They rode to the western bank of the property where the serene flow of one of the many streams on the ranch greeted them. They tied the horses off and sat at the edge of the stream. Being out here never ceased to amaze Slade. Being here, living in concert with the land and nature, did wonders for his often-battered spirit. Coming here always gave him just enough strength to continue moving forward with whatever life was throwing at him that particularday.
“So, you gonna tell me about this Mandisa woman?” Aaron’s nudging pulled Slade out of the tranquil moment he was enjoying. “Don’t think I haven’t noticed you never answered my question to beginwith.”
Slade knew Aaron hadn’t forgotten and was only granting Slade a few moments to reconnect with his land before throwing him back into Bull’schaos.
“She owns that small chain of beauty stores and is the creator of a proprietary formula that is revolutionizing the cosmetics world. Bull wants it. I’m tasked with gettingit.”
“So you brought her here to seduce her out of her company? Bull can’t expect you to dothat.”
Slade shook his head. If only it were that simple. If only Mandisa were some anonymous fuck that he could hit and quit. Unfortunately, her presence was somehow more meaningful than that. The truth was she was threatening to complicate his life in ways he couldn’t even verbalize at thismoment.
“The seduction happened before I found out she was the person I was sent to New York to see. We met blindly in a lounge my first night in town and spent the next locked inside my hotel room. It wasn’t until the morning of the meeting that everything became clear about our trueidentities.”
Aaron let out a low whistle as he shook his head. “Damn, Slade. You just can’t do anythingeasy.”
“Tell me about it. I was sitting in a bar, pissed as hell at my evil-ass daddy, and in walks this irresistible creature that I’m determined to make my way to knowing. We hit it off. We both wanna have a little fun without any attachments. I mean, there wasn’t any of the usual song and dance. I tried it, but all she wanted was to spend time with me instead. I should’ve seen it was too perfect when the only thing she asked of me was a good time and burgers and fries in bedafterward.”
Slade picked up a few pebbles at the bank of the stream and tossed them one at a time in quick succession to vent his frustration. It didn’t help. The more he thought about the mess he’d found himself in, the more pissed hebecame.
He was furious. At exactly what he couldn’t say, but he knew he was mad. He was sure it had something to do with his father forcing him into this deal in the first place. But he knew there was more beyondthat.
Those first two days with Mandisa, when neither of them knew anything beyond each other’s names, were perfection. They were filled with amusement and intrigue—two things he hadn’t associated with a woman he was attracted to in…well, never. There was this strange, or at least strange to him, innocence about theirinteractions.
Yes, they’d shared amazing sex, sex that had shattered his previous concepts of what good sex felt like. But the way they clicked—the way it felt natural to him to have her in his arms and at his side—there was no complexity to that. It was plain, simple,pure.
And in a matter of hours, his father’s nonsense had muddied that connection. All he’d done was mention visiting their Austin lab, and Mandisa had shutdown.
“You still haven’t answered my question,” Aaron offered. “Why is she here on the ranch? I understand you needing to wine and dine her, but you could’ve done that at your loft downtown. Why bring her on your land where your familyis?”
Slade didn’t turn away from the stream. He didn’t trust himself to keep the answers to Aaron’s questions out of his features. If he turned around, Aaron would know the secret thoughts Slade was having, thoughts he didn’t even want to admit tohimself.
“Slade. We’ve been friends for a really long time. You’ve kept your circle small for a reason. Don’t let Mandisa make you forgetthat.”
Slade ground his jaws together as he turned to face his friend. There was something about Aaron’s tone that was grating on him. “You telling me not to get involved, Aaron? We both know it’s a little late forthat.”
Aaron stepped closer, slapping a hand on Slade’s shoulder. “I’m just saying be careful. Make sure this is something worth the fallout that’s probably going to follow this hellified situation your daddy’s put youin.”
Slade relaxed a bit. He could see the sincerity in Aaron’s eyes. As much of a hard ass as Aaron could be, he didn’t do shit just to spite folks. He wasn’t built like that. His friend was attempting tohelp.
“Mandisa seems like a nice person.” Slade waited for the other half of Aaron’s declaration to arrive, his skepticism evidenced by his lifted eyebrow and crossed arms. “No matter how nice she is, my first loyalty will always be to you, Slade. I’m sure she’s as wonderful as you believe her to be. I’m just telling you not to mix business and pleasure. As fine as this woman seems, if you guys get together while you’re trying to do this deal, you’ll never know whether she’s with you for the deal or foryou.”
Slade gave a brief nod of thanks to his friend. It felt good to have someone watching his back, even if Slade didn’t completely agree with everything Aaron said. His friend was right about one thing, though. If anything ever came of this connection he shared with Mandisa, it would always be tainted by this deal. He didn’t want to question Mandisa’s motives, and he certainly didn’t want her to feel the need to questionhis.
Whatever the hell Slade ended up doing, he needed to be very careful. He couldn’t lose this business deal, but he wasn’t sure he could lose Mandisaeither.
If only I could figure out how to keep themboth.
Excitement lit up Slade’s insides as that thought took root. Maybe he’d been looking at this thing all wrong. He’d brought her down here to convince her to sell him her company. But maybe the more effective solution wasn’t to focus so much on thebusiness.
“Shit.” Slade’s biting comment rang in the air. Why hadn’t he seen this before now? They’d spent the morning laughing around the table, and then he barged right into her room, telling her he was taking her in to see his lab. The hot-to-cold switch probably threw her for aloop.
“Everything okay?” Aaron stepped closer to see if Slade was allright.
“Yeah. Talking to you just made me realize how I put my foot in my mouth with Mandisa before I came out to thestables.”
Slade turned toward their horses and untied Queen-Sorrel. By the time Aaron caught up to him, he was already in his saddle and turning his horse in the direction of hishouse.
“Where the hell you going,Hamilton?”
