Page 11 of Auctioned to the Mountain Man

She nods around the mouth full of spaghetti.

I take the bite and shake my head.

“Why not?”

I give her the look. The one that saysDon’t ask me stupid questions. Plus, there’s no way I can go to that event because I know that Maggie will be there. She’s been talking about it for the past week on her social media, so I’m sure she’ll be in attendance. And I already feel that I’m hanging on a ledge here. I really fucked things up with her. I shake my head to try and get the memories out of my head once and for all and direct my attention to my sister. “So what’s up? What’s new in your life?”

She scrunches her nose up. “Really? Nothing is new. All I do is work. I need a vacation.”

I look down at my plate and move the food around. “Well, do it. Take a vacation.”

She shrugs, and I’ve tried to hold off, but I can’t resist any longer. “I’ve been getting notifications from the Moonshine Mountain social media accounts. Your new social media girl seems to be doing a really good job.”

“Who? Maggie? She’s not new. Not really. She’s worked for us for over a year now, but yeah, she’s good. She has a real knack for that stuff.”

I hold back the groan. A year she’s been right under my nose, and I had no idea.

I listen to her talk about her best friend, and I’m quiet, hoping that she goes on. “She’s smart, Ben. I wish I was that smart.”

“You’re smart too.”

She snorts. “Not Maggie smart. She is just something else. She wants something, she goes for it. She works all the time, never takes any time off. Well, I mean, she asked for Friday off, but that will be her first day she’s missed since she started.”

I lean forward and try to act nonchalant even though I can feel my blood pressure rising. “Oh yeah? What did she need the day off for? You two have plans?”

Elana laughs again. “Nope, not this time. Trust me, you wouldn’t want me to do this with her.”

“What is she doing?” I ask her sharply.

Elana realizes then that she’s said too much. “Nothing. I mean, really, it’s none of our business. She never takes time off, and she’s taking one day. I approved it.”

I squint my eyes at her. “What is she doing, Elana?”

She gets up, taking her plate to the sink. “I told you, she’s taking the day off.”

I get up and follow her. “Yeah, but you’re acting all weird about it.”

She bursts out with a fake laugh before going back to the table and grabbing my plate. She won’t look at me, and that’s the best indication that something is up. “You do know she works for Moonshine Mountain. If she’s in trouble… or if she needs something, we should—”

“You wash and I’ll dry,” she answers, thinking I’m going to drop it.

I start washing the dishes, but I don’t stop. “So does she need help? Is she okay?”

Elana takes the plate from my hands and dries it. “She’s fine. She’s responsible, and she says she knows what she’s doing. Plus, why do you care? You met her one time.”

It’s on the tip of my tongue to tell her that even though I met her that one time, I haven’t been able to get her off my mind, but I don’t say it. Instead, I hustle through the dishes. It’s obvious that I’m not going to get any information from my sister. I’m going to have to find out what’s going on my own way.

No sooner do we finish dishes than Elana says she needs to get back into town. I’m standing in the doorway of my cabin as she drives off. As soon as she waves at me in the rearview mirror, I’m heading to my home office and logging into my computer.

What are you up to, Maggie?

First, I look at the camera that I installed outside her house. Even now, I feel like a creep for doing it, but I justified it to myself that I just wanted to make sure she got home safe at night. I’ve spent hours the last few weeks watching her come and go or sit on her front porch swing and read a book. Her car is home, so whatever she’s doing, she hasn’t left yet.

Next, I log into the Distillery’s mainframe. This I feel less guilty about. It’s the company email, and it’s monitored anyway. Why can’t I log in to her email just to see what she’s got planned? I try to convince myself it’s for her safety, but after forty minutes of searching, I don’t find anything out of the ordinary.

I debate with myself for all of fifteen minutes before I make my next move. It’s a complete invasion of privacy, but there’s no way I can go another minute without knowing what she’s up to.

I connect to my hacker software and put it to work. Within two minutes, it has me logged into Maggie’s personal email. I feel sick to my stomach because I know I shouldn’t be doing this. It’s wrong on so many levels, but even knowing that doesn’t stop me.

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