Untamed

9.

Shelby looked out her office window morosely; her mood had been below average for weeks, two weeks to be exact. Two weeks since she had seen Heather not like she cared but she had gotten used to her irritating presence.

Bran hadn't heard from her either and he was lashing out at her with silence, he thought she had finally done something to sweet Heather to make her tuck her tail and run meanwhile Heather was the one who did something to her. Two weeks and still she couldn't decipher what was really wrong with her.

She couldn't focus, she wasn't sleeping right, she couldn't eat, she even thought of calling Heather to ask if she was alright but voted against it. If she was she wouldn't be hiding or whatever she was doing.

"Hey Shel, it's time to saddle Sugar up." Bran said from outside her door.

"I'm not up for it" Shelby muttered.

The door opened and Bran pushed his head in. "For the life of me I thought I was talking to an empty office, why didn't you say something if you were in here."

"I did, you just didn't hear me Bran"

"If you were whispering like that, how was I supposed to hear you?" Bran said with a hint of concern "What's wrong with you, do you have a cold?"

"Are we on talking terms now?" Shelby said blandly.

"We were never off it so what's wrong with you?"

"You don't need to worry yourself about me, I'll be fine at least in a few hours, I just need to process some things then I'll be fine."

"You rarely dwell in the past so what's so troubling that got you stuck there"
It was troubling indeed, her body reacted immediately she drew herself back to the kiss, she was no saint but that kiss incited so much raw passion that she hadn't experienced in a long time.

"I just need to process some things Bran, don't worry I'm perfectly fine."

"I wanted to tend to Sugar with you but it seems you need the time off." Bran kissed her on the cheek before he walked out.

Shelby felt empty the moment he walked out of the door, it felt like everything was temporary except her need and it was eating her up from the inside out.

Shelby distracted herself for the rest of the day like she had done for the past two weeks, she found out that was the only thing to get herself to not face reality but when she had to go back home every night left with nothing else but her thoughts she knew it was just a matter of time before she imploded.

She put calls through to potential buyers or investors and signed off all the documents that needed her signature, when there was nothing left to do but stare at her hands she almost screamed, what was wrong with her? Why was she so off course?
She pushed her chair back with only one thing in mind... Two actually but the first one could be taken care of first.

***

Heather tied the sash of her robe and ran her hands through her wet hair so she could untangle some of it, she had been digging up information on Shelby for weeks and she had nothing.

Shelby MacLean was a ghost who was very good at hiding her tracks, she was nowhere to be found not even a simple fingerprint in any place that was not Darrius stable.

Her lips tilted in a smile when she thought about Sugar and Bran, Shelby had good open people working for her, Heather knew this because she had everyone checked. Who was Shelby MacLean and why were there so many loopholes in her life?

Heather turned her head slowly when she heard her phone ring, she secretly wished it was Shelby on the phone but she wasn't that hopeful to believe in that kind of fantasy.

"Hello"

"Why hello my dearest daughter, it's been a while since you called me."

Heather rolled her eyes when she heard her Dad's voice; she could manage him over Shelby.

"Hey dad, I'm so sorry I haven't been able to call you in a while, I've just been caught up with this job."

"Yea munchkin, I can hear the tiredness in your voice. How's it running along?"

"She really had no idea George was owing us and we didn't give her much of an audience at first so I couldn't bulldoze my way into this case like I usually would, she paid half of what her father owed immediately she verified the fact that he was actually owing us, and paid another set last two weeks."

"That's beautiful darling, I really love what you've done but there's a slight problem."

Heather heard the cling of glasses which signified her father was drinking which he rarely did except something was bothering him.

"What's the problem?"

"I want that Ranch darling, I thought it was a done deal that's why I sent you in but now I really need you to get the gi-"

"Woman, she's a woman not a girl" Heather swallowed the desire in her voice, Shelby was a woman and a very sexy one at that, she couldn't get her out of her head and that was dangerous.

"Woman then" Heather snapped back to the phone call "I need you to get that woman out of the stable."

"Why dad? She has done nothing wrong, she even paid for the debt that her father owe-"

"Her father didn't want her to have it"
Heather froze "What?"

"George wrote to us months before he died, he never wanted to repay the debt because he wanted the ranch to move for foreclosure so the ranch would close and that would be the end of it, it was more like his will." Her father tsked "He didn't want Shelby MacLean to be in charge of his ranch."

"That so called will was never involved in this case dad, why would a father not want his daughter to have his property, something she should have every right to by birth." Heather closed her eyes fighting the headache she could feel coming.

"That's because she's-"

A knock on her door interrupted her, she frowned when she checked the time, it was way past midnight, who was knocking at her door at this ungodly hour?

"It seems I'll talk to you later dad."

"Anytime honey, just get that ranch by any means possible." Her father disconnected the call before she could process any word.

Another knock reminded Heather that someone was at her door, she tightened the sash of her robe and walked to open the door, her brain stopped functioning for a minute when she saw who was there.

"Shelby?" Heather eyed her "What are you doing here? Its way past midnight, you shouldn't be moving around this late."

"I couldn't help myself, I needed to see you."

Heather took a step back when Shelby stepped into her personal space.

"Why?"

"Because, I couldn't stop thinking about you and this." Shelby pulled Heather to her body claiming her lips immediately, they both moaned at the feeling. When Shelby pushed her hand into Heather's robe to trail her fingers down her spine Heather's knees almost buckled.

Shelby licked her lips after she ended the kiss, "Now, I'm going to leave because I can't trust myself not to do something foolish."

Heather was still breathing hard after Shelby showed herself out, the rules of the games had changed, Heather didn't know if winning would be enough this time.

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