“Your father, Aiden Steele, left part of his estate to you,” I clarified.
She frowned. “My father?”
She slid back the shower curtain, the metal slide loud. Grabbing a towel, she wrapped it around herself, not taking the time to dry her body or her hair.
Shit. I fucked this up. I had no idea what her mother had told her about Aiden Steele. From the information we’d collected, we knew Natalie’s mom had passed on three years ago of an aneurysm, so if she had kept it a secret, it had died with her. Her mother had married when Natalie was five, so it was possible she thought that man was actually her father. The way Natalie was responding, I had no idea what she knew. I did know I hadn’t done this right. Sam was going to fucking kill me.
Reaching out, I turned off the water. By the time I stepped out and grabbed a towel, she was out the door, cool air seeping in.
I found her by the bedroom window, looking out at the view. She’d tugged the curtains back enough to see, letting in a bright strip of morning light.
“What do you know about your father?” I asked. The air conditioning chilled my damp skin, but I didn’t give a shit. I worried for Natalie.
She didn’t turn to look at me. Her hair was darker wet and it dripped down over her shoulders, even onto the floor behind her. So beautiful, so close, yet untouchable.
“He died,” she said finally. “A long time ago.”
“That’s what your mother told you?”
She looked over her shoulder at me. “Yes. Are you saying I inherited a ranch from someone who died over twenty years ago?”
Slowly, I shook my head. I proceeded cautiously, as if she were a skittish mare. “He died last year.”
Turning to me fully, she crossed her arms over her chest, the slight swells of her breasts rising over the edge of the white towel. Backlit, it was hard to see her expression. “I think you need to start at the beginning.”
“Let me get Sam in here.” I walked to the bedroom door, opened it and called to him.
Within a minute, he came in, only having taken the time to slip on a pair of jeans. “What’s up?” he asked, his voice rough with sleep. He took in Natalie in just her towel and grinned, walked toward her to kiss her, I assumed. She put her hand up, stopped him. If he missed the hand, her expression alone would have stopped him cold. “Ashe was going to tell me about my father. The inheritance.”
All playfulness dropped from his face. “I see.” He glanced at me as if trying to assess the situation, but finally nodded.
I went to the closet, grabbed the white robe off the hanger and handed it to Natalie. “You’re cold.”
As she wrapped herself in it, not dropping the towel to do so until after she was covered, I knew we were in big trouble. As she tugged the belt into a fierce knot, any chance of another round of wild sex was definitely over. While she was naked underneath, it could have been a full snow-suit she wore. We weren’t getting to see any of her anytime soon.
I just had to hope not everything was over.
I sat down on the edge of the bed and told her everything. How Aiden Steele had died and left his ranch to five daughters. Four had been found and now lived in Barlow, but she was the last one. As I shared, she paced the room, listening intently.
“You’re, what, investigators?” she asked finally.
Sam nodded. “We were hired by the estate’s lawyer to find you.”
“And you needed to do a full body cavity search to confirm I’m the last Steele sister?” While the tone was all snark, she was serious.
Sam held his hands up. “Sweetheart, it’s not like that and you know it. What we share—”
“What we share? What is it that we share? Are you this thorough with all your clients?”
“That’s a low blow,” I told her. “I think you know us enough to realize we’re not like that.”
She tapped her bare foot on the carpet. “Oh really? I find out I have a father I’d thought died over twenty years ago from two men I had a one-night-stand with and you think I’m the one tossing out low blows?”
She pointed to herself. Her cheeks were flushed and she was riled. Shit. Shit.
“You got what you wanted, to fuck me. Why toss these lies out now? You could just tell me to leave.”
“Sweetheart,” Sam said, the one word soft.