With fierce determination, Colt turned and began gathering his clothes. Putting on his still-damp jeans was a little more difficult than it had been to pull them off, but a few minutes later he was fully dressed.
He couldn’t walk away without looking down at her peaceful face one last time. He knew that once he stepped from this room, everything would be different. All for the best, though. He quietly opened her bedroom door, slipped out, and closed it gently behind him.
When he emerged from her house, all the men were gone, thankfully. It was only about two in the afternoon and he hadn’t been thinking about her reputation, or about the fact that each of the ranch hands would know exactly what he and Brielle had been up to.
He hung his head in shame at what they would now say about her. He hoped he’d be able to quash any rumors, but just as he started heading toward the barn, his cell phone rang. Looking down at the number, he sighed. This was a call he couldn’t ignore.
“Hello, Tim. What can I do for you?”
He listened to his business manager for several minutes and then cursed. This was definitely not the time to be traveling. He’d walked away from her bed without a word, but he had planned to see her tomorrow. Yes, he wanted distance, but he didn’t want her to feel completely used.
But wouldn’t that actually help him? Wouldn’t she hate him, think he was a monster? Wasn’t that best for the two of them right now?
“Okay. I’ll be there this evening.”
He dialed another number. “Meet me at the airport,” Colt said. “We’re heading out.”
Colt went toward his truck and made his way to the small airport in Sterling, where his collection of aircrafts was stored. He didn’t get to fly nearly as much as he’d like to anymore. Sometimes because of the unpredictable weather, and sometimes because life just got in the way.
Yes, he had men who worked for him, and yes, he could do whatever he wanted to do, but Colt hadn’t been raised that way. His father had worked relentlessly until the day he died, and he’d taught Colt the value of a hard day’s work.
It was something so drummed into him that it would be impossible for him to do anything less than his best. Sure, he’d been spending too much time on Brielle’s ranch lately, but that was work, too. He was working to obtain her land. Hell. Another pang hit him at the deception.
It didn’t take him long to drive to the airport, and when he got to his hangar and opened the giant doors, a grin split his face as he took in his Beechcraft King Air 350i. She really was a beauty. His worries dissipated as he focused on his outside preflight checklist.
His father had flown him all around the States when Colt was just a young boy, and he’d caught the bug early on. He’d begun his first official lessons at age sixteen, and that summer he’d earned his pilot’s license. It hadn’t been enough for him.
As the years went by, he’d pushed himself harder and harder, and now he could fly just about anything. He had several private planes and jets, but this one was his baby, and she definitely got the most attention.
“Wow, you got here fast, Colt.”
Colt turned to find Bradley, his co-pilot. He could fly this turbojet on his own, but it was always good to have a second pilot onboard, especially for some of his bigger planes.
“Yeah, Tim called. I need to get there fast.”
“All right, let’s do this.” That was the reason Colt loved Bradley as a co-pilot. Not only was the man good company, but he also knew his stuff.
Running his hands along the surface of the plane, Colt made sure everything was in place and in working order.
“It looks good on my end,” Bradley said before going around to the passenger side and climbing onboard. Colt joined him, and they read off the inside checklist together.
“Brakes set,” Colt said.
“Throttle…idle,” Bradley checked off.
“Weather…check; instruments set.”
Opening the window — though no one was around, it still had to be done — Bradley yelled out, “Clear prop!”
Then Colt did what he loved best. With the throttle in his hand, he cranked over the engines, first the left, and then the right. No matter how many times he started the plane, it was still a thrill to hear the purr of her engines running.
“Props adjusted for high RPM.”
“Strobes, lights, and radio on.”
“Oil pressure is good.”
Colt lifted the receiver and called for taxi clearance, and they made their way out to the runway. Once they got takeoff clearance, Colt gave her hell with a smile on his face, and just held on as she rushed forward and climbed into the sky.
Colt hoped he’d never lose the feeling of joy during takeoff, never forget how freeing it was to fly. His worries evaporated, and they rarely returned before he landed on solid ground again.
Though he knew better, Colt circled around the Ponderosa Pines Ranch and looked out the windows in hopes of catching just one far-off glimpse of Brielle. Thankfully, his co-pilot didn’t say a word, though the curiosity in his eyes was practically burning a hole in Colt’s skull.
Of course Colt didn’t see her, but as he looked down at her roof, he knew she was there, maybe still sleeping in the bed he’d been in with her less than an hour earlier. No, probably not. The preflight check had taken him half an hour.
“All right, let’s get on our way,” he muttered, and Bradley just nodded, though he looked out his windows, surely wondering what Colt had been searching for.
That was something he couldn’t think about right now. He had to concentrate on the controls of his turboprop jet. He could usually do that with his eyes tied behind his back, so to speak, but today was different.
Hell, his mind was back in a large ranch house, and in bed with a beautiful redhead. Colt only hoped that this strange yearning he had for the girl he planned to chase away would be long gone by the time he returned home to Sterling.
Chapter Fifteen
This is ridiculous, Tony! No one will listen to me, and I’m tired of it. I’m about to fire every single person on this ranch.”
Tony looked at Brielle with a raised eyebrow, but it was obvious the man wasn’t concerned. What would she actually do if she did fire everyone? It wasn’t as if she had the slightest clue on how to hire a new set of employees. And the wheat would have to be harvested in about a month, so without a crew she’d be up a creek without a paddle.