I climbed out from under the covers and found my clothes. He could stay in bed for as long as he wanted, but I had work to do and needed to get back to reality. I liked how Garrett looked at my naked body as I stood at the foot of the bed. Normally I wouldn’t have been comfortable standing naked anywhere near a man who was as built as Garrett was, but he seemed
to enjoy my curves. While we were in bed, his lips had explored every inch of me and the way he wanted me gave me confidence that I didn’t normally have when naked around a man.
As I stood there, I looked out the window of his cabin and noticed that my father had left his office. At first I didn’t worry too much, but then I saw he seemed to be making a straight line right toward Garrett’s cabin.
“I bet I can get you out of that bed,” I teased as I looked out the window and watched my father walking toward the cabin. “My father is on his way here.”
I quickly ran to the bathroom with all of my clothes in my hands and Garrett jumped up out of the bed. As I closed the bathroom door I saw Garrett throwing his shirt on and then pulling his jeans on. I hoped he was going to be able to get dressed in time.
Chapter Eleven
Garrett
I had barely gotten all my clothes back on when Sid knocked on the front door and let himself in. My breathing was heavy and I just knew he was going to be able to tell I had just slept with his daughter.
“Everything all right? I know it’s a small cabin, but I think it’s better than the bunkhouse.”
“Oh, yes, sir. It’s perfect. I was just trying to clean it up a bit before heading back out to work.”
Sid looked around the cabin at the mess that Forest had left in there. He paused for a very long time and it even seemed like he had looked at the bathroom door that was closed. I desperately hoped he wouldn’t find a reason to go over there and look in the bathroom.
“Have you seen Sarah?”
“Nope,” I lied to him.
I hated to flat out lie to a man like Sid, but I also didn’t want him to chase me out of town with his shotgun, so lying was really the only option. It was a small lie, nothing that would cause too much harm and I hoped that it wouldn’t come back to me.
It was funny to me that I was even thinking about lying at all. As a CEO, the consequences of lying hadn’t really even been on my radar. I lied all the time. I told people what they wanted to hear so I could get what I wanted out of situations. In the business world, I had thought that honesty was a liability. But I was starting to see that my way of thinking had been skewed back then.
As I looked back on my career, I certainly could have been more truthful in my interactions with other businesses. My lies hadn’t ended up saving my company from getting into bad situations, my lies had really only saved me the personal uncomfortable feeling of sitting in front of someone and telling them the truth. But the truth always came out and I always ended up figuring out a better or different way to complete what I had lied to people about.
I had a feeling that eventually Sid would find out that I had been having sex with his daughter. I could only hope that when that finally happened, he would forgive me and not shoot me. Sarah was an adult, she was able to make her own choices, and so was I. If we wanted to have a little fun between the sheets, it really wasn’t any of Sid’s business.
“If you see her, tell her to come find me.”
“Will do.”
“Here, I’ll walk with you back to the horse barn; maybe she’s there,” Sid said as we walked out of the cabin.
There wasn’t time for me to protest, so I walked with Sid out of the cabin and toward the horse barn. At least I was getting him away from the cabin so Sarah could sneak out. I felt like a teenager trying to trick my girlfriend’s father. It was scary as hell and my adrenaline was pumping hard by the time we got to the horse barn. I was just about to ask Sid if he had heard anything about my case, when he started to talk.
“You know, I heard from your placement agent the other day. I didn’t want to worry you, but they said there was word that the man you were testifying against had put a hit out on you. I’m sure you’re safe here and I agonized over whether to even tell you or not. But I think it’s better that you know. He has probably had a hit out on you since he found out you were testifying, nothing new; it’s just new that they actually heard about it.”
My sex high quickly dissipated and I felt like I was going to vomit. Sure, I knew that Frank Gordano wasn’t going to be happy with me, but somewhere deep down I hoped that he would just let justice take its course. It was a naive notion and I felt stupid for even believing it. It was hard to believe that there was a person out in the world that actually wanted to kill me, but then again it was Frank and I knew he was ruthless.
Of course, Frank Gordano wanted me dead. I knew where he flew his drugs to. I knew the people who carried the drugs and the people who picked up the money. I had paid attention in our partnership, purely as a way of protecting myself if the day should ever come. And now there I was, hiding out at a ranch in Montana and scared to death that he would find me and murder me. All the strength that I had had to agree to testify against Frank was a myth. It was just what I told myself to feel stronger about the whole situation. But the reality was I was scared and Sid had just brought that fact right back into my view.
“Thanks. You’re right. I’d rather know it. I won’t go into town at all again, I promise.”
“It’s all right. I doubt anyone even noticed you and it’s been a while since that happened. But you’re right to stick close to the ranch and even keep your eyes open while here. I won’t be hiring any new ranch hands for now; I just can’t be sure who they might be. But still, you will need to stay alert.”
“I will.”
The realization that I had actually put my own life at risk by going into town was even more real. I had never been in a situation like that before and I hadn’t been taking it seriously at all. If I had truly understood the gravity of the situation I would have never have gone into town with Sarah when she asked. Not only had I put myself at risk, but I had put her at risk, too.
If, by some chance, someone had been placed there to watch out for me, then they would have seen me talking and laughing with Sarah. They would have questioned if I had told her secrets and maybe even decided that they wanted her dead, too. The guilt filled me and nausea took over. I couldn’t be that naive again, I had to be more responsible with my life as well as with Sarah’s life.
“What are you two men talking about that’s so serious?” Sarah said as she walked into the barn.