4 #2
Beautiful in a way that did not seem arranged for anyone else’s benefit. Dark hair. Strong features. A mouth that looked like it knew how to hold back words until they sharpened. Eyes that had met his through the windshield for one brief second.
And in that second, something had moved through him.
Not attraction.
Not only attraction.
An electric charge.
A jolt so sudden and unreasonable that he had kept walking just to prove to himself that he could.
He remembered the way she looked at him.
Not like she recognized his name.
Not like she wanted something.
Like she was startled by him too.
He had thought about that look later, though he had tried not to.
Apparently, not hard enough.
“That was her,” Gordon said quietly.
Edye leaned forward slightly. “You saw her?”
“I passed her the day she came for the interview. She was sitting in her car.”
Luke’s eyes narrowed. “Before or after?”
“Before, I think.” Gordon looked down at the photograph again. “She looked conflicted.”
Luke said nothing.
Gordon gave a humorless breath. “I remember thinking she looked like the world was sitting on her shoulders.”
Edye’s expression softened.
Luke’s did not, but Gordon saw the flicker in his eyes.
Concern.
Not suspicion only.
Concern for Gordon.
That almost made Gordon close the file.
Instead, he turned another page.
There were notes from the background check. Employment confirmation. Public bylines. Houston Current articles. Not all of them were included, but enough. Talia Monroe was a reporter. Not an administrator between jobs. Not merely someone with communications experience. A reporter.
And she had come to Stanley Ranch asking for access.
Gordon should have felt anger.
He did.
But not enough.
Curiosity moved beside it.
Desire too, inconvenient and unwelcome.
But stronger than both was a sudden, clear certainty.
He wanted to see her again.
Not by accident.
Not across a driveway.
Not with Luke and Edye standing between him and the world.
He could call her himself.
Offer her what she had likely wanted in the first place.
An interview.
His interview.
His terms.
His story.
Luke watched him closely. “What are you thinking?”
Gordon closed the file but kept his hand on top of it.
“I want to call her.”
Edye’s brows drew together. “To confront her?”
“No.” He shook his head. “To offer her the interview.”
Luke went very still. “Gordon.”
“I know what she tried to do.”
“Do you?”
“Yes.”
“She lied to get close to this ranch. To you.”
“I know.”
“And you want to reward that?”
“No.” Gordon held Luke’s gaze. “I want to control it.”
The office went quiet.
Gordon sat back, feeling the decision form more solidly as he spoke.
“If she wants a story, I can give her one. Under conditions. My conditions. No sneaking around. No pretending. No digging through the ranch family like they are collateral damage. She interviews me. She asks what I allow her to ask. I decide what is off limits. If she wants access, she gets it honestly or not at all.”
Edye studied him, her face unreadable in the warm light.
Luke leaned back in his chair. “Are you sure?”
Gordon looked down at the file again.
At her name.
Talia Monroe.
He thought of the woman in the car. The conflict in her face. The flash in his body when her eyes met his. The danger of wanting to know whether that conflict had been guilt, ambition, fear, or something he had no name for yet.
Then he thought of Sunday dinner.
The table.
The noise.
The family he had been given without realizing he had begun to belong to it.
“I’m sure.”
Edye’s voice was gentle. “You don’t owe her anything.”
“No,” he said. “I don’t.”
Luke said, “You don’t owe the public your wounds either.”
Gordon nodded slowly. “I know. But I owe myself the chance to stop running from them.”
Luke’s jaw tightened.
Gordon leaned forward, his voice quiet but steady.
“You and Edye have done more for me than I can explain. You gave me work when it would have been easier not to. You let me be useful here. You gave me room to become something besides a Windgate mistake waiting to happen.”
Edye’s eyes filled, though she blinked the tears back.
“You tried to protect me,” Gordon said. “Both of you. I know that. I’m grateful for it.”
Luke looked away briefly.
“But it’s past time I handle my life like an adult.”
The words sat between them.
No one rushed to answer.
Then Luke looked back at him, and something in his expression changed.
Pride.
Clear as sunrise.
Not soft. Not sentimental. Luke Stanley did not wear pride that way.
But it was there, shining in his eyes like he was seeing Gordon differently and approving of what he saw.
Edye’s face held the same pride, but with love in it. Admiration too. Not because Gordon was making an easy choice, but because he was finally making one himself.
“If you do this,” Luke said, “we help you set the terms.”
“I know.”
“And Daniel looks over anything before you agree to it.”
“Yes.”
“And you don’t meet her alone until we know exactly what she wants.”
Gordon almost smiled. “That sounds like protection.”
Luke’s mouth flattened. “It’s strategy.”
Edye smiled faintly. “There’s a difference.”
Gordon nodded. “I’ll take strategy.”
Luke’s expression eased slightly.
Gordon picked up the file. “I’ll take this and call her in the morning.”
Luke hesitated.
Only a second.
Then he nodded. “All right.”
Edye stood when Gordon did.
“Gordon,” she said.
He turned.
“If at any point you change your mind, that is not weakness.”
His throat tightened.
“I know.”
“Good.”
Luke stood too, coming around the desk.
For one awkward second, Gordon thought Luke might shake his hand.
Instead, Luke placed a firm hand on his shoulder.
“You’re not alone in this,” Luke said.
Gordon met his eyes.
For once, he believed it.
“I know,” he said.
And this time, he truly did.