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They didn’t often bring up the one girl who got away from them. Even after all this time, it still burned both of them that Charlie not only got to call himself her boyfriend but he married her.
Of course, as long as Sylvee was happy, Piers and Ash were happy too.
They slowed their pace as they reached the door of the building. On the outside, the office was rustic and resembled the log-sided bungalows that made up The Boot Knockers Ranch, but what awaited them behind those doors had every guy who was called in to talk to the big bosses going dead silent.
Piers grabbed the door handle shaped like a horseshoe and yanked the door open. Ash entered first, brushing his palms over his jeans to knock some of the dust loose in an attempt to look more presentable.
The building was built with east-facing windows, and the morning light streamed through the space. Standing in the middle of the hallway was Maggie, the bubbly young woman who handled a lot of the operations in Alaska. She was as easygoing as a stroll in the springtime, but cross her and she gave the guys that tilt of her pert nose that indicated they could expect a tongue-lashing next. And not the good kind of tongue-lashing.
She met Piers’s gaze. Her nod of greeting was casual, but he was good enough at reading women that he noted the strain around her pretty mouth.
She waved the guys gathering in the entryway toward a door. “Everyone head into the conference room.”
“Do we at least get coffee and donuts?” Ash always thought with his stomach, even though Piers knew the man had wolfed down a full breakfast before he went off to do barn chores. He ate like a horse and always had, yet he still managed to maintain his rock-hard body without even a hint of fat.
Maggie gave another urgent wave. “Not this time, Mendoza.”
As Piers entered the room, his gaze fell on two men standing at the head of the table, deep in conversation.
They both looked up, and Piers nodded in greeting. When the men broke apart, he picked up the dynamic between them. Though it was common knowledge that Hugh and Riggs were in a committed polyamorous relationship with a woman, Piers would know they were lovers just from the way they interacted.
Probably because he shared a lot of the same things with Ash.
Piers rounded the long wood table and moved forward, hand extended. Hugh gripped it first and looked Piers straight in the eyes. They were both tall and built broad, equally matched.
“Welcome to Alaska.” He shook with Hugh and then the dark-haired man named Riggs. Both wore Stetsons and broken-in jeans that said they still worked hard despite the money they’d raked in by being the first investors in The Boot Knockers empire.
With ranches in Texas, Montana and now Alaska, they lived rich lives. They didn’t need to come here themselves, but the fact that they did spoke to their devotion to their master plan.
“Piers Alexander, I’m guessing.” Riggs clasped his hand.
“In the flesh.” He held out his arms to show off his physique.
Riggs’s lips tipped in a smile. “Just what The Boot Knockers need—another smartass.”
Piers chuckled. “You’ve got six more standing behind me to meet.” He twisted to include Ash and the rest of the guys trailing into the conference room.
One by one the guys stepped forward to shake hands and introduce themselves. Piers noticed how Riggs’s stare shifted from Ash to him and back to Ash. Did the man pick up the dynamic between them the same way Piers did to Riggs and Hugh?
“Take a seat.” Hugh took charge of the meeting. Chairs scraped and everybody settled around the table.
Maggie entered last and quietly shut the door. All eyes focused on Hugh.
“We’re here to examine the ranch operations and make sure profit margins are where we want them.”
“We’ve been discussing the possibility of expanding this ranch.” Riggs nudged his black Stetson upward. His piercing dark eyes scanned the group.
Next to Piers, Ash leaned back in his chair. He felt some of the tension leave his friend and lover. Judging by the opening of this meeting, they weren’t here to shut down the Alaska ranch.
Hugh sighed. Silence stretched. “First, I think it’s important to discuss that we got a tip from a person in the village about something else that is expanding around here.”
Maggie sucked in a quick, sharp breath.
Everyone stilled.
Hugh’s stare landed on the office worker. “Maggie? Care to fill us in?”
“Uhhh.” A deep flush burned from her low-cut top, her creamy breasts spilling from the V, and spanned her throat before settling in her cheeks.
