Chapter Twenty-Six
ELLY
WHEN HE pulled me to him and banded his arms around me while he was still inside of me, my heart skipped a beat, but he didn’t stop there. He peppered kisses down my neck and across my shoulder, the intimacy and emotion behind the gesture shot through my chest like an arrow and my breath hitched.
I can’t think the thoughts that are going through my mind right now. Wondering if he has feelings for me is only going to make this harder when I leave.
Blinking back the sting in my eyes, my arms still tight around his neck, I turn my head toward his ear. “You don’t strike me as an afternoon delight kind of guy, is there a reason why you came to my bathroom to ravish me in the best of ways?”
His lips brush mine as he releases me and leans back. “I’ve gotta take care of this condom.” I miss him as soon as he pulls out of me.
Suppressing a smile as he turns his back to me, I look at his fully clothed body and then down at my fully exposed body. When he turns around, he sees the humor on my face as I’m looking at him.
“What?”
Shaking my head, I slide off the edge of the sink. “I was just wondering why the universe made it so the guy gets to stay warm while we get to freeze our ass off.”
Tucking his shirt into his jeans, an ornery smile breaks across his face. “You know God’s a man, right?”
Rolling my eyes, I pick up my towel and wrap it around me. “Ugh, so sexist.”
Zipping his jeans but leaving the belt buckle dangling, he steps up to me and wraps his arms around me and I practically swoon at his next words.
“Not sexist.” He takes a deep breath through his nose and the warmth of it dances across my cheek as his eyes volley between mine.
“Because a man will protect the woman he loves with his own body and die a happy man knowing she’s safe. ”
The last thing I need to do is read anything into that, he’s just sharing his own personal belief with me, that’s all. My heart is beating in my chest like a drum and all I can do is smile, so I pull my arm out from under his and lay my palm on my cheek. “You’re a good man, Gray.”
For several moments, we just look at each other, the emotions we dare not expose swirling around us like a cloud blocking out the rest of the world.
A knock on the bathroom door has both of us jumping and we swivel our heads toward the knock. I slide my hand from his cheek to cover his mouth. “Yeah.”
Marley’s voice travels through the wood. “I was just seeing if you have a few minutes, Mason is back and he’s in the office with Dad. I’m not sure where Gray is, but I’ll find him for you before you get down there.”
Sliding my eyes in his direction, I smile and say, “Oh, yeah, sure. Give me about ten minutes and I’ll come down.”
I feel his smile under my palm and he gently covers my hand with his and bites the pad of skin in front of his mouth. I squeak at the sting before he plants kisses from my palm to my wrist.
“You okay?” Marley asks through the door.
“Yes, I stubbed my toe.” It sounds lame and I crinkle my nose at Gray.
“Okay, see you in a bit.” She says and I hear the door to the bedroom close.
His palm comes down on my ass in a swat and he says, “Get dressed, I’ll sneak out of here.”
My heart is racing and my mouth feels like a dessert as I walk down the hall to the office.
If someone would have told me five days ago I would be at the biggest crossroads of my life, I would have told them they need to lay off the sauce.
But now, I’m on the edge of the gulch of terror that surrounds the very steep mountain of an unknown future.
Every minute I’m around Gray I bask in a warmth that makes me want to curl up like a cat at his feet, but as soon as I’m away from him, and I remind myself there is no future for us, I sink into a dark pit of what-ifs and maybes.
Now I know why he was so mean to me when I first got here. That man loves with the strength of a thousand men and protects those he loves unconditionally. The ache that squeezes my chest when I think how much I would love to be part of his unconditional sanctuary almost brings tears to my eyes.
Taking a deep breath and blinking to clear my eyes, I knock on the office door.
“Come in.” I hear Mr. Harlow’s deep, gravely voice through the wood.
I step in and am surprised to see Gray, Mason, Marley and Jax in the room as well.
Mason is at the big picture window behind Mr. Harlow sitting at his desk, Marley is sitting in one of the two leather chairs in front of the desk, Jax is leaning against one of the bookshelves that is closest to Marley tossing almonds in the air and catching them in his mouth, and Gray is leaning against the wall next to the door.
Gray closes the door behind me and I look around the room again. Marley pats the other leather chair in front of the desk and smiles at me. “Here, Elly, sit by me.”
Turning my head just enough to see Gray in my peripheral behind me, I slide my sweaty palms down my hips and feel the warmth radiating from him as I step up to the desk and sit down.
“Marley and Sloane say you have some information that could be helpful.” Mr. Harlow’s voice booms in the small-ish room and I take another deep breath and pretend like I’m in a boardroom.
Clearing my throat, I clasp my hands in my lap and recount everything I shared with Sloane in the kitchen the other day, explaining the plans for the spa and the large advance my father has already secured.
“So all this time we’ve been ignoring the offer letters, your company has been buying up land around us?
Like some kind of pincer attack?” Mason’s hard glare has been on me from across the room the whole time I’ve been talking.
He’s leaning against the wall next to the window, his hands tucked under his arms, but he’s not hiding his anger or his current distaste for me.
I look at Mr. Harlow and then back to Mason. “I’m not sure what a pincer attack is, but offers were made to other landowners around you. It was never considered you wouldn’t sell, if offered enough money, most people take it and run.”
Hearing the creak of the floor behind me, I quickly glance over my shoulder to see Gray step up behind me and lean against the wall next to me, his arms crossed and his eyes fixed on Mason who looks over my head before his eyes slide to the bookcase next to us.
Mason grabs the bill of his ball cap and scrubs his hands through his hair before setting it back on, his movements betray his restrained anger and he hangs his hands on his hips and moves his weight to one leg. “Do you know how long this land has been in our family? “
The file I read was unclear about the origins of the ranch, but it mentioned it had been in the family for generations. I’m not sure if the question is rhetorical, so I don’t answer, but I can feel everyone’s eyes on me.
Mason takes a deep breath, seeming to reset himself, and rolls his head from one shoulder to the other. “When did this takeover start?”
Clearing my throat, I tuck my hair behind my ears.
“According to the file I got a few weeks ago, it’s a project that has been in the works for over a year.
Apparently, an article about natural springs in this area and the Native American belief in their medicinal qualities were picked up by an investor that reached out to my father.
” I pull my clasped fists up and rest them under my chin.
I take a deep breath and continue. “The average person read that article and was intrigued by the unique history of it, but others read it and saw dollar signs.”
“Did you get an advance already?” Mason asks, his disdain barely masked. I have a feeling his goal is to make me uneasy, and maybe the tactic will shake me into admitting something, but I’m not hiding anything from them.
“No, I’ve kept myself distanced from this aspect of my father’s business, I was just pulled into this a few weeks ago.”
“What are the odds your father will accept no when you report back to him?” Gray asks from behind me.
Glancing over my shoulder at Gray before I look at Mr. Harlow, I wince a little when I say, “He will send someone else.”
Mr. Harlow has been listening while gently tapping his fingers against the wooden desktop. “Do you have a list of lands that have already been sold around us?” His voice is gruff and gravely, his frustration is imprinted in the lines on his forehead.
Nodding, I say, “I do, but I left the file in my hotel room. Obviously, I didn’t plan to stay here.”
“No, you planned to waltz in here, dangle money in our face and get a signature, all in a day’s work. Right?” Mason practically spits the question at me.
In my peripheral, I see Mr. Harlow rubbing his fingers across his forehead. “Mason.”
Mason clamps his mouth shut and turns to look out the window. Mr. Harlow looks in my direction. “When the roads are clear enough for Gray to drive you back to your hotel room, can he make copies of that file?”
My heart jumps into my throat. I’m happy to help them, but I’ll probably never see him again after that. Is it fitting that I came here to take their home, but he’s going to drive away with my files and my heart? “Of course.”