“Oh, I’m annoying? You’re the one trying to keep my bed empty. Cut it out, okay? Just…trust me.”
“I do trust you. It’s everyone else I don’t trust. Especially Shane.”
Merry leaned in and gave Grace a kiss on the cheek just to annoy her, but it didn’t seem to work. Instead of making a face, Grace grabbed her and gave her a hug. “Just try to keep it in your pants?”
“Believe me, it doesn’t take any effort. Nobody’s trying to cross this border.”
But that wasn’t true anymore, and Merry fell asleep that night with spinning thoughts of just what might have happened if she’d whispered yes instead of saying no.
CHAPTER EIGHT
JESUS CHRIST, THIS was just what he needed to cap off a shitty day. He was working on a complicated two-story wooden mantel in a new lodge being built for some damn multimillionaire who’d likely spend five nights a year there. It was his least favorite type of work. First off, he was stuck inside, and second, these types of clients often complained just to make sure you never forgot who was in charge.
To be fair, so far the project was going well. His work was good. But after eight hours at the site, he was exhausted. He’d hardly slept at all the night before, tossing and turning with worry about Merry Kade.
Merry, who’d tempted him with her laughter and the low scoop of her tank top. Who’d made the nicest little noises when he’d kissed her. Who’d seemed to melt softly into him even as she made him painfully hard. Who’d suddenly said no and left as quickly as possible.
And now this. This huge white SUV pulling into the parking lot just as he left his lawyer’s office.
He saw the momen
t the driver spotted him. Then the moment when she recognized him. His grandmother’s eyes went wide.
Shane pushed through the glass door and headed for his truck. He almost made it.
“Shane!” she snapped. He heard her truck door slam just as he hit the unlock button on his truck. “Shane, just what are you up to?”
He stopped and let his head drop, praying for patience. Jeanine Bishop was actually his stepgrandmother, and she’d made that clear for as long as he could remember. She’d never had any of her own children, and she didn’t seem to know what to do with the few she’d inherited. His grandfather hadn’t been any sort of example of grandparenting, either. He’d been impatient with kids and hot-tempered with everyone. Visits out at the Bishop ranch had been unbearably quiet and tense.
Jeanine Bishop’s footsteps stopped just behind him. Shane took off his hat and turned. “Grandmother,” he said, even as he wondered what his real grandma had been like. She’d died young. Or hell, maybe that was a lie. Maybe she’d run off like half the other members of his family.
“Are you engaging in a campaign of vandalism to discourage the board?”
“What?” he snapped, shocked despite himself. He shouldn’t be surprised by anything at this point. These people were insane.
“Well? Are you?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“The mailbox was destroyed out on the homestead.”
“And why would I do something like that?”
“I have no idea!” she spat. “Why would you sue for your grandfather’s money after everything he did for you? He didn’t have to leave you that land, you know.”
“Oh, I know. In fact, I never asked for it. I never asked for anything.”
“Your grandfather honored you with—”
“Right. You’ve told me this before, remember? But we both know Gideon Bishop left me this land because he couldn’t stand to see it sold off and he’d be damned if he’d give it to the state for preservation. So it came to me.”
She sniffed. “And yet it’s not enough for you.”
“The money would’ve been mine, too, if I’d changed my name back to Bishop. He didn’t give a shit about that old ghost town. Grandpa gave the money to the trust to teach me a lesson. He was a spiteful old goat.”
“Don’t you speak that way about him! You should’ve been proud of that name! Taking your mother’s name was nothing more than a long-term tantrum. Your mother’s people never contributed anything to this community.”
Shane shoved his hat back on his head and sneered. “Maybe not, but they helped raise me, which is a damn sight more than I can say for anybody in the Bishop family.”