Weston Ranch, Fisher's Story (9 page)

"I'm sorry
you're
getting
a
late start
to your day
," s
he said into his chest before meeting his eyes.

"I think this is a little more
important
to me. This has been building since
you
came home." He
lightly lifted up and off of her
. Getting out of bed and throwing on his crumpled clothes. Fisher smiled down at her while pulling himself together. He had the boyish grin she loved so much. Everything about him was pulling her in deeper.

"You want to
help
me on the ranch today?" He asked.

"I
can't
.
I have to go see abou
t
some land in the Houston area
,
and the realtor is coming with me
.
She called me last night, while
you
went home and showered.
I
will be gone
for the rest of the day. We are leaving at noon." She watched his facial expressions at this news but saw nothing. He shrugged and sat down after he
was fully dressed
.

"The Houston area is four hours away.
You can't find anything closer?
How would
you
even make that work unl
ess you moved up there?" He
asked
,
staring
at her
intently
, waiting for her to say something.

"I might be moving up there in the next year if everything goes as plan. This is
crucial
to me
. I need to do th
is
,
and
if Houston is where
, then so be it, but the land sounds
impressive
. It
is
a campsite, so it alrea
dy has the cabins and a lake.
T
he plans are half w
ay
done
already,
"
s
he answered
.
She searched for something to tip her off about
how he was feeling, but
only
finding indifference on his face.

Fisher pulled her in for a passionate kiss before
replying
,
"I have to go. Call me later when
you
have the chance." He scribbled down his number on the pad she had sitting by her clock and let
himself
out. Claire hoped he managed to get out without running into her sisters, but knew it was a lost cause
.

Chapter Six

Fisher
had
left
Claire before he had the chance to make a complete ass out of himself.
Of course
,
i
f she
couldn’t
find the land close by,
she would look
elsewhere
.
What did he
actu
ally expect her to do?
Give up her dre
ams. Fisher went straight home
and got
straight
to work. He was trying to put thoughts of Claire and her impending move from his mind. Two hours later and
very
little accomplished, he called
a friend of his, a
realtor
in the next town over
,
to
discuss Claire's options.

Fisher was finishing up with his call
, when Asher strolled in and made himself at home in his office.

"Why was your truck at
our
neighbors?
Scra
tch that,
I'm not stupid.
Stay away from her. I
don't
care if I am your brother,
you
touch her again
,
and
I'll
kill you,
" Asher said tightly. His fists were white and clenched around the chair's armrests.

"Since you never
tru
ly had a claim to her, I think you need to mind your own damn business.
She's
an adult
,
a
nd
you
had your chance,
" Fisher stated more calmly than he felt. Inside
,
he was seething with jealously.

"
She belongs with me,
Fisher,” Ash
er
gritted out.

"Funny, it
didn't
seem that way l
ast night when she was under me
, screaming my name
," h
e said
crudely
.

Asher
leapt
up and
came
across the desk
at him,
"You touch
Lexie
again, I swear
…
"

"
Lexie
?
What the hell are you talking about?
I'm talking about
Claire
,
"
Fisher interrupted
, gawking
at him.

Asher instantly sat back down, not meeting his eyes.

"
Ash,
I was with Claire last night
,
not Lexie
,
" h
e wanted to repeat
it
just in case he misread the situation.

"Claire.
Not Lexie
?"
Asher qu
oted in a daze
.

“What is going on? Claire told me that it was Maddie
you
wanted,
” Fisher said, feeling Asher’s tension ease.

“I accidental slept with Lexie, think
ing
she was Maddie, once I realized who it was, I
have been after her ever since,
” Asher confessed.

“
How do you accidental sleep with the wrong woman?” Fisher asked.

“Never mind that. What’s this about Claire?” Asher demanded.

Fisher paused,
n
ot knowing how much he wanted Asher to know.
 
This was new to him too.
The realtor had nothing available.
He
was told
the campsite in Houston was a
great
deal and a prime location.
If she liked it,
Claire
would be expected to place a bid
by the end of the week,
which
didn’t
give him much time to come up with something.

“We slept together six years ago, right before she left for college. I have no will power when it comes to her. I just left her hours ago
,
and
I want her again. What the hell is wrong with me?”
Fisher
rubbed his eyes, still tired from the night before.

“You slept with my girlfriend?” Asher asked slowly.

“She
wasn’t
your girlfriend, Ash.
You
used her to get to her sister,” he stated.

“That is crude
,
and
I resent that. I treated her like a girl
friend in every way that counted,
” Asher countered.

“
Really?
How do
you
figure?
She was a virgin when
I slept with her the first time,
” Fisher told him.

“A Virgin?” Asher asked in disbelief.

“Yeah, scared the shit of me, to be honest,” Fisher said.

“I never cheated on Claire in the two years we dated
.
I took her on dates, helped around the ranch, help
ed
with her homework, and I stayed away from her sister, which you
d
idn’t
give me the same courtesy,
” Asher said dryly.

“Well said. Let us talk about Lexie again,” Fisher started, but Asher stood up and left the room, a smirk on his face. Fisher picked up the phone to call Claire, wanting to know about Asher and Lexie. The call went to straight to voice mail. He glanced at the
clock;
it was one in the afternoon. Damn, how was he supposed to go through
the whole day with
out seeing her?

He switched his attention to his business in New York.
He spent a few hours a
nswering emails and pouring over data.
His team seemed to be handling everything
fine
while he was on leave. The ranch financials were
looking
up. He wanted the
ranch
business to be in the black before he handed the reigns over to Asher.

Claire glanced around the abandoned campground. This was not what she expected. It was anything but what the realtor described. Weeds were overtaking the four bunk cabins
. D
oors
were broken
off their hinges
. The lake
was covered
in algae, bugs swarming around every
where. There was no pavement and what was once gravel roads,
were long gone
.

“How long has this place been abandoned?” Claire asked the realtor.

“About ten years. The owners died seven years ago
,
and
the heirs fought over the will. This
was released
last year to one of the relatives.”

“Well, they are asking too much. The location is an hour out of the way, winding roads and pot holes cover most these back roads. This was incredible hard to find. How am
I
to work with this?” Claire
was frustrated
.
She left the realtor behind
and trampled through the weeds.
She was trying to determine
if anything was salvageable.
The cabins were too small
. T
hose would have to be torn down and rebuilt. The Main house was in disarray. Boarded up windows, graffiti painted on the side. The lake would need extensive work. There would be no money left. This
wasn’t
going to work.

“Let’s go back h
ome.
This is a waste of my time,
” Claire motioned
the realtor to load up her equipment in the truck.
 

“But, we still have the other half to go,” she started to whine.

“I’ve seen enough,
”
Claire
interrupted
the rest of her statement
.
The woman knew she
was defeated
,
l
oaded up her travel bag and met Claire at the truck.

The four hour ride home
was filled
with the realtor looking up other properties, recommending further areas. Some
were
in Arkansas. While the realtor was rambling on, Claire was reorganizing her plan. Something had to work right. She
wasn’t
going to give up.

After dropping the rea
l
tor off at her office,
she pulled into her driveway about nine p.m. Lexie’s Land Rover was missing
,
and
Maddie’s convertible was nowhere to be seen. She walked into the dark house, not bothering with turning on any lights. She
was too tired
. A shower and
her
bed
were
the only things she wanted.
She flipped the light switch in her room and let out a piercing screech.

“Fisher James Weston! What are
you
doing here
, scaring the hell out of me
?” Claire clutched her chest, taking calming breaths.
Fisher
lay
cross legged on her bed,
his arms folded behind his head, looking sexy with sweatpants and no shirt on.
Her fingers
wanted
to
touch his bare muscled chest. She closed her bedroom door and turned the lock with a decisive click.

“You’re phone is off. I wanted to see
you
,” he said, not moving an inch.