by Skylar Hill
“Thank you, Jess,” he said. “I appreciate it. I can take it from here.”
She nodded, turning on her heel and stalking off, shooting a quick glare at the two men before she did.
“Gentleman,” Rhett said. “I assume Mr. Durbin sent you regarding the water rights?”
“We’re here to serve you with a cease-of-use of all water rights pertaining to land parcels 456 and 458,” said one of the guys, slapping a manila envelope onto Rhett's chest. Rhett raised an eyebrow at the guy, wondering if he knew how much fire he was playing with. He was a man who was slow to rile when it came to a physical fight, but when he was riled—watch out.
“And Mr. Durbin has directed that we personally observe the shut-off of said water sources and get video proof of it. For the legal record, of course.”
Rhett opened the envelope, scanning the document. Then he tore it in half. The burlier of the men’s mouth pressed together in a mean, assessing line. Rhett smiled back, a smile that was more of a snarl, with teeth and gum.
“Unfortunately, you gentleman have wasted a trip out here,” Rhett said. “Lucky for you, it’s a gorgeous drive back to the city.”
“You can tear up as many copies as you want,” said Mr. Burly. “I’ll just call the sheriff to come out here and enforce the rule of law. Mr. Durbin is doing you a favor by not just showing up with deputies in the first place.”
“How thoughtful of him,” Rhett drawled. “But Mr. Durbin’s little legal loophole is no longer valid. He based his entire claim on the fact that I was an unmarried man. That’s no longer the case.”
Mr. Burly’s thick eyebrows drew together in confusion as he looked at his partner. “You’re lying,” he said.
“Honey? Are you going to come back to bed? I miss you.”
Rhett turned and his heart nearly ripped out of his chest as he caught sight of her. She had on his button-up from last night, only a few buttons actually fastened, her long, tan legs going on for miles, her hair the very definition of sex hair, and the look on her face… all heat and newlywed desire.
She giggled—an entirely un-Nat-like giggle. “Whoops, I didn’t realize we had company. Don’t be long.”
She waltzed away, closing the door behind her.
Rhett turned back to the two men, eyebrow raised. “My wife, gentleman,” he said. “She’s smart as hell and gorgeous, and I finally wore her down with my charm. I guess I’m just lucky when it comes to timing. We weren’t even thinking about how it would effect Mr. Durbin’s plans. Give him my regards. And tell him that my edict stands: He sets foot on my property, we’re gonna have trouble.”
Without another word, he turned and walked back into the house, closing the door behind him.
Nat was standing in the hallway, an expectant look on her face.
“Did it work?” she whispered, tip-toeing over to the door, peering through the peephole. “They’re leaving!”
“You were great,” he laughed.
“I figured a lusty visual would help,” she said, with a cute little flourish that made him want to grab her hips and pull her against him and kiss her. “Now they’ll go running back to Durbin, and he’ll realize his plan is foiled. I would high-five you, but last time I tried to do it with Maddy, she made fun of me.”
A smile tugged at his lips as he held out his palm, and her eyes lit up as she slapped it against his. But instead of pulling apart, his palm slid against hers, and he pulled her gently forward, slow enough to give her time to pull away if she wanted.
She stepped closer to him, her thumb rubbing against the back of his hand.
“Hi,” she said softly, her gaze dropping away from him, like she was feeling too shy to meet his eyes.
“Hi,” he said.
He wanted to kiss her. He wanted to drag her back to bed and spend the rest of the day learning her body even better. But he needed to check on the bear cubs, and Durbin’s cronies would be informing him of Rhett’s move in this sick game of chess Durbin had forced him to play. He needed to be on alert and ready for Durbin’s next move.
“We should talk,” he said.
She bit her lip, not saying anything.
“But I really need to go check on the bears,” he said. “I didn’t plug my phone in last night because…” he trailed off, and he could feel the tips of his ears begin to heat. Was that a smile on her face? Please let it be a smile. He had no idea what she was feeling right now, he wanted to be sensitive, but he needed to know to what in order to do that.
God, please don’t let her regret it.
“Can you give me an hour, maybe two?” he asked, desperate for her to meet his eyes, and then finally she did, and he saw no regret there. But there was a question he didn’t know the answer to, a curious sort of knowing that lit her face, that gave her a thoughtful, searching air.
“Take all the time you need,” she said.
“But you’ll be here when I get back?” he asked, because she had a habit for disappearing sometimes. She might just whisk herself back to the city as if it would save her.
“Yes,” she said. “I told the office I’d be working remotely for the week. I’ll be here when you get back. I’ll make lunch, okay? Go check on the bears.”
He didn’t want to leave her, but duty called. He leaned forward, brushing a light, sweet kiss across her lips, and her breath hitched at the touch, as if it was unexpected and needed at the same time. She made a little noise and lifted her hand, winding her fingers into the length of his dark blonde hair, bringing him closer as her lips and then tongue touched his.
“Fuck, Nat, if you keep that up, I’ll never get out of here,” he muttered.
She laughed against his mouth, her teeth scraping teasingly against his lower lip as she withdraw, sending a shock of heat through his groin at the idea of her tugging harder, at her teeth grazing across other parts of him.
I want to do everything with you. I want to learn everything that excites you, that you dream about, fantasize about, and then I want to do every single one of them with you.
“Get out of here,” she said, tapping her foot lightly against his. “The bears are waiting.”
“The bears are cockblockers,” Rhett muttered, making her laugh harder. He loved that—her laughter was the purest sound in the world, and no matter how many times he heard it, it lifted him up, made him think better things were possible.
“Go!” she commanded. “I’ll see you later.”
He turned to leave, but found himself turning back in the doorway, looking at her.
“You saved me, Nat,” he said, and her expression melted a little. “You saved me before, in New York. And you saved me again, last night right out there on that deck. You always say that I’ve done more for River Run than anyone else. But that’s not true. You have done more. You saved me. You saved this place. I can never…”
“You never have to,” she interrupted gently. “That’s what friends…” she stopped, her eyebrows knitting together, and the tension between them seemed to stretch and ripple, like a tangible thin. “That’s what I’m here for,” she said, the careful correction meaning something that he didn’t dare to believe. Not now. Not so soon. “I’ve always been good at fixing things,” she said, with a little shrug.
But who helps fix you?
Twenty-One
Nat
After Rhett left, Nat found herself wandering around the upstairs of the house. She had spent plenty of time downstairs, but hadn’t spent any time upstairs, in the loft where Rhett’s bedroom was, as well as the small sunlit library tucked in the back, and the truly impressive bathroom that was more than fit for a king. She wandered and snooped, because if she didn’t, she was going to think about it. Or go into the bedroom and roll around on the sheets that smelled like him—them— and that was something only people in romantic comedies or horror movies did… right?
When wandering didn’t help her avoid her thoughts of Oh my God, I slept with Rhett she took a shower. And then, of course, her
thoughts turned to Oh my God, I really should have sex with Rhett in this shower.
She shouldn’t sleep with him again. She couldn’t. She had already made a mess of this, coming over here last night and being all stubborn and demanding and…
Admit it, you pushed him because you wanted this to happen.
She sighed, turning the water even hotter as she stood in the 360-degree spray. It was like standing in a delicious heated rainstorm, but it didn’t do anything to cool the heat inside her.
She liked sex. Of course she liked sex. She was an empowered woman, working at a company that produced products that empowered women. She loved her body and what her body could do.
But…God, she hadn’t realized her body could do that.
He had made her come so fast. He’d touched her like he knew her every wish and desire, like he’d given so much thought to her that he just knew. The pressure of his palm against her core, the hot mist of his breath against her neck, how when he finally thrust inside her, she’d almost sobbed at the feeling, of the rightness, of the desire to keep him there, to make love to him forever. ..
D-O-O-M. That spells doom, and that’s where this ends!
She shook the thoughts from her head, droplets cascading everywhere as she stepped out of the shower and dried off. By the time she got dressed and went downstairs to look in Rhett’s fridge, he’d been gone almost an hour. There was barely anything in it, so she grabbed a Post-it note, scrawled Went to the market on it, and grabbed her keys.
She loved the country roads surrounding River Run; especially how, on some of them, every rare person you passed would raise a hand to wave at you, like Howdy, neighbor. It had been the same where she’d grown up, and she missed that kind of familiarity sometimes.
She played the staticky oldies station as she made the thirty-minute drive to the store, parking in front and grabbing her purse out of the back as she headed inside, already making a mental list in her head. She headed to the bulk bin section first because she’d noticed he was out of oatmeal and wanted to make rice pilaf for dinner. Being friends with Rhett had forced her to majorly up her vegetarian cooking game, which turned out to be rather handy, since a lot of her new Portland friends were vegetarian or vegan.
She had loved New York—Since childhood, it had been her dream destination, the place she’d fantasized about for so long—but she was so glad Carter had moved Purely Pleasure back to Portland. Not only was it a smart financial move since real estate wasn’t as expensive, but she loved the feel of Portland, of the culture. It was a very sex-positive place, too, which always worked for the company, obviously.
As she shopped, she turned over ideas for Purely Pleasure’s new advertising campaign in her head. She was meeting with the photographer in a few weeks and she was excited to get started. Slowly filling her cart, she made her way through the store, her mind occupied with some ROI figures from their last ad campaign she was running in her head. She was distracted, which is why she almost jumped when a voice drawled behind her,
“Oh, look, it’s the little woman.”
Nat’s skin was crawling before she had even fully turned around. “Mr. Durbin,” she said, keeping her face as neutral as possible. “Hello.”
“Picking up groceries for the new husband?” Durbin asked, arching one of his brows in a way that made him look like one of the cheesier Bond villains.
“That is what one does in a grocery store,” Nat said.
“So you’ll be moving out to the country, I assume,” Durbin said, stepping in her way so she couldn’t even move past him. “Now that you’re married and all.”
Suspicion prickled down her spine. “I don’t think that’s any of your business,” she said.
“Oh, but it could be the court’s business,” Durbin said. “Fraud is a big deal to the government, Ms. Banks. Especially tax fraud. A woman like you makes a heft salary. Are you planning on jointly filing with your dear husband?”
Her eyes narrowed. “It’s Ms. Banks-Oakes,” she corrected him sharply. And then she smiled with even more deadly heat. “We both hyphenated. Wasn’t that so modern of Rhett? I do love how enlightened my husband is. He’s not bogged down with more traditional mindsets like some men. Which is perfect for a woman like me. I keep joking and saying we should get a helicopter because it’ll be easier than the commute from Portland some weeks. Though, I guess it might not cost too much. I noticed that you had a helicopter land on your property the other week. Do you know a pilot? I’d love to get in touch with him to learn more.”
Durbin’s eyes narrowed. “Are you spying on me?” he asked.
“Don’t flatter yourself,” Nat said. “I hike when I spend time in the mountains. And your property is lower than River Run, which means my higher climbs give me a very good view of your farm. And I do so love the high climbs.”
Durbin’s lip curled. “You’re quite the boss bitch, aren’t you?” he asked. “I’ve read about you. That Cosmopolitan feature was quite a revelation. I’m sure your father is very proud of your sex industry work.”
Instead of rolling her eyes, she zeroed in on him, her gaze narrowing.
“Try any barb you want to throw at me, Durbin,” she said. “You think I haven’t heard all of them in every board room I’ve ever been in? Every man’s office I’ve ever walked into and been called sweetheart? I was spitting bronco dust when I was twelve years old and I’ve gotten a lot tougher in the years since. Women like me… they scare men like you. Men like you call us ball-busters and emasculating bitches, but deep down, you’re spinning in scared circles because you know the truth: I’m smarter and I’m slicker and I’m better—because I’ve had to be. Because the toxic masculine bullshit that’s enabled you your entire life has forced me to be better. And nothing pisses off a man like you more than a woman who’s not just better than him—but who knows it. And I know it. I’ve got such a tight grip on my power no one will ever take it from me.”
“You sure about that?’ Durbin said.
“Just try, and you’ll find out,” Nat dared him.
“Nat!” A chipper voice broke through the tension, and she looked over her shoulder to see Jess, River Run’s general manager, loping toward her. “I’m so glad I found you! Remember that recipe for garlic chicken you were talking about? Can you run me through the ingredients?’
It was an out, and Nat was so grateful for it, for the secret sense that women seem to have in these situations. .“Come on,” she said, smiling at Jess in relief. “I’ll walk you through it while we grab the ingredients.”
She pushed her cart past a glaring Durbin, not even meeting his eyes.
“Thank you,” she said to Jess as soon as they headed to the produce section and were out of earshot.
“You were looking cornered,” Jess said. “I don’t like that guy. I saw him at the hardware store the other day. He was buying so much fertilizer and blast dynamite, my teenager joked he must be growing pot or building a bomb.”
Blast dynamite? Nat thought with alarm. Did that mean he had found gold on his property and was preparing to start blowing his part of the mountain up? Surely he wasn’t allowed to do that.
“He’s not the most pleasant person,” Nat said. “Thank you again for the save.”
“No problem,” Jess said with a smile. “I’m really happy you’ve been coming by more often. The boss… Rhett is always very happy to see you.”
Will I ever be able to come back after this is all done? Nat thought. Will it ever be the same? Do I want it to be?
“I’ll let you get back to your shopping,” Nat said, because she didn’t know how to reply to that, afraid of confirming or denying and what that might mean.
“Bye, Nat,” Jess said, heading down the bread aisle as Nat turned toward the check-out.
Durbin was nowhere to be seen as she headed out into the parking lot with her groceries and loaded them into her car. But she was disturbed enough to take out her phone and dial Jace Oakes’s number, letting it ring as
she locked the doors of her Lexus and kept an eye on the grocery store’s door.
“Hi, this is Jace,” he said.
“Jace, it’s Natalie Banks,” she said.
“Nat, hi,” his voice immediately warmed. “You calling me to take me up on that dinner invite? I meant it, you know. I know you’re friends with Rhett, but my baby brother can’t hog you all the time.”
“You’re sweet,” Nat said. “But I’m actually calling about a legal question, if you don’t mind.”
“Shoot,” he said. “Always happy to help a friend of the family.”
“Hypothetically, if someone got married to help another person out of a legal situation, would that be punishable if proven or fraud or something?”
There was a long silence. “Nat, please tell me you like, got married to some guy so you wouldn’t have to testify against him,” Jace said. “And that you didn’t marry my little brother in a bid to keep that bastard Durbin off his ass with the water rights.”
“Um, okay, I won’t then,” Nat said.
“Nat!”
“I’m sorry, Jace, but the options you were presenting—the consequences of waiting—were too much. Rhett and I both felt so, and—“
“You and Rhett… Rhett and you,” Jace repeated, as if his mind was blown. She thought briefly that she hoped his secretary would check on him or get him some water or something. “I can’t believe this,” he went on in a stunned tone.
“Well, believe it,” Nat said. “Now tell me, if Durbin somehow proves we got married just to get around this stupid law he dug up, will that mess anything up?”