?”
“Because you’re sneaking out. I told you I wouldn’t sneak around. What are you really afraid of besides your teenager thinking you got a little action?” Standing in nothing but his underwear turned his skin to ice.
“I wasn’t sneaking.”
“Don’t lie to me, Autumn. Not that.” He fought the pain building in his chest. He could handle almost anything except lies. He would not live like that. If she couldn’t be honest with him, they would have no chance.
“Fine.” She threw her hands in the air. “Besides the fact that Quinn is only fourteen and I feel as if I should still set a good example for her, I don’t know if you and I are a good idea. I can’t be what you need.”
“You acted as if you were exactly what I needed an hour ago. Why the change? The sex wasn’t good enough for another round?” He might have gone too far with that one, but his insides tangled up like fishing line. She infuriated him and intrigued him at the same time.
She flinched. Yeah, too far.
“Don’t be a jerk.”
“I’m sorry. Please make me understand. I thought you were sure you wanted this.” He sure did. Being with her had been the only thing he wanted for a long time.
She crossed the room to him and placed a hand on his chest. Her fingers were cold, and he wrapped them in his hand.
“I did want you. I still do. How I feel has nothing to do with real life. And when that sun comes up over the mountain, real life will be waiting with its big pointy teeth to take a bite out of me.”
“I can help you with that.” He rested his forehead against hers because he wanted to be close to her.
“You think you can, but you can’t. You asked me earlier if I could handle my mother if you and I went forward. I might be able to. I don’t know. My father is showing an interest in your mom again. Vera won’t be able to take it if he ends up with Karen. I can’t watch that. And I can’t be with you if they’re together. And I can’t ever sell my land to you because it was her land first. And her father’s land and his father’s before him. It’s not fair that we got caught up in the middle of this battle, but it’s real.”
“Then don’t sell to me. Sell to your father or whoever you want. I’ll come up with another business plan.” He could always try and buy the land from the new buyer, depending on who and what their plans were. Or he could swallow his damn pride and find another place to send his guests.
“You can live with my decision?”
“I’ll support whatever decision you make.” He didn’t have to like it. But he would rather be with her than lose her over a business transaction. After tonight, he only wanted to be with her.
“There’s another buyer on the table. Dottie sent an email last night I didn’t see until five minutes ago. The notification popped up while I was trying to leave you a note.”
“Good. Who is it?”
“Markus Everett.”
He dropped her hand and backed up. “First your father and then Markus? Why does Markus want to buy it?”
“I don’t know yet.”
“You would sell to him?” His mind raced to try and understand why, when it came to Autumn, Markus was always on his tail. He wanted Autumn to shake Markus loose once and for all.
“I might.”
“I don’t understand. That man lies, cheats, and steals. He isn’t there for his son when his son needs him, and you’re willing to sell to him even though he will most likely turn around and sell it to a drug cartel who will build a casino or some such shit. But you won’t sell your land to me because our parents had an affair twenty years ago?” He wasn’t cold any longer. Fire burned in his veins. This entire conversation was not logical. Autumn was thinking with her misguided guilt and not that smart brain of hers.
“It’s complicated.”
“No, Autumn, it isn’t. We’re not twenty-three anymore. It’s time to tell your mother to mind her own business and let you live your life.” The fire in his veins boiled red-hot anger in his belly. He gritted his teeth to hold the emotion in place but was quickly losing the fight. After what they’d shared, the feelings he had for her, she would turn around and hand over her family’s legacy to Markus Everett because she still didn’t know how to tell Vera Thatcher that her grudge wasn’t Autumn’s.
“Why can’t you understand what your mother did destroyed Vera and because of that my mother makes my life a living hell even now?” Her face bloomed red, and her voice climbed to the ceiling as she shook her fists in the air. “I can’t sell her land to a Ryker.”
“No, but you can fuck one.”
A loud crack as if wood snapped inside a fire registered before the sting of her palm against his face.
****
Autumn wrapped up the dinner with aluminum foil and put the dishes of burgers, salad, and sliced tomatoes in Markus’s refrigerator. Traces of hot oil and fatty beef permeated the air, making her nauseous. She hadn’t eaten in a couple of days. Not since her awful fight with Jett. She had been avoiding the ski team at all costs every day at practice. Quinn had asked her to watch today, but she couldn’t go out there and stand beside Jett as if nothing had happened.
She should have stayed the course and kept pretending they were nothing more than neighbors. She had been doing that for so long it was rote. But after sleeping with him and dredging up all the old, good feelings, she didn’t know how to put the pieces of that puzzle back together. How was she ever going to move on without moving out of Backwater?
She should never have hit him, and she would apologize for that when he had enough time to cool down. He would have every right to blast her. He would never hit her back. Jett wasn’t built like that. He was a gentleman to the core even if he had used words that stung as much as her slap did. Her hand had hurt for a full day.
She wiped the quartz counter free of crumbs and steak juices. This kitchen was right out of a fancy social media app where the appliances gleamed and the island was clear except for the decorative glass bowl of lemons. The stove vent was ornate and shot to the high ceiling alongside white cabinets that stretched and yawned so far away she needed a ladder for the third shelf.
If she hurried, she could be gone before Markus came home from work. Logan had ascended to his room the minute he arrived without so much as a hello. Not like the boy at all. The furrowed brow and the dark circles as well as the decline of a snack indicated something was wrong. Whatever his problem, it was none of her business. But what Jett had said the other night stuck with her. Markus wasn’t there for his son. What did Jett know? She certainly couldn’t ask him. He would never want to speak to her again. She still couldn’t believe she had hit him.
He had made what they shared sound vulgar, and it tore her in two. She had never been so open with a man in bed. Not even with Trent who would ask her to do things and she would turn him down. But God help her, when it came to Jett, she couldn’t keep her hands or her tongue off him. The more he claimed her body, the more she wanted to give him. What they shared was special, not some tawdry act to belittle.
The kitchen was suddenly too hot. She left a note for Markus with reheating instructions, located her purse and coat, and headed for the door to the garage. Before she could grab the handle, Markus pushed open the door. Both of them halted in their tracks.
“Oh. Did I get you with the door?” He ran a glassy-eyed gaze over her. His dark hair was thick and oily, not a hair out of place. He wore an expensive suit, but his rail-thin frame couldn’t carry the material. His wool coat hung on him as if he had borrowed a wider man’s jacket. What had she ever seen in him, looks-wise?
“Nope. Jumped out of the way in time.” She hoped he didn’t want to make small talk tonight. The past couple of evenings, he’d tried to keep her longer by asking a lot of questions about nothing in particular.
“I’m glad I caught you still here. I picked up a bottle of wine on the way home. I think it’s your favorite. Would you like to have a glass before you go?” He pulled out a bottle of Shiraz and held it for her to see. The bold red wine was her favorite, but she wasn’t in the mood.
“Thanks, but I have to get home and make dinner for my crew.” No one was home tonight. Vera and Ives had driven to Bozeman with Quinn for a fancy dinner and a movie. They wouldn’t be back until after nine.
“Oh, that’s too bad.” He stepped around her and removed his coat. “Are you sure you can’t have just one glass? I wanted to talk to you about your land for a minute.”
“Not much to talk about there.” She still hadn’t accepted his offer. Time was running out, and she would be without a buyer once the bank took hold of the land for good. She was spiting herself with all her dawdling, but she wasn’t ready to give up her property.
“Dottie was kind enough to tell me I have the highest offer. She’s waiting on you to decide. I thought maybe I could help you. You know, if you have any questions for me, I don’t mind answering them.” He grabbed two wineglasses from the butler’s pantry and poured into each, ignoring her decision to decline and the fact she was still wearing her coat and standing near the door.
Saying she had no questions would be so easy. But easy didn’t seem to be her thing. “Why do you want the land?”
“To develop on it. What else?” he said with a shrug and a smirk.
“What would you put there?” Her stomach knotted. Markus would turn her beautiful property into something ugly and smarmy. More of Jett’s warnings echoed in her head. Damn that man for being right all the time.
“I thought a bigger ski resort maybe. I could expand your house to make it a real lodge. Upgrade the lift and add one or two more. Where your property comes to the street would be a good place for some shops. You know, give those Rykers a real run for their money. Finally.” He eyed her over the rim of the glass.
“That would take a lot of money.” She forced her voice to remain neutral. Showing her emotions would do her no good. Markus didn’t understand what that land meant to her and how much it hurt that she was losing it.
She put on a good face for everyone, but deep inside her the pain was unbearable. She had let down generations of people, including her daughter. Even though she would have no say as to what a new buyer did with the property, knowing Markus already had a plan to divide it up and make it a spectacle twisted her in knots. This mess was her own fault for ever trusting Trent to handle the money. She had never learned her lesson when it came to men.
“I have capital and investors ready. I’m not the only one in this town ready to take the Ryker family down a peg or two. It’s about time. Don’t you think?”
“What did the Rykers do to you?”
“They sit up on that ranch and stare down their noses at everyone. Gage Ryker thinks he’s better than everyone else because he’s the sheriff. As if he’s untouchable. The other brother, the race car one.” Markus snapped his fingers.
“You mean Kace?” As if Markus didn’t know Kace’s name. She tried not to roll her eyes.
“Yeah. That one. He’s nothing but trouble, but his family always saves him. And Lockwood is plain not right in the head. The mother is promiscuous. Sorry. That slipped.”
She doubted Markus’s sleight of tongue. “Karen isn’t like that.”
“Whatever. Logan won’t stop talking about Jett. Coach this and Coach that.” Markus tipped his head from side to side and heightened his voice. “I’m sick of hearing how great Coach is. He doesn’t know the first thing about being a father. The whole family thinks they own this town. I want to show them they don’t. You gave me the perfect opportunity.”
“How is Logan?” She ignored his last comment because there was no point in arguing. Markus would believe what he wanted, though he could learn a thing or two from Jett.
“He’s a teenager. Stays in his room most of the time. Gives me one-word answers, if he bothers to answer at all. Spends a lot of time at his girlfriend’s house. Which is fine with me. Gets him out of the house so I don’t have to deal with his mood.”
“Do you think he’s having any problems? He seemed a little off to me the past two days.”
“No clue. He wouldn’t say even if I asked. He’s killing it on the ski team. I doubt that’s it. His grades are good. He’s got everything he could want.” Markus waved his hand as if to point out the grandeur of the house. “If he has a problem, it can’t be much. Not compared to real problems anyway. I wish I had half his good fortune as a kid.”
Her heart ached for Logan. His mother had been a sweet woman who Markus had snowed with his charm, but who he never really cared about. After she died, Logan was basically on his own. Markus was too self-centered and self-absorbed to raise a child. She had half expected Logan to end up in boarding school. If she had to guess, because Logan appeared to be well-liked, attractive, smart, and athletic, Markus kept him around to show off.
She would have to ask Jett what he meant about his Markus not being there for Logan comment. If Logan was hurting, Jett would help him. And someone needed to check on that poor kid.
“I really have to go, Markus. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“One more thing.” He poured another glass of wine and took a large sip. “Can you come over Saturday and make dinner?”
“I think so. I’ll double-check and get back to you.”
“I need you to be here. I’m entertaining. But I don’t want you to just stay in the kitchen. I’d like you to be my date.”
“No, I’m sorry. I’m not interested in a date.” She should have known this was where he was heading. Making dinner and nothing more was too good to be true, but she had been desperate, and Markus had promised to keep her employment a secret, which he had.
“The way I see it, you need the money, right?”
“It’s not just about the money. I wouldn’t want to mislead you. I’m not interested in getting involved with anyone.” Except for the man she’d recently assaulted, who most likely hated her now.
“It’s only for one night. All I need you to do is put on a nice dress and let me drape my arm over your shoulders once or twice. The clients I have coming expect to see me with a date.”
“There must be someone else you could ask.” She couldn’t imagine what kind of client would insist he have a date. Either he made that up to guilt her, or these clients were barbarians from another time who still believed women were property. Either way, the bile in her stomach rolled.
“I want you to do it.”
“That’s very nice of you, but I have to politely decline the date. I can make your dinner, even serve it if that helps, but I will not sit beside you and pretend we are a couple. For anyone.”
“Then you’re done cooking for me as of now. And I’ll make sure everyone in town knows you’ve been here cooking and whatever else I want them to think. You wouldn’t want the good old coach to hear those rumors, would you? Because rumor I heard says you and he are working things out.”
She couldn’t breathe. How could anyone know about her and Jett? Had someone seen her coming out of his apartment at three in the morning? A guest could have been outside. Or it could have been Ives. She sank against the door. Had her father told someone she went to Jett’s after the horse died? Or had her mother been gossiping to her friend again?
“What do you say, Autumn? It’s only one date. Unless you want it to be more. I’m game for a jump in the sack for old times’ sake, but that’s not necessary for Saturday.”
She couldn’t find her words. Markus didn’t make idle threats. He would do exactly what he said. He’d go into town, whisper in the right ears, and have everyone thinking she had come here for sex and he had paid her right up to and including the purchase of her land.
“It’s a win-win. You get to keep your secret job and your reputation.” He took a healthy swig of wine.
“Why are you doing this?”
“Because this is a client I can’t disappoint. That would be far worse than you having to eat a meal with me for one night. After that, we can be done. You’ll want it that way, I’m sure. Though I’d be thrilled if you proved me wrong. I’m not so bad, Autumn. You and Quinn would have a good life with me. You could move into my house, have all the money you want. We could put your mother in a home, and you’d only have to see her on holidays.”
She bit back bile. She wouldn’t sleep with Markus again if her life depended on it, and she sure as hell wouldn’t move in here. He had been a selfish lover and companion. She had been so sad and desperate for love when their paths crossed after she and Jett broke up. She had been willing to take anything to wipe out all the memories of the love she and Jett shared. But that theory hadn’t worked. At all.
“One dinner. Nothing more. No trip down memory lane, no future relationships. Just one night. Then I quit.”
“Fair enough.” He raised his glass and drained the rest. “I’ll see you Saturday.”