CHAPTER 9
Days became weeks and nothing had changed. Guy was still Guy
, nobody was looking for him. Blake had long since expanded their search, nationwide. He was well connected with agencies the government didn’t claim and that Blake denied even existed. But, they were real, and not of any help, they still knew nothing. As much as Morgan hurt for him, seemingly all alone in the world, she was happy to have him in hers.
Blake and Morgan had been hopeful that the saddle found on the now deceased horse would turn up something – and it did. Completely custom, the saddle was handcrafted with the best materials money could buy. Although a maker had yet to be identified, they knew that wherever Guy came from, money was involved. It made sense, given how he carried himself, how distinguished he was in his presence, the expensive clothes he wore and how well-groomed he was that first day when they found him. Money, it seemed, was their only clue.
Polished certainly wasn’t the word for him these days. Morgan found him each day, roaming the ranch, giving the others a hand. If he wasn’t in one of the barns mucking stalls, he was in the horse arena. Dunny tended to dish out Guy’s daily chore list, as foreman, and it was a shitty list. Literally. More times than not, Guy found himself shoveling shit. If it wasn’t obvious Dunny wasn’t a fan, he liked to kick up the competition, landing Guy the loser, in a heap of horse shit a time or two.
As time went on, however, Guy felt stronger as his body got used to the hard work. He enjoyed it. The ranch work felt familiar, it felt right like maybe he was himself, whoever that was. Despite the sore muscles, he seemed quite comfortable. Another clue, maybe?
Guy was also known to take morning rides to inspect the fences around the hundreds of acres that were Pinecrest. More and more, they were finding breaks in the fences and missing livestock, which needed wrangling. There were issues needing resolve around the property, which pulled Morgan from her day job
. If it wasn’t one thing, it was another, and it was beginning to cost a small fortune to maintain.
If there was an upside to her downward spiral, it was that she was able to spend more time on the ranch with Guy, every time Dunny called with a problem. She was grateful for Guy. He helped ease her burdens by stepping in as he did. It didn’t just help keep the ranch going, it kept her emotions going.
She had always been a strong independent woman, but there was something to be said about the sense of being cared for, taken care of even. That made her craving an obsessive ache that made a cold shower steam.
She parked her Jeep in front of the main house and made her way to the first barn, where the main hog pen was staged to the right. Coming straight from work, she didn’t bother ditching her uniform this time, she wanted to assess the damage Dunny had alerted her to first – and to see Guy. If she was honest with herself, she would acknowledge that she had missed him and couldn’t give a rat’s ass about the hog pen.
“Hey there, boys. How’s…” Men, hot men had a way of stopping a woman in her tracks and leaving her speechless.
Guy stood there, sweat rolling down his rock-hard body, covered in dirt, with a smile that could get him anything he wanted. It was all she could do to keep from coming completely undone and embarrassing herself more than she already was with her speechless stare. The only words that came to mind were those she couldn’t say out loud – she wanted to get dirty
with him.
Dunny smirked, flattered by her response to what she saw. Her speechless stupor had him flexing a few extra muscles, giving her a show only to realize she wasn’t looking at him. At all.
“How’s what, darlin’?” Pulled from her provocative thinking, at the sound Dunny’s voice, she was reminded that she was not only standing out in the open, but had company before her that quickly squelched her growing thirst for something other than…water.
“Oh, um, wow, you guys had your work cut out for ya.” Pleased with her seemingly smooth recovery, she caught a glimpse of Guy just as he winked at her. Caught.
“I was surprised by the damage, and um, yeah, wow. Wasn’t expecting…that. The damage, wasn’t expecting the damage.” Her hand waved from left to right, then left again, aimed at the broken fence around the pen.
She wasn’t lying. It was much more significant than she anticipated. More than what she assumed brawling hogs could damage. It was an entire side of the pen.
“Were ya, now?” Guy asked with a sarcastic tone and mischievous grin.
Dunny looked back and forth between Morgan and Guy, quite aware of the unspoken conversation between them. He squinted his eyes at Guy, showing his distaste. “Don’t worry, Morgie, I got it under control, like I
always do.”
“I think he means we
got this, it will be back in service before day’s end.” Guy’s exaggerated tone sparked a silent challenge that Dunny was willing to see through.
“She knows she can count on me
, there big Guy.” The sarcasm dripping off Guy
was thick and heavy, he wasn’t letting this go. “I made a temporary stall in the barn after I
found all of the missing hogs. All accounted for.” His look to Guy was full of malice, daring his next move.
“Good thing you just…happened
to be there when it happened, Duncan
.” Taking the high road was Guy’s way. He knew Dunny didn’t like him, felt threatened by him even, but Dunny was important to Morgan, and Guy respected that, so he walked away from the pissing match.
“That’s right. Good timing. Just taking care of her, like I always
do.” Dunny walked past Guy, stopping in front of Morgan so he could drop a kiss on her cheek before heading for his truck. “I’m headed to the maintenance building to get a few supplies to finish it up. You can stay here, pretty boy…don’t want you to get your hands too dirty. Be back shortly.”
“Thanks, Dun.” Morgan said, with an eye roll and blushed cheeks. She wasn’t numb to the ongoing fight between the two men, and quite aware of what they were fighting over. Her.
“Geez, surprised he didn’t just pee on your leg, staking his claim!” Dunny, still only an earshot away, tossed Guy a middle finger in response to his comment before spinning his tires in a grand exit tantrum.
“Awe, he’s harmless and means well,” she chuckled.
“It seems I’m threatening his territory.”
Morgan laughed, eyes wide, “His what? You have it all wrong, Guy. Dunny’s…he’s…like a brother
. We grew up together, and now we just work side by side like our fathers did. Nothing more, nothing less.”
“Not sure he knows that.”
Morgan turned to watch Dunny leave in the distance, “He’s just…protective. Always has been.”
Guy tilted his head in confusion. There was more to this story, he could hear it in her sullen tone. “Of?”
A deep sigh escaped Morgan as the memory of a not so pleasant time rushed through her. “Of me,” she said matter-of-fact, “I…he…” Her loss for words heightened Guy’s emotions, had something happened to her? The thought of something dark happening to Morgan hit him in the gut, hard. Someone hurting her, possibly violating her, sparked a sense of rage and desire to protect in a way he hadn’t experienced before. It almost frightened him, knowing he could feel such a way, but also emboldened him, knowing it was all for her.
With a puffed out chest, he offered his own protection, relieving her from the duty of telling him anything she didn’t want to revisit. “Morgie, I’m sorry – you don’t have to talk about it. I’m sorry if someone hurt you. I…”
“Oh, stop! No, it’s nothing like that!” she chuckled, “I’m sorry I led you to believe something sinister. Look, was I hurt? Yes, but not in that
way. I was engaged. To my high school sweetheart.”
Engaged. Guy took that word like a dagger to the heart. Someone else having her as his own blistered a form of jealousy that made him sweat. “Was
engaged? As in, no longer?”
“Yes,” she laughed, “no longer.”
Guy let out a deep breath that he didn’t even realize he had been holding.
“Brad. He went off to med school, while I went to the academy and a four-year Criminal Justice program. Different towns. We saw each other on breaks and holidays – emailed, and wrote letters even. When I graduated and came back here, it was easier to see each other, so we alternated weekends. I would go there, or he would come here. We did that every other week for an entire year.” A long sigh escaped her as she traveled memory lane, recalling what was once the happiest time of her life, but ultimately caged her heart, protecting it from anyone else’s hurt.
“His visits became less and less, school was getting tougher, demanding more time. I decided to surprise him one weekend.”
Guy felt the change in her tone and his curiosity began to transition to angst because he could only imagine where her story was leading with a surprise visit. “You don’t have to finish, Morgan. I’ll understand if it’s too much to talk about.”
A smile crossed her face at his understanding, and compassion. “It’s okay, it was years ago. There was snow, so Dunny drove me to Portland, where Brad was doing his residency, or whatever they call that part of school. I was so excited, I didn’t even tell Dunny goodbye, just grabbed my bag and ran up the stairs to Brad’s apartment. I let myself in with the key he had given me. I found him in the bedroom.”
Puzzled by the story she just delivered and curious about its literal ending, Guy asked, “Alone?”
“With one of the nurses he worked with.” She finished.
“Ouch. I’m sorry Mor…”
“A male nurse.” She deadpanned, cutting him off before he could finish. The shock he felt by her surprising twist gave Morgan a chuckle. Letting his wordless stammering off the hook, she said, “It’s okay, really. Better to find out I was engaged to a gay man than not find out until after the wedding…awkward.” She said in a sing song voice.
The two broke into a silly laugh just as Dunny’s truck came back into view. “I ran out of that apartment so fast and didn’t stop until I was several blocks away, sitting in a coffee shop, waiting for Dunny to come back to get me – he hadn’t gotten that far – thank God. We stayed the weekend in Portland while I licked my wounds, and he brought me food. Pretty sure he paid Brad a visit too; his knuckles were pretty banged up after a trip to pick up dinner,” she laughed.
“I don’t blame him. I can see why he’s protective
, I suppose.” Guy walked in the direction of Dunny’s now parked truck to help him unload supplies, but not before stopping in front of Morgan and placing a hand on her shoulder, that eventually slid down her arm, leaving a trail of goosebumps and stirring a knee clenching heat. “I’m sorry Brad
broke your heart, but I can’t say I’m sorry you aren’t…engaged anymore.” Guy left her with a sweet kiss to the forehead before walking off.
Hoping he was out of ear shot, Morgan let out the breathy groan she had been holding since Guy’s lips met her skin. If he could make her knees weak and heart race with a simple friendly kiss to the forehead, she feared feeling anything else from him because it was sure to be her undoing.
She turned to watch Guy, his sexy swagger made her shiver until she noticed Dunny standing in the back of the truck, looking right at her with an expression that gave a different kind of chill. Caught again. His icy glare digressed, and he offered a simple nod before getting back to work.