Chapter 10
CHAPTER TEN
“Get closer to the fire,” Leo demanded.
“You’re n-not the boss of m-me,” Kat snapped back.
Leo closed his eyes and prayed for patience. They wouldn’t have been caught in the rain if she hadn’t run off. And he knew if he told her that, she’d only argue with him. “Just try to get warm.”
She scowled at him. “S-sorry for being s-such a n-nuisance.”
“You’re not a nuisance. This is just a mess we didn’t need.
” Leo couldn’t believe he’d gotten himself into this position in the first place.
He was trying to not snap at her. She didn’t deserve meanness even if he was annoyed with her.
He couldn’t help wondering what he’d been thinking, going along with Jane when she’d told him to take Kat out for a ride.
Lightning flashed outside. His adrenaline was wearing off.
When the rain had started and he couldn’t find her, he’d started thinking the worst. He’d been worried and for more reasons than what it would mean for Jane’s project.
Just thinking about Kat being hurt somewhere had put him more on edge than he’d ever been.
“Will you just… get closer to the fire? I don’t want you catching your death.
” This time, his voice softened. He couldn’t keep the worry from his voice.
Exhaustion was eating at him—mostly stemming from the anxiety he’d had to fight off while tracking her down in the woods.
“You should ch-change, too,” she murmured.
It was quiet. He almost didn’t hear her.
When he opened his eyes, he found her scooting closer to the flames.
Kat wasn’t looking at him anymore. She was holding her hands out to the fire.
Her hair hung wet and limp, but at least her chattering was improving.
He could feel the cold seeping into his own skin. She was right. He should change, too. If they were going to be stuck here tonight, he didn’t want to catch anything either. If something happened to him, how would she get back to the ranch?
Leo headed toward the dresser where they kept backup clothes for emergencies. He changed quickly and quietly, forcing away the fears that he’d gotten to Kat too late. If they were lucky, she wouldn’t get sick, but there was a very real possibility that she would.
He raked a hand through his damp hair and heaved a sigh. He could blame her all he wanted, but the fact of the matter was he’d pushed her to run off. He’d hurt her. Leo had seen the way his words had destroyed that defiant light in her eyes.
The apology he knew he should say aloud felt thick and heavy in the back of his throat. Why couldn’t he just go up to her and tell her he shouldn’t have said what he had? Because he was still battling with the terror he’d felt in nearly losing her.
That cold, hard, truth hit him in the chest like he was being crushed by a rockslide. He didn’t want to lose her. But why? This didn’t make any sense.
She sat huddled by the fire which was the only source of light in the cabin besides the occasional flash of lightning. He watched her, expected her to blame him for their situation because he’d scared her off and been unprepared with his phone.
But she didn’t.
Kat just wrapped her arms around her knees and watched the dancing flames of the fire.
Leo sighed again then headed for the linen closet. He grabbed a heavy comforter and moved toward Kat. Without preamble, he draped the blanket around her shoulders. She jumped, her eyes darting up to meet his. Then she offered him a sad smile. He cleared his throat. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t,” she murmured.
He cocked his head. Why didn’t she want his apology?
It was as if Kat could hear his thoughts. “Don’t apologize. You’re right. This was my fault.”
Leo shook his head. “I shouldn’t have—”
“Contrary to what you might believe,” she tossed him a glance out of the corner of her eye, “I’m actually more level-headed than I portrayed today. I shouldn’t have taken off.”
He watched her carefully, waiting for her to…
what? Did he really expect her to tell him she was kidding and she still blamed him?
He wouldn’t put it past her. But when she didn’t say anything further, he blew out a breath and settled down on the floor beside her.
He propped up his forearms on his bent knees and stared into the fire.
Embers popped and crackled, adding to the roaring sound of the storm outside.
Every so often, lightning brightened the space accompanied by rolling thunder.
He lost track of how long they sat there watching the fire, letting their argument settle into dust between them.
This wasn’t what either of them had been expecting for the day.
He doubted that Kat had ever wanted to spend the night in a cabin like this one.
If he had to guess, he would have put her in a luxury resort cabin.
He could see her wrapped in a fur blanket watching the rain fall outside a large bay window.
She might be reading a book or writing something in a journal.
A smile tugged at his lips unbidden.
“What’s that for?”
He jumped and looked over to her to find her staring at him. Immediately, his smile fell. “Nothing,” he muttered.
She rolled her eyes. “Whatever. Clearly, the most I’ll ever get out of you is that you don’t care about me, right?
” He opened his mouth to argue, but she continued.
“You know what’s weird? Up until recently, I never really cared what someone thought about me besides my father.
I didn’t care if people thought I worked too hard or if I was getting special treatment.
I didn’t give any of them a second thought.
” She turned her face to the side and rested her cheek atop her knees.
“The weird thing is I’m suddenly finding it incredibly difficult to brush off your judgment. ”
He listened in silence. Her words were doing something to him he couldn’t describe. What did she think he’d say to that? This wasn’t the sort of confession that he’d ever expected from her. And yet he couldn’t deny how good her admission felt.
Just as quickly as that feeling arrived, it disappeared. He wasn’t the only person in her life whose opinion she cared about. Leo knew she had another man in her life. Chaz. His lip curled at the thought of the man’s name.
Kat’s brows knit together and she lifted her head slightly as she studied him further. He looked away, not willing to admit why his expression had changed.
Thankfully, she didn’t ask. She merely turned her focus to the fire. More crackling filled the air before she broke the silence. “I’ve been mulling it over—when I was stuck in the woods earlier. Honestly, I could only come up with one reason that makes sense.”
He waited, holding his breath. Would she admit that she had a crush on him? Or that while she despised him, there was a degree of respect?
As much as the thought frustrated him, he’d have to acknowledge that he had a small degree of respect for Kat. She couldn’t have come this far in her career if she wasn’t smart and hard working. He didn’t care what anyone said. Being related to the boss couldn’t get her that far.
“My dad’s going to give me the business.”
He stiffened, not understanding how that had anything to do with what she’d been saying.
She sighed. “Well, maybe. He doesn’t want to give it to me unless I can prove myself. And apparently, he didn’t think I could.” Her voice took on a sour tone. “Can you believe he wants me to marry Chaz?”
A low growl seemed to rumble deep in Leo’s chest. He knew there was something between them. Thankfully, the sound was covered up by a roll of thunder.
She laughed bitterly. “He had the gall to tell me that an arranged marriage would be a good idea because then we could run the company together. Together! I’ve been working my tail off to show just how capable I am.
This is all I’ve wanted since I was a kid.
” She turned her head to look at him again.
“It’s ridiculous. But I’m just his daughter, so what do I know? ”
His frown deepened. “Tell me this is some kind of joke.”
Kat waved a hand in the air. “Right? I wish. But nope. My dad said I could either agree to marry Chaz so we could run the company together, or I could come out here to Montana and oversee this project. If I’m successful, then he’ll hand over the reins, no pun intended.”
A smile tugged at his lips, but he resisted the urge. Instead, he set his glower on the fire. “You’d think he was still trapped in the past. We live in modern times. He can’t force you to marry anyone.”
“It doesn’t matter,” she sighed. “My dad is set in his ways.” She shifted in her place and returned her chin to her knees.
“Honestly? If it takes coming out here, living in the middle of nowhere in order to get what I deserve, then I’ll do it.
My job is more important than love. I never planned on getting married anyway. ”
For some reason, his blood ran cold. His heart came to an abrupt stop before it set off racing. “Why?” he demanded a little too sharply for his own good.
She eyed him briefly, a small smile playing at her lips. “What? Because I’m a woman, I automatically want to get married and start a family?” She rolled her eyes. “You’re almost as bad as my dad.”
“I’m nothing like him,” Leo snapped.
Kat folded her legs and turned to face him. “Think about it. Love? The real stuff? It’s not as common as romance novels want us to believe. It’s not something that lasts. Love is one of those things that makes a person soft. It steals away from the goals people have for their future.”
“You can’t possibly think that,” Leo blurted.
“Why? Again, just because I’m female doesn’t mean I believe in that sort of thing. I’ve spent my entire life with one goal in mind. My career is something that will make a difference in the world. It’s a better use of my time.”
He studied her, waited for her to laugh out loud and tell him he was gullible. But she didn’t. There wasn’t a twitch or a tell that made him believe she wasn’t speaking anything but the truth.
“What?” she demanded. “You feel differently? Are you going to tell me that I have an obligation to have children and raise smart, capable adults to keep the world going?”
“No—”
“Then why are you looking at me like that?”
He shook his head, realizing for the first time that his perspective must not be as common as he thought. “I… feel sorry for you.”
Kat’s bark of laughter shattered the quiet. “What? Why?”
He scooted a little closer to her. They were facing each other now, nearly knee-to-knee. “Love? It’s…” Leo attempted to come up with the right words but came up short. How could he describe what he believed without sounding like he had gone crazy? “It’s… magic.”
She arched a brow. “Magic.” Her voice was flat, void of any emotion.
Leo nodded. “Yes, it’s magic. Love is finding someone who cares about you unconditionally.
It’s finding the part of you that went missing when your soul came into being.
Your family? They love you because of blood, you know?
They have to. They might not like you all the time, but they’d miss you if you were gone.
Your children? They love you because you brought them into the world.
They depend on you. There’s a connection there that can’t be severed much like the rest of your family.
“But the person you fall in love with? They chose you. Out of the billions of people in the world, they picked you to hold their heart. They trusted you to lift them up and pull them through the darkness. They stand by you and support you in every dream you might have.” Leo could feel the heat of embarrassment over his declaration as it crept up the back of his neck.
He’d never voiced his opinion of love to anyone.
Not to his mother and certainly not to his brother.
Reese had found love. Deep down, Leo knew this.
It had crushed his older brother to leave town with the hope that Serenity would wait for him.
And Leo hoped that they’d manage to make it work.
As for Leo? He wasn’t sure if he’d find what his parents had or what Reese had found. He had hope, but that was about it.
Kat’s brows furrowed and she stared off to the side for a moment as she seemed to consider his words. When her focus flitted back to his face, she let out a quiet giggle. “Who knew that the rough-around-the-edges cowboy in front of me could be such a romantic?”
He scowled. “You’re such a hypocrite.” With that, he turned away from her.
She let out another snort of amusement. “I’m not laughing at you, Leo. I’m surprised is all. How does that make me a hypocrite?”
He shot her another dark look. “You sit there, telling me that as a woman you’re judged for wanting a career above all else.”
Kat sobered immediately, seeming to understand where he was going with this. “And you’re a man who believes in true love.”
He shrugged.
“Sorry,” she whispered, “you’re totally right.”
Leo shifted, not daring to look in her direction again. Why was he hurt? Certainly not because she was surprised by his confession.
Nope, it wasn’t that at all.
Something told him, his frustration stemmed from something deeper. He didn’t like the idea that Kat didn’t believe in love.
And maybe that had more to do with the way he’d felt when he’d found her shaking on the forest floor than anything else. His heart seemed to thrum a little faster, agreeing with that sentiment.
Well, shoot.
Was he actually starting to care for Kat Jerris?