couldn’t do anything to change the past hour, but she did need to control herself going forward. Not that she’d ever divulge any intimate details. Every single thing that happened in the cottage tonight was off the record.
But she did need to back off. She couldn’t let their circumstances get even more complicated.
She eased away from his warmth. “Stephanie’s probably counting the minutes you’ve been down here.”
“Are you asking me to leave?”
“I think that would be best.”
He stilled, and she assumed he was staring at her in the dark.
A lightning bolt lit up the room, and his stark expression of disappointment tugged at her heart.
“I think it would be best,” she repeated, wanting nothing more than to burrow down under the covers and sleep in Jared’s warm arms for the rest of the night. But she had to be strong.
He rolled from the bed. “Of course.” There was a tightness to his voice that bordered on anger.
She closed her ears to it and clung to the passion they’d shared.
His jeans rustled. Then he padded into the living room.
She held her breath while he dressed. Would he come back? Say something more? Kiss her goodbye?
Suddenly his silhouette appeared in the doorway. “Good night,” he offered without coming back inside.
“Good night,” she echoed, struggling to keep the hollowness from her voice. She’d asked him to leave. She was silly to feel hurt.
He waited a moment more, then turned away, heading out into the storm.
The truck engine rumbled to life. The headlights flared up. Then the big treaded tires churned their way over the muddy road.
Melissa dragged herself from the bed. She wrapped a robe around her body, retrieved her laptop, powered it up and forced her thoughts back to the discussion at dinner. The fling with Jared might be over, but she still had her job to save.
“Seth Strickland,” came the terse answer at the other end of the phone.
It was morning. The rain had stopped, and the lights were back on as Stephanie had predicted. Melissa was dressed in blue jeans and a simple tank top again, trying to push the insanity that had become her life back into perspective.
“Seth?” she said into the phone, thanking her lucky stars that he was in the office on a Saturday. “It’s Melissa.”
“Where the hell have you been?” he shouted without preamble.
She wasn’t ready to answer that question yet. “If I could guarantee the Jared Ryder story, can you buy me a little time?”
“No! And what the hell are you talking about? Why didn’t you call me back yesterday?”
“I’m in Montana.”
“You said you were working from home.”
“I’m at the Ryder Ranch. Right now. I had dinner with Jared Ryder last night.”
Seth went silent.
“I need a few more days, Seth.”
“You had dinner with Ryder?”
“And his sister. And his brother’s just arrived.”
“How the hell did you—”
“They think I’m a stable hand.”
“You’re undercover?” There was a note of respect in Seth’s voice. “It’s an exposé?”
“Yes, I’m undercover.”
“What’ve you got?”
“A bunch of stuff. His family. His childhood. Their charitable foundation.”
“Ryder has a charitable foundation?”
“Yes. But I need a few more days. Can you give it to me?”
“You’re in a position to guarantee the story?”
“Yes.”
There was a long silence. “If I go to Everett and you don’t deliver, you know both our asses will be out the door.”
“I understand.”
“And you can still make the guarantee?”
“I can.” She didn’t have enough on the construction business yet. But she’d let Stephanie matchmake some more, and she’d find a way to meet Royce. She’d get what Seth needed or die trying.
“I have to have it Wednesday. Five o’clock. And the copy better be bloody clean. We’re not going to have time for much editing.”
“Five o’clock Wednesday,” Melissa confirmed.
“And, Melissa?” Seth’s voice was gruff.
“Yes?”
“Lie to me again, and you’re fired.”
“Yes, sir.”
Seth hung up the phone, and she realized she was shaking. The stakes couldn’t be higher, and she barely had four days to pull it off.
“Have a good time with Melissa last night?” Stephanie asked as Royce’s pickup appeared in the distance on the ranch road.
“It was fine,” Jared answered, keeping his voice neutral. He fully expected Melissa to make herself scarce for the rest of the week.
He wasn’t sure what had gone wrong at the end of the evening, but he’d obviously made some kind of misstep. A woman didn’t go from crying out a man’s name to kicking him out of her bed in the space of two minutes if the guy hadn’t screwed up somehow.
He started down the stairs to meet Royce at the driveway.
“You going to see her again?” asked Stephanie, keeping pace.
“I expect I will. Since she’s living here.” Odds were that he’d run into her eventually.
“That’s not what I meant. Are you going to ask her out? I noticed you stayed down there for a while.”
“I bet you did.”
The sound of the truck’s engine grew louder. Mud sprayed out from the tires as Royce took a corner far too fast.
“Did you sleep with her?” asked Stephanie.
Jared shot his sister a glare of irritation. “What is the matter with you?”
She shrugged.
