“For me? No. He’s fun, but he’s married and I don’t enable cheating.” Anymore. I realized too late my mistake. Blushing, I spun toward Reeve. “But none of that matters anyway. He won’t be a problem for me because I’m with you.”
“Yeah, that should have been your first answer.” His jaw was tight, but there was a conflicting gleam in his eye, as though he was debating whether he should be mad or not.
I decided to make the choice easier for him. With an exaggerated pout, I said, “That was very naughty of me. Maybe I need to be punished.”
His jaw loosened, the gleam turned wicked, the belt came off, and I was thoroughly whipped, and fucked, before falling into a restless sleep.
Bad dreams and anxiousness woke me several times that night. I’d only just found deep sleep when I was woken again, this time with Reeve’s cock rubbing at my pussy from behind. It was a blissful quickie that allowed me to stay half-asleep through it and still earned me a nice orgasm.
“That’s got to last you a few days,” Reeve said when we were done. “I’m leaving this morning for some business upstate.”
“Yeah, that was for me,” I said, referring to our fast fuck. “Right.” My grin faded. “How long will you be gone?”
“Three days. I’ll be back the day after tomorrow.” He leaned over and brushed the hair out of my face. He didn’t smile or kiss me or touch my cheek, just looked into my eyes for a few precious seconds. It was sweet in a way I couldn’t put into words. A much more tender goodbye than I’d expected from him.
When he stood back up, he beamed down at me. “And that was totally for you. Your Kaya Ranch wake-up call. It’s a quarter to six and I didn’t want you to miss breakfast.”
“Very kind of you. I’ll get right on that.” But I rolled over onto the pillow he’d used, burying my face in the traces of his scent. Then I fell back to sleep, partly because I was exhausted, but also because, without Reeve there, I didn’t feel much like being awake.
When I woke up again, it was nearly ten. The sun streamed through the crack in the curtains, drawing me with its beams the way a spotlight in the city drew people to premiere events. I peeked out and was met with acres of rolling green grass flanked with wooded hills. Beyond, snowcapped mountains stretched up to a cloud-spotted sky. The scene was beautiful and dramatic, calling me to throw on some clothes and get outside so I could explore every inch of the landscape.
Except, I had other exploring that took priority.
Reeve would be gone for three days and I knew I needed to use that time wisely. The house was at the top of my research list. I planned to get into every nook and cranny of its ten thousand square feet. I also hoped to get some of the staff talking. Amber couldn’t have been there as long as she had without making some sort of impact on someone. Hopefully I’d find that someone, and they’d be willing to talk.
I’d missed breakfast, but was able to dig up some cheese and apples from the fridge to tide me over until lunch. Then I went up to my room to shower and get decent. I unpacked my suitcase as well, then did a quick self-tour of the common areas in the house. I found a full-size gym in the basement as well as a theater room. The library was on the main floor along with the large dining hall that looked like it accommodated a hundred people. There was also a solarium, den, and sitting room. The rest of the space was divided among bedrooms, none of which seemed to be currently in use except for the one Tabor was staying in. Reeve’s office was the only room that was locked, as he’d said.
I was glad to realize through my exploration that though Tabor was here for me, he wasn’t here to watch my every move. He checked in on me a couple of times during the day and told me just to let him know if I wanted to leave the house. It was a huge relief to have space so I could do what I wanted.
It was also nice to know Reeve really had brought him for my protection and not to spy.
At noon, I went to the dining hall for lunch. It was served buffet style, an arrangement of cold sandwiches, soups, and salads. There was no triangle rung to announce the meal, but cowboys came rushing in on the hour exactly as if there were some sort of alarm that only they could hear. There were fifty or so all together. Parker and Charlie came in at the tail end and sat in the corner away from everyone else. I imagined as managers they got tired of their employees and wanted the break to be away from them.
I got my food and carefully surveyed the room, deciding to sit at a table with only a handful of ranchers. Here I made my move, talking up the lot of them, which mostly meant a lot of innocent flirting where I attempted to coax information about previous visits by Reeve and the women who’d accompanied him. All of the men I spoke with had been willing to talk, but none had worked there long enough to know anything that happened the previous summer. As Reeve had said, most were temporary employees who had just been hired recently for the busy season.
Dinner had the same lackluster results. I tried not to feel defeated when I went to bed that night, though it was hard not to be down. It was a lonely place to be without Reeve, and it had only been one day. I slept in his room, even though I had one of my own. In the large house, his room was the only space that felt comfortable.
I spent the next morning in the library, first examining the shelves and then poking around on the computer. It was possible, I’d decided, that Amber might have used it when she’d been there. If she did, she could have saved a document or maybe the browser history had something of interest.
But I found nothing useful.
At lunch, I got lucky.
This time, instead of sitting with the masses, I picked out the man sitting by himself wearing a security uniform. Tabor and the men I’d seen carrying around the house wore slacks and button-downs, but the guards at the front gate wore uniforms like this one. I was interested in the unanswered question about the high level of security, and certain I wouldn’t get anything from the slacks.
“Mind if I sit, uh” – I bent to make out the name on his front pocket – “Cade?”
He appeared surprised to have anyone talk to him, looking around the room as if he didn’t think I’d ask unless there was nowhere else to sit. “Um. Sure.” Maybe there was a guideline about not talking to the uniforms, but since Reeve hadn’t included it in his expectations, I wasn’t too worried about breaking it.
“Great, thanks!” I sat and nibbled at my half-sandwich and salad while we made small talk about the weather and whether or not I’d ever been to Wyoming before.
Slowly I shifted the conversation to his job. “How long have you worked here, anyway, Cade?”
“Just hit ten years last month.”
I almost flipped my tray from leaning forward too excitedly. “That’s great. You must really like working here to have stayed this long. I bet you have great stories – like about the people who visit. The women that Reeve brings here.”
He laughed. “Ah, I see what you’re after. Sorry, sweetie, I’m not allowed to talk about Mr. Sallis’s… guests.” Dammit, Cade wasn’t an idiot. “But it was a good effort on your part. And for the record” – he bent in and hushed his voice – “there have only been a couple he’s brought here. So consider yourself special.”
Special. I doubted that since Reeve had told me specifically that I wasn’t. Yet, hadn’t he shown me many times that maybe I actually was?
“Well, worth a try,” I said with an authentic though exaggerated sigh. Still, the conversation didn’t have to be a total loss. “Tell me then instead, is it normal to have this level of security at a ranch?”
He wagged his head back and forth as he contemplated his answer. “Ranch, yes. There are always people out to steal your livestock. Cattle are big business. Probably not usually this much security at a main house. But the Sallis family is… private.”
Yeah, “private” was one way to put it. Or maybe in hiding, going so far as to bury Reeve’s mother’s real name from anyone who searched.
I deliberated what to ask next. “Does the ranch get many visit
ors? Not of the women variety. Just, you know, visitors.” Like Michelis. Or other family members.
“I’m not allowed to talk about the people who stay in the house, as I said before. As for other visitors, I wouldn’t really know. I’ve always worked the surveillance room here and never at the main gates.”
“There’s a surveillance room here as well? For just the house?” I expected a few cameras on the roof, but certainly not something that had to be manned.
“Yeah. There’s three of us that work an eight-hour shift each. I’m lucky because there are two guys on the house duty during the day so I grab one to cover while I’m at lunch. I should be getting back now, though.” He wiped his mouth with a napkin then threw it on his tray.
As he stood up, I asked, “Would you mind showing it to me? The surveillance room, I mean.” Reeve had said that nothing was off limits. “I get nervous out here in the wild when Reeve’s gone. I’m sure you understand.”
Cade shrugged. “I suppose there’s no harm in that. Security here is tight, though, I’m telling you. You’re safe here. But if seeing it will make you feel better, I get that. You finished with that?” He gestured to my food. When I nodded, he picked it up under his. “Follow me.”
The surveillance room was behind a heavy door on the first floor just inside the house. I’d seen it when I’d explored the day before, but it was locked and I’d assumed it was to the electrical room or furnace since it was the only metal door I’d found.
Cade, of course, had keys. He let us in, and while he chatted with the guy who’d covered his break, I took in the room. It wasn’t very large, about 150 square feet. A curved desk with three rolling chairs took up most of the space, wrapping around two entire walls. Above the desk were twenty-five or so monitors, several turned off. Another wall had two metal cabinets – both unlocked and opened so I could see they were filled with digital recorders, a key sticking out of each door. Finally, there was a gun rack with more than a dozen different types of artillery including assault weapons, rifles, handguns, and what I thought was a machine gun. Underneath this were drawers that I assumed were for ammunition.
“See?” Cade said, noticing my eyes on the guns. He’d dismissed his substitute and it was now just he and I in the room. “We’re damn prepared here. This isn’t even a third of what’s down at the surveillance room by the main gates.”
“Prepared is right.” Question was, prepared for what?
I looked back at the monitors. Taking a seat in one of the chairs, I studied the screens. Each one flipped between two or three camera views, one screen for each room of the house, it appeared. I blushed suddenly remembering what Reeve and I had done the night we’d arrived. And the next morning. It was one thing to be watched during sex and quite another to be watched and not know it.
“Is there always someone in here?” I asked as casually as I could manage.
He sat in the chair next to me. “Yep. Twenty-four/seven.”
“And every room in the house is under surveillance?” Silently I was thanking God that the only exploring I’d done so far was in trying to talk to people. I hadn’t opened closets or rummaged through drawers. The last thing I wanted was someone watching me do something they’d report to Reeve. And if every room was watched – no wonder Reeve had cautioned me about walking around naked. Though, I’d never searched for a security room at his place in LA. He could very well have a similar setup there.
“Yes, every room is under surveillance,” Cade said, looking me over suspiciously. Probably wondering what it was I was trying to steal.
I fluttered my lashes. “It’s just that sometimes… well, Reeve and I often let our passion get away from us, if you know what I mean.”
“Ah.” His face reddened slightly. “No worries there. We only actively watch the main rooms. There are no cameras in the bathrooms, and we only watch a few of the bedrooms.”
Like mine, I noticed. He seemed to realize that after he’d said it, his eyes darting nervously from the screens to his hands, anywhere but at me.
“I only keep my clothes in there,” I said, reassuring him as well as me. “I sleep with Reeve.” If I’d had any doubt about which room I’d stay in with him gone, I didn’t now.
“Right, right, of course.” Cade pointed to the blank screens. “These are to the other bedrooms. We don’t usually have those on, to maintain guest privacy.”
With all the guards at the ranch, it was hard to imagine why Amber would have called me with the safe word. Unless she’d been afraid of Reeve, in which case, did that mean his staff was okay with whatever he’d done? Had Amber called over something stupid? Like, had Reeve pulled out his belt with her like he had with me and she’d panicked?
I didn’t like thinking that was the case and not because it was irritating to think of Amber being afraid of something naughty that I enjoyed, but because it made my stomach clench with jealousy.
No matter what had happened with Amber and Reeve, she’d had him first, and that was never going to change. I had to find a way to get used to that. But it didn’t look like it would be today.
“Regardless if we’re actively monitoring them,” Cade added, “all rooms have cameras and they’re all recorded on digital over there so we can go back and review if something happens.”
“How long do you keep the recordings?” I was sure it wouldn’t be very long, but it didn’t hurt to ask.
Turned out I was wrong. “One full year,” Cade said.
One year. Which meant there were still recordings of Amber. The realization sent a swarm of emotions buzzing in my chest like bees. The idea of seeing something that hurt her or scared her was not a comfortable one. And if the recordings showed her being intimate with Reeve I didn’t know if I could take that either.
But to have the chance to see her again, even just on a black-and-white silent recording…
I had to see those recordings. It was a practically impossible task with the room always occupied. I had charmed Cade, but he didn’t seem like the type who would break the rules, no matter how much I flirted. I made it a point to find out who the other guards were who worked the room. Maybe one of them would be easier to coerce. Or seduce, if I had to.
“So… who else works this job? And what time does his shift start?”
“Six. That’s Mike. Donny works the graveyard. Neither of them is very friendly, though. They’re straight by the book, don’t talk to anyone, come in, do their job, and leave. You were lucky to get me today to show you this room. They’d probably both kick my ass for letting you in.”
So much for that idea.
“Well, I appreciate it. You’ve alleviated my fears.” I sighed, and looked back at the monitors. Reeve’s room wasn’t there I noticed now. “I’m guessing that Reeve’s suite isn’t actively watched?”
“Ah, Mr. Sallis’s room is recorded, but the screen for his room is locked in his office in a cabinet like those.” He pointed to the ones behind us. “The recorders to those are in there too. Only one who has access to that is the man himself.”
Now this news was better. Because I had a better shot at getting into Reeve’s office. All I needed was his key ring.
Cade leaned toward me and winked. “So no one’s seeing anything inappropriate.”
I pretended that was exactly the reason I’d asked. “Thank God. No one’s selling our sex tapes.”
He covered his ears with his hands and said, “Too much information, too much information.”
I took that as my cue to leave.
The rest of the afternoon was spent inconspicuously searching through Reeve’s suite. I knew no one was watching me over the cameras, but Reeve could watch the recording later and find out I’d done it. If he later came to me with accusations, I’d man up and tell him I was snooping, as many girlfriends do. I wouldn’t have to tell him I was looking for something specific.
My search ended fruitlessly, but I wasn’t that disheartened. I’d seen Reeve pocket his keys when he’d first gotten
them from the security room, and I guessed he likely kept them on him at all times. Which just meant I had to wait until he got home to try to confiscate his office key. All I had to do was get his jeans off of him and wait for him to sleep, right?
Lucky for me, getting Reeve out of his pants hadn’t ever been a problem.
CHAPTER 24
When I arrived at dinner that night, Charlie and Parker beckoned me to join them at their corner table. Brent was with them as well, and though I felt a pinch of guilt about eating with him, I figured it would be strange if I ignored their invitation, seeing how they were really the only three people I knew at the ranch.
Besides, this was my chance to see if they’d say anything useful now that Reeve wasn’t here to give warning looks any time the conversation got interesting.
Unfortunately, they were just as tight-lipped, just as evading. Every leading question I asked got ignored. Every prompt turned into a story about something else.
And then Parker slipped.
All three of them had consumed a number of beers during the meal, and by the end, Parker, at least, was closer to drunk than not.
Without any elicitation from me, he put his elbow on the table, leaned on his hand, and, looking up at me with glazed eyes, said, “You know, Emily’s the first woman our man’s brought here who doesn’t have a drug problem. That’s kind of nice, isn’t it?”
“Parker,” Brent warned.
“I’m just saying it’s nice to have a decent woman for a change.” Parker gave me a sloppy smile. “You’re a nice change, Emily.”
Charlie had been quiet for most of the meal, but now he said, “You never liked the last one, but that doesn’t mean she wasn’t decent.”
Parker sat up and thumped his fist on the table. “No, she wasn’t. And you’re right – I didn’t like her. Because she was a high-maintenance pain in the ass. I’m glad she’s off our hands, even ending the way it d—”
“Parker!” Brent thwacked the younger man across the head. “You’ve got a loose tongue. Shut it.”
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