Even the ducks seemed like they were getting used to me.
As I was figuring out what came after feeding, I heard tires rolling up the drive. Shelby. My heart started pounding, and I strode out of the chicken house, smiling wide, hoping all my hard work would earn me a kiss from her.
But it wasn’t Shelby’s van I saw trundling up the dusty drive. It was a black SUV. I puffed up my chest, making myself big. Whoever was trespassing on her land was about to get my boot up their ass. Not thinking about the consequences, I marched over to the parking vehicle and knocked on the window hard, unable to see the driver through the heavy tint.
The window rolled down and my defensiveness turned to anger. “What the fuck are you doing out here?” I asked my social media team.
Aiden sat behind the wheel and he looked more surprised to see me than I was to see him. “Sir, I’m sorry, but what areyoudoing out here?”
“I don’t answer to you,” I said. “Now speak.”
Aiden’s eyes widened in panic, his career prospects at Allory flashing before his eyes. “The viral post, sir. The one calling you a bad Easter bunny? We found the person who posted it and tracked them down to this address. Do you know Shelby Whitaker?”
The ground tilted beneath my feet and I thought I might fall over. Sheer force of will kept me upright. I refused to look weak in front of my subordinates. “You’re saying Shelby Whitaker posted all that?”
“So youdoknow her,” Aiden said. “Did you already know it was her post?” He smiled and shook his head like he was impressed. “See? That’s why you’re the boss?—”
“Stop kissing my ass,” I said curtly, maybe taking out some of my anger and confusion on him. “What was your plan, coming out here?”
“We were going to confront her,” Aiden said with a shrug. “These internet tough guys never like it when you show up at their homes and stick a camera in their face. We’ll get her to back off.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “Let me get this straight. Your plan was to come intimidate her?”
“Well, not in those words.” He looked at his coworkers like they might help him explain, but they were, smartly, staying silent. “We just figured a little pressure?—”
“And did I ask you to do that?” I asked.
“Well, no, sir, but I wanted to show some initiative?—”
“Stop talking,” I commanded. “I want you to turn this SUV around, go back to your motel, and don’t do a goddamn thing until you hear from me. Is that clear?”
Aiden looked like he had questions but I wasn’t in the mood to answer any of them. I was reeling from learning Shelby had turned public opinion against our company. It made perfect sense, of course. If anyone had an axe to grind with Allory, it was her. I wasn’t even mad at her for being behind that post. Everything she’d said in that viral post had been true.
What I couldn’t figure out was why she hadn’t told me she was the one who had posted it. I had told her all about the PR disaster and how it had started. I had told her everything, and she had hidden this from me.
I needed to talk to her about it, to wrap my mind around this new information and what it meant. But that wasn’t the biggest shock I had just gotten. More than Shelby’s role in everything, I could not believe I had people working for me using intimidation tactics on Allory’s critics.
Was this a common thing and I just didn’t know it was going on? Was Allory still doing evil shit and people were just keeping it a secret from me? Was the whole place rotten from top to bottom?
I needed to have a long conversation with my board of directors about this. If Allory was ever going to be a respectable company and claw its way back, I couldn’t have rogue elements within my own company undermining me.
But first, I needed to talk to Shelby. We needed to clear the air one way or another. If that meant stopping things between us before they even started, too bad. It would kill me, but it had to be done.
CHAPTER 21
SHELBY
Iwoke up with a start, not knowing where I was, what day it was, or where my panties were. The light coming in through the curtains told me it was midmorning, which was way later than I usually got my day started.
The memory of the night before, wild and hot, came trickling back into my confused brain. Carter surprising me with the sponsorship thing. Me getting overwhelmed. Him chasing me down and taking me to bed. My mouth on him. His mouth on me.
I reached to his side of the bed and found cool sheets, clearly long abandoned. Of course he had run out on me in the morning. But that didn’t make sense. This washisroom. If anyone was going to sneak out, it should have been me.
I got out of bed to look for my underwear, and then I remembered he had torn them off me like good underwear grew on trees. Admittedly, it had been sexy as hell. I was getting wet again just thinking about it. But next time—assuming there ever was a next time—I would be taking my own panties off and folding them neatly beside the bed.
Carter wasn’t in the attached bathroom, either, but considering how late it was, he was probably downstairs havingcoffee or breakfast. Food sounded pretty great right then. I had worked up an appetite last night. And here I thought farm work burned a lot of calories. It had nothing on amazing sex. Parts of me were sore that didn’t even flinch at hauling feed or mucking pens.
It was a good sore, though. There would be no complaints from me.
