But I know how I’m going to do it, because now I have Harper Garrett.
I pull out my phone.
Increase surveillance on Deputy Garrett. Full schedule. Full contacts. Every visit to Blackthorn Ranch.
I pause, tapping my phone against the steering wheel. Then I add one final line.
And verify which one she’s sleeping with.
I hit send and toss my phone aside.
The game just changed, and I smile as the highway unwinds before me.
42
HARPER
It’s late Friday night, and I’m driving to Luke’s.
The entire drive to Blackthorn Ranch, I tell myself it’s a bad idea. That I should wait. That showing up at eleven makes me look desperate or clingy or like some kind of booty call.
But the truth is, I don’t care.
I want to see Luke. I want his hands on me again. I want to fall asleep in his bed and wake up with his arms around me, even if it’s just for a few hours before I have to go back home so my dad doesn’t know I’m sneaking out to have sex.
I know—it’s more than sex, but I don’t think my dad will like hearing that. He hates Jake, and that feeling is extended to Mason and Luke by default.
So I waited until he went to bed and then snuck out again, like any thirty-one-year-old woman would do.
Shaking my head in disgust at myself, I park my SUV behind the barn, where he told me to park, out of sight from the main house since it’s earlier than last night. I cut the engine and look around. The ranch is quiet. Most of the lights are off except for a few dim ones in the main house and the glow from the stables.
I take out my phone.
I’m here.
Bennett
I’m naked.
If I had panties on, they’d be a mess.
Bennett
You win.
Get your ass in my bed.
Grinning, I slip out of my vehicle and close the door as quietly as possible. I pause a second to make sure the coast is clear, then make my way toward Luke’s private entrance at the back of the house.
I’m halfway across the yard when I hear, “Well, well, well.”
I freeze.
Lily Carter steps out of the stable, brushing hay off her jeans, a knowing smile on her face. “Harper Garrett. Fancy meeting you here.”
My face goes hot. “I was just, um…”
Her smile widens. “You were just what? Out on acall?”