“I ... I’m fully clothed.”
“You could change that.”
I swallow.
Should I?
Do I dare?
I stare down at myself, wondering what underwear I wore this morning. If it’s the granny panties, I’m not getting in. I think on it and remember it is just a black bra and a pair of lacy panties. If Rhett sees what’s beneath all of this, will he laugh at me? Make a joke? I don’t know, yet I find myself reaching for my shirt all the same.
Like I just trust that he isn’t going to judge me.
Never in my life have I felt that way around a man that looks like Rhett.
So why now?
I pull my shirt up and over my head, tossing it to the ground as I make eye contact with the naked man in the water. His eyes don’t leave mine, even as I lean down and shuffle out of my jeans. When I straighten, I’m standing in nothing but my bra and panties. His eyes finally move from mine, traveling down my body.
I don’t want to see his expression, I don’t want to know what he’s thinking, so I just rush toward the water and jump in.
Little did I realize it would be freezing cold.
I come up screaming as what feels like a thousand tiny pins hits all over my body. I flail around, gasping as the cold hits me.
“What the hell?” I shriek. “You could have warned me it was freezing.”
Rhett watches me, smirk set firmly on his face. “You didn’t ask.”
“Are you crazy? You just got in like it was warm. You wouldn’t have any balls left it’s that cold.”
He grins.
Devil.
I swim around until my body adjusts to the cold, and only then do I get the chance to truly enjoy the situation I’m in. The trees, the river, the rocks, the hills. It is pure perfection, it is everything you could ever want in life, and I can see why this is his place to just unwind and relax, to get away from the world. If I owned this place, this is where I’d be, too.
“Tell me somethin’ about yourself, Lei,” Rhett says, swimming past me.
I try not to stare at the way his biceps flex as he does.
I’m pathetic.
If I read that very sentence in a romance novel, I’d cringe.
Shame on me.
“Why should I go first?” I ask, wading backward and letting the cold water wash over me. “How about you tell me something about yourself.”
He gives me a sideways glance. “What do you want to know?”
“I don’t know, tell me how you got this ranch.”
“Everyone knows how I got this ranch, been in every paper from here to New York in the last six months.”
“That’s the paper, I want your version.”
“Was handed down to me.”
I snort. “Wow, so much detail. Please go on, your story is incredible.”
His mouth twitches. “My grandfather gave me the option to buy it at a discounted rate, instead of handing it down to my father as planned. He and my father had a falling out, he didn’t want it to go the way it always had, from father to son. He wanted me to have it because he knew I’d do right by it, my father wasn’t a good man and he didn’t want to see it run to the ground, and so I bought it off him.”
“Why didn’t he want your father to have it?”
“Because my father is a cock head, an abusive asshole and is the reason my mother is gone.”
I blink, shocked, and then press a hand over my mouth so I don’t look like a gaping baby bird. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be, it’s the truth. He would have destroyed this ranch and everything it stood for.”
“I’m glad you’ve done something great with it.”
“I had to, it’s what my mother would have wanted.”
My eyes soften as I stare at him. “I’m really sorry to hear about what happened to your mom, that’s hard.”
“It’s my father’s fault, another reason my grandfather didn’t want him anywhere near this place. He treated her like crap for the entire time they were together. Grew up watchin’ him act as though she was his own personal punching bag. Still, she did everything for him, tried her hardest, was the best fuckin’ mother to me. He didn’t deserve any of this after what he drove her to. She didn’t deserve the kind of love he gave her.”
“That’s not love, Rhett, it’s abuse.”
He studies me. “Yeah.”
“Is your father still around?”
Rhett shakes his head.
“Your mom would be proud, of that I’m sure. What you’re doing for people ... it’s incredible. You’ll save many lives within these fences.”
“That’s the plan.”
“And what about you?”
He looks to me, confused.
“Is it saving you?”
He looks away. “No savin’ me, sweetheart.”
I think he’s wrong about that.
So very wrong.
4
Kara’s squeals of delight can be heard as she whizzes past on a jet ski. Her hair blowing backward, her face lit up with joy. It’s good to see her so happy. I’m on the banks of the lake lying on a towel, soaking up the sun in a big floppy hat. Grace and Maria are both out on a sailboat with Elias and Dante, giggling as the two men float them around.