“He is not.He has a boyfriend.”Olivia watched in horror asBobby walked up to the two men who were ordering from the open bar.“That’s whyhe’s coming out.He wants to take Mark to Will’s wedding.And now I have totell my parents I’ve been lying to them for a couple of years.”
A good reason to get some stress relief in.She promised tostick close to home while her brothers were on their honeymoon.She was usuallythe one on the road, but she was going to take over Josh’s work in the office.She was supposed to work with some lawyer her uncle was sending out to WillowFork next week.It would be boring.
Shouldn’t she have some fun?
It was only one night.
When they walked her way, she sat up and decided to make ita memorable one.
* * * *
Garrett Pace tried not to look at the redhead whoseemed to be the bride’s sister.Wasn’t that usually the person who took themaid of honor position?He wasn’t sure, but then it wasn’t like he’d been to abunch of weddings.They didn’t look alike, but she was the maid of honor.Maybethey were nothing more than best friends.He felt bad that he missed the partof the reception where they made toasts.He would like to have found out hername, maybe gotten a chance to get an introduction.
“Did the call go okay?”His best friend sat down next tohim.
Keane Rollins had been around for most of his life.Keanewas the only person in the world he knew he could count on.He was rapidlycoming to trust his new bosses, but for so long it was only him and Keane.Through the roughest times.Through the times he wasn’t sure they would comeout alive.
“It was an accounting error,” he replied.“I had a long talkwith them about being more careful, but I’m absolutely certain it wasn’t onpurpose.The money was in another account, but it was a business account, notanything personal.I’m far more worried about Gladen Farms.There’s some weirdaccounting going on there.”
The good thing about a collective was everything they coulddo together.They were far more powerful than they would be on their own.TheBarnes-Fleetwood Collective had grown to the point that they had a whole legaldepartment that served the ranches.Legal.Accounting.A head office that ensuredeverything worked right.
The bad part?If one ranch didn’t follow the rules, it madethem all look bad.
“Are you going to deal with it while we’re in Willow Fork?”Keane asked, and his eyes trailed away.
Was he looking for a woman?It had been a while since eitherof them had a girlfriend.Since they started working for Barnes-Fleetwood, theyhad taken to an entirely different lifestyle.While Garrett worked forBarnes-Fleetwood directly, they lived in Deer Run.Keane took over theday-to-day running of the ranch so Aidan O’Malley could focus on his family andthe business.Aidan’s partner, Lucas, was the one who hired him as an internand helped him out when he passed the bar, bringing Keane along for the ride.Keane only had to work on the ranch for six months before Aidan starteddelegating a lot of the management to him.He’d recently been promoted toforeman.
It was weird to be at a high-society wedding.He didn’t fitin here.Despite his law degree, he was still that eight-year-old kid whoselife fell apart when his mom died and no one wanted to take him in.
“Yeah, we’ve got some time there.One of the things I wantto talk about is doing a complete review of every ranch in the collective.”Hisjob could be done over the course of a week, but Keane was taking over asforeman while the guy who usually ran the Barnes-Fleetwood Ranch was on hishoneymoon.So they would be in Willow Fork for a few weeks.
“Do you ever think about it?”Keane’s eyes stopped on atable toward the front of the room where family and close friends were.
Garrett was almost entirely sure he was looking at theredhead.The gorgeous, curvy, probably had a smart mouth on her redhead.Abrat.He fucking loved a brat.
“Think about what?”He was pretty sure his friend was askinghim about the woman in particular.
Keane turned his way, his eyes going serious.“About tryingto have a relationship like Lexi and Aidan and Lucas?”
The O’Malleys.Lexi was Jack Barnes and Sam Fleetwood’sstepdaughter.She had two husbands, Aidan O’Malley and Lucas O’Malley, whochanged his name when they married.They were happy.They were a solid unitraising kids and building a business and loving each other.The fact that hecaught Lucas and Aidan kissing as much as he did the two of them with Lexi didn’tbother him a bit.In fact, it made him wonder.
“Yeah, I think about it.I’ve thought about it since the daywe met them.I’ve enjoyed the hell out of the short-term relationships we’vehad as a threesome.It makes sense when you consider all the factors.I have toweigh it against societal norms, but there seems to be a whole society thataccepts those types of relationships.I think it might be time for us to startlooking for a more settled one.”
Keane snorted.“Yes, Counselor.”
Garrett sighed.“I’m not trying to make it clinical.Youknow that’s how I make decisions.”
Keane sat back.“I know, and I go with my gut.And that’swhy you’re the lawyer and I’m the ex-con.”
“Hey, don’t talk about that.It’s behind us.You have a goodjob, and you don’t have to worry about it again.”It was a part of their livesGarrett didn’t like to think about.“What we do need to worry about is tonight.We’re about to be stuck in a tiny town.”
“And the big boss’s daughter ,” Keane pointed out.“Aren’tyou going to work with her?”
“Yes, I’m going to work with her, and we are going to keepour hands off her because she is the big boss’s daughter and we like thesejobs.”He finished up his rye.He could have another since it wasn’t like theywere driving.They had a room in the hotel, and they would take a taxi out tothe private airport in the morning.“We have to be on our absolute bestbehavior for the weeks we’re out in Willow Fork.So I say we have some funtonight.What do you think of her?”
“Her?”
“The redhead we’ve both been staring at all night long.”
