In his office, Colt rolled up the sleeves of his blue dress shirt and got to work with an eye on the clock. The first task he marked off his to do list was reserving Avery’s cabin, B42, for the next two weeks. He set the reservation up at the discounted rate, and paid for it from his personal account. He also marked on the reservation that housekeeping wasn’t needed until after she departed. That way, he could keep her to himself.
And at the registration desk, when they went to make reservations, her cabin would now appear as unavailable until her departure.
At his desk, he reviewed his agenda for the day. If there was anything that could wait until Monday, he wanted to shift his schedule around to accommodate Avery’s time on the ranch. The big walnut monstrosity had been his dad’s desk back in the day. He could remember being called into this office over a minor infraction with a shiver of fear curling along his spine. He loved his dad, even though he had been strict growing up. But Colt understood the reasons behind the stern taskmaster his father had been.
And since his dad had handed over the running of the company to Colt, he’d become a different guy—more relaxed, happier, and quicker to laugh, when that hadn’t always been the case while Colt was growing up.
Before he could return to Avery’s cabin that night, Colt had his daily routine to complete first, starting with checking in with each department. Since he’d taken the day off yesterday, he had both the daily and weekly totals to review. From accounting and payroll, he had the upcoming week’s payroll to sign off on, as well as payments for bills that ranged from everything, from horse and cattle feed, to detergent to wash sheets and towels, to dining room stock and the gift shop.
Colt reviewed spreadsheets until it felt like his eyes were bleeding from looking at numbers. And that was just the first two hours he was in his office. Then he left there and checked in at the registration desk. Saturday mornings tended to be the busiest day for registration with all the people checking in and out.
Colt spent an hour helping Cindy, Jessica, and Mike behind the registration desk and put in a few calls to housekeeping while there, before he headed outside to the horse stables. It was a gorgeous day out, and he wanted to see how the ranch had fared in the hailstorm. On his way, he put a call in to maintenance, run by his buddy Lincoln, asking that they report any hail damage they found at the cabins—that way, he could turn it all in to insurance, and get the worst damage repaired quickly.
He took notes as he surveyed the buildings with Lincoln. They discovered a few solar panels that had been damaged on the main building. A fence in the north field had been brought down by a tree branch. None of the animals or guests had been injured in the storm, which was something he was inherently thankful for, at least. All in all, it was just another day in the wilds of Colorado.
It made him think about the few stories Avery had told him last night, of the places she had traveled to and experienced. Thinking of her caused lust to stir and clench in his belly. They had fucked each other senseless, with a final wild bout this morning.
He was all for casual sex. The bulk of his female interactions over the last few years had been just that, with both experienced submissives and female tourists who liked to walk on the wild side and try submission.
But sex with Avery… Jesus, he’d never experienced its like. Their coming together had been downright primal. When he had restrained her hands above her head—he had never watched a woman come undone so beautifully before. She wasn’t afraid to ask for what she wanted, and he had been more than happy to give it to her. Hell, he hadn’t even introduced her to the more wicked, kinkier aspects of Dominance and submission.
“Never known you to be off wool gathering,” Lincoln commented when they entered the maintenance building for supplies. Lincoln could fix just about anything you put in front of the man. He scratched at his close-cropped black beard.
“What?” Colt shook himself, trying to compartmentalize his thoughts about Avery and focus on the task at hand: fixing the hail damage that needed it most.
“You’ve got a look on your face like you’re in another world or something. Must be a woman.” Lincoln cast Colt a lopsided grin, with a knowing look in his eyes. Lincoln was one of his best friends. They’d grown up together. They had entered the lifestyle at the same time, had invested with their group of mutual friends into the building and maintenance of Cabin X, an out of the way cabin on ranch property they used for their lifestyle needs.
Colt stilled at his comment. “Why do you say that?”
Lincoln gave him a shit eating grin. “Because nothing puts that look on a man’s face except a woman. And you’re forgetting, I’ve known you for forever. I’ve seen you with a sub at Cabin X, and you’ve never had the look you did just now on your face. So who is she?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Colt denied and would willingly swear that statement on a bible, hell be damned. For the time being, he wanted to keep Avery to himself. She was only here for two weeks. Fourteen measly days before she headed off to Vegas. And the last thing he wanted was his buddies sniffing around her skirts, even if all it ended up being was harmless flirting. He clearly remembered the way the group had been with Grace when she’d first arrived, and he didn’t intend to share Avery with his friends.
Because if she met his friends, then she would discover that he owned the ranch and was financially well off.
It was the absolute last thing he wanted. For the first time in his life, he had a chance to be with a woman who didn’t know who he was, or the size of his bank account. It made Avery seem like a refreshing wellspring of cool water after being in the desert for what seemed like years. He wanted to hold on to that feeling, the anonymity, for as long as possible.
“Uh huh. You keep telling yourself that.” Lincoln snorted with a shake of his head.
“If you’ve got everything taken care of here, I’ve got some errands I need to run off the ranch,” Colt commented, dodging the subject matter entirely.
Lincoln adjusted his white Stetson and assessed him. “Just make sure you use protection on those errands that you’re running.”
“Who needs protection?” Duncan asked, returning from his overnight camping trip. His arms were loaded with gear that looked like it needed repair.
“Lincoln from running his mouth,” Colt said.
“That’s because he’s got a woman and doesn’t want us to know,” Lincoln replied.
Duncan cocked a brow and grinned. “Not going after Maribella, are you?”
“Hardly. Just have things to do,” Colt lied through his teeth.
“See, he’s being cagey,” Lincoln confided in Duncan.
Duncan chuckled. “I can see that. It’s definitely a woman.”
“Nope, it’s not. Just have a lot on my mind. I’ll see you later.” Colt nodded and strode away before they peppered him with more questions. Their laughter followed him out of the maintenance building and into the mid-afternoon sunlight. He shrugged their ribbing off, he’d be more careful, and work at compartmentalizing the situation with Avery. Do his best not to think of her when he was at work. Besides, with any luck, it was Avery he would be doing in short order, and then he would be the one laughing.