Life in the Fast Lane: A BBW Erotic Novella (Western Romance, Billionaire Cowboy, Curvy Girls) (14 page)

That night with Adelaide removed any possibility of doubt from my mind. It wasn’t just the sex, it was the bond between us, the trust, the way we seemed to want the same thing from each other. I was happy knowing that from now on I wouldn’t have to hide my affection anymore.

I spent the night in the cottage. Why not? It was all coming out soon anyways. And when I woke up the next morning, we made love again, loud and passionate, and just not giving a damn about the world outside. When I walked out of the cottage and into the morning sun, I strode across the grounds of my ranch with pride and satisfaction.

After having a bit of breakfast, I went up to my office to find a number of voicemails. I checked my email and found a similar barrage of messages. The PR person from my company had called and texted nearly one hundred times.

The story was already out. Now it was time to do damage control. I held my head in my hands. I was ready for the media onslaught—I only hoped that Adelaide knew what we were getting ourselves into.

One of my guilty pleasures in life is celebrity gossip. Who’s dating who, love affairs, cheating, who gained weight, who slimmed down, who’s pregnant, who went to rehab, etc. etc. etc. I just never imagined that I’d find myself mentioned in such a venue.

So you can imagine my surprise as I scrolled through a celeb news website over my morning coffee and came across a short article about Lane and myself. There was a hazy, barely visible picture of us sneaking into the mansion at night. In fact, you could argue that the picture was so bad that it couldn’t technically count as proof of any sort that it was actually us.

But there were also other pictures of us, not together, but ones that showed our faces more clearly. Somehow, the website had gotten a hold of my high school yearbook photo of many years ago.
Ugh, terrible photo
. The headline of the article,
Oil Baron to Enter Derby, Has Fling with Young Horse Trainer
, said it all. But I decided to read the rest of the article anyway:

I turned away from my computer, a sense of anger rising up inside of me. Some people might think I should be embarrassed, or anxious, or whatever. But I was quite simply very mad. I knew it was Don who’d leaked this information. Only someone like him would construe it in terms that portrayed me in such a bad light. I knew I needed to go talk to Lane about this. I poured the rest of my coffee down the drain and walked outside.

To my surprise, Lane was standing at the door as I opened it.

“Good timing,” he said casually, a big smile across his face.

“You must not have heard the news,” I said. “Because you wouldn’t be smiling like that if you had.”

“I heard the news. That’s what I came to talk to you about. Are you alright?” he asked, a true note of tender concern in his voice.

“I’m fine, Lane. As long as you know that I’m not here for your money.”

“I know that, Adelaide.”

“Good,” I said.

I reached my arms up around his neck and leaned my face against his chest. This loving gesture would have been off-limits in public yesterday, but after the breaking news, it no longer mattered. Lane and I were out in the open now. He wrapped his arms around me and brought me closer.

“You sure you’re fine?” he asked again. “It’s hard having your name thrown around the news like that. I’m used to it by now, but I know the first time was rough.”

“Listen, if I had a choice, I wouldn’t have had something like that happen. But what’s the point of thinking that way now? There’s nothing I can do about it. Besides, now we don’t have to sneak around.”

“That’s true. I guess there is a silver lining.”

“What are you going to do about Don?” I asked.

“Don’t worry about that. Just worry about my horse. I’ll take care of Don. I know he plans on suing me. This news story was probably his bit of leverage, trying to intimidate me. But I’ve got a team of the best lawyers in Texas, and after this little stunt, I’m going to make sure he doesn’t get a single dime from me.”

Looking over Lane’s shoulder I could see Jim exiting his cottage. I pushed Lane away before he could see us together. Lane looked at me, confused, but understood once he turned around to see Jim approaching us.

“You have to tell him,” said Lane. “If he doesn’t already know, he’s going to find out. Just tell him about us. Tell him about what happened with Don. It’s better that you just do it now and get it over with.”

“I know. I’ll tell him once we’re out in the pasture.”

“Good. I’ll see you later tonight. Come by at eight o’clock for dinner?”

“Sure thing,” I said.

“Alright, I’ll see you then,” said Lane.

He tipped his hat to Jim as he left my porch.

“What was that all about?” asked Jim as he walked up to greet me.

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll explain later. Let’s go get the horses.”

“Is something going on between you two?” asked Jim as we walked out to the pasture with the horses in tow.

I looked down at the ground, knowing I had to say the words, but still hesitating, still worried about what Jim would say. Would he think I’d betrayed him, risking his business for a fling with our mutual boss? Finally, I answered him.

“Yes.”

“Oh, come on, Addie! How long has this been going on?” asked Jim, raising his voice.

“Just a little while,” I replied.

“How could you do that? I can’t even begin to tell you how unprofessional that is.”

“Listen, Jim. He’s the one who came onto me. I didn’t even know it was Lane Matheson at the time. He introduced himself as Wyatt. It’s complicated.”

“It’s over, right?”

“Not exactly.”

“Addie, you have to end this. We need to concentrate on our work.”

“Look, Jim. It’s not interfering with my work. And there are bigger issues than just between me and Lane. You know Don’s been fired, right?”

“No, I didn’t know that. Why hasn’t anyone told me until now? Why was he fired?”

“He came onto me. He tried to force himself on me one night.”

“Addie! You should have told me. I could have helped.”

“It’s fine. Nothing happened. But Lane ended up punching him and now Don’s trying to sue him for it. Don’s the one who leaked the story to the news.”

“What story?” asked Jim, confused.

I realized suddenly that Jim had no idea about this complication.

“There was an article posted on a gossip website this morning. The cat’s out of the bag. They know about me and Lane, and they know about Fast Lane and the Derby plans.”

“What does Lane think about all this?”

“He’s fine. He’s used to this kind of thing, I guess. We’re just worried what else Don might leak. I used to trust him, but now I wouldn’t put it past him to fabricate a story. He’s a desperate man.”

“You know this puts me in a tough position, Addie. This isn’t what I signed up for when I invited you to help me train these horses,” said Jim, shaking his head, disappointed, but also concerned about me.

“I know, Jim. And I’m sorry. I don’t even know how this all came about. It just happened so fast. I didn’t mean to put your business in jeopardy. But we’re fine, trust me. We can still train the horses, we can still do our job here. We have two months.”

“I know. Just please, Addie, promise me this won’t become a distraction for us.”

“I promise.”

After speaking with Adelaide, I got on the phone with Sheila Anderson, my PR rep, to explain the situation.

“This doesn’t look good, Lane. This really doesn’t look good.”

“I realize that, but is it really that big of a deal? I’m a businessman, not a celebrity. This story should blow over quickly.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” replied Sheila. “Now that it’s out that you’re entering the Kentucky Derby, they’ll be blasting this story on ESPN. And if there’s anyone who knows how to beat a dead horse, it’s ESPN.”

“I don’t give a damn about that. Let the media say what they want. I just want to protect Adelaide.”

“So the rumors are true, at least to some degree?” asked Sheila. “You’ve been seeing this girl.”

“Yes.”

“Well, at the very least, I need a statement from you, Lane. I can’t hold off the media outlets much longer. My phone has been ringing off the hook.”

“Tell them I’m dating Ms. Parker, and beyond that my personal life is none of their business.”

“What about the Kentucky Derby rumors? Confirm, deny, or no comment?”

“Confirm.”

“Do you know who leaked this story?” asked Sheila.

“One of my staff.
Ex-staff
.”

“Can I describe this staff member as disgruntled?”

“Sure.”

“Ok. Let me read this back to you:
‘While confirming his intention to enter a horse in the upcoming Kentucky Derby, Mr. Matheson condemns the content of these allegations—put forth by a disgruntled ex-employee—as both slanderous and distasteful. Ms. Parker is his girlfriend and he politely requests that both his privacy and hers be respected at this time
.
The outstanding issues between Mr. Matheson and the ex-staffer responsible for these reports are to be resolved in a court of law and are not appropriate fodder for public consumption
.’ Is that good?”

“That sounds perfect, Sheila.”

“Great. I’ve got to go, Lane. I need to get this statement out ASAP. And by the way, don’t be surprised if you’ve got paparazzi swarming the ranch. I’d keep an eye out for trespassers while this story is hot. You might want to hire some temporary security.”

“Got it. Thanks.”

“Alright, I gotta go. B-bye.”

Immediately after hanging up the phone, I put in a call to my attorney John McAvoy. The receptionist transferred me and within minutes I had John on the line.

“How’s it going, Lane?” he said jovially.

“Not great, John, not great.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. I had hoped you were calling about setting up a tee time. We haven’t hit the links in a long time. But I assume you’ve got business to attend to.”

“Unfortunately, yes. In case you haven’t heard, I’m part of a scandal that broke on the news today.”

“Damn, what’s the situation?”

“The scandal, in and of itself, isn’t too serious. Google my name and I guarantee it will come up. My issue is with the employee, or should I say ex-employee, who leaked the story.”