“I’m writing a review right now.” With a flourish, he extracted his phone and tapped on the screen. Then he frowned and shoved it back in his pocket. “As soon as I have decent WiFi.”
I had to act quickly and decisively. Balling my hands into fists at my sides, I tried to channel my much more confrontational twin sister. “If you do anything to hurt Matthew, I will force you to sell En Vedette in the divorce. Don’t push me, or you’ll find out that I can be just as vindictive as you can, and you’ll have to wave goodbye to your beloved boat.”
En Vedette, his racing yacht, was owned in both his name and mine, since I was the one who financed her purchase and paid the insurance. This was a trump card I’d been holding onto since our separation. Now was the time to pull it out and play it because I wasn’t going to let him destroy Matthew’s life. He’d already done enough damage to mine.
Sensing that he’d gone too far, Freddy’s determination faltered. “Calm down. I haven’t done anything yet.”
I made my voice firm, using the tone I took with my sons when they were naughty little boys. “Go home. Sign the divorce papers, and we’ll be done with this chapter of our lives. You want to end this as much as I do.”
For a brief moment, I thought he was going to capitulate, but then his face hardened. “I’ll leave the ranch, but I’m not signing anything until you agree to give me a piece of Ms. Match. You have a week to think it over, and then I go to the press with our story. I’ll tell them how we faked this marriage for years because you were afraid of a divorce hurting your company. Or maybe it was really your personal reputation that you wanted to preserve?”
The thought of him exposing our charade made my stomach churn and left me grabbing at straws. “You’d rat me out to the press even if it might cost you En Vedette? That was a serious threat. I’m not bluffing. I’ll make you sell your boat.”
A hateful glimmer lit up his eyes. “And if I get a piece of your company, I can afford to buy a nicer one. The wonderful thing about you, Lauren, is that you’re the ultimate worker bee. Your company will continue to grow and thrive, and I want a part of that success, especially the juicy syndication deal you’re negotiating.”
Shit. He had me in a bind, and he knew it.
“One week,” I said. “Give me seven days to talk to Tori and figure out what we’re willing to give you.” I wasn’t giving him anything, but I needed to buy myself some time.
“Just don’t wait too long to contact me with your decision. I’m leaving the ranch tomorrow morning, so you’ll have to call me or my lawyer when you’ve come to an agreement with Tori.”
“Fine.”
He might have been leaving the ranch soon, but what I really needed was for Freddy to exit my life.
* * *
When you’ve been waiting forever—orwhat felt like forever—to kiss someone, the minutes seemed like hours. I paced around my cabin like a caged tiger, re-brushing my teeth and obsessing about whether to apply lipstick. I looked better with a little color on my lips, but did men hate the taste of lipstick or was that a myth? Not having dated in decades, I couldn’t decide.
“This is silly,” I whispered to myself as I applied a light layer of scarlet to my lips, then blotted most of it away.
Maybe it was a little ridiculous to be acting head over heels for a man at my age, but that didn’t stop me. The clock was ticking on my time at Silver Sage, and I wanted to make more memories before I went home. And by memories, I did mean sex.
Obviously, sex wasn’t something you could forget how to do, but I was out of practice. Would I disappoint Matthew by not knowing the latest sexual tricks and trends?
No, that was silly. People had been doing it since the beginning of time, and I knew enough to get him off. The bigger question was, would I be able to climax? Even with the help of a vibrator, it didn’t happen every time for me. Freddy had taken it personally when I couldn’t finish, and that added pressure to the situation that only made things worse.
A knock at the door drew my attention, and I hurried to open it. Matthew was standing outside with a bouquet of purple and red wildflowers.
“Hello.” He sounded shyer than usual. “Are you ready for our walk?”
Everything about him lit me up from the inside out. He was wearing a soft flannel shirt and holding flowers. Hardy wildflowers he’d plucked with those powerful hands of his that could hammer in a fence post and control a headstrong horse. What else could they do? What other beautiful, amazing, devastating things could those work-roughened hands do to me? I was going to climb him like a tree and find out.
Taking the flowers in one hand, I used the other to capture his shirt front and pull him inside my cabin. Before the door even swung shut behind him, I’d planted a kiss on his mouth. He tasted like warm sunshine and fresh air.
With a grunt of pleasure, Matthew took my face in his hands and kissed me back. His tongue teased at my lips, and I welcomed him inside, my body warming in response. Without turning my head or interrupting the kissing, I dropped the flowers onto the bed and wrapped both arms around his waist. My head spun as he moved me up against the wall. Our tongues tangling, we kissed until we were breathless. Was I someone who slid her hands onto a man’s ass and squeezed those cheeks like I was sampling cantaloupes in a grocery store? In Wyoming, yes, I was that woman, and Matthew Hart’s ass felt as good as it looked in his jeans.
The jut of his erection made me wild for him, and I pushed and rubbed against it with scandalous fervor. I hadn’t cared about sex in years, and now I felt like I might explode if I didn’t have him inside me. A tiny moan escaped my mouth, and he grabbed my right leg and hitched it up above his hip so I could have more friction. Delicious hot friction. We’d gone from zero to sixty in seconds, but I didn’t want to stop. My body needed him to keep going.
Finally, our mouths broke apart so we could catch our breath, and Matthew released my leg as he drank me in with hooded eyes. “I’m bringing flowers every day.”
“It’s not the flowers.” My hands had inched up to his waist again, and I slid them under his untucked shirt. “It’s you.”
He shivered in response to my touch and bent down to press his lips to the side of my neck. “Was it the waiting?” he whispered against my skin. “Because I could barely think of anything all day except kissing you.”
“Me too. Oh, my God.” As he nibbled a path to my earlobe, warmth spread along my inner thighs. I didn’t know a man’s kisses could make me feel drugged. Places on my body that had been barren wastelands were suddenly dewy with desire. Matthew ran his hand over my breast, his thumb teasing my nipple through the fabric of my dress. He gave it a little pinch and my entire body shuddered.
“Yes,” I said through a moan. “That.”
