The Rebel

“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.