Chapter 12

Sara

After the animal had run off, I walked with Ryan back to the van and threw my tools into the back. He walked me inside and started giving me a small tour of the main building, stopping at the office he had been using. The place was coming along really well and really fast. I was impressed with the work he’d been doing and with how much money he was pumping into the community. The office was functional and nothing more. It wasn’t fancy or ornate and seemed to fit the purpose. For a billionaire, Ryan sure did seem to have simple tastes, which I liked. I wasn’t the kind of girl who was into the fancy and crazy. I could only imagine how hard it would be for someone to go from New York City billionaire life to small-town life in a matter of minutes, but he seemed to do it with ease. He had settled in with relatively little complaining, as far as I could see, and that fact was incredibly endearing to me.

“So, what’s going to happen is, once the main area is set up and all the mechanical units are functioning properly, we’re going to fill the side fields with solar panels,” he said. “In fact, this whole facility, while producing green energy, will also run off green energy. It makes the carbon footprint of having it here very low. There isn’t a ton of maintenance to be done unless something breaks, so the staff will be needed but nothing like a power plant and definitely not as dangerous when it comes to working conditions.”

Just then, the office phone rang, but he didn’t seem interested in picking it up. He turned and looked at a huge map of the property behind him, pointing out the intended solar fields. I was distracted by the phone, though.

“You should probably take the call.” I chuckled.

“It’s all right. I don’t have to,” he said.

“But you’re at work.” I laughed. “And surely, empires like yours were not built by ignoring phone calls.”

“Maybe you’re right,” he said. “But I hate taking phone calls. Call me a rich snob, but I miss having a secretary to screen my calls.”

“I miss having one too.” I sighed. “Oh, wait. I never had a secretary.”

“That’s cute,” he said, reaching down and grabbing the phone. “Very cute. Double R Energy Ranch. This is Ryan Reines speaking. How can I help you? … Jeff, how are you? I almost forgot I had an appointment today. There’s been a lot going on here. Could you hold on for a second? Thanks.”

He put the line on hold and looked over at me smiling. That charming smile kicked me right in the gut every single time. I was pretty sure he could have told me it was the Pope, and I wouldn’t have batted an eye.

“It’s a journalist,” he said. “The call might take a minute. I can ask them to call me back for the interview.”

“Nah,” I said, shaking my head and sitting down in one of the chairs. “I would love to hear an exclusive interview with a billionaire. I’m sure it’ll be titillating.”

He rolled his eyes and chuckled, reaching over and clicking the button, putting the call on speakerphone. He was so confident and so smooth in his motions, and it sent chills up the back of my neck. I would have been a nervous wreck to talk to a reporter, but it seemed second nature to him.

“Jeff,” he said. “You still there?”

“I’m here,” the reporter said.

“All right, shoot.”

“How’s everything going out there?” he said with a chuckle.

“It’s great,” Ryan said seamlessly. “We’re really making some headway with everything.”

I listened, impressed with his easy demeanor and instant answers to questions. I could only assume that with a project like this, they were trying to get it out to the media and show some love to the company. He had probably done dozens of interviews already.

“So, you’ve been pegged as a technological genius. Why this project?”

“Well, this project has been something in the making long before anyone knew my name,” he said. “Green energy is the future, and not only is it good for the planet, reducing greenhouse gases, but it’s just good business too. It’s a way to own a responsible company, do something that means something for the people of this world, and make a living doing it.”

“Now, let me ask you this,” he said. “How is the project’s popularity faring amongst the most recent allegations brought by Natasha Noborov and how she—?”

Before the journalist could finish the sentence, Ryan had quickly leaned forward and grabbed the handset, taking it off speakerphone. He glanced up at me, looking nervous for a moment and then leaned back in the chair, trying to play it off. I could tell something was up, though.

“My office has already commented on that subject,” he said. “Thanks for taking the time to interview us here and let my PR rep know if there’s anything else we can do to help. Thanks.”

I was instantly intrigued, especially since he jumped to end that conversation so quickly. What allegations was the journalist talking about? And that name, Natasha someone, it sounded almost familiar in my mind. I never had a lot of time for the media, not really interested in social media, not the girl who surfed the web very often, and even television wasn’t on my priority list. I had gone days, sometimes over a week, before I turned on the television, and that was usually for some noise when I was working. Alison was a different story. She was obsessed with the media. She would sit and scroll through social media for hours, reading out the latest and greatest trends going on. I, on the other hand, spent most of my time on my practice and with the horses at the charity.

Distractions were something I tried to stay away from as much as possible. There were enough things in my life that I had passion for that I didn’t need to fill my time with useless crap that didn’t concern me. I had been like that all my life, staying as far away from the rumor mill as possible, which was probably why I didn’t have a ton of friends. Social media didn’t interest me in the least, and I got enough information from Alison to satisfy any curiosity that might creep into my brain. Even social gatherings weren’t really my thing, and the few friends I’d acquired when I was younger had moved away from small-town life as soon as they had the chance. It was rare to find girls like me and Alison who were happy living in the small-town Oregon landscape.

I turned my attention back to Ryan, but before I could open my mouth to ask the question about Natasha and the allegations, he was standing in front of me, grabbing my hands and pulling me to my feet. It was hard to even choke out my words when I was standing that close to him.

“I need to pay you back for coming to my rescue today.” He laughed. “Why don’t you come out to dinner with me at the town’s only other restaurant?”

There were so many thoughts floating through my head all at once. The phone call with the journalist had my mind doing overtime, but it was hard to focus when Ryan was standing there paying me such close attention. I tried to think of what to say, but I was completely distracted when Ryan bent down and pressed his lips softly against mine. He was gentle and careful, lingering for a moment before pulling away.

“Dinner? Tonight?” I said, watching him nod his head. “Yes, of course.”

I had agreed without even thinking about it. On my way home afterward, I drove along with the music playing lightly and my mind completely in the clouds. Ryan had a way of doing that to me. I glanced down up at the rearview mirror, and my heart started to pump fast and hard, seeing flashing blue lights behind me. I pulled over to the side of the road and watched in the side mirror as Gary, the deputy, pulled behind me and rolled out of the car. He pulled his belt up higher on his fat belly and walked to my window.

“Why are you pulling me over?” I asked. “I was definitely not speeding.”

“You’re pretty far away from home or the stables,” he said, looking behind me in the van. “What are you doing all the way out in this direction?”

“I didn’t know it was a crime to be out here,” I growled. “I had a call about an injured animal, so I came out to take care of it. I’ll be filing the report with the city like I’m supposed to.”

“Right.” He chuckled. “One of them city animals injured.”

“Excuse me?” I said, narrowing my eyes.

“Don’t play dumb,” he said, looking at me with a straight face. “I know exactly where you were, and soon, Janson will too.”

“What in the hell is that supposed to mean?” I asked. “What does Janson have to do with any of this?”

“Janson is only going to tolerate you pushing so far,” he said, eyeing me. “Before he pushes back that is.”

He tapped my window hard with his hand and nodded his head, turning and walking back to his car. I watched him climb inside and pull out, speeding away down the road toward the town. I leaned my back against the chair and breathed deeply, shaking my head. I could feel a hole in the pit of my stomach, and I knew Janson had been watching me. Everything had settled down, or at least I’d thought it had, but as soon as I thought I had a good thing going, there was Janson swooping in and fucking it up as fast as he could. This was starting to get dangerous.