Page 27 of A Montana Childhood Promise (Sagebrush Ranch Sweethearts #3)

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Jane stared at the building she’d grown to love so much, unable to bring herself to walk through those front doors. The people inside were likely fully aware that Noah was in fact the man who ran everything. They’d seen him around. He was a local celebrity now.

She could already imagine hearing everyone talk about how he’d been right under their noses this whole time. And the fact that they’d seen her here with him would only make them look at her differently.

Would she be getting some unwanted attention from the people she worked with?

How many of them would assume that he’d given her the promotion?

There were probably a few who wouldn’t have even noticed that Noah’s arrival happened at the same time that Cassidy left.

But she was sure there were more than that who would connect the dots, and she wasn’t looking forward to having to deal with the fallout.

Maybe she should’ve called in sick. At least then everything would have a chance to settle before she showed her face.

Jane closed her eyes and breathed deeply.

She already knew she couldn’t do that. She couldn’t just ignore her responsibilities and the new set of problems Noah’s revelation had created.

If there were people who wanted to call into question the reason for her promotion, then that would be something that Noah would have to take up with HR.

It didn’t stop the fact that her heart rate was higher than it should be and that her body seemed incapable of relaxing.

Every muscle in her body ached. Every nerve felt like it had been stimulated beyond reason. She might as well walk through those doors with her head held high and just get it over with.

Jane nodded to herself and headed for the entrance. The second she crossed the threshold, she felt ridiculous. There were no crowds of people demanding for her to explain herself. No one in the immediate vicinity seemed to even notice that she’d entered the building.

She offered the receptionist a small smile and headed for the elevator so she could head for her office when two women approached her.

“The party last night was a big hit. Congratulations are in order.” The first one, Kristi, spoke brightly. “We’ve been hearing all sorts of good things. You pulled it off.”

Jane blinked with surprise. No one was talking about Noah or the fact that he was a local. Neither one of these women even brought up the fact that she was dating him.

Was she?

Jane shook off the thought the second it appeared.

She wasn’t about to make a firm decision on whether or not she wanted to continue dating Noah.

Prioritizing her problems was the most important thing to focus on, and her job was at the top of her list, as much as that hurt.

The only balm to her wounded soul was the fact that Kristi was giving her recognition for how the party turned out.

“Thank you,” Jane murmured.

Sue was with her, and she nodded excitedly. “But what could you expect with Noah Reese hanging around, right?” She got an elbow to the ribs for which she scowled at Kristi. “What? He’s in charge of this whole thing, and no one knew it.” Her eyes slid to Jane with curiosity. “Unless you knew…”

“What? Of course not.”

The woman tilted her head, tapping her finger against her chin. “Really? You two sure spent a lot of time together. He didn’t say anything that might have clued you in?”

Heat rose to Jane’s face, and she fought the urge to give the woman a shove. “He didn’t share those sorts of details from his life with me,” she spewed through gritted teeth.

“Sue, leave her alone. If she says she didn’t know, then she didn’t know.”

Jane didn’t want to wait around to hear the rest of that conversation. She brushed past Sue but didn’t miss the next comment she flung into the space between them.

“She had to know something. She got that promotion. There’s no way that this isn’t connected.”

And just like that, the ache in Jane’s chest returned. She had been right. There would be people around here who would have noticed how much time Noah spent here and the fact that he was constantly helping her out.

With that becoming clear, it made it all the more difficult for Jane to believe that Noah hadn’t given her the promotion for personal reasons.

Sure, there was a chance that he had been telling the truth.

He might have truly been impressed by her.

But it didn’t change the fact that he’d gone about this all wrong.

She was seated at her desk with her head in her hands when there was a knock on the door. Kristi’s head popped into the opening of the door as she opened it. “The front desk has been trying to call you.”

Jane’s eyes snapped to the phone on her desk and noticed the red blinking light.

That meant there were messages. Shoot. She’d not turned on the ringer after her meeting with her supervisor.

He’d been impressed by the way the event had turned out.

And thankfully, he hadn’t bothered to bring up the issues with Noah.

Slowly, she lifted her attention to Kristi. “What is it? What do they need?”

“Apparently there’s someone here to see you?—”

Jane groaned. “Tell Noah I don’t want to see him?—”

“I’ll be sure to let him know the next time I see him,” a low voice interrupted her—a low voice that most certainly didn’t belong to Noah.

Jane’s head snapped up, and she found Mack standing where Kristi had been. He was wearing his jeans, and bits of straw clung to a dark t-shirt. He held his cowboy hat in his hands, and his hair was mussed after he ran a hand through it.

Her friend smirked at her like he had all those years ago when they’d been close as teens. She couldn’t help smiling back despite the feelings of devastation she was trudging through. “Hey,” she murmured, getting to her feet.

Mack jerked his chin to the side. “I thought I might take you out for lunch, if you’re feeling up for it.”

She shot a look at the clock. It was already lunchtime.

She’d lost track of the hours flying past as she chose to avoid interacting with most of the people who worked in this building.

There was a meeting with the whole team toward the end of the day, and she was absolutely dreading it because as luck would have it, rumors were circulating that Noah would be in attendance.

“Want to kidnap me so I don’t have to come back today?” she pleaded.

Mack chuckled. “You wouldn’t want that.”

She pouted. “No, I wouldn’t.” She still cared too much about her reputation to play hooky. Jane gathered her purse and strode toward him. “Where are we going?”

“Somewhere you won’t need that,” he eyed her purse. “My treat.”

Jane arched a brow then returned to her desk and placed her purse in a drawer with a lock. “Okay,” she drawled, “what is this all about?”

He shrugged. “I just thought you could use some fresh air…”

“And?”

Again, he lifted a shoulder. “And someone to talk to.”

Her eyes narrowed. “Whatever he’s said to you?—”

“He hasn’t been talking to us, Jane. He’s been radio silent. He got up early, did his chores, then he slipped away, and no one has been able to find him. We want answers, too.”

Surprise nearly knocked her off her feet. “You didn’t know?”

They were headed outside now, and Mack barked a laugh. “Know about Noah and his millions?” He laughed again. “What makes you think we’d know about that?”

“He’s your brother.”

“And he’s your boyfriend.”

At her dark look, he clamped his mouth shut and cleared his throat.

“The truth is, Noah hasn’t told anyone about his double life.

No one in my family had any clue. He doesn’t buy fancy clothes.

He doesn’t splurge on nice cars or anything.

Yesterday was the first time I’ve ever seen him in a tux.

And I’ve seen his closet. He only has one suit.

If there are more somewhere, it’s not at home. ”

She couldn’t make any sense of what he was saying.

He had to be lying. But what reason would he have for doing something like that?

She eyed Mack as he pulled open the door to his truck and shot her a smirk.

“There’s a lot about Noah that he hasn’t told us, and I don’t know about you, but I’m gonna get to the bottom of it…

eventually. Even if I have to wrestle him in the mud and hogtie him to do it. ”

His playful tone made her smile. Mack had a way of putting her at ease. It was nice to have someone to lean on—especially since she knew she’d have to break the news to her parents about what was going on. She could already see the judgment in her mother’s eyes.

She heaved a sigh as Mack climbed behind the wheel. “If you didn’t know, and he didn’t tell me, why do you think he kept it a secret?”

Mack shrugged. “Hard to say. Why do people keep secrets, anyway? It’s usually to protect the people they care about, right?”

“Or themselves,” she muttered bitterly. There was a very real possibility that he’d kept it from her because he didn’t want her to break things off with him.

If she were honest with herself, she’d admit that she might have done just that—at least in the beginning.

She’d never wanted to be part of that world.

The people who had a lot of money and enjoyed it?

All the more power to them. It simply wasn’t the lifestyle she wanted.

She didn’t want the temptations that it created for people.

Those with too much had a tendency to want more or feel entitled to things they shouldn’t.

Her opinions were a bit judgmental, and she acknowledged that if her situation was different she might look at the the whole thing from a completely different point of view.

But Noah didn’t seem to be that kind of person .

She shook her head to clear it. Just because Noah didn’t seem like the type didn’t mean he wasn’t immune to it.

“He should have told me,” she muttered.

Mack glanced at her out of the corner of his eye.

“He should have told me who he was and that he was my boss. He should have been open and trusted me.”

“Can you blame him, though?”

She shot him a glare.

“I mean, think about it, Jane. He’s had a crush on you since we were kids. He finally caught your affections. What do you expect? When someone wants something, they make decisions they think will ensure they don’t lose it. He made a mistake. But it doesn’t change who he is.”

“And you seriously didn’t know,” she muttered flatly.

He chuckled. “I seriously didn’t know. We were all gifted with a chunk of money for college when we graduated.

Though our parents didn’t force us to use it on an education.

If I had to guess, I’d say Noah probably figured out how to make money off of what he had.

He made some good choices, and it worked out.

Honestly, I can’t help but be impressed. ”

She scoffed.

“Really, Jane,” Mack said softly. “He made something of himself, and instead of flaunting his position, he chose to start up a charity that has reached all parts of the continent.”

Dang it, Mack was right. Still, she couldn’t let go of this anger and betrayal she felt festering in her stomach. “And what’s his excuse for putting my career in jeopardy? Hmm?”

Mack put his truck in park, and she glanced around to find they were at a ranch supply store. He stared at her hard. “Do you honestly think that Noah would have done anything to hurt your career? He knows how important it is to you.”

“Then he should have thought about that before he recommended me for the position while he was trying to date me,” she snapped.

“It’s too early to tell, but I’m just waiting for some HR representative to pull me into their office and ask me if we did anything inappropriate in order for me to get that position. ”

Mack grimaced. “That’s not going to happen.”

“You don’t know that. How many cases have there been where people manipulate the system? Too many to count. It doesn’t matter if that wasn’t his objective. It happened, and I will be the only one to get hurt from it.”

He didn’t move for a moment, and the air between them grew thick.

He knew she’d made a good point. That was made even clearer when he dragged a hand down his face with exasperation.

“I’m not here to pick sides, Jane. I could see that you were struggling last night, and I wanted to check in on my friend. ”

“Then let’s not talk about him, okay? I need to deal with this my way, and right now, I just don’t want to think about what’s going to happen next.”

Mack hesitated then gave her a curt nod.

“I wasn’t aware that the supply store served lunch,” she muttered dryly, and he chuckled. It drew a smile from her lips even as she fought to keep her expression neutral.

He shook his head. “I’m picking up some chicks. Then we can head out to get something to eat.”

Her eyes brightened at the mention of chicks. “Really?”

He smirked at her. “Still have a soft spot for baby animals, huh?”

She was out of the truck before he could say anything more. This was just the thing that could fill her cold heart with the warm fuzzies it would need to survive the coming week.