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He would have bet his entire fortune that Bryn’s responses to him had been real…heartfelt. Thinking about last night and this afternoon made him hard as a pike again, and he stood at the large plate-glass window, nude, watching the fury of the storm.
In his memory he saw the smooth perfection of her skin, the way her body responded to his touch. Her warmth. Her scent. His chest hurt, and he rubbed it absently. Jesse stood beside him in the night, a wraith, a painful puzzle.
“Why did you do it, Jesse?” He put his hand on the cold glass. “Why lie about Bryn? Why the stealing? The drugs?”
His only answer was the howl of the wind and the beating of his own heart.
“Hey, boss. Good to have you back.”
Trent grinned at the young intern who had the temerity to poke his head into the private office. “Get to work, Chad. Or we’ll cut your pay.” The cheeky twenty-year-old from the University of Colorado was smart, self-motivated and had fought hard for this unpaid position. He reminded Trent a little of himself at that age.
When the door closed once again, Trent got up from his broad cherry desk and paced the expanse of thick royal-blue carpet. The huge plate-glass window on the opposite wall showcased Denver’s downtown skyline, but Trent barely spared it a glance.
After making sure Mac was safely back on his home turf, Trent had come to Denver again to wrap up the business that had been interrupted. He’d half expected the adrenaline of his usual routine to keep his mind off Bryn.
It hadn’t worked.
He told himself that he was glad to be back in the office…that the rush of trying to pack two weeks of work into seventy-two hours was exhilarating. And to some extent it was. But for the first time in forever, his personal life took center stage, no matter how hard he tried to pretend otherwise.
His secretary, Carol, was the next to interrupt. “Just wanted to remind you that Mr. Greenfield will be here in twenty minutes. Will you be using the conference room?”
“Yes. And please make sure Ed and Terrence are there.”
She nodded and started to leave.
Trent held up a hand to stop her. “Carol…do you think I’m a good judge of character?”
She laughed and then realized he was serious. “I’ve never seen anyone put anything past you.”
“Thanks.” He was embarrassed suddenly.
“Is there a problem I can help with?” Her head tilted at a quizzical angle.
“No, not really. Just a situation with a woman.”
Her eyebrows went up, and he felt himself go red. “Never mind. Forget I said anything.”
The older woman grinned. “One piece of advice, if you don’t mind. Don’t ever assume you can use business principles in a personal interaction with the female sex. That will blow up every time.”
When she closed the door quietly behind her, Trent scrubbed his hands over his face and groaned. He should have a plan before he went home, but he was damned if he could think about anything but getting Bryn in his bed.
He hadn’t talked to her once since he left. On purpose. And Mac continued to evade questions about Jesse and the past. Trent felt like everyone was keeping secrets from him, but that was going to end. It was time for a showdown.
When business was tied up and Trent felt comfortable that his staff could handle things for another couple of weeks, he flew home.
It was late when he arrived at the ranch. He’d used a car service from the airport. His first stop was his father’s bedroom. Mac was sleeping peacefully.
When Trent stopped at Bryn’s door, he called himself all kinds of a fool. Before his knuckles could make contact with the wood, he jerked his hand back. He turned on his heel and headed for the barn, his forehead covered in a cold sweat. If something didn’t break soon, he was going to go mad. He saddled one of the powerful stallions and led him outside. Only then did he see the silent figure perched on the corral railing. Had she been there all along?
He led the horse to where she sat. Before he could say anything, she beat him to the punch. Her features were shrouded in shadow. “It’s dangerous to ride at night.” Her voice was low, musical. He felt it caress him like a physical stroke down his spine.
