Sonya ran out of the bathroom to grab her ringing phone on the bedside table. She held the towel wrapped around her at her chest, raked her damp hair away from her face, and stared down at the caller ID.
Fed up with Dave calling her all the time to help him with his work at the accounting firm, she answered and gave him a piece of her mind. “I quit the firm weeks ago, Dave. You got the promotion that should have been mine. It’s about time you figured out how to do your job on your own. I don’t work for you. And I’m done covering for you and helping you keep what should have been mine, you incompetent ass. Don’t call. Don’t text. I helped you when I worked there because it was good for the firm, but I’m not your lackey anymore. I don’t care if I don’t get a favorable reference.”
“You don’t need one, Miss Tucker,” the female voice announced.
Sonya held her breath. She’d seen the firm’s name on the caller ID and assumed . . . Oh God, what had she done?
“Um . . .”
“I apologize for calling so early. I wanted to catch you before you headed out for the day. This is May Mathis.”
Oh shit. VP of her old department.
“Ms. Mathis, how can I help you?”
“Well, you confirmed many of my suspicions about Dave, his work, and his character. It’s come to my attention that he’s . . . ill suited to his new position. While looking into some questionable account matters, I happened to notice since you left he’s sent you over a hundred emails. Based on how you answered this call, I assume he’s called you numerous times as well. As for the emails, most of them you responded to with detailed instructions on what he should do to handle one matter or another. In addition to your blunt statements that a person at his level should know how to do those things, you made it clear in your responses just how inept he was at his job and that, in fact, you are more qualified. As you stated, the promotion should have gone to you. I was not involved in the decision to give it to Dave, but I believe in promoting talented, smart, dedicated individuals like yourself. I believe the job should go to the most qualified person.”
In not so many words, Ms. Mathis let her know she was that person and Dave had indeed gotten the job because he was a man with seniority, but not a proven track record.
“In my position, I think it’s my responsibility to look out for other women coming up the ladder rungs behind me. I’m sorry I was unaware of the circumstances of your departure from the company. I apologize that you were made to feel like you weren’t an important member of the team. I’ll work hard to make sure that doesn’t happen again.”
“Ms. Mathis, what are you getting at?”
“Dave has been fired. The job is yours if you want it. With a significant pay raise and yearly bonus.”
Sonya’s head spun. “I didn’t expect this. I don’t know what to say.”
She’d worked damn hard to get that promotion.
But did she want to go back?
“I understand. I sprang this on you. Take a few days to think it over.”
“Uh, yes. I’m in the middle of a project that I would like to see through, but I will take your offer under consideration and get back to you with my decision as soon as possible.”
“Great. I truly believe you are an asset to the company. I appreciate that after what happened, you’re willing to consider coming back. I hope to hear from you soon.”
“Yes. You will. And thank you, Ms. Mathis. I appreciate the call and the offer.”
Sonya said goodbye and sat on the edge of the bed she’d shared with Austin last night.
She truly didn’t expect the situation with Dave would turn into this. She’d been ready to put a stop to the calls and leave the accounting firm behind her.
But now, they’d offered her the very thing she thought she wanted more than anything in life. She’d worked hard to get the recognition for her contribution and expertise.
This thing between her and Austin was so new. If she left, would the spark they’d ignited into a fire last night fizzle out?
Long-distance relationships were hard. Especially when she’d be expected to work sixty-plus hours a week again.
Did she want to go back to that kind of grind?
Was the money and promotion worth it?
Did she have to give up her chance for personal happiness with Austin to have the dream job?
Was the job worth all the hard work and losing Austin?
She liked being with him every day. She’d missed him terribly the few days she’d been in Nevada.
Her mind spun out with questions and possibilities. She didn’t know what to do because she never saw this coming.
She really would need every second of the next few days to figure out what she wanted to do.
She stood and stared down at the rumpled bed. Echoes of making love to Austin pulsed through her body. More than that, she remembered how she felt in his arms. Safe. Protected. Even loved.
She felt like this is where she belonged.
To have one, did she have to give up another? Could she find a way to have both, a job that mattered and the man she cared about more each day?
Austin walked into the bedroom, smiled at the bed he and Sonya wrecked last night, and went to the open bathroom door. Sonya stood in front of the mirror, brushing her hair into a ponytail. Gorgeous. Her pale skin glowed against her dark hair. He knew every inch of her lithe body and wanted her again even though he’d made love to her an hour ago and twice last night. He thought his need for her would calm once he’d finally gotten his hands on her. But it only grew with every tempting touch and look she gave him, showing him in a way he’d never experienced with a woman that she enjoyed being with him as much as he did with her. She didn’t hesitate or shy away from letting him know what she wanted and how she wanted it.
He had to admit, her eager participation only made it easier and more comfortable for him to let go. The experience had given him a freedom to explore her and the limits of what she liked and didn’t without feeling like he’d overstepped. It just gave him another avenue to explore.
The way she wanted him patched up the broken pieces of his ego and gave him the confidence to prove to her she’d made the right decision coming back and giving him a second chance.
“Are the contractors here?”
He handed her one of the cups of coffee he’d brought with him and took a sip of his own. “Setting up outside to get to work on the stables. The painters should be here soon. I’ll help you move in the furniture for the guest room and office as soon as they’re done in there.”
“That would be great.” She took a sip of her coffee, then grabbed the zippered bag on the counter. “Let me clean this up. I’ll meet you in there so we can decide how we want to set up the furniture.”
Lotion, hair spray, her brush, toothbrush, toothpaste, and some other miscellaneous stuff sat spread around the sink. “Why are you putting that all away if you’re just going to pull it all out later when you shower again?”
She dropped the floss container in the bag, then glanced at him and looked away again.
“Sonya?”
“I don’t live here, Austin.”
Ah. She wasn’t sure where they stood as far as them working together and being together. He hadn’t given it a lot of thought. He’d had a lot of other things on his mind last night. And her in his hands, which shut off his mind to anything but making her want to stay in bed with him.
“You had no problem sleeping here before last night.”
“Sleeping in the back of my truck or on your porch isn’t the same as sleeping in your bed.”
“In my bed is a hell of a lot better, I can tell you that.”
“The house is livable now. I’ll have it finished by end of tomorrow. I can get a room in town or stay with Roxy.” She nodded to herself in the mirror like it was settled.
“Why?” He liked rattling her and putting that confused and hopeful look in her eyes.
“Because you didn’t bring me back here to be underfoot every second of the day.”
“Why do you think I brought you back here?” He hadn’t really thought about it past the fact he wanted her with him.
Overall, it seemed simple. The details were complicated.
“You need me to help you finish getting this place set up.”
“What happened to the woman who came home with me last night and knew exactly what she wanted and had no trouble telling me? I’d like her back.”
Sonya picked up the lotion, then let it drop on the counter. “Austin, I don’t know how to do this.”
He gave her a break. “Do you want to stay here with me while we get this place up and running, or do you want your own space?”
“I want to know what you want.”
He cocked an eyebrow and waited for her to answer his question.
“I’d like more of last night.” She spoke to her bare toes sticking out the bottom of her jeans.
After all they shared last night, he didn’t like that she couldn’t look him in the eye and say what she wanted to say. “It’ll make it easier to give you that if you stay.”
Her head came up. “Do you want me to stay?”
“Yes.” He set his mug on the counter and closed the distance between them. “I don’t know how to do this either.” He’d never lived with a woman. He wasn’t thinking that’s what this was. He just didn’t want her to leave.
Yeah, he copped out on that thought. But this was new and he didn’t want to think too hard about it. “Leave your stuff on the counter. Or put it in the cabinet. I don’t care. You and me, we work together. And that has nothing to do with business. As long as we work, stay. Because if you leave, I’m coming after you until I convince you to come back again.” And that was new, too.
He let his relationship with Kelly fall apart without a fight. He and Sonya had only been friends a short time and he’d crossed several states to get her back.
He thought of how bad Noah had it for Roxy and recognized it in himself. That driving need to protect Sonya the way Noah had done for Roxy. The way Noah had seen Roxy in a way no one else did.
After seeing Sonya with June, he understood her on a deeper level than he’d ever known any other woman.
The sultry smile he remembered from last night spread across Sonya’s face. “So you don’t care if I mess up your bed, your bathroom, or your life?”
“You’re beautiful and a dream come true in my bed. I could give a shit about the bathroom. As for my life, you made it infinitely better when you walked into it and dark as hell when you left.”
He snaked his arm around her waist and drew her close. His words and the move had taken her by surprise. He kissed her long and deep, telling her without words that he meant it. He ended the kiss with a brush of his lips, pressed his forehead to hers, and stared into her bright hazel eyes. “Stay with me.”
Part of that plea came from deep in his heart because he lost the only two people who had really loved him: his mother and grandfather. But it mattered a hell of a lot more than not wanting to lose another person who cared about him.
He didn’t want to lose her.
“Austin, I don’t know what to do with all that.”
“Let it sink in. Hold on. That’s what I’m trying to do.”
She wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly enough to nearly choke him. He didn’t care. He held her close. He didn’t know what happened next, how long she’d stay, or if this thing would last or fizzle out, but right now, he had everything he could ever want.
She let out a heavy sigh, then sucked in a deep breath. “My old company called this morning and offered me a job.”
Austin went still. He’d just convinced her to stay, and now she was telling him she might leave again. “What did you say?”
“Nothing. They gave me a couple days to think about it.” She unhooked her arms from his neck and stepped back, but not out of his light hold on her hips.
“Are you going to accept? Is that what you want?” He barely got the words out of his tight throat. He didn’t want to lose her, not when they were so close to having what he thought they both wanted.
“I thought it was.” Yet she hadn’t snatched the opportunity the second it was offered.
Because she wanted a life with him more? God, he hoped so.
She laid her hand on his chest, over his thrashing heart. “I want what we have and more. More with you. And more for me. Does that mean taking the job, or finding something else?”
Maybe she’d find something here that satisfied her need to be productive, in charge, and challenged.
“I don’t know right now. Everything seems so up in the air.” Frustration lit her eyes. She wasn’t used to being indecisive. Sonya went after what she wanted.
He liked that about her. He would never stop her from doing what she wanted, but he hated the idea of her living in Nevada instead of here with him. “You and me, we’re solid again, I hope.”
“Yes, we are. I want to be with you. That is perfectly clear.”
That made him feel a thousand times better.
“How we do that going forward remains to be seen.”
That made his confidence falter. “You’ve got time to decide. Think about it. We can talk more about the job later. Right now, just know that I want you to do what makes you happy. If that means taking the job, it doesn’t mean you lose me. We’ll find a way to make it work, because I want you in my life.”
Sonya found a halfhearted smile. “Are we going to have all our deep conversations in the bathroom?”
“I’m too busy worshipping you in bed to talk,” he teased, gave her another hug, then set her away, but not before he kissed her one more time.
“Okay, I’ll stay and think about the job, but you need to remember one thing.”
“What’s that, sweetheart?”
She picked up her coffee and sneered at it. “I like milk in my coffee.”
He laughed and tugged her ponytail. “I know that. The fridge is empty.”
She walked out of the bathroom with him, headed for the living room. “Once I get the painters working, I’ll drive into town for groceries and the other things we need here.”
“Want me to go with you?”
She shook her head. “I know you’re dying to get started on the stables. The auction is only four days away. We need to be ready to bring the horses back.”
Austin rolled his eyes. “I’ve got to get to the south hay field, too.”
“You do that. I’ll take care of the house.”
“You sure?”
She nodded. “Everything is moving forward. We’re on track.”
He hoped she meant between them as well. He didn’t know what she’d decide about the job, but he’d already decided he wanted to keep her even if that meant he had to take a plane to see her. He kissed her again. “Yes, we are.”
They parted ways on the porch. She waited for the painters to haul their gear inside. He walked across the yard and up the drive to the stables where the contractors unloaded new beams and piles of wood.
He set aside his worries about her taking the job she wasn’t even sure she wanted anymore. Right now, she wanted to be with him, here on the ranch. He rode the buzz from that thought, which echoed the one he’d woken up with this morning and had nothing to do with drinking and everything to do with the woman lying down the length of him in bed.
He could get used to a high like this.
He liked being drunk on her.