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  So much had happened since this morning.

  We had put ourselves back together. It felt real and secure, but at the same time, I knew it was delicate. I only had four days in Austin to work out my contract with Blue Steel before I was scheduled to return home. What if we couldn’t make all the broken pieces fit together the way they did before?

  “Hey, what’s going on over there?” Scott turned down the radio.

  “What do you mean?” My gaze had been set out of the window ever since we pulled away from the terminal curb, but I couldn’t recall anything I had seen on the drive.

  “You look like you’re thinking about something, and I have a feeling it’s not lyrics.” He slowed the car to a crawl and turned onto a dirt road. “But if there’s a song in there, I want to hear it.”

  I shrugged, not wanting to sour his happy mood. This was part of the delicate stage we were in. I was still trying to find my footing. “No song. Just taking in the scenery. Are we at the ranch?” I looked at the big S displayed over the gate’s archway.

  “Yep. This is it.” He rolled down the window and entered an access code into the keypad.

  I watched as the iron fence separated just enough for the car to pass through. He waved at a man stationed in a small hut by the gate. The gates closed behind us as Scott drove over the threshold of the Sullivan estate.

  I tried to quell the excitement that had started to bubble. I prided myself on not getting wrapped up in celebrity, or in this case, all the perks of being with a movie star. But it was becoming more evident that Scott lived a completely different life than I did.

  “Tomorrow, when we have some daylight, I’ll show you the whole place. I know it’s kind of hard to see right now.” Scott pointed out a few of the fields and ponds along the way, explaining what kind of fish he had stocked or where the particular cattle came from.

  I listened and watched as the acres rolled under the tires and the car drove deeper into the ranch, turning around sharp corners and following the fence line.

  “All of this is yours?” I asked.

  “It is. And see? Those reporters can’t get in here. The perimeter fence is wired, there’s a gate, and I have a security system on the house. You’ll be as far away from them as I can get you.”

  His eyes focused on the driveway that had sprung up out of the gravel. I stared at the house in front of me. If you could call it that. It wasn’t a house. It was a resort.

  “This? This is your ranch?” I pointed to the sprawling set of buildings. It was bigger than South Fork. It was bigger than the White House. It was a monster ranch.

  “What do you think?” He waited while one of the ten garage doors opened and he could steer the car inside.

  “When you said ranch, I thought you meant a little house out in the open. This-this is…” I didn’t know how to finish the statement without hurting his feelings.

  Now that I was here, I could see what a contrast it was for him to spend an entire summer in a camper. Silver Sand Dollar was probably the size of his pantry. How could the same person live in this mansion?

  I stepped from the car and waited for Scott to direct me. There were multiple doors surrounding us, and I didn’t know which one would take me inside. Suddenly, I felt off balance again.

  “Right this way.” He ushered me in the closest door, and we walked through a short hallway before emerging in the kitchen.

  “Wow.” I had never seen anything like it. It was as if I was standing in the center of an Architectural Digest spread.

  “Lenny’s probably still awake if you want something.” Scott tossed our bags on the floor.

  “Oh no. I’m good.” My hand slid along the smooth granite, feeling it’s coolness against my palm.

  “How about a drink?” He opened a closet door. No, it wasn’t a closet—it was a beer fridge. Scott had an entire walk-in closet stocked with beer. Cold beer.

  I nodded. Over the summer, I had gotten used to drinking it with him. It might help make things feel grounded again. Because standing here in his opulent kitchen, I felt like the girl from a small island was more like a fish out of water.

  He twisted off the tops and handed me an icy bottle. “Welcome to the ranch.” His bottle tapped against mine.

  I smiled before taking a sip.

  “Mr. Sullivan, you’re home.” A man in his mid-thirties appeared in the doorway.

  “Hey, Lenny. Yep, just got in.” Scott crossed the kitchen to shake his hand. “This is Avery. She’s going to be staying at the ranch.”

  “Nice to meet you, Miss Avery.” Lenny grinned.

  “Oh, you can call me Avery. No need for the ‘miss’ part.”

  “Certainly, Miss—er, Avery.” Lenny blushed then took a step toward the refrigerator. “Can I fix a late dinner for you two? I’m sure you’re hungry from the trip.” He started rummaging through a crisper drawer.

  Scott tipped his eyebrows in my direction. “Lenny’s the best. You sure you don’t want something? An omelet? Grilled cheese? A steak?”

  I shook my head and clasped the cold bottle in hand. “Still not hungry.”

  “All right, Lenny, I think we’re good. See you in the morning.”

  “Good night, Mr. Sullivan. Good to have you home. We missed you around here. Call if you need anything.” Lenny disappeared through the side door.

  “Does he live here?” I asked. I hadn’t checked the time, but it had to be close to ten o’clock.

  “Yes. He has an apartment off the kitchen and maintains the garden courtyard. He grows fresh herbs. Pretty amazing guy.”

  “Wow, that sounds incredible. He grows all the herbs?”

  Scott stepped closer, placing his bottle on the counter. His arm circled my waist. “What do you say I show you the main suite? Particularly the shower?” He winked.

  I giggled. Our last shower had been in a two by two, cramped camper. I could only imagine what this one would be like.

  “Yes, I like the sound of that.” I bit lightly on my lower lip as Scott’s hand slid along the back of my shirt, inching above my waist.

  His lips pressed into mine, and I wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling him deeper into me. His tongue swirled, and the little moans that escaped my throat surprised me. Somehow, after a week apart, this still felt new. I felt my hips settle on the counter as Scott lifted me on the smooth surface.

  All the burning I felt for him surfaced in rapid succession as his kisses trailed from my lips down my throat. His mouth toyed at the base of my neck as his fingers began unfastening the buttons holding my shirt together.

  “Ah-hem.”

  I jumped as I heard a woman’s voice at the other end of the kitchen.

  I grasped at the corners of my shirt to button them back together.

  “Excuse me, sir.” The woman’s eyes focused on the floor.

  “Hi, Nan.” Scott took a step away and straightened his jeans. I had to fight off a giggle. He was clearly struggling with the stretched and hardened bulge in his jeans.

  “I heard you were back and wanted to welcome you home and see if there was anything you needed.” Nan still hadn’t brought her eyes any higher.

  “We were just headed up.” Scott grabbed my hand and helped me down from the counter. “This is Avery. She’s going to be staying at the ranch.”

  “Nice to meet you, ma’am.” Nan nodded and smiled.

  I couldn’t fathom a more awkward introduction. I was practically half-undressed from the waist up, and Scott’s mouth had been torching my skin when the woman walked in. I could still feel heat radiating from my neck.

  “Nice to meet you too.” I smiled weakly, still clasping my shirt.

  “Should I prepare one of the guest suites?” Nan asked.

  Scott chuckled. “No, no, I think I can take care of her accommodations.”

  If the woman was fazed by his directness, she didn’t show it. I hoped that wasn’t a sign that Scott regularly hosted women in his room. I had to stop thinking like that.
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  “Certainly. Let me know if you need anything this evening.” Nan walked out of the kitchen.

  Scott turned toward me. “Sorry about that. I guess I should have thought about the employees. It’s just hard to keep my hands off you.” He squeezed my inner thigh, pressing with his thumb.

  “How many more are there?” I asked.

  “In the house? Just two more, but they don’t live here. Out on the land, I have twenty,” he replied.

  “Twenty?” I gulped.

  “Yep. Security, maintenance, landscapers, ranch hands for the cattle and horses. It’s kind of a long list. Then there are the others who work for me directly or for the foundation that I meet with regularly. None of them live here.”

  I tried to process the information. There was basically a Scott Sullivan army at his disposal.

  “What did they do while you were gone all summer?”

  He shrugged his shoulders. “I’m not sure. I kept them on payroll, so I sure as hell hope they kept working.”

  “But Nan lives here?” I prodded. “Like Lenny?”

  “Yes. You could say she’s like the mother hen of the place. She watches out for me. Sometimes a little too closely, but I’d rather her be dedicated to her job than not give a damn.” He grabbed my hand. “Come on. I want you to see the shower.”

  At least there wouldn’t be any more interruptions tonight, but I wasn’t sure I could get used to the fact that my bachelor didn’t actually live alone. Would we ever be alone? Were Nan and Lenny always at the ranch? Tonight probably wasn’t the best time to ask more questions, but I knew this was just the beginning of trying to understand the brand and the world that was Scott Sullivan.

  Three

  Scott

  Sure, I knew it would be different and Avery would probably have questions, but I didn’t expect that look on her face. I didn’t know how to describe it. Her blue eyes looked more bewildered than confident. Her smile didn’t look natural. Every time I glanced at her, she was fidgeting with her hair or biting her bottom lip. She was uncomfortable, and I knew it was because of me.

  I hoped a hot shower would change all of that. I wanted her introduction to the ranch to be perfect. Lenny and Nan had God-awful timing.

  With each step we took up the winding staircase, I became more conscious of the immensity of the ranch. We had passed the great room, a sitting room, my office, my official man cave, a sports room, and a reading room, not to mention the wing that housed Nan’s private apartment. There were a helluva lot of rooms.

  After spending three months inside the confines of Silver Sand Dollar, and most of my time around a campfire on the beach, the ranch felt slightly unfamiliar. In some ways, it hadn’t changed. The leather scent from the couches, the stacks of mail on my desk, the friendly exchanges with the staff. But I couldn’t shake the foreignness. Did I really need fifteen flat screens? Was it that important to have speakers in every room wired to my phone’s playlist?

  When I bought the place from a Texas oil tycoon, I had been searching for privacy, comfort, and a way to establish my star status. The ranch did all of that, but with Avery trailing me to my master suite, it seemed too opulent, too rich, too much.

  I liked nice things, and I didn’t want to apologize for that. I had more money than I knew what to do with, but seeing the ranch through her eyes—I wasn’t sure this was the way to spend it.

  I turned the handle on the bedroom door. I hadn’t been here in ages. Before Perry Island, I’d been staying in a temporary Atlanta apartment. I wasn’t sure I remembered what the mattress felt like anymore.

  “And here we are.” I waved my arms in midair.

  “Oh my God.” Avery stared at the massive bed that dominated the center of the room. “This is your room?” She moved toward the footboard, her hand resting on the carved wood.

  I scratched my head. Usually when I brought women here, they were so distracted that they didn’t stop and look at the furnishings, and they sure as hell didn’t question it.

  I smiled. That’s why Avery was different. She wasn’t like the other women.

  “Yep. This is it.” I tugged on her hand. “Let me show you the best part.” I shoved open the door to the master bath.

  Finally, the smile I had been looking for since the moment the wheels touched down on the Texas tarmac.

  “Ok, this is amazing.” She grinned, taking in the decked-out bathroom.

  “I was hoping you’d like it.” I slammed the door behind us and dimmed the lights.

  “Wait, what are you doing?” Avery backed up until she was pressed against the vanity.

  “What I’ve wanted to do since we got here.” No matter where we were, I wanted her to know one thing—I was in love with her. Her eyes, her auburn hair, the lyrics that popped out of her head, her stubbornness, her softness. All of it. I loved every square inch of her. And I had a lot of making up to do today.

  I felt the burning in my belly take over as my lips sought hers. At first she nipped at me lightly, toying with me. But the playfulness turned to something primal as she wrapped her legs around me and urged me toward her.

  I gripped the lapels of her shirt and smiled when I heard the buttons hit the floor. “I’m going to have to buy you a new shirt.” I slid it off her arms and tossed it on the floor.

  Her hands ran along my stomach, and I breathed in sharply as she worked the latch on my belt and slid down my zipper.

  “Wait right here.” I held up a finger and took a few steps backward to the shower. I opened the glass door and pressed the control button until six showerheads were running. I closed the door, and the steam billowed from the top.

  I strolled toward Avery, taking her in. The woman who had spun my world upside down. I wouldn’t trade a single day of the past three months, even all the horrible damn mistakes, because this is where we were supposed to be. We were supposed to be in this moment, on the verge of devouring each other, until we were so wrapped up in the other there was nothing left. I wanted her like I had never wanted anyone. It was consuming and exhausting. Powerful and uncontrollable. My veins pulsed with drunkenness even though I’d only had two swallows of beer. What had she done to me?

  “Scott?” she whispered.

  “Yeah, darlin’?” I traced her jawline with my finger, holding her gaze. It was still new hearing my name on her lips.

  “You think anyone can hear us?” She smiled wickedly as her fingernails scratched along my skin.

  For a second, I thought she could take me to my knees just like that. Toying with me, teasing me. I dropped my jeans to the floor.

  “Nah, they’re downstairs.” I tilted her chin upward.

  “You sure?” She pulled my T-shirt over my head and tossed it on the tile. Her fingers dug into my skin, bringing me dangerously close to a growl.

  “Positive.” I cupped her bottom with both hands, dragging her across the counter until I was pressed against her.

  I was pulsing with want and possession. I needed her. I slid my fingers under her thigh to the sink drawer for a condom.

  “Then, why haven’t you taken me already?” She giggled. The come-hitherness in her voice threw my last threads of restraint out the window.

  I lifted her off the counter and wrapped her legs around my waist. Steam rolled through the bathroom, fogging the mirrors and glass. I carried her to the shower.

  “Clothes, I still have on clothes,” she muttered.

  I eased her onto one of the shower’s benches and tore every shred of fabric from her skin, just as the water began to seep through. She gasped as I stripped the last bit of cotton covering her, tossing it to soak in the corner with the rest.

  There was something both exotic and innocent about seeing Avery in this shower. She was my fresh start. My chance to break old habits. My chance to make amends for the lies I told. My chance to be the man I really wanted to be. Right now, all I wanted was to be a part of her.

  “God, I want you,” I growled as I pulled her against me, water g
liding between our bodies. I ripped the corner from the foil packet but she took it from me. Her eyes burned into mine as she rolled the condom slowly down my shaft. The heat blazed in my gut.

  I hoisted her leg around me, gripping the smoothness of her skin. I closed my eyes as I thrust inside her. Her warmth wrapped around me, seizing my cock with force. My knees almost buckled under the intensity, but the need to be a part of her, to feel all of her, drove me. She rocked her hips, coaxing me against her.

  “Say it. Say what you told me on the ferry,” she pleaded, her hands gripping my shoulders.

  I couldn’t take my eyes off her. The way her skin glistened under the water, the way her eyes bore into my soul. She was everything to me.

  I had said it once this morning, and I would say it every time she wanted to hear it.

  “I love you, Avery.”

  She exhaled into my ear. The quiver her breath sent down my spine made my knees buckle. I braced myself against the glass shower wall. My fingers cleared long lines through the steam, giving me a striped view of our reflection in the mirror.

  I crushed my lips into hers, swirling my tongue against her mouth. Eager to taste her. I clenched her ass and shifted her hips higher, driving my cock deeper inside. Filling her, claiming her, taking her as if she had always been mine.

  “Oh shit,” she groaned as I slammed into her.

  “Fuck.” My mind was gone. White oblivion. I pumped inside her.

  We spiraled. Her breath quickened and I knew she was on the edge of her first orgasm. I bit at her lips, coaxing it from her body.

  “Come for me, baby. Come hard.”

  “Ohh,” she whimpered as her body began to vibrate.

  I watched in awe as she let the climax take over. She clenched my cock. She shook and dug her nails into my back.

  It was fucking nirvana.

  I couldn’t hold off any longer. I was wild and restless, driving myself home.

  One.

  Two

  Three.

  And my release catapulted through me.

  I pressed my forehead to hers as her legs slid to the shower floor.