“If you don’t like being woken up so early you could always stay at your own place.” Brecken didn’t even try to hide the annoyance in his voice.

“It’s six AM. Can’t you stay in bed a little longer?” Nadia purred, letting the sheet drop from around her tits. Even they couldn’t convince him to stay this morning.

“Nope, I need to get to the ranch.”

“The ranch?” she asked, the surprise evident in her tone. “You aren’t going into the office?” She frowned.

“I’ll be in this afternoon. Cancel everything before noon today.”

She scrunched her eyebrows together and pursed her lips as she studied him. She knew better than to ask too many questions, but he could almost see them forming in a bubble over her head. Why was he going to the ranch? What was so urgent that he was canceling his morning meetings? Why hadn’t he told her earlier?

“Okay.” Is all she managed before he nodded and headed toward the door.

“I’ll see you in the office this afternoon.”

Taking the elevator down to the parking garage, he twirled the key ring around his finger.

“Good morning, Mr. Blackstone. Taking the Maserati to work today?”

“No, Ben. Taking the truck out today,” he said to the parking valet who eyed his attire and grinned. His suit was probably worth more than the old truck, but there was no way he was taking the car down the old gravel roads that led to the ranch.

“Have a good day, sir.”

The sun was beginning to rise as he drove out of the city. The roads were clear and quiet, the only sound was his constant tapping on the steering wheel. Nerves and a hint of excitement crept through his body as he turned onto the gravel road, which was lined with large trees on either side.

Brecken shifted in his seat, dropping one hand to mindlessly rest on the gearshift. Smiling at the old habit, he shook his head. Maybe some things, like driving a manual, never left you. He could only hope that wasn’t true across the board. He had no desire to go back to ranch life. The truck was a reminder of how far he’d come, nothing more.

The trees began to part, and through the windshield he got his first glimpse of the land and home that had been in his family for over fifty years. With everything that had happened—all the happy childhood memories that had been replaced with lies and deceit—he still loved this land. Its beauty stretched out as far as the eye could see, and it was picture perfect from every angle. Every view except from within.

The large iron gates with fancy, cursive B’s displayed ostentatiously on each side, opened with a press of a button on his key chain. He left it open in case January showed up. It was the start of the rancher’s day, a day that started before and extended well beyond that of most office hours. The best thing that he took away from growing up on a ranch was learning the benefit of working long and hard days. It served him well when his competitors took long lunches to schmooze clients then clocked out at five, while he remained chained to his desk, his head down and focused, determined to be a success in his own right.

He parked, cut the engine, and slid from the truck before inhaling deeply and letting the familiar smells and sounds surround him. His new employee would be arriving in a little under an hour and there was a lot to do—starting with figuring out what there was for her to do.

The truth was he had no idea what state the place was in. The ranch manager had been taking meticulous care of the land and animals, but Brecken himself hadn’t stepped foot inside the house in eighteen years. That was about to change.

Is it the house or the woman that has me on edge?

He was more anxious than he cared to admit that she wouldn’t show at all.

The memory of January made his body stir and his chest tighten. He recalled her face easily. Dark brown eyes set against fair skin, long, brown hair that he’d wanted to run his fingers through, and the most amazing pink lips he’d ever seen. The way she’d run her long fingernails over his name on the business card he’d given her had gone straight to his head. The one that had been south of the table.

Laying a hand on the tailgate of the truck, he forced his thoughts to her job on the ranch instead of the job he’d like her to do on him. He thought he’d worked her out of his system last night. Nadia was a poor replacement, but she was beautiful and uncomplicated and available whenever he called. With her, there were no questions about feelings or where the relationship was going. There was sex, work, and social obligations.

Would January be so flexible? Everything about her screamed complicated. The dust collecting on his expensive shoes and him canceling half a day of important meetings should have been enough to have him hopping back in the truck and high tailing it back to his office, but it wasn’t. Instead, he headed up the wooden steps to the large porch he’d always loved and laid a hand on the heavy oak front door, turned the knob, and pushed it open.

* * *

Brecken watched Tina’s mouth set in a straight line. They’d worked together long enough that he knew when she was holding back.

“Out with it. What aren’t you saying?”

“I’m trying to understand what changed? Last week you were dragging your feet and putting off the realtor. Now you’ve hired someone to organize it and pulled me out here in our busiest month ever.”

He ran a hand through his hair and searched for words to explain it. The problem was he didn’t know what had changed exactly. When he left home eighteen years ago he had no intention of ever coming back. He loved this land and house as fiercely as he’d hated the man who had ruined his happy childhood memories here.

“Weren’t you the one who kept bringing up the realtor, saying it was worth a killing? I thought that meant you wanted me to get on with it.”

“I did say that. I just didn’t think it would be right this second. Plus, I’ve worked with you long enough to know that you don’t do anything you don’t want to, so cut the crap. What changed?”

Fine. She wasn’t going to let it go. “Honestly? I don’t know exactly. Maybe it’s my tie to this place screwing with my judgment, but I think it’s time to get this place ready to sell.” He waved his hands around the room. “There’s three generations of stuff packed away in this house. Plus, we have all the data we need from the ranching software we implemented. We’re ready to move forward, tie up loose ends.”

“You’re talking about the merger with D&R Software?” Tina asked.

“I haven’t made any decisions on that. It’s just a meeting.”

“Okay. Let’s pretend selling this place now is a good idea. Who’s the girl? How does she play into this? Is she someone the realtor recommended?”

He shifted in his seat. “Not exactly.”

Tina clasped her hands in her lap and waited.

“I met her last week,” he confessed. “She needed a job, and I have a good feeling about her, about this whole project.” He sat forward in his chair and tried his best to look optimistic and excited. He was risking a lot of time and money on this project for reasons he wasn’t entirely convinced of himself. And worse, being back here was making his skin crawl. Every second here had him questioning his sanity. When his parents had dropped a bombshell on him at eighteen, telling him that his best friend Henry was actually his half-brother, he’d spiraled out in a teenage rage. Resentment and stubbornness had kept him away.

Sitting in the room that had once been his mother’s sewing room, he couldn’t bear to focus on any of the details of his childhood home. Instead, he focused on Tina and not the framed needlepoint he knew hung above her head. His mother had worked on that for an entire winter. The first and last, she’d said proudly when she brought it home from the frame store.

“Some girl you just met? This doesn’t sound like you. Is everything okay? I know we don’t talk about our personal lives much, but with your dad passing away only a month ago and you inheriting this place, maybe you should take a step back before you make any big decisions.”

“I appreciate your concern, but it isn’t necessary. I’m fine.”

Tina nodded. “All right. So you want me to do what, hang out here for the next eight weeks and babysit her? Why am I here? This sounds like the perfect project for Nadia, your assistant.” Tina’s tone and the disgruntled look on her face made him feel a little guilty for dragging his best employee into this mess, but there was no way he was letting Nadia within fifty feet of January.

“Not for eight weeks. Help her get set up today and drop in a few times to make sure it’s progressing. I know it’s a lot to ask, but you’re the only one I trust.”

Tina smiled and shook her head. “All right, whatever you need.”