But she wanted the resort to be hers and he simply couldn’t allow that to happen. Mirage belonged to him.
Damn that guilt. Not only did the guilt threaten to choke hold him, he didn’t know what he’d do once he got home and she wasn’t there. She’d been the only person in his entire life to know what he fully suffered from. He’d never let anyone in like he had with Stella. She’d been so easy to talk to, so...
He couldn’t find the words. She was everything he didn’t know he needed. There was something so therapeutic about her, in the way she genuinely cared, in the way she made everyone else feel like they were the top priority in her life.
But when had anyone made her a priority?
Dane clenched his jaw and shoved the door open to the hallway. He needed to get out and get back to his ranch. An evening with his dogs, his horses, and a ride out in the country would help him think more clearly.
There had to be a way to not ruin Stella’s life and still keep everything he’d worked so damn hard for. He just needed to find it.
Dane left the resort, left the mountain, and didn’t look back in his rearview mirror. He’d learned the hard way that looking back only kept you in the past. Dane knew only one way to go and that was forward.
From this second on, he’d take charge of Mirage, work with Ethan to destroy Robert and find out some way to make things right for Stella.
Sixteen
After three days of riding horses, drinking bourbon on his enclosed back porch with his dogs at night and messaging back and forth with Ethan, Dane still wasn’t calm.
His nerves were on edge. He still hadn’t come up with a way to make things right with Stella. He had heard from her—she’d texted him, but he’d replied that he’d have to talk later.
Still taking the coward’s way out.
He wanted to offer her the manager position, but deep in his gut he knew she’d turn it down and likely tell him exactly where to take his offer once she realized he was the new owner.
But Stella was exactly the type of person who should be running the resort. Dane was in no position to be hands-on every day—not if he wanted to keep his ranch. Moving permanently to the resort was something he’d have to ease into, even though ultimately that was his goal.
Dane relaxed forward in the front porch swing and rested his elbows on his knees. Buck lay at his feet all curled up, but Bronco sat obediently on the other side waiting on affection.
As he rubbed the soft fur between his dog’s ears, Dane ran over and over through his mind what he would say to Stella when he saw her again. There would be no avoiding her, and he didn’t want to, but he needed space to sort things out. Even before he left the resort a few days ago, he’d known he needed Stella in the business.
And as much as he wanted to keep thinking of her in that capacity, Dane knew that trail of thoughts barely scratched the surface of everything he remembered when Stella came to mind.
Oh, hell. Who was he kidding? The woman never left his mind. Everything about her clung to his skin even as he dealt with every aspect of daily life. When he’d come home, he’d imagined her here. She’d said more than once that she wanted to escape to the middle of nowhere and unwind. His ranch certainly fit that criteria and now that he was back, he realized just how much he wanted to show her his place.
As the sun set behind the mountain peaks, Dane was glad he was alone. He wasn’t in the mood to talk or handle any issues. He just wanted the simplicity of swaying on the swing on his climate-controlled wraparound porch and petting his dogs. His mind was too full of worry and possibilities to consider adding anything else to the mix.
The past few nights since coming home he’d been so damn restless. Sleep hadn’t been his friend since returning from the war, but now the dynamics were completely different. He wasn’t afraid to go to sleep, he was afraid to wake up without Stella by his side.
When the hell had his heart gotten involved in this charade? That had never been part of his grand plan.
Knowing Stella, as soon as she found out the truth, she’d verbally attack him and make him feel like he wasn’t even worthy of being in the same vicinity as her. She had every right to annihilate him, and she would as soon as she learned he was Mirage’s new owner. He needed to tell her before she found out some other way.
He needed to be clear where he stood, as the owner, and that he wanted her to remain on board as the manager. Compensating her with a raise and a bonus might go a long way in securing her staying at Mirage. He had to find a way to convince her.
Dane’s cell vibrated in his pocket. When he went to grab it, Bronco jerked his head back, giving a glare from the instant lack of attention.
“Hang on, boy.”
The alert on his phone was from the gate announcing a visitor. From the vid
eo image, he knew who that unexpected guest was and there was no hiding from her anymore.
Dane typed in the code to access the gate and watched as Stella drove her SUV onto his ranch. The drive from the gate to the main house was just over a minute. Not nearly enough time to fine-tune the speech he’d rehearsed because the second she drove through the iron arch with his ranch name, she would know the truth.
A gut-sinking feeling rendered him motionless. His eyes stared off down the driveway, knowing any second he’d see headlights cut through the dusky night.
As dark gray clouds shadowed the sunset, Dane knew another storm was brewing...from all aspects of his life right now.