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Chapter 4
Lottie
Cool mountain air whipped my braid against my face as I tried to take a sip of my coffee. I tightened the blanket around me. Five months in Hawaii had made me weak to the weather of Boulder—no humidity in the air, a stark fifty-seven degrees, the beginnings of autumn biting at the greenery and turning it to a golden hue. The weather in Hawaii was so much nicer.
Dad slept soundlessly inside our family home. He’d picked me and Dana up from the airport in the dead of night, and the least I could do was let him get a few more hours of sleep instead of getting him on my horrible sleep schedule from the jet lag.
Four days had passed since I’d left Hunter’s suite. Four days of sleepless nights, four days of touching myself and being horribly disappointed in the outcome. It wasn’t as good as he was. How on earth could that even be possible? How was he better at touching me than I was?
Worse yet, how did I allow myself to fall into that? I let myself sleep with my soon-to-be boss. He was controlling as hell, that was for sure, but I wasn’t normally one to allow myself to be swayed by that kind of behavior. He wasn’t the type of man who would back down from a challenge. He’d had everything handed to him growing up, I mean, he must have, considering the Harris family was one of the wealthiest in Boulder. And here I’d gone and handed myself to him as well.
I made a mental note to never, ever, let that happen again.
A part of me worried that he’d only offered me the job to get me to sleep with him, but I hoped he wasn’t stupid enough for that, not when my father held so much sway with him. Besides, he’d paid for my flights home, he’d emailed me a schedule, and insisted I meet with him on the first of the month. Either way, giving in to him was going to be on my top-ten list of fuck-ups.
The screen door clattered open, nearly making me jump and spill my coffee. Tall and lanky with graying hair, Dad stepped out, his own coffee in hand. Dark circles under his eyes told me I’d more than likely woken him up.
“You should go back to bed,” I said. I pushed back in the chair, rocking it slightly as Dad stepped around me to get to the other one. He and Mom used to sit out here every morning and watch the sunrise. Now, I was the one sitting in Mom’s chair.
He grunted as he slowly sank into the rocking chair opposite mine. “Sun’s up, so I’m up.” He’d always said that to me when I complained about getting up early to take care of the horses as a kid. It stuck in his vocabulary. “You know, when you told me you were coming back home, I didn’t fully believe you. Thought I’d show up to the airport and leave empty-handed.”
I snorted into my mug, sending a puff of steam into my face. “Why?”
“You stayed out there longer than I thought you would.” Droplets of black coffee clung to the edges of his untrimmed mustache. “Thought maybe you’d found some peace and wouldn’t want to leave it.”
I shrugged. “I got a job offer I couldn’t pass up. And unfortunately, I didn’t get much peace. Just enough to keep me sane.”
Dad’s thick, gray brows rose. “A job offer?”
“Mm-hm.”
“With whom?”
“Hunter Harris,” I said, watching with bated breath for any little change on his face. Instead, I was given nothing.
“Careful with that one,” he replied, his voice dropping just a little lower. There wasn’t a look of warning in his eyes, but the way he spoke, the way his voice changed, I could tell it was there. “He’s a good businessman, I’ll give him that. And he’s good to his horses. But my God, does he have a reputation.”
“I know, Dad.”
“Womanizing bastard. Love the guy, but it’s true. He’ll do anything to get whoever he wants. I can’t count how many times I’ve walked in on him with some pretty, young thing under his desk with her head?—”
“No, no, no, please don’t go into more detail.” My stomach churned enough to make me stop rocking in my chair. I pulled my knees to my chest, resting my mug on top of them. I couldn’t tell him what happened back in Oahu, couldn’t bring myself to release the guilt of it. “I’ll keep a professional distance.”
“I’m just saying, Lottie bug. He’s got two heads and with women, he only thinks with one of them.”
My phone dinged beside me on the little coffee table. Dana’s name flashed up on the screen, a text message beneath it. I’m out front. Ready to go?
I sighed and stared out at the mountains that began on the edge of our property. It was a view I’d never, ever get tired of. “I’ve gotta go,” I said. Dad didn’t bother to look over. A little muscle in his jaw ticked. “I’m helping Dana find somewhere to rent today.”
“She seems nice,” he said. His eyes closed as he lifted his chin, breathing in the cool morning air.
“She is.” Putting my feet flat on the floor, I slowly stood from Mom’s rocking chair and grabbed my phone. Another buzz, another text. Hellooooooo? “I’ll see you later, Dad.”
I shot Dana a text back. Coming.
Dana wasn’t native to Colorado. She’d ended up on the island of Oahu after she’d finished a scholarship at the University of Hawaii and hadn’t been back in the contiguous United States for almost ten years. But after she’d heard about my job opportunity and I’d told her about the ranching scene here, she’d decided it was finally time.
I couldn’t be more grateful that she’d decided to move to my home state.
