Chapter 3
I chuckle to myself as I watch her lithe body cut through the water, moving rapidly over the surface until she comes to a stop in the middle of the pool, the falls at her back. It’s barely dawn, the sun only just rising enough to attempt to warm the ground, but I had a feeling she would be back.
I don’t make myself known this time, and I didn’t come on horseback. I’d grabbed an ATV and parked it just a bit into the trees and then walked the rest of the way, and I’m glad I did because she’s been watching, searching for me.
Leaning on the tree, I watch as she dips her head back to wet her dark hair and then she tilts even further until she’s simply floating in the middle of the crystal clear water.
She didn’t come in the same way she did the morning before.
Instead, she went further up to where the mountains meet the ranch and slipped in where the fence ends and steep rocky walls rise.
Not a safe path to enter by any means, not just because of the sharp jagged edges but because, just across the road, the neighboring ranch begins.
It’s much smaller in size, barely holding on, but it’s who lives there that could have caused her some trouble.
I shouldn’t really care if it does, not when she is still trespassing despite already getting caught.
I tell myself I’m simply saving myself some paperwork and making sure she doesn’t get hurt on my property as I move closer to keep watching her.
The wildlife in these parts is no joke, and any one of them could make a meal out of her should they find her out here.
Of course, that’s the only reason for spying.
The water laps at her body as she floats on the surface, her bikini white today with little wildflowers on it. There’s a serenity about her, like nothing else exists to her right now but this, with her eyes closed and the morning light kissing her skin.
I watch her until she decides it’s time to head back.
Coming here was a needed distraction; I got on a call last night with our lawyer for him to double check that damn clause.
It’s the least he can do, I pay him a hell of a lot of money to work for us, and if there’s a loophole to exploit, I’ll take it, no matter what the cost. I shouldn’t expect one, not when Silas has read the thing, line by line several times, but I’m hopeful.
Not everything is airtight, and people make mistakes.
We’re human after all, but I lost sleep over this last night, the looming threat of losing this place enough to leave me restless and agitated. I don’t have time for any of this.
When she’s closer to the shore, she lifts to stand and starts walking, her pace leisurely until she reaches for the towel and wipes the water on her face away, only glancing around once to check for other people.
“Fuck,” I mutter, dropping my eyes to my boots when she reaches for the string on her bikini top and removes it.
I shouldn’t look, I really shouldn’t look, and yet my eyes lift, finding her immediately.
She has her back to me and has now removed her underwear, leaving her completely nude in the middle of the woods.
Her hair falls down her back, her spine slightly arched as it follows a line down to her ass.
She’s slow to dry herself off, but I can’t help but trace every curve of her, from the dip at her waist to the flare of her hips and the round globes of her ass.
Compelled by her, I move forward, just an inch. ..
My foot steps on a branch, and the snap is so damn loud, it echoes through the trees.
“Shit,” I hiss, hitting the ground so she doesn’t see me creeping on her, the wind rushing from my lungs. I stifle the groan of pain and hold as still as I can.
What the hell am I doing?
I remain low to the ground for a good couple of minutes before I lift up onto my elbows, peering down to find the spot she was just in, but she’s long gone and any evidence she was there is gone with her.
“I didn’t do this, and no one here at the firm did either.” Our lawyer’s voice crackles over the phone. “Your grandfather outsourced this one.”
I pinch the bridge of my nose. I should have fucking guessed.
“It’s tight, Roman. I could try to find a loophole, but you could run out of time.”
“What does that mean?” I growl, staring at the phone as if the lawyer can see the glare I’m throwing his way.
“You have a deadline,” He goes on. “It says here you have four weeks to marry from notice, and since it’s already been two weeks, you only have two weeks left.”
“Is this even legal!?” I snap.
“Unfortunately, yes, it’s not the norm, and any decent lawyer would advise against it, that’s likely why your grandfather used someone else for this.”
“How the hell am I meant to find a wife in two weeks?” I’m not sure who I’m asking, but I know I’m not going to get the answer I want. “What the hell was he thinking!?”
“I don’t know what to tell you, Mr. Knight.
Your grandfather has made this pretty clear.
The ranch will automatically fall to your brother if the obligation isn’t met.
It says here you must be married — a real marriage — for the duration of at least twelve months.
With proof of a marriage certificate, Knight Falls Ranch will become yours. ”
A real marriage!? How am I meant to have a real marriage when I only have two weeks to find a woman willing to marry me?
I count to ten inside my head, my head thumping back on the chair as I stare at the ceiling. I did not break my own back for this place to lose it over this, and I can’t expect my brother to take this on.
“Is there anything else I can help with?”
I sigh, “No, that’s all.”
“Come to me with the certificate, I can sort out the rest.”
As if it’s going to be that simple. I hang up the phone and let the silence settle around me.
The walls of this place tick with age, groaning even with a slight wind, but the house is solid and has been for over a hundred years.
She may be old, but her bones are good and will continue to be.
God knows what this place has seen, the things she has witnessed.
Pushing up from the chair, I head toward the drinks cabinet and pull out a bottle of whiskey and a glass, pouring a shot which I immediately down and then pour another. I can’t let Silas take on the responsibility of this place, and Remy is out of the question, which means I have to find a wife.
I am so fucked.
Mentally, I run through a list of potential names that could work for this situation but come up empty.
I don’t want a wife; I need someone to be a contract.
A piece of paper being the only thing that binds us and every name I think of won’t be like that.
They’ll want more, a relationship, intimacy and connection and I could think of nothing worse.
Whoever I find — if I find anyone, needs to be on the same page as me. They need to understand it’ll be a loveless marriage to settle an obligation.
I am not a loving man, I’m not even sure I’d know how to be.
Fresh whiskey in hand, I move to the window, looking out onto the ranch.
A couple of guys are working with the horses, we had some new arrivals come in this week, and a particular colt has been troublesome, but I have some of the best trainers working for me and my brother is the finest horse trainer in the county.
He has a way with the animals, a horse whisperer and it took me months to get him a crew good enough to work with him.
I did this. Sought the best fucking workers, offered them deals to come work for me. I did this, and for what!?
It was me who made the deals with the grocery stores and the butchers, me who broke into the beef market that took this game to a whole new level. Me.
And now I could lose it.
I’d ring my own grandfather’s neck if he were still alive.