Confined with the CEO and the Bodyguard

type. “Nah, I just think you’re a soft-hearted pussy who’s going to lose his legacy and have to go running back to his day job.”
Dakota inhales. He never, ever gets mad. But I am, right now. I realize with a cold shock that my hands are clenched by my sides. My easygoing façade has been breached. I am angry. Furious. “I know that isn’t what you want. When are you going to man up enough to go after success?”
He kicks the dirt and I sense it’s a proxy for kicking me. I roll my shoulders and flex my fists. I’ve seen Dakota move. He’s lightning-quick on his feet and agile. I outweigh him by thirty pounds, but I’m older, slower and injured. I don’t want to fight. I want him to listen to me.
“If I had half the advantages that you do, I’d have set myself up for life,” I tell him, and I don’t like hearing the note of anguish that’s crept into my voice.
Dakota’s posture shifts fractionally. He’s not a fighter by nature, not physically. But he’s ready to take me if I throw a punch, but I don’t like my odds so I keep my attacks verbal in nature. “You’re squandering your entire future. You have a heart of gold, but you do not have a head for business. All I’m asking, friend, is that you listen to me.”
I’m jealous. Damn. No wonder that all this time I’ve been questioning his authority at every turn. Adding Sadie to the mix has only inflamed the tension that has gone unspoken between us for so many months. Tonight, they’ve come to a head.
Sadie’s not the only one with issues.
“Beau,” Dakota says softly. Evening light casts a bronze glow over his exposed forearms and face. When did he become a part of this arid landscape? Unease prickles my neck. The sense that I am wrong creeps over me. A movement flickers at the corner of my eye. Sadie. My friend’s back is to her. He doesn’t take note of her presence while he continues to speak. “You’ve been nothing but an asset since the day I first held the key to this property. You’ve been a friend and a steady hand. I know you didn’t want to come here, and I appreciate your help. I really do.”
“There’s a ‘but,’” I say, shaking my head.
“I’m the owner. I make the decisions. I have a damn degree in accounting. I didn’t crown myself CEO of The Black Diamond because I wanted a fancy title. I chose it because I have a vision for how to use my inheritance to make myself happy—and I can only do that by helping other people.”
His words rock me back on my heels. “You don’t want to make a fortune?”
It shouldn’t come as a surprise to me, but it does. The prideful afterglow I’ve enjoyed all afternoon for helping Sadie winks out in an instant. It’s not Dakota who needs to open his eyes.
It’s me.
Dakota grins. “I have one. This place is worth three million dollars, and I own it outright. Shouldn’t that be enough?”
“Wait,” a strained female voice calls out from the shadows. “You mean to say that you own this place? Not Beau?”
Sadie’s incredulous response tells me just how badly I’ve fucked up by trying to play the alpha male. Judging from her expression as she advances on us, she’s rightly pissed at being misinformed. Part of me enjoyed playing the boss of the ranch. I wanted the opportunity to run a business according to my own vision, to tackle the daily challenges and earn respect. Security does not give me that satisfaction. My pride is wounded, and the words that come out of my mouth are aimed to slice deep.
“Assumptions make an ass out of ‘U’ and me,” I drawl. Dakota sends me a sharp look.
“Beau. Get outta here.” He jerks his head at the main house. Sadie’s face is drained of color and her jaw is frozen in a tight, mutinous line. The sight stabs through me.
I’m not one for emotions and relationships. I like easy-breezy entanglements with no commitments. But that isn’t what this threesome is. It’s not who we are together. I never meant to get this involved, but here we are—and I’m making everything worse.
So, I go. I turn tail and head back to the ranch house, feeling every bit like the dog I am. Tense, hushed, angry whispers follow me down the path into the deepening night.

11
Dakota
“I thought Beau owned The Black Diamond,” Sadie hisses. Her tone is rattlesnake-mad. She’s ready to strike—at me, at Beau, at the world. I happen to be in her path.
“I thought you knew,” I say. Disquiet churns in my stomach. “It’s not as though we hid the fact. Not on purpose.”
“I feel lied to.” I’ve never heard Sadie like this before. Her voice is flat and devoid of inflection. Yet I hear her underlying pain loud and clear. Beau’s not wrong. I, too, feel a little betrayed. After all, I didn’t lie to her. Not even by omission. She never asked. She made an assumption. Now’s my opportunity to set her straight.
“My dad was a banker. When he died, the majority of his estate went to my mother. Each of the four kids received a sizable inheritance. It was enough for me to buy this place and keep some money in reserve. But...” I trail off.
Part of me resists speaking the truth out loud. Beau’s goals are different from mine. I never had to scrap for every dollar I have the way he and Sadie have. I can understand why he’s a little bit resentful. My friend was right about one thing, though. I am squandering the hard-earned legacy my father left me. I’m running through my reserves and if I don’t find a way to pull out of this nosedive before the pandemic ends, I am going to lose it all. My family legacy. My dreams.
Sadie.
“But what?” she asks. I