“Is this one of them?” Selena asked in a low whisper as she grabbed hold of me and pulled me away from Ty. “How can you handle all this hotness?”
“I barely can,” I laughed and turned to Ty, motioning for him to come join us. I introduced them and smiled to myself at how Selena’s eyes bugged out when she said hello. She was obviously more than a little enamored with my cowboys, and I couldn’t wait to have her out to the ranch.
I had emailed Mr. Monty about the progress on my story, he was impressed and had sent some more information for me to go over.
From the way it was wrapping up, I was going to expose some long time crooked dealings between Bayside Property and the city.
“We have one more building to look into,” I told Ty, “I’ll pick up a few things from my desk. You can hang out here with Selena for a moment if you want.”
“Oh yes, he does,” Selena breathed and put her hand on Ty’s arm. “I’ll keep a close eye on him for you, Morgan.”
Ty shifted uncomfortably but followed Selena back to her desk. I snickered to myself; she would flirt outrageously with him but she was harmless. Selena might be a wild woman, but she respected our friendship enough to keep away from my man.
Or men. She would be dying to know all about it, and I would share the details with her, but not at work. I didn’t need that kind of thing going around the office.
I found Mr. Monty in his office and he was obviously excited over the connections I’d made. He wanted me to take more photos of the last high rise being built just now. I agreed and went to my desk to dig up some information on the property and finally walked back to Selena’s desk.
Selena was sitting on the edge of her seat, leaning over towards Ty and talking brightly.
She had her hand on his arm still, and he was visibly nervous, his shyness coming out again with Selena.
I paused and loved him for it, for being nice to my friend but being awkward around her. He wanted to please me by being kind, but obviously didn’t like it that much.
“Well, let’s get going,” I said as I approached Selena’s desk.
Ty jumped up and stood straight, holding his cowboy hat in his hand. He shot me a look of relief and said, “See ya around, Selena.”
“I’ll see you,” she said and squirmed in her chair in excitement. “I’ll come out to the ranch real soon. Maybe you can hook me up with some hot cowboy of my own. Or two or three.”
“I’ll see what we can do,” I laughed, hooked my hand in Ty’s arm and walked him to the elevator.
“I don’t know if I trust her to not devour anybody I send her way,” Ty chuckled as we descended.
“She is a pretty aggressive girl,” I said, “but she ain’t got nothing on me anymore, right?”
He kissed me quickly before we hit the ground floor, caressed my cheek with the back of his hand and said, “You’ve got that right, kitten.”
The door opened and we were back to reality, heading off after the story that would change my life.
Chapter 35
“It’s up here on the left, that construction site,” I told Ty as we moved through the city.
“Damn, how could you stand driving through this traffic every damned day?” he grumbled as we got stuck behind yet another block of cars along the street.
“I didn’t mind it,” I said, “the energy of the city used to excite me.”
“What excites you now?” Ty asked, giving me a heated, sidelong glance.
“I think you have an idea,” I replied and rested my hand on his thick thigh. I could feel the heat of his body through his jeans, and when he lifted his leg to release the brake, I could feel his muscles working under his skin.
His presence excited me, his raw masculinity and steady calm nature.
All of them excited me for this reason, Ty might have been the first one I spoke of love to, and the first one who said it to me, but I knew they would all say it in time. Just as I would say it to them soon enough, I felt it, so it would be natural to speak of it.
“I think I do know, kitten,” he said with a smug grin. “I think being on the end of a cock excites you now.”
“I think you’re right.” I grinned and slipped my hand further up, landing on his thick cock growing harder in his pants.
He leaned over to kiss me, I closed my eyes and slipped my tongue along his, circling it and sinking into the sensation.
Until a sharp beep of a horn behind us pulled us out of our embrace.
“Shit, I’ve become one of the assholes holding up traffic,” he laughed and guided the truck into a parking spot near the building we were exploring.
“I guess if all of them are kissing their lovers and holding up traffic because of that, we can forgive them,” I replied and stepped out of the truck.
He walked around to join me and we spent the next few minutes trying to talk to construction workers and take photos of the site.
Only one of them would even speak to us, and he didn’t have much to say. He said he was too nervous about losing his job to go on record, but off the record he could attest to the fact that the work done for low income renters was much shoddier than the work done for people buying into the buildings. He said, as I suspected, that they were segregated from the owners and it was as if people who bought apartments didn’t even know there were social housing units in their buildings.
“So how does this make Bayside money?” Ty asked, interrupting the worker.
“The government and city give huge grants to Bayside to build these much needed apartments,” he told us. “Bayside will pocket a few hundred thousand extra from every building by using poor materials.”
“Won’t this eventually show up?” Ty asked. “Won’t the foundations eventually break down?”
“They don’t care about that,” I told them both. “By then Bayside will have sold the properties and the owners will be on the hook.”
I thanked the worker and my eyes felt bright with intensity as I plotted out my story. Ty and I took one last walk around the perimeter of the site. I didn’t pull out my camera, opting to use my cell phone instead as there wasn’t anything interesting to really capture.
I saw some men in suits walking around the site across the open pit from us and I paused. Something about them seemed familiar.
“Hang on,” I told Ty. “I think that’s Mr. Maynard, the CEO of Bayside.”
He looked across and squinted. “That’s the mayor with him,” he said.
“Is it?” I exclaimed. “What’s he doing here?”
I knelt down and grabbed my camera bag, pulled out the digital camera with its huge lens, and held it up.
I pressed my eye against the viewfinder and gasped. It was the mayor.
I started snapping photographs, one after the next, and realized Maynard was handing an envelope to the mayor. It looked like it was thick with cash, a banking envelope, and I couldn’t wait to get back to the office and enlarge the photographs to find out.
“Hey! This is a closed site!” I heard somebody yell at us from my side. “Give me that camera!”
I snapped a few more photos as I heard him running towards us. I caught the two men shaking hands and the mayor sliding the envelope into his suit. That was enough for me to use in my article.
Ty stepped around me and said, “Leave her alone, she ain’t doing anything wrong.”
“She’s taking pictures of a closed building site,” the security guard snarled. I pulled the camera away from my face and looked at him. He seemed vaguely familiar and I wondered if this was the same guy who knocked me on the head at the first building.
“This is a public space, I can take pictures,” I replied coolly.
“You can’t,” he growled. “Give me the goddamned camera, this is private property.
He took a menacing step towards me, his fists balled up and his hand drawn back as if to punch me.
Ty was there lightning fast, holding me behind him to absorb any hits.
The se
curity guard landed a blow to Ty’s shoulder, but Ty hit back immediately, hitting his jaw. The guard stepped back with an exclamation of pain and tried to hit Ty again.
Ty was fast, though; he ducked and slammed his fist into the guy’s face. I heard a crunch and blood began to spill from the guard’s nose.
“You broke it,” he snivelled, “you fucking asshole.”
“Let’s go,” Ty said and grabbed my arm. We rushed back to the truck and got out of there before anybody could catch us.
My heart was racing and my hands were trembling, but not from fear, from excitement.
If the mayor was taking money from Maynard at Bayside, this story might be bigger than I thought.
This story might make my career zoom to the next level.
And that would mean making big decisions about my future, did I move out to the ranch and follow my heart, or did I stay put and become the journalist I’d been on track to be?
Why couldn’t life ever be simple?
Chapter 36
“I can’t believe that just happened right in front of us,” I said as Ty drove through the streets back to the newspaper. “This is a huge deal, what if the mayor is involved in this corruption scandal? And I could be the one breaking the story!”
“That’s amazing,” he said, “but don’t I get some credit for punching that guy out?”
I laughed and put my hand on his thigh. “Of course, you can share in my victory.”
He smiled and pulled my hand up to kiss it quickly while he drove.
“This might be a good story to retire on,” I said, shooting him a quick glance.
“You’re thinking of quitting?” he asked with a shocked look.
“Well maybe,” I replied. “I don’t know if I can give it up, though. I really love it.”
“Then stick with it,” he said, looking ahead. “If that’s what makes you happy, there ain’t no reason to walk away from it, is there?”
“So you don’t want me to move to the ranch?” I asked playfully. Of course they wanted me to move to the ranch, but I liked hearing them say it. And it would be tough, not being able to keep up my career once I left the city.
He laughed and said, “Yeah, you know we want you there. You’re the one for us, kitten. I love you and the guys love you and we can picture a life with you out there with us.”
“I’d like that,” I said and curled into the space under his arm. I could feel his heart beating in his chest and loved the way his body felt against mine.
Would this kind of love and protection be worth giving up my job at the paper for? Was my career even that important to me?
I could close my eyes and envision my life on the ranch, the joy and happiness the four cowboys would bring me.
But I could also imagine being here, in the city and working on stories that gave me thrills like this. The adrenaline I had racing through my body was intense, I was almost shaking from it.
I supposed I would have to write my story, get it published and then figure out what I was going to do with my life.
I would just enjoy every minute of it until then.
“Shit, do you know what this means?” Mr. Monty exclaimed as he flipped through the photos on the camera.
I’d never heard him swear before, I was a little taken aback but understood his excitement. I was feeling it myself.
“It means your little newspaper is going to get a whole bunch of publicity.” I grinned. “It means you might be able to limp along for another few months.”
“Maybe even longer,” he said with a grin. “Print these out and let me go over your story so far. We’ll collaborate on this one, Morgan,” he replied.
I felt my face fall into a frown and I pursed my lips. I didn’t like to share this story with anyone, not after everything I’d gone through to get it.
I guess hiding my feelings wasn’t exactly my forte, Mr. Monty looked at me and his face went a deep shade of red.
“I’ll give you full credit, of course,” he stammered. “I didn’t mean to imply I’d take credit for your work.”
“I know.” I smiled and felt the tension leave my body. “I wasn’t worried, I promise.”
“I value your work,” Mr. Monty said, looking me in the eye. “I wouldn’t want to do anything to lose you, so remember that.”
I smiled and thanked him but I inwardly cringed, his support was going to make my choice to leave or stay that much harder.
This was going to be the story of a lifetime, a real career starter, so how could I walk away from it?
I headed out of Mr. Monty’s office to tell Ty I’d be a while. He could go back to my place for the day and escape the flirtations of Selena.
As expected, he was sitting on the edge of a chair looking extremely uncomfortable as Selena giggled and put her hand on his shoulder.
“Morgan!” he exclaimed when he saw me. Relief washed over his face and he stood to meet me.
“Hey Ty, is Selena taking good care of you?” I asked with a grin.
“Hell yeah,” Selena said. “I’m just itching to meet a few of his friends.”
“I promised her I’d hook her up with a few of the guys I know,” he said, his eyes flitting to me with a look of desperation. He wanted to get out of here, I could see it on his face.
“Why don’t you head back to my place and pick me up at the end of the day?” I asked and kissed his cheek.
“Sure thing,” he replied. “Is there anything I can do for you while I’m there?”
“Like what, herd up her stray cattle? Break a horse?” Selena laughed.
“I’m handy with most tools,” Ty replied. “I can fix anything around the place.”
“There is a leaky pipe under the sink,” I said excitedly, “and a loose floorboard in the bedroom. Oh, and the knob on my top dresser drawer keeps falling off.”
“I’ll get it done,” Ty said with a grin. “Now give me a kiss so I can get home and get to work.”
I kissed him hard and heard Selena gasp as he swept me into his arms and leaned me back. His kiss was commanding and possessive, reminding me yet again that I belonged to him and he belonged to me.
He pulled me up and I looked him up and down. “Thank you,” I said and watched as he walked slowly away, his ass looking mighty fine in his tight Wranglers.
“Now how do I get me some of that?” Selena asked with admiration in her voice.
I laughed and walked back to my desk to get back to work.
And allowed myself the satisfaction of already having some of that.
Chapter 37
I finished my article, reread it, and realized I was more than pleased with my work.
“You seem pretty smug about something,” Selena said, leaning over the partition next to my desk. “Good story or good sex?”
I grinned and said, “Maybe a little bit of both?”
Selena leaned closer and whispered, “You lucky bitch. Seriously, how does this happen to my most boring, most virginal friend?”
“Seriously? Pure dumb luck. I won’t even pretend that I had anything to do with this, they saw me, they liked me and wow, I like them. It’s really crazy though, isn’t it?”
“It is so crazy,” Selena said. “I mean, what are you going to do for family dinners and holidays?”
“Oh god, I haven’t thought about that,” I said and my stomach clenched tight at the idea of telling my parents. “What the hell am I going to tell them?”
“I don’t know, but I do know that I want to be there when it happens,” she said with a grin.
“Thanks a lot, asshole,” I replied and stuck my tongue out at her playfully.
“But seriously, I will come along if you want. For support,” Selena said. “Your mom is scary as hell, but you don’t have to face her on your own.”
“Thanks,” I said, “that means a lot to me.”
“Plus, the look on your mom’s face will be totally worth it,” she said with a wink.
I gulped and tried to la
ugh with her, but it was hard to do. I hadn’t considered my family’s reaction at all really, I had hoped I could just kind of hide out in the background or out at the ranch and never see them again.
Even though I knew that wasn’t feasible, it seemed like the best plan for me.
My mom was so judgemental already, though, I supposed one more thing to disappoint her might not be that bad. Especially when I had my four cowboys there to back me up.
Besides, maybe she would lighten up when she saw how happy they made me. I mean, a girl could dream.
Selena and I chatted a little bit and she had to get back to her desk to finish up her work for the day. I hit send on my email to Mr. Monty and texted Ty to come pick me up.
I hadn’t felt this satisfied on a story…well, ever. I couldn’t wait to blow the roof off this entire corruption scheme.
Ty said he’d meet me downstairs, so I said goodbye to Selena and my other colleagues and headed down to wait for him.
It was raining lightly so I pulled my jacket tight against me and huddled against the chill. I heard a diesel pickup truck engine, so I craned my neck to look for Ty.
I felt a tug on my jacket and tried to turn around, assuming it was Ty. I couldn’t, though. I was swept up in huge arms and I lost my balance, falling back into them.
“Hello baby,” a man’s voice whispered in my ear. I struggled against his grip, tried to scream but his hand was over my mouth and he pulled my hood down over my face.
“Shut up and I won’t have to hurt you,” he snarled behind me. “You have to talk to my employers.”
I fought against him but he lifted me off my feet and dragged me into the back of a van, shoving me down on the floor. I heard him slam the door shut and he hit the wall a couple times and said, “Let’s go!”
I rolled as the van sped off, grunting as I hit the guy’s foot.
“Hold still, bitch,” he snapped and grabbed my arms, pulling them tight behind me. Before I knew what was happening, he tied my wrists together behind my back and pushed me onto my stomach.
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