Page 86 of Wilder

Messing around didn’t have to be some kind of official declaration. It didn’t have to be complicated if we didn’t let it be. If he was worried about the others finding out, I knew ways to be discreet.

I’d meant what I said about keeping things private between us. There were plenty of ways to sneak around without anyone noticing. The ranch was huge and had dozens of moving parts needing to be handled at all hours of the day.

That left more than enough opportunities for us to meet up, slip away and disappear for a little while. To relieve ourselves whenever we needed without any weird complications attached to it.

What harm would it be to get his hands on me again?

For him to take me apart and put me back together like yesterday.

Going back to the way things were seemed pointless. I wasn’t going to pretend anymore, and I sure as hell wasn’t going to let it slide with Wilder, either. He could try all he wanted to get things back to the way they were before, but I’d sooner drag him down with me than let him abandon me on this god forsaken sinking ship alone.

“Torres.”

The sound of my name snapped me from my thoughts, jerking me out of my head so fast I nearly stumbled.

Whirling around, I straightened from where I’d been raking turf, spotting Sully waving at me. His broad frame was propped up against the doorframe of the arena, a polite smile stretching across his lips. “You got a sec? Need to talk to you about something.”

I tightened my hand around the rake.

Well...

That certainly didn’t sound good.

Paranoia was a devilish thing to deal with when you were keeping a secret from everyone around you.

What if Sully knew?

Somehow found out about Wilder and I messing around and had come around to collect me and bring me up to the bunkhouse to pack my shit before the cab came by to take me back to the airport.

He couldn’t fire Wilder but he could certainly kick me to the curb.

“What about?” I asked.

He leaned away from the door, nodding his chin back behind him. “Needed to ask you about some things.”

Oh fuck.

My pulse pounded in my chest but I forced my face to remain neutral as I set my rake down against the wall and headed over to him. Keeping my cool would be the only way out of this. If this was some kind of shakedown to get information out of me, I needed to act normal.

Not like someone who’d spent the last twelve hours spiraling over the fact that his boss had jerked him off in an office and left him high and dry with no goddamn follow up afterward.

For all I knew, Sully had his suspicions and was trying to gather evidence to prove them. As long as I played dumb, I could claim ignorance to whatever he was talking about. Until I got the chance to track Wilder down and drag the real answers out of him myself.

The last thing I needed right now was to make whatever was going on worse.

Sully shifted backward, giving me room to pass as I stepped out into the afternoon sun, the warmth immediate against my face. He didn’t say much, just gave a small tilt of his chin, a silent gesture for me to follow, before turning on his heel and starting up the worn dirt path that led toward the back of the property.

I fell into step beside him, keeping up an even pace while shoving my hands deep into my pockets to keep it from becoming obvious how twitchy I was growing. Our boots crunched against the hard ground, the only sound between us while we walked.

Sully didn’t seem upset, not in any way that was obvious at least. But then again, he wasn’t exactly the type of guy to be open with his emotions in general.

He wasn’t as stoic as Dallas—not by a long shot—but he kept his professionalism locked down tight. Always maintaining an even-keeled attitude whenever he interacted with us ranch hands.

The was just the kind of boss he was.

Fair, firm, keeping a respectful distance between himself and his workers. There would always been a clear line drawn in the sand that was to be respected by both parties. He had a job to do and that didn’t include getting too cozy with any of us.

It was a balance I didn’t bother having with Wilder, and probably never could for obvious reasons.