Their deep breaths rose in unison, both of them sucking the moisture-laden oxygen from the dark room, recovering, reframing, realizing the magnitude of what they’d just done.
“I’m not sure that was such a good idea,” she ventured on a gasp.
He didn’t let her go. Didn’t back off a single inch. “Because you work for me?” he mumbled against her neck.
Because I’m writing an article on you. Because you don’t know who I am. Because I lied to you. The reasons were endless, and she couldn’t admit to any of them.
“At least for tonight,” she ventured, instead, “do you think we could be clear that I work for Stephanie?”
Jared’s chuckle rumbled through his frame. “So what’s the problem?”
“I’m leaving in a few days.”
He smoothed her hair from her forehead. “Just because something’s short, doesn’t mean it can’t be fantastic.”
“I suppose.” If you took away her deception, a one-night stand certainly wasn’t the end of the world. But eventually he was going to find out her true identity.
She 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.”