Hidden Treasure (9 page)

Chapter Fourteen

C
olt held Brielle
close for much longer than he normally held a woman after sex. For some reason he couldn’t seem to talk himself into letting her go. After he’d shared something with her he hadn’t been planning on sharing, she had drifted off. He’d felt her body tremble with the sorrow she’d felt as he spoke of Blake, and that had torn him in half.

It was a long time ago, but not something he would ever forget, and not something he normally told anyone. It seemed he wanted to open up with Brielle, a woman he hadn’t thought would ever be able to get beneath his thick skin. He knew they were all wrong for each other.

Then why did it feel so right holding her in his arms. He normally never slept with a woman after sex, but this time he’d decided to close his eyes for only a brief moment. An hour later, he woke up and she was still lying half on top of him. He felt his body stirring again just from the feel of her perfect breasts pressing against his flesh.

For a second, or maybe five, he thought about flipping her onto her back and sinking back inside her heat, finding solace in her arms. Before he could act on that, he reined himself in. This had gotten far heavier than he’d wanted it to already.

Making love to her had seemed like a foregone conclusion, nothing important, just a way to relieve one ache. But the reality was much different from the fantasy he’d created in his head. The reality was much, much better. And she’d made him want to share some of his past with her. Now he was panicking.

He couldn’t want this woman for more than a single romp in the sheets. She was the enemy. She was standing between him and something he really wanted — something he deserved.

There was nowhere for their relationship to go. Nowhere good, anyway. This would only end in disaster for both of them. He knew that beyond a shadow of a doubt, so the smartest and best thing he could do for both of them was to climb out of the bed and disappear.

Wait her out.

Okay, that thought didn’t particularly appeal to him. But wasn’t that more than enough reason for him to get moving? Careful not to wake her, he began inching away from beneath her, untangling their limbs as he crawled from the bed.

When he stood up and looked down at her, his heart pounded at the way she grumbled in her sleep and her arm reached out. Was she seeking him out, even while unconscious? That’s what it looked like. After a few seconds, she settled back into a deep sleep, and he carefully pulled the covers up over her and removed temptation from his sight.

And yet, a minute later, he found his eyes caressing her face. Yeah, he had to get away from here, because everything inside him told him not to leave and that was more than enough reason to run as fast as he could.

With fierce determination, Colt turned and began gathering his clothes. Putting on his still-damp jeans was a little more difficult than it had been to pull them off, but a few minutes later he was fully dressed.

He couldn’t walk away without looking down at her peaceful face one last time. He knew that once he stepped from this room, everything would be different. All for the best, though. He quietly opened her bedroom door, slipped out, and closed it gently behind him.

When he emerged from her house, all the men were gone, thankfully. It was only about two in the afternoon and he hadn’t been thinking about her reputation, or about the fact that each of the ranch hands would know exactly what he and Brielle had been up to.

He hung his head in shame at what they would now say about her. He hoped he’d be able to quash any rumors, but just as he started heading toward the barn, his cell phone rang. Looking down at the number, he sighed. This was a call he couldn’t ignore.

“Hello, Tim. What can I do for you?”

He listened to his business manager for several minutes and then cursed. This was definitely not the time to be traveling. He’d walked away from her bed without a word, but he had planned to see her tomorrow. Yes, he wanted distance, but he didn’t want her to feel completely used.

But wouldn’t that actually help him? Wouldn’t she hate him, think he was a monster? Wasn’t that best for the two of them right now?

“Okay. I’ll be there this evening.”

He dialed another number. “Meet me at the airport,” Colt said. “We’re heading out.”

Colt went toward his truck and made his way to the small airport in Sterling, where his collection of aircrafts was stored. He didn’t get to fly nearly as much as he’d like to anymore. Sometimes because of the unpredictable weather, and sometimes because life just got in the way.

Yes, he had men who worked for him, and yes, he could do whatever he wanted to do, but Colt hadn’t been raised that way. His father had worked relentlessly until the day he died, and he’d taught Colt the value of a hard day’s work.

It was something so drummed into him that it would be impossible for him to do anything less than his best. Sure, he’d been spending too much time on Brielle’s ranch lately, but that was work, too. He was working to obtain her land.
Hell.
Another pang hit him at the deception.

It didn’t take him long to drive to the airport, and when he got to his hangar and opened the giant doors, a grin split his face as he took in his Beechcraft King Air 350i. She really was a beauty. His worries dissipated as he focused on his outside preflight checklist.

His father had flown him all around the States when Colt was just a young boy, and he’d caught the bug early on. He’d begun his first official lessons at age sixteen, and that summer he’d earned his pilot’s license. It hadn’t been enough for him.

As the years went by, he’d pushed himself harder and harder, and now he could fly just about anything. He had several private planes and jets, but this one was his baby, and she definitely got the most attention.

“Wow, you got here fast, Colt.”

Colt turned to find Bradley, his co-pilot. He could fly this turbojet on his own, but it was always good to have a second pilot onboard, especially for some of his bigger planes.

“Yeah, Tim called. I need to get there fast.”

“All right, let’s do this.” That was the reason Colt loved Bradley as a co-pilot. Not only was the man good company, but he also knew his stuff.

Running his hands along the surface of the plane, Colt made sure everything was in place and in working order.

“It looks good on my end,” Bradley said before going around to the passenger side and climbing onboard. Colt joined him, and they read off the inside checklist together.

“Brakes set,” Colt said.

“Throttle…idle,” Bradley checked off.

“Weather…check; instruments set.”

Opening the window — though no one was around, it still had to be done — Bradley yelled out, “Clear prop!”

Then Colt did what he loved best. With the throttle in his hand, he cranked over the engines, first the left, and then the right. No matter how many times he started the plane, it was still a thrill to hear the purr of her engines running.

“Props adjusted for high RPM.”

“Strobes, lights, and radio on.”

“Oil pressure is good.”

Colt lifted the receiver and called for taxi clearance, and they made their way out to the runway. Once they got takeoff clearance, Colt gave her hell with a smile on his face, and just held on as she rushed forward and climbed into the sky.

Colt hoped he’d never lose the feeling of joy during takeoff, never forget how freeing it was to fly. His worries evaporated, and they rarely returned before he landed on solid ground again.

Though he knew better, Colt circled around the Ponderosa Pines Ranch and looked out the windows in hopes of catching just one far-off glimpse of Brielle. Thankfully, his co-pilot didn’t say a word, though the curiosity in his eyes was practically burning a hole in Colt’s skull.

Of course Colt didn’t see her, but as he looked down at her roof, he knew she was there, maybe still sleeping in the bed he’d been in with her less than an hour earlier. No, probably not. The preflight check had taken him half an hour.

“All right, let’s get on our way,” he muttered, and Bradley just nodded, though he looked out his windows, surely wondering what Colt had been searching for.

That was something he couldn’t think about right now. He had to concentrate on the controls of his turboprop jet. He could usually do that with his eyes tied behind his back, so to speak, but today was different.

Hell, his mind was back in a large ranch house, and in bed with a beautiful redhead. Colt only hoped that this strange yearning he had for the girl he planned to chase away would be long gone by the time he returned home to Sterling.

Chapter Fifteen

T
his is ridiculous,
Tony! No one will listen to me, and I’m tired of it. I’m about to fire every single person on this ranch.”

Tony looked at Brielle with a raised eyebrow, but it was obvious the man wasn’t concerned. What would she actually do if she did fire everyone? It wasn’t as if she had the slightest clue on how to hire a new set of employees. And the wheat would have to be harvested in about a month, so without a crew she’d be up a creek without a paddle.

But for all Brielle cared right now, it could all rot into the ground. She was in a hellacious mood, one that had been building up steadily over the last two weeks.

For one single day it had seemed that she’d had the men willing to listen to her, but the next day — the day after Colt walked out of her room while she was sleeping off what she’d thought was an afternoon in heaven — she’d tried to talk to the guys and they were back to looking at her like the city girl she was.

Okay, she could admit that her sexy little temptation hadn’t been the best idea ever. She was trying to earn their respect and she’d pulled a Daisy Duke move.
Freaking brilliant.
But it was all she’d been able to think of at the time.

Using her brains would have been smarter, because even if people thought she was some stupid socialite, Brielle knew she had a good mind.

So she had to prove that she was capable, that she was willing to work, that she was the owner of this place and it was time someone showed her how to do her job. If she ended up having to fire every single one of them, so be it.

It had been two weeks since she’d seen Colt, and though she was trying not to think about that, trying not to dwell on it, she was still hurt. They’d had incredible sex, followed by an intimate moment unlike anything she’d shared with any other person in the universe, and then he disappeared without a trace. No phone calls, text messages, emails — nothing. Not even a quick wave as he passed by in the yard. Of course not.

To top all of that off, she’d finally begun speaking to her father again, and he was going to show up in a couple of weeks. Great, and not so great. If she didn’t appear to know what she was doing, he was going to be royally disappointed. A few months ago, that wouldn’t have mattered to her. Now, it did matter, more than she cared to admit.

Feeling anything but confident in her new position as owner of this ranch, Brielle felt that she’d rather stay in a women’s shelter than live one more day on this ranch with the men hating her, and with Colt who knew where.

“Please, Tony! I’ve been reading those books you gave me, and I’ve been working with Joe, the only guy here willing to work with me, but I still need to figure this all out.” She hoped to high heaven that he’d cave in just a little.

And maybe it was working. Tony sighed and got ready to speak.

And was interrupted.

“What does a city girl know about working a ranch? Actually doing something around here might make you break a nail. You wouldn’t want that to happen, now, would you?”

Brielle stiffened as a voice she knew all too well assailed her ears from behind.

Colt!

He was back, and not only back, but he’d dared to mock her with the first words spoken between them since he’d climbed from her bed. As she took a few deep breaths, she debated whether to use a choke hold on the rage consuming her or just to unleash it.

“What’s the matter, Princess? Cat got your tongue?”

“That’s it!” She whirled around and took menacing steps toward the miserable man who was so warm one minute and then cold as ice the next. Thank goodness she had her rage as protection — otherwise she’d have been completely immobilized by the way his jeans were clinging to him just right, and the way his shirt hugged his pecs and his abs.

But no. She didn’t notice that this time, because everything was coming through as a bright, vivid, blistering red. How dare this man leave her bed, not speak to her for two weeks, and then come back and talk down to her?

“Where in the hell have you been? Do you think you get to just come and go as you please? I don’t think so, Colt! You are so beyond fired.”

She’d had it with this place and she’d had it with him and all the crazy feelings he inspired in her. Yes, she’d been through with Montana before she’d ever arrived, but right now, she wanted to do nothing more than take a match and burn the entire place down. If she didn’t get some help real soon on making this freaking ranch work, she refused to be held responsible for the outcome.

“I don’t think I’ll let you fire me,” he said with a cocky smile. “Nah. It’s not a good day to do your bidding.”

“You pompous, self-serving, worthless son of a bitch!” While speaking, she jammed her finger into his chest hard enough to make him flinch, though she didn’t notice that. “If you even think you get to come around here after being gone for two weeks and then speak to me that way, you are sadly mistaken. I swear by all that’s holy and unholy that I will take one of these pitchforks and drive it straight through that smile on your face.”

When the stupid,
stupid
man had the nerve to laugh, she turned and made her way to the damned pitchfork. Before she was able to get her fingers around it, she felt steel arms wrap around her from behind.

“I missed you, too” was all the warning she got before he turned her around and pushed her against the wall, then lowered his head and kissed her. Her shock allowed him to keep their lips connected for a few seconds. Then her body stiffened with horror.

“How dare you?” She didn’t even recognize her own voice, because it was on such a new register. “Do you honestly think you get to manhandle me? Do you think I won’t rip you apart?”

Some of her anger drained as she looked at him. Yes, he turned her on — not at this moment, but obviously he’d gotten to her a couple weeks ago. But that didn’t matter. He had no right to grab her that way, not after the way he’d treated her.

“Sorry I haven’t called, sweetheart. I was stuck in Seattle for the past couple of weeks. It’s too boring to even talk about.” He threw her a sheepish grin as he drew back only far enough to look into her eyes, his body still pressed against hers.

Taking a moment to get herself under control, Brielle lifted her hands and pushed hard against his chest, making him take a step back. “I don’t give a damn where you’ve been, Colt. But if you throw yourself on me like that again, you won’t like the results.”

“Are you upset?” The way he asked the question stopped her in her tracks. Was the man blind or just very, very dense?

“Are you really that brain-dead? Seriously? After what we did, do you think you can just disappear without so much as a word, and then strut back in here as if nothing is wrong and pick up where we left off?”

At the look in his eyes, she had the awful feeling that that’s exactly what he’d thought. Counting to ten in her head, and then to twenty-five, Brielle took a few more calming breaths. Maybe all cowboys were just that clueless. How would she know?

Maybe she too was an utter and absolute fool. Because as she stood there toe to toe with him, more of her anger began dissipating. And in its place was a deep longing in the pit of her stomach. A longing that she had no business feeling. A longing to feel more of what she’d felt while in his arms. How dare he make her want him when he was so crude, so rude?

This man was trouble with a capital
T
, and she’d do best to remember that. “We’re going to forget all about what happened two weeks ago,” she began, and she glared when she saw the protest forming on his lips. She waited and hoped the next words from his mouth weren’t as idiotic as what he’d been spouting so far.

“I can’t forget what happened. I haven’t for the last two weeks.”

“Nope. Not going to even talk about it, Colt. If you don’t release me in the next three seconds, I will be pressing assault charges against you, though.”

He looked into her eyes, most likely trying to assess whether she was serious or not. When he did let her go, she felt better. At least he wasn’t all-the-way foolish.

“So, Colt, where
have
you been?”

“I don’t see how that’s any of your concern.”

“Then get out of my barn.” She was dead serious. He was a slacker and she had no room for him at her ranch. She turned to leave.

“Wait!”

She paused in her step, but didn’t turn around. She also didn’t speak. She was waiting for his next words.

“I had family business,” he finally told her.

“Are you going to tell me about it?”

“I can’t.” The way he said it almost constituted regret. That she could accept.

“Well, then, I guess I’ll give you a break this time, and this time only, but only if you teach me what I need to do in order not to look like a birdbrain when my father gets here in two weeks.”

She turned back to him, and they stood in a face-off for several tense moments. When a smile finally appeared on his lips and he lifted a hand to tip his hat, she knew that she’d just had her first small victory where Colt was concerned.

“Yes, ma’am,” he said in a tone that had her narrowing her eyes.

Had it been a victory? Was he mocking her even now?

“You’ll teach me?” She wanted clarification.

“I’ll teach you anything you want to be taught. But you have to go along without question.”

The look in his eyes told her he had a few lesson plans on the agenda that she might not be able to afford.

“Let’s just keep this about business, Colt. And nothing more,” she said, hoping her voice came out as strong and assured as she wanted it to.

“Brielle, nothing between us is just about business.” He stepped forward so they were again too close for her comfort. When his breath rushed over her lips, a shudder ripped through her, but she managed to resist him. She hadn’t the least idea how she was doing it, though.

“I will
never
just follow along like some lackey, Colt. You should learn that right now.
But
,” she said, “if you keep to your word and help me, I will be willing to learn anything you can teach.”

They eyed each other for a little while, neither willing to back down. Neither willing to give even a single inch. This was a battle for power, and Brielle honestly didn’t know which of them had more of it right then. She’d be better off without him, but then she might never be able to make this place a success.

“I’ll teach you,” he practically purred. “Give me time to come up with a plan.” Then he edged another inch closer.

She was done with this game. She’d gotten what she wanted, and now it was time to leave. “Colt, get out of my way.” Her voice was stiff. She was too afraid that if he pushed the issue, if he leaned in again and took her lips now, she would be all too willing to surrender to him.

He looked down at her as if contemplating his next move. Finally, he took a few steps back. Brielle didn’t know whether she was relieved or disappointed. But as she got her legs to move and was able to walk away with minimal shaking, she decided it was relief.

Until she got into her house, that is, and flopped right down on the nearest couch. This night would most likely prove to be her loneliest one yet. Because now she knew that Colt was back. And now she knew that the feelings he’d inspired in her two weeks before weren’t just a fluke.

She had no idea whether she wanted to dig herself out of the mess he brought to her life…