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He found the view of her far preferable to the autumn landscape but kept that opinion on lockdown. He was already calculating how fast he could leave town without compromising his bargaining position with Devon. He’d done things he wasn’t proud of in his life, but indulging an attraction to a woman wearing another man’s ring was a line he wouldn’t cross.
“It should photograph well,” he acknowledged, turning his attention to the views instead of Lily’s pliable mouth or pale blue eyes. “Since Devon couldn’t bother to show, maybe we can spend our time here setting up the ranch account and gathering some on-the-ground intel the team can use to fine-tune the marketing approach. I’ll text you an agenda so we can both get back home as soon as possible.”
She was quiet for a long moment. For so long, in fact, he needed to turn and look at her again for a hint of what she was thinking.
“We could do that,” she admitted slowly, staring at him with newly wary eyes. “Or we could start a dialogue about how to fill the CEO position, since that was the original intent of this meeting. Maybe you and I can come up with some workable options for the future of Salazar Media—”
“That meeting was planned for Devon and me. Not you.” He wondered where she saw herself in this negotiation for power at Salazar Media. Was she hoping to carve out a better position for herself? Oust Marcus completely and take over the West Coast office?
If not for the fact that the Salazar brothers were on opposite coasts, the business might have tanked years ago. But they’d made it this far by operating as independently as possible from each other in New York and Los Angeles.
“I have a stake in the outcome, too,” she reminded him coolly. “And now that your father isn’t around to negotiate your differences, I hoped maybe I could facilitate a conversation about the future.”
“Did my brother ask you to talk me into rolling over on this?” He realized his thwarted sexual tension was making him speak more sharply than he might have otherwise. “Did he think you had a better shot at enticing me into doing what you want?”
Marcus had compromised his vision for the company too many times over the years, playing it safe while good opportunities passed them by because Devon had a different approach.
“Of course not,” she replied adamantly, shaking her head. “However, I am familiar with some of the frustration on both sides—”
“No, Lily,” he said, cutting her off, unwilling to walk down that conversational path with her. “You can’t possibly know the level of my frustration.”
Their gazes met and held for a long moment while he let those words sink in so she could chew on them for awhile. He guessed the moment when she suspected his underlying meaning. There was a soft intake of breath. An almost silent rush of her surprise before she gave a slow blink.
Had she truly been unaware of the attraction?
Not that it mattered either way. He had enough grievances involving his brother. He wasn’t going to try to wade through the haze of lust that Lily conjured for him. So instead, he tipped the driver who had delivered her to the ranch, sending the car on its way. When he turned back to Salazar Media’s COO, she seemed to have plastered a new mask of indifference on her lovely face.
“In that case, I’ll wait to hear from you when you’re ready to meet.” She held her small purse in front of her now, which was a laughable defense. There could be a whole conference table full of people between them and he’d still feel the tug of desire.
Nodding, he turned on his heel to retrieve his horse, grateful as hell that he’d chosen to stay in a guesthouse separate from the ranch’s main lodge.
The more distance between him and Lily Carrington, the better. The woman was a serious threat to his concentration when the future of his company was at stake.
What had happened back there with Marcus?
Lily asked herself the question again as she sank deeper into the claw-foot tub in the bathroom of her guest suite, indulging in a post-travel soak that she hoped would clear her head. The suite was beautiful, with hardwood floors and reclaimed barn beams in a nod to the Western setting, but incorporating plenty of contemporary touches like the glass-encased tile shower next to the vintage tub. She’d clicked on the fire in the sleek hearth as soon as she’d arrived, even though it wasn’t all that cold outside. She wanted the whole mountain experience.
Lily brushed a hand through the bubbly, rose-scented water, upset that she couldn’t fully savor the beauty of Montana and the unexpected trip because suddenly there was something odd between her and Marcus Salazar.
Something hot and unexpected.
Closing her eyes as she breathed in the steam-drenched air, Lily thought back to those moments after she’d arrived in front of the huge lodge. She’d been glad to see Marcus, if a little wary. She knew about the long-standing estrangement between the half brothers, although she’d never fully understood it. If they disliked each other so much, why had they launched a joint business with the help of their father? Then again, their talents went well together. Marcus was the creative genius with expertise in the digital media world, while Devon had the business savvy that kept the company in the black.
Devon had been her friend as well as her direct supervisor for five years, but he’d never shared much about his personal life. And Marcus remained a mystery even though he ran the West Coast branch of the company.
Since she’d interacted very little with Marcus directly, she’d been cautiously optimistic when Devon had asked her to take his place at this meeting. She’d wondered—naively, perhaps—if she’d be able to generate a dialogue between the Salazar men now that their father was gone and the future of the company remained up in the air. The business was still privately held, jointly owned by the Salazar brothers, so there was no board of directors to please or strict timeline to fill the CEO slot. Yet as months had dragged on in stalemate, some of their clients were getting frustrated at the lack of a single decision maker in the company. The struggle for power between Devon and Marcus could hurt the whole company. The business needed strong, united leadership.
But whatever had happened in the driveway at her arrival was going to hamper her efforts to make that happen. Marcus had inspired something she had no business feeling as an engaged woman. His dark hair and even darker eyes were so unlike his brother’s. His tall, athletic build…
Swallowing, she halted her thoughts about his body, not letting herself linger on that path.
Wrenching her eyes open, she lifted her left hand from the bathwater to stare at the heavy Asscher-cut diamond on her ring finger, a family heirloom Eliot Winthrop had given her two years ago when he proposed. The five-carat piece was flawless, the facets catching the light from the bathroom sconces.
Until recently, she hadn’t really questioned the long engagement, since they were both busy building their careers—he with his family’s wealth management firm and she with Salazar Media. They’d been childhood friends; their families had both built their fortunes in the financial world and had always been close because of it. Eliot had also made her feel like less of an outsider after the scandal of her birth. Lily’s single mother had refused to tell her parents who the father was and ultimately had given up responsibility for her child altogether, leaving Lily with her grandparents when she was four years old. As a result, Lily had never really felt like she belonged in the opulent Newport world she grew up in.
Later, she and Eliot were high school sweethearts. When he’d gone to college, she’d assumed they’d both move on. But she’d been disappointed by the drunken frat boy atmosphere even at her high-tier school, so when Eliot had proposed, she’d jumped at the chance, knowing they would make a good team. Not necessarily a romance to set the world on fire, but a solid partnership grown in mutual understanding.
They’d talked about uniting their families’ respective businesses with a merger once they wed. She’d always taken strength from their friendship, certain it would grow into the kind of love her grandparents shared. But right now, with the memories of Marcus’s eyes on her stirring an unexpected heat, Lily wondered why she’d never felt that kind of pull with Eliot.
Drying her hands, she reached alongside the tub to retrieve her cell phone. Once she called her fiancé, she would put the incident with Marcus out of her mind. Hearing Eliot’s voice would remind her why they were right together—even if they still hadn’t set a date for the wedding.
Lily punched the heart icon on her phone—the image she’d tagged him with in her contacts—but the call went straight to voice mail. Somehow, hearing his prerecorded message didn’t provide the same reassurance as speaking to him personally. If anything, it only served to remind her of how often she checked in without getting ahold of him. Was that normal for a couple in love?
After leaving him a message, she ended the call and tried to put the worries out of her mind, settling the phone on the pile of towels near the tub. Whatever had happened with Marcus was surely a fluke. A fleeting feminine interest she wouldn’t dream of acting on.
Her mother had been the kind of woman who could be tempted into relationships based on physical attraction, a trait that had made Maggie Carrington choose a lover over her own daughter. Lily knew better than to count on something as temporary as lust. Chemistry was a smoke screen that only confused people, complicating the real factors that needed to be considered for a long-lasting relationship. Like shared values and goals. Mutual respect and affection.
Satisfied she could salvage this trip and put that moment with Marcus behind her, Lily stepped out of the tub and dried herself with one of the fluffy bath sheets, her body steaming with the scent of roses. When Marcus texted her with an agenda, she would be ready to work. Clearly, he wanted to keep things professional and focused on business as much as she did.
No doubt he would keep those long, sizzling looks to himself for the remainder of their time together in Montana. And if a tiny piece of her still craved the way that moment had made her belly flip, she would simply channel it where it belonged—into her relationship with her fiancé.
Professional armor in place the next day, Lily strode through the foyer of the main lodge on her way to meet with Marcus. The building where she was staying was strangely quiet since the property wasn’t open for a retreat this week. She was the only guest that she was aware of, yet there must be maids at work, since she’d had turndown service the night before when she went out for an evening walk in the moonlight. She’d also discovered on her walk that the stables were staffed and she was welcome to ride anytime.
She was curious to see some of the ranching operation itself. The lodge and welcome center looked like a luxe mountain resort, but she’d read up on Mesa Falls Ranch and knew they’d been successful raising cattle and sheep.
She stepped into the great room, where the tile floors were softened with colorful Aztec rugs, the reds and burnt oranges repeated in the throw pillows and framed prints on the natural log walls. A small bar held top-shelf liquors under the watchful eye of a stuffed American bison standing near the pool table. Bar stools padded in black-and-white cowhide were all empty save for the one where Marcus was seated.
She allowed her eyes to roam over him for a moment before he saw her. His dark hair was a shade deeper brown than his older brother’s, and he wore it longer, too. Dressed in a blue button-down, he typed fast on his tablet keyboard, a pair of earbuds tuning out the world while he worked. When he turned his brown eyes toward her, she steeled herself for whatever it was that had happened between them yesterday. But the thing that had sparked last time was shuttered now.
Tapping off his screen, Marcus withdrew the earbuds and shoved them in the pocket of his suit jacket resting on the back of the bar stool.
“I didn’t expect you so soon.” He stood and gestured to the bar.
“I’m here to work,” she reminded him, stopping next to a wooden game table and keeping her distance.
“Here to work, or here to gather information for Devon?”
“Any information I gather would benefit you both, since I work for Salazar Media and not exclusively for your brother.” She didn’t enjoy playing word games with him, but she planned to defend herself and her position. Her job was too important to her to get on the wrong side of a man who still owned half of the company.
“Right.” He acknowledged her point with a nod. “But you got your start in the business by being Devon’s right hand. I don’t think that instinct to look out for him is just going to disappear.”
Impatience and indignation squared her shoulders.
“Do you want to work or question my motives?” She set her laptop bag on the game table, unwilling to be cowed. “Just so I’m clear.”
Marcus took a step closer. “I prefer to work, but I don’t think I can relax enough to do that until I understand why Devon would send you to a meeting slated to determine future control of the company.”
His nearness brought trouble with it. She could see the bristled shadow along his jaw. Read the mistrust in his dark eyes. Feel a charge in the air that made her skin tighten. Lily drew a deep breath to set him straight, but she caught the scent of his aftershave, spicy and male.
“Devon wants to be here himself. You know that.” She scavenged for the right words that would make things go back to the way they used to be between them. “But after he found out his passport had been stolen, he asked me to be on-site in case you need help closing the deal with Mesa Falls.”
Her position allowed her to oversee the day-to-day operations in New York but gave her the flexibility to work directly with clients, as well. She’d learned two weeks ago that Marcus had approached Mesa Falls Ranch as a potential client, because he’d requested proposal material from her office. She’d researched the place immediately, liking to stay up-to-date on all their current and potential accounts. So she’d jumped at the chance to visit the ranch herself and escape her grandparents’ growing pressure to set a wedding date.
His eyebrows shot up. “In case I—” he tapped his chest “—need help sealing the deal? I got confirmation we won the account before you even arrived on the property.”
She suppressed a sigh of frustration. Men and their egos. She hesitated, unsure how much to share and wary of stepping on his toes again. “Devon didn’t know the deal was sealed at the time he called me. And quite honestly, he was afraid you would be on the first plane back to Los Angeles unless he showed you some kind of good-faith effort.”
“You’re the good-faith effort?” His voice hummed along her senses, suggesting things at odds with his surly words.
She restrained the urge to lick suddenly dry lips, confused by whatever seemed to be happening between them. “Like it or not, yes.”
He stood there, entirely too close to her. Assessing. Then his gaze shuttered, his expression revealing nothing.
“Unfortunately for both of us, Lily, I work more effectively on my own,” he informed her quietly. Then he turned and retrieved his tablet. “I suggest we divide and conquer the tasks for setting up Mesa Falls Ranch as a new account and leave it at that.”
Blindsided by the abrupt turn in the conversation, she didn’t even know what to say to that as he tapped open his screen.
“Do you care at all about this company?” She’d always had the impression that he didn’t trust her fully. But he’d never come out and admitted he didn’t want to work with her. “Because you’re doing it a grave disservice to cut me out of the loop.”
She could see the muscle in his jaw flex, his mouth flattening into a thin, determined line before he spoke again.
“That’s never been my intention. I can send daily briefs on everything that happens here. But I’d prefer we get the work done so we can fly back to our respective coasts, where we can turn our attention to our own projects.”
Anger simmered, but she locked it down to maintain professionalism.
“And I respectfully decline.” She gathered her things, knowing it would be wisest to retreat until cooler heads prevailed. But first, she leveled her gaze at him. “I plan do to my job right here, where my presence is clearly needed.”
Two (#u6755c014-e898-5250-8950-bf44d82c038d)
Braking to a stop in one of the ranch’s utility vehicles the next morning, Marcus switched off the ignition and hoisted himself up to lean on the roll bar for a better view. The ranch foreman had offered him the choice of horse or vehicle to tour the property today, and Marcus had opted for the two-seater with no cab and a little wagon in back. He hadn’t informed Lily of the tour, leaving before dawn. He knew that was a mistake. That he was hurting the company because he couldn’t keep his emotions under control. Right now, he needed space to clear his head and figure out his next move.
As the sun rose higher in the sky, he reached for his camera on the passenger seat and withdrew the wide-angle lens from his bag. He had a couple of possibilities for a shot from this vantage point, and he lined up the first one, focusing on some dried wildflowers in the foreground.
Taking photos of the ranch was the best distraction, a pleasure in an otherwise tense trip. Adjusting the settings for shutter speed and aperture, he calculated what images he still needed for the social media campaign before he could head home.
Devon had messaged him during the night, saying the US Embassy was working with him to get his credentials reissued but that no progress would be made over the weekend. Marcus had resisted the urge to fire back a scathing response, unwilling to alienate Devon when he needed to convince him to let Marcus buy him out of the company. Later today, he’d tell Devon they needed to reschedule the Mesa Falls Ranch trip for another time.
Without Lily Carrington.
Just thinking about her spoiled his first shot of the wildflowers. Because he suspected her of spying for Devon? Or because Marcus wanted her for himself? Both options messed with his head.
While he’d always been drawn to Lily—in spite of his concern that she owed her loyalties to his brother—he’d been able to rein it in since they worked on opposite coasts. Being with her in person, when he was already grappling with his frustration with Devon, brought an unwelcome fiery element into his emotions for her. That’s why he’d let her take the meeting with the ranch manager alone this morning while Marcus toured the place on his own. He got a better feel for clients by seeing what they had to offer—in the case of Mesa Falls, by exploring the ranch—than by listening to them. In his experience, customers were often too close to their product or service to be able to see the subtle facets of what made it unique. Long before Salazar Media became a national brand—and before Devon got his business school “best practices” involved with every aspect of the company—Marcus had excelled at finding his clients’ individuality.
He wanted to bring the company back to that original goal—giving each account a distinctive voice and image that stood out from the rest of the media noise. And now, peering through the wide-angle lens to see a herd of elk step into the golden field, Marcus knew he could do that here. Swapping to a zoom, he zeroed in on the elk with video and stills, already seeing a way to set Mesa Falls Ranch apart in the marketplace.
He was almost finished when the hum of another nearby motor distracted him. He turned and saw a second utility vehicle approaching, a cowboy at the wheel, a tall, slender brunette dressed in dark jeans and a long-sleeved T-shirt in the passenger seat.
It was Lily. She gripped the roll bar, her big sunglasses shielding her face from the sun now at its zenith. Her lips were pursed, her hair uncharacteristically flyaway, the dark strands dancing around her face as the vehicle picked up speed. When they braked to a stop near him, she stepped out with tense shoulders, her tall boots with high heels better suited to a fashion runway than a Montana meadow.
“Hello, Marcus,” she greeted him, impatiently swiping her hair away from her face. She kept her voice low, for his ears only. “You missed the morning meeting.”
“I left it in your capable hands,” he told her before turning his attention to the burly rancher dressed in worn jeans and a dark Stetson who strode at a more leisurely pace behind Lily. “You must be Coop?”
“Cooper Adler, at your service.” He tipped his hat and shook Marcus’s hand.
They’d spoken on the phone a few times while Marcus had been planning the trip. The ranch manager was responsible for the environmentally friendly practices taking root here, and they’d discussed how a social media campaign to document Mesa Falls’ move to green ranching would hold a lot of appeal for potential guests.
“I was just taking some photos to inspire the creative team when I return home. We’re going to start work on a company narrative next, and I’ll send a team out here to take more footage once we firm up our approach.”
Lily hovered at his elbow as he spoke. Every now and then the breeze stirred a long strand of her hair to brush against his shoulder. A silky, barely there touch.
“Just let me know whatever you need.” Coop nodded but didn’t seem all that interested in the whys and wherefores of the social media profile for the ranch. “I drove out here to see you in person since Ms. Lily told me you might be leaving soon?”
“My brother couldn’t make it, so I’m afraid—”
“The ranch owners really wanted to have a welcome reception to meet you and your brother. Weston Rivera has asked to firm up a date with you both.” Coop frowned, his forehead wrinkling as his eyebrows knitted. “And, more importantly, Weston wanted me to let you know that he has papers to deliver to you and your brother. But he says he needs to give them to the two of you together.”
“Papers? From who?” Marcus was surprised the man had never mentioned it in their preliminary phone conversations. Beside him, he felt Lily tense.
Had she known about this? And, more importantly, did she know what was in those papers?
Coop scratched a hand along his jaw. “From your father. He left them with Gage Striker—one of the other owners—the last time he was up here.”
Lily cleared her throat, softly drawing Coop’s attention before Marcus could demand answers.
“Cooper, did Alonzo Salazar spend time here very often?” she asked, her expression perplexed.
Marcus found himself wanting to know the answer, too. And why the hell had his father entrusted documents that belonged to him to one of the owners of Mesa Falls Ranch before his death? At least it appeared that Lily didn’t know about the documents, though his rising anger eclipsed any relief he might have felt.
The rancher tipped his face toward the sun. “As often as he could once he found out about the cancer. Before that, maybe twice a year.”
Marcus missed whatever Lily said in reply, his brain too stuck on that revelation. His father had always been a man of mystery, disappearing in his study for days on end when Marcus had been a kid, or traveling to destinations unknown for work he’d never shared anything about. To the outside world, Alonzo had been a teacher at a private school, until he retired and took the role of CEO at Salazar Media. But privately, even before Salazar Media took off, he’d always seemed to have another source of income. In the last few years, Marcus had asked his dad to visit him in Los Angeles plenty of times, but his father hadn’t wanted to travel much after the cancer diagnosis. Or so he’d said. Apparently he’d had enough energy to fly to Montana.
Had Devon known about those trips? Could he have accompanied their father? But Lily seemed caught off guard by the news, too, and he suspected she would have been privy to Devon’s schedule.
“I was unaware Dad left anything for me here.” He would have thought any paperwork would have gone through the lawyer, but then again, Alonzo Salazar had never been a rule follower. Devon’s mother had left him when Alonzo had argued a marriage certificate was no more than a “piece of paper,” and Marcus’s mom had discovered sharing a child with Alonzo didn’t mean sharing a life with him. “I’ll stop by your office when I get back to the ranch and pick up whatever my father wanted me to have.”
Overhead, a low-flying plane stirred the treetops, creating a rustle all around.
“Your dad was very specific about the paperwork, I’m afraid.” Coop gave a wave to the plane, as if he knew the pilot. “Gage left it in a safe, but he won’t share the code until you’re both here together.”
Marcus stifled a curse, realizing his business in Montana wouldn’t be as brief as he’d hoped. And he wondered how long Lily would remain at Mesa Falls, regretting the way his thoughts wandered right back to her.
“In that case, I’ll see what I can do to expedite my brother’s trip.” He chucked his camera into the open bag on his passenger seat, wishing he could get in the vehicle and drive until he was off the ranch and far away from the mystery of what his father wanted. And even farther away from the tempting woman on his left.
But before Marcus could indulge that plan, even in his mind, Cooper Adler jumped in his own vehicle and bade them both a good day, leaving Lily standing on the hillside with Marcus.
He glanced over to see her glaring at him, sunglasses perched on her head, her arms crossed.
