She paused for a moment before answering. I watched her face as she seemed to go through several emotions before deciding exactly what she wanted to share with me. The time she took in answering a question was one of the things I liked about Sarah. She didn’t just give the first answer that came to her mind, instead, she took the time to think about what she wanted to say. I wish I was more like that.
“There was a time when I hated it here. All I could talk about was going off to college and then never returning. But as soon as I got to college, all I could think about was getting back home.”
“How did you end up in New York?”
“Really it was all my father. He didn’t want me just returning home after getting my fancy degree. He kept saying he wanted me to do something with myself. But I think it was just because I had been such a rotten teenager.”
We both laughed. I couldn’t imagine Sarah being rotten. She was kind to her parents and kind to all the men that worked on the ranch. Even when she was slightly annoyed with me, I could tell she was still kind under it all. She didn’t strike me as the kind of girl who had been wild at any point of her life.
“Well, I bet your family is glad to have you home now.”
“I’m not so sure about that. They are having financial troubles with the ranch and the more I try to help, the more he pulls away. My father doesn’t want to show me his books or let me really help him. He just wants to do it all himself.”
“I would think with your background you probably have some great ideas for how to make the ranch more financially successful.”
“You’re just trying to butter me up because you’re stuck with me all night,” she teased.
I wasn’t just trying to butter her up. It was clear that she had a vision for the ranch that was bigger than what was going on at the moment. With her background in business and marketing, I would have hired her in a second to help me with my firm. Her father could certainly use her skills with his ranch as well.
“I think my father still sees me as a little girl. Every now and then, I see a look in his eyes that shows me he understands I’m all grown up, but most of the time I feel like he sees me as a teenager. One who is all about flirting with the boys and not at all interested in farming or ranching.”
“Well, you certainly aren’t a little girl,” I said.
My eyes scanned over her body and lingered on all the parts that proved she was very much an adult. The curve of her hips, her perky breasts and pouty lips — all had my body wanting her. Craving the thoughts of her that came at night and enjoying the ones I was having at that very moment it was distracting to me to even allow my thoughts to linger on her.
I couldn’t help but think of what it would be like to lay on our stretched out blanket and make love atop that mountain. Certainly, there was no one for miles and miles, her father would never know; no one would have to know. But I stayed in my spot and let the thought move past me as I refocused on our conversation.
“Stop doing that,” she said with a smile.
“Doing what?”
“Looking at me like that.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” I lied.
“Garrett, you’re looking at me like you’re undressing me with your eyes,” Sarah said as her face blushed.
“I was?”
I couldn’t help but smile as her face continued to flush and she looked away. Sarah was a beautiful woman and I wasn’t ashamed at all to have her know that I wanted her. There was a delicate tightrope I was walking though. Her father was the only reason I was at the ranch; if Sid wanted to kick me out at any moment, he had the authority to do it. I would likely be sent up to Alaska to wait out the rest of my time until the trial, and that idea sounded horrible to me.
“Well, stop it. And we better get going before the sun sets. I need to get those photos.”
She quickly changed the subject and we both got back on the horses to head down the other side of the mountain. I had thought it would be easier going down the mountain, but it was much scarier for me than going up had been. I didn’t feel in control of the horse at all and panic started to set in.
I had to maintain control over Buckjoy and slow him down constantly. His wild side kept wanted to run as fast as he could down the mountain, and that surely would have ended badly for me. Forest had reminded me to go slow, but even when I tried to pull the horse to get him to slow down, Buckjoy didn’t want to listen.
It was funny to me how much I identified with Buckjoy. He was a horse, logically I knew that, yet I felt like I was him. I felt like a wild stallion that was cooped up at the Miller ranch and just waiting for my time to run free. I couldn’t blame him and I even wanted to let him run a little bit just to get it out of his system.
As a CEO, I hardly ever had to actually stay in one place for very long. I had the freedom to travel where I wanted to and do what I wanted with my day. I actually probably worked over 80 hours a week, but I did it from the comfort of luxurious locations, airplanes, and even sitting in my bed. My old life wasn’t perfect, but it was my life and I missed it.
The months I had spent at the Miller ranch had already made me appreciate what I had before. I was more grateful than ever for the successes in my life. But my time had also made me realize how much I despised myself for risking everything to get involved with a dangerous man like Frank Gordano. I knew he was dangerous. I knew I was putting my business at risk; yet I did it anyways. I felt like I was unstoppable and I was pretty damn lucky that the FBI decided they could use my information instead of charging me with the crimes that I also had committed. I could have easily been in jail instead of riding a wild horse down a mountain with a beautiful woman by my side.
“Hold the reins tighter or he’s going to start running,” Sarah yelled at me as Buckjoy moved ahead of her on the trail.
“I’m trying; he’s just not that interested in listening to me right now.”
I started to become afraid as Buckjoy moved faster and faster down the trail. He was in his own world now and my hold on him didn’t seem to control him like it did when we were on the flat ground. My heart was beating a million miles a minute and I knew with any wrong move, both Buckjoy and I would go tumbling down the side of the mountain. The ride was no longer just about fun; I felt like my life was actually in danger.