“I don’t have one.”
I craned my head around. The open floor plan taunted me with the lack of a recliner in his place. Would he look nearly as well-rested if he’d slept on the couch that had more angles than cushions?
He’d slept in the bed with me. He’d tried to use me withoutusingme, and when he’d been busted, he’d still slept in the bed with me and then offered to make me breakfast.
He selected a tomato and dug out a cutting boardand knife. I almost offered to help, but it was nice to have a guy treat me.
Things between us were fake, but he was making breakfast. No negotiations. He wasn’t hyperfocused and overly charming like when he’d broached the impulsive marriage topic. He was in his head, making plans for the next month. The considerate part of him seemed to be unconscious.
I was already having a hard time telling myself nothing about this was real. If I wasn’t careful, this deal between us could ruin me.
CHAPTER SIX
Gideon
The airplane was about to touch down in Bozeman. My fingers gripped the armrests, my knuckles white.
“Does flying bother you?” Autumn asked. She’d been scanning through movies, not settling on one the whole time. When we’d first loaded the plane, she’d been nothing but a gawking tourist. It only took me two seconds to realize she’d never sat outside of economy on a plane.
The Baileys prided themselves on their humility. They could afford first class. They could afford a private fucking jet. But they were the type of “regular folks” who flew economy.
Autumn had mentioned a private jet co-op.
Fuck the Bailey brothers.
I could’ve arranged a private jet, but then I might have to explain why I was traveling that way. I might run across flight attendants or pilots I’d traveled with forwork before. Talk would get around. The board didn’t need to worry I’d gotten married and would run off permanently. Lots of people were lined up and waiting for my job. I was determined to keep my family property and my job. I could get lost in commercial airlines easier.
“No, I’m not bothered by flying,” I answered. “I don’t like going home.”
“Oh.”
Too many confessions spilled out of my mouth when it came to her. Like the cooking. I’d seen the sympathy in her eyes. Worse, the understanding. She didn’t know me as just some poor kid made good. She’d have heard about my mom. About the way Dad had turned himself over to whatever bottle he could afford. Did she know what school had been like for me? How guys like her brothers had seen right through me? That I’d gone from being a god in Silver to being a nothing in Bourbon Canyon?
I wasn’t losing Mom’s family land on top of it.
This legacy is yours, Gideon. Four generations to build it, and you’re the fifth. Don’t let your dad make you the last.My grandfather’s words after the funeral were so damn clear.
The plane touched down. Less than six months had gone by and I was back.
Autumn opened her mouth like she was going to say something, then shut it.
“Go ahead,” I said, dreading the inevitable inquiry about my childhood.
“Why didn’t you tell Taya we were married?”
I’d always thought the idea of women fighting over a man pedestrian, but the baser part of me liked her jealousy.
“I didn’t think you’d want word getting to yourfamily before you told them.” Taya would’ve lashed out, tattling on me to the board. She would have spilled the fact to the rest of the C-suite, and she might’ve tipped off the local news stations or social media at the least.
I’d been a spectacle after Mom had died. People had stared. Then Dad had drunk. People still stared. And when I’d driven through Bourbon Canyon to meet with the Baileys at Copper Summit, everyone had stared. Only that time it had been because no one knew me. I didn’t know which one was better.
“Yeah, I guess that’s best. My family should hear it from us.” She checked her phone.
She had told me that her friends were hounding her, but I could see the litany of messages.
One stood out. A message from someone named Mark.
“Your friends are worried.” And who was fucking Mark?
