Chapter 40
I f there’s one thing I know for certain this morning, it’s that the sight of Mandy Spire’s suitcases packed and waiting by the front door is as refreshing as a crisp spring morning.
Even though we couldn’t spend last night together like we both wanted to, Beau made sure to take care of me after coming down from our secret moment hidden away in the barn. While it doesn’t fix every challenge we have looming in front of us, being with him, and getting to spend that time physically reconnecting in the way we are so very good at doing, settled something deep inside me.
The man he is, Beau knew we both had to go back out there, and yet he took the time to help me tidy up and not look like the disheveled, freshly fucked mess he reduced me to.
Sneaking around with Beau Heartford shouldn’t turn me on as much as it does, but I’m only human.
Which is precisely what my scratchy eyes are reminding me as I yawn and stretch, just about ready to angle my head and let the coffee machine run straight into my mouth. It’s before-the-birds early, and I’m in dire need of caffeine before starting the inevitable tidy-up after last night’s event. Especially before it gets too hot out there. I spotted Beau riding out on Mist, heading to check on the cattle like he tends to do before the sun gets out of bed and bakes us all with another midsummer’s day. The care and attention he puts into every aspect of this ranch is something I’m so incredibly proud of him for; that man works so goddamn hard to take care of everything around here. I swear he’d go without food or water himself if it meant he’d be able to put his horses and cattle first.
My eyes squeeze shut, replaying his heated words and rock-steady hands on my body. Their lingering imprint clings to me like he’s still right here at my side, even though he’s somewhere on the other side of the ranch.
I’m trying really hard to believe him when he says that there’s nothing between him and Mandy. That there’s seriously nothing there, no love, it was never like that between the two of them .
Last night almost broke me. As the coffee brews, my mind spins back to the moment I was caught off guard seeing the two of them posing together for photos. Beau looking so unbelievably handsome, hands tucked casually in his pockets, and then the stomach-drop moment of seeing Mandy draped all over his arm.
I can still feel the aftermath of that sickening fall through the floor sensation, witnessing what followed immediately after.
That’s when it happens. Slow motion, like some kind of diabolical reverse rom-com, where instead of the guy sweeping me off my feet, his mouth is sealing against hers.
Their lips lock, and I can’t fucking look away as they kiss, bodies bending toward one another in a familiar way that speaks of years being tethered to each other.
Beau told me there’s been nothing between them for an eternity.
Only, that does exactly nothing to reassure me that there isn’t some lingering ember glowing between them after all this time.
How can there not be?
She’s glamor and fame and eternal grace worthy of the big screen. She’s old world charisma set in a halo of blond curls and flawless makeup, professional sculpting of cheekbones, with a nose picked straight from a catalog.
She’s certainly not like me in any way.
All I could do was flee.
Every single complicated layer of ingrained fear tore through me at that moment. Being unwanted, abandoned, the gnawing sensation of only ever having a temporary seat at the table. Why would anyone want the wild child , the troublemaker , the girl who can’t keep her mouth shut?
I’m only ever one misstep away from being left alone. I’ll forever remind my family of a time when things weren’t good, so why would it be any different in this? The girl who strolled in and caused shit because she couldn’t keep her legs closed and her hands off her married boss. She’s certainly not worth the trouble and hassle of keeping around.
And then, Beau gave me everything I didn’t know I needed. Meeting me so securely in the surge of emotions I was trying to survive and giving me so much more than just sex. He showered me with intimacy and affection and somehow also gave me the dominant wickedness I crave being able to spar against.
He literally fucked me slow and steady until my legs were shaking, while his wife stood only a few feet away.
There wasn’t a single hesitation in him. He was all in with me. Ready to throw away all that he’s worked so hard to achieve. I still don’t know what that means for us, or how we move on from here, especially when I’ve got a job offer set to carry me what feels like a million miles away from this place.
What would life look like if we could maybe make things work?
I greedily slosh coffee into my mug and cradle that precious dose of goodness between both palms as I make my way back outside. There’s a spot where I love taking in the sunrise from, and tinges of pastel pink are starting to feather high above the mountain ridge line.
Except I don’t make it outside at all. I’ve hardly left the kitchen when I come face to face with Mandy as she walks out of Beau’s bedroom.
She’s once again immaculately dressed, with full hair and makeup, even though the sun hasn’t risen. But the worst part in all of this is the look she pierces me with. Casting a full sweep over me from head to toe with the sort of predatory smile reserved for scorned wives who have a vendetta to fulfill.
I don’t have time to freak the fuck out about why she’s wandering out of Beau’s room at this time of the morning. I don’t have time to spiral into a panic about him and her spending the night together. None of that has time to register because Mandy flicks her attention to the phone in her hand, then back to me and starts tutting.
“It’s so disappointing when the smart girl becomes a dumb bitch, all for the sake of a man.”
My stomach knots when she taps on that phone of hers and purposely blocks my path.
“One piece of advice, cutie pie. If you’re going to fuck someone’s husband, be a little more careful about your digital footprint. Leaving evidence lying around is such a rookie mistake.”
She turns the phone screen around and starts swiping through a series of images. Ones that have all been taken of the screen and keyboard—clearly showing Beau’s laptop. But it’s the subject on the screen in each image that has my attention.
They’re all of me.
All of them taken by Beau when I wasn’t looking. Some are from moments while I’m working with my headphones on, some from when we’ve been with the horses, while others reveal more intimate scenes. Like the one Mandy pauses on dramatically that shows me sleeping.
It’s nothing graphic or lewd. Not at all. Instead, the aching intimacy of this thing between us is plain to see. My naked shoulders above the white sheet. Hair spilling over both of our pillows. My head turned away while I slumber. It’s a secret moment between lovers. The way it’s been taken carefully captures me in such a raw way, the connection between us can’t be denied.
“I wish I’d been able to find where he snuck off to last night, because I could place money on who he was with and what he was doing.” She arches an eyebrow at me, as if she expects me to crumple to my knees and reveal everything in a guilt-laden confession.
“Couldn’t say.” I take a gulp of my coffee and stare her down. “But I’m sure he will be thrilled to know you’re invading his privacy.” I gesture in the direction of the stash of evidence she’s clutching on her phone.
She flashes immaculate, polished white teeth my way. “What? A wife isn’t allowed to check her email? There’s nothing in this house that isn’t mine.”
My stomach turns into a pit of snakes, slithering and knotting together.
“The devil works hard, but the gossip mill on social media works harder.” Mandy steps closer to me, and that fucking perfume of hers is so strong I feel like it’ll be embedded in my pores. “I’ll have so many stories going viral about you by noon tomorrow; you’ll never book so much as a five-year-old’s birthday party ever again. Screwing a married man and your boss? The scheming other woman determined to trash a happy marriage? You wouldn’t survive the rumors of how you’re nothing more than a pathetic buckle bunny. A groupie who lied to get this job, then seduced a good, honest man.”
I stand there, trying to control my breathing as best I can, because everything she’s saying—absolutely everything she’s threatening—is as easy as she says. And her accusations of me having an affair with her husband are one hundred percent true.
“Who are these sweet little ones, huh?” She pulls up my personal Instagram and shows a photo with my sisters.
My blood immediately turns to hellfire.
“I’ll cut you a deal, Sage. You’re a woman with her own business, and I’m sure you will understand; a trade is a trade, after all.”
There is no recourse for me in this. No evading the grim reality that Mandy Spires has found yet another way to hold court and control everything, to make us all dance to her insipid tune.
She checks her lipstick in the reflection on her phone screen. Dabbing gently at the corner of her crimson-painted mouth before lasering her eyes back on me. “I’ll leave your family alone, and in return, you’re going to stay the fuck away from my husband.”
That smug, haughty attitude of hers, and the way she’s pissing all over Beau like he belongs to her is the thing that makes me snap back. “Last I heard, he isn’t your husband anymore.”
Mandy smirks, and those coiled serpents ball tighter inside me.
“For the next twelve months? Oh, that man most certainly is. Unless I decide to contest the grounds of our divorce for some reason… then, oh, I don’t know… I’m pretty sure I could drag it all out for a very, very long time.” She gives me a mocking look of sympathy. “Aww, did he tell you something different? What pretty little lies did he whisper in your ear just to get you to open your legs for him, I wonder?”
My mind races like the wind. I can’t remember how long he said it was going to be until they were finished. I feel like this bitch has constantly made me doubt my understanding of things ever since her arrival.
A whole year?
Another twelve months of this? The risk of my family being dragged into her tangled web of toxicity?
What if it takes even longer than that? What if all those months drag on, and there’s another extension, another round of legal battles, and suddenly one year turns into two, which turns into five, or more?
She witnesses my silence and carries on with that ugly, pitying look on her face.
“Don’t tell me you thought Beau was different from all the other guys out there who will do and say anything to get their dick wet? Did you truly believe that a man like him was going to be the good guy? I’ve known him for ten years. You’ve sucked his cock for all of what… five minutes?”
Mandy gives me a mocking little pout. Meanwhile, I’m raging, storming on the inside.
“Want to see the document with his signature on it? He’s all mine in the eyes of the law, not to mention the world, and you can guarantee I’ll make sure he stays that way permanently if you don’t take your whoring elsewhere.”
“You would seriously trap a man like that?” I keep my voice steady, but it sounds hollow to my own ears.
“This isn’t my first rodeo. Luck doesn’t fall in your lap… you have to go out there and hunt it down. Life doesn’t give you anything unless you’re willing to do what it takes to succeed, and being Mrs. Beau Heartford sure does have a nice touch of added sparkle to it when those deals, album offers, and royalties roll in.”
She lifts a shoulder and winks at me.
“Have a nice life, Sage. If I were you, I’d think very carefully about where you choose to lay your head between now and when you arrive at that new job of yours. Would hate to turn up and find they’ve already blacklisted you from their books.”
Mandy gives a little scrunch of her nose, and blows me a kiss before disappearing through the house in the direction of the front door.
Leaving me standing surrounded by the racing thud of my heart, and the sickening knowledge that she’s somehow managed to win.