Except me. I was trapped in this job, stuck in this relationship and all I could focus on was work.
Well, work and getting laid. It was pretty much all I had. And right now work was kicking my ass.
It was a simple model. One that started with owning the land, commissioning out the labor and ideally keeping farmers in their homes. We’d take it over, build a farmhouse, and set it up to farm.
I’d already looked it over, it was an ideal property for alfalfa and corn production, and had excellent drainage.
I was coming with my initial offer, but I knew that we could both work out a price that would be mutually beneficial. I grinned. Hell, I’d even thrown in a little bit extra.
Forget what my father said. Branch Graves wasn’t the head of this company anymore. I was. I’d use his empire for good. Be the Luke Skywalker to his Darth Vader.
I’m pretty sure it went against his prime directive. I might be an adult, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t find new and creative ways to rebel.
You want to be an asshole? Fine. But don’t expect me to play along, I thought as I gripped the steering wheel.
I thought about Mrs. Shannon and all the women in Laurel, Montana like her. They deserved more than my father would give them.
I wasn’t going to fucking screw her over just because he would.
She needed enough money to live on into retirement, and we were always looking to expand.
I pulled into her little cabin driveway to the sound of her big black German shepherd, Sadie, barking.
The face I saw on that porch wasn’t the sweet older woman, no, it was the face of a girl I thought I’d never see in this town ever again. That innocent little number staring at me was the embodiment of regret.
“Fuck,” the harsh word tore out of my mouth. I felt like I’d been knocked down by a linebacker.
Anger, betrayal, regret. It all came flooding back. Rose Shannon. She was everything I’d ever wanted, the answer to all my problems, and she’d just abandoned me. I would’ve followed her anywhere. But she was gone before I had a chance to tell her.
She was the girl who planted a big kiss on my lips before she tore off out of town putting hundreds of miles between us, not once looking back.
I took a staggering breath and then righted myself. I didn’t want to let her know that the sight of her startled me. That those sparkling blue eyes and that little-pouted lip almost knocked me right over.
No one else ever stirred so much in me. Besides the occasional desire to bed them for a night. But Rose was different.
“Thought you were never coming home?” I asked, affecting an amused tone.
That was what she’d said in her last email to me. One entire summer of what I thought was love. But months and months later she gave me a reason for her disappearance, after she had left.
I could tell by the flash of her eyes and the way her lip curled that it got under her skin.
Good.
“Thought you were never coming home?” Wyatt asked as he jumped out of the truck and looked at me.
Funny how those words bite you in the ass.
I just stood there for a moment. Shocked. I’d been outside, relishing the afternoon. I dug my toes into the sandy dirt of the road. It was filled with gravel and dusty earth, but it was my home. The home I gave up on and ran from.
I wasn’t expecting Wyatt to show up at my door right away. I was sure he’d find me. I’d left him in the cold five years ago. He deserved it, but I knew he’d still be angry.
Knew he would have words to say, but this was insane. I’d been home no more than a day, and he was already knocking on my door?
If only a million dollars would find me just as fast.
“What in the hell are you doing here?” I wanted to come down off that porch and smack him in the face as soon as I saw him.
Wyatt Graves was my biggest regret in this town.
The one decision I made because I was childish enough to think I could change him. To think I mattered.
In the end that was all a lie.
Wyatt Graves was nothing more than a billionaire playboy who took after his father. Women and money. That’s all he gave a shit about. I thought he’d be too busy traveling, or whatever it is trust fund brats did.
I’d left this life a long time ago. And I swore it off, too. Said I didn’t want anything to do with him, or it. I spoke too damn soon.
Five years and I was back, but not because I wanted to be. Because I had no other choice.
Still, this dirt was where my soul sprung up. It was where I learned to ride my bike. It was where I had my first kiss. It was where I cussed and swore, vowing to get out of this shitty little town and never come back.
Like I said, funny how those words always bite you in the ass.
Now it was the place where I had to find myself. And I had to admit, I missed the feeling of grass between my toes.