Chapter 13
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Kat worried her lower lip as she perused the racks of formal dresses. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d been to a wedding. It had been ages. Her friends from high school had invited her, and she’d made an effort to attend.
As much as she hated to admit it, she’d let work get in the way.
When was the last time she’d allowed herself to let loose and have some fun?
She pulled a beautiful sparkling black gown from the rack. She’d come to Billings to get a better variety of options for the gown since it was too short notice to order something. And there was definitely not enough time for her to have her secretary back home mail her one.
The dress was gorgeous. It would hug every one of her curves.
There was a deep v-neck cut and the back swooped so low that the small of her back would be exposed.
This was exactly the kind of dress she would have worn to a wedding back home and she was surprised that she’d been able to find something that was her style.
Better yet, she had a pair of strappy stilettos that would pair perfectly with it.
After being dressed in jeans and boots for the last several days, she couldn’t deny that getting dolled up excited her to no end. The wedding on Friday would be exactly what she needed to let off some steam.
Kat didn’t curse often, but when she arrived at the wedding, that was exactly what she did. And she immediately spun around and collided with Leo’s firm torso. Her hands splayed against his dress shirt and she glowered at him.
“You should have told me I was overdressed,” she hissed.
“And miss out on this?” He gave her an appreciative scan of her body, pulling his lower lip between his teeth. Then he shook his head and whispered beside her ear, “Not a chance.”
She was breathing heavy. Not a single person at this wedding was dressed as formally as she was save for the bride.
Already, Kat could feel several eyes on her and the way the heat crept up her neck and flooded her chest and face, she knew this night wasn’t going to end well. “Take me home,” she demanded.
“Oh, I’m taking full advantage of what I have tonight,” he murmured, his hand resting on the small of her back.
She sucked in a gasp at his warm touch. She could have blamed the goosebumps on the cool night air, but she would have been lying. Leo’s touch did things to her that she wasn’t proud of. So much for coming as friends.
“Stay with me.” His whispered plea only added to the tumultuous activity happening in her body. Her thrumming heart all but sang that she’d do whatever he wanted if he continued asking her with that husky tone of his.
Kat clutched at his dress shirt with both of her hands. “I don’t want to ruin her night.” She didn’t have to clarify that she was referring to the bride. Leo would already know. He glanced over his shoulder presumably toward the bride and groom.
“I don’t think that’s a possibility. They’ve only got eyes for each other.” He cocked his head and brought his gaze back to Kat. “Now as for the rest of the guests…” One side of his mouth quirked upward. “You’ve captured the attention of several.”
She shut her eyes tight. “Just let me go home. I should have never come.”
“Princess…” he crooned. “You look… stunning.”
Kat opened her eyes. The way he’d just said that made her almost believe there was something growing between the two of them—like he was making a promise to her. He’d protect her from whatever the night had to offer.
But that was ridiculous.
Wasn’t it?
She swallowed hard, staring down at a button on his shirt, pleading with him to just take pity on her since she could already tell getting home without him would be near impossible.
But then he hooked his finger beneath her chin and forced her to meet his gaze.
“Forget them. You’re here with me. And I certainly didn’t get all dressed up just to put this—” he took her hand and spun her away from him with another appreciative smile, —“to waste.” Leo pulled her back to him, and she collided against him once more.
“Dance with me,” he murmured in her ear.
“Stay with me for just thirty minutes, and I promise if you’re not having fun, we can leave. ”
Kat gazed at him skeptically. “Thirty minutes?”
Leo nodded. “Thirty minutes.”
She sighed. “Fine.”
The grin that lit his face was one she’d only caught glimpses of before now. Leo Chambers was objectively attractive. He had everything going for him in the looks department. But he was usually so sullen around her.
But then he’d grin like that, and her legs all but buckled beneath her.
His hand on the small of her back was distracting all on its own. But then Leo would engulf her with his scent when he pulled her body flush with his and speak to her in hushed tones like they were the only two people in existence.
“I didn’t grow up here.”
“You didn’t?”
He shook his head.
“But you seem to fit in so well.”
Leo’s rumbling chuckle was yet another thing she was starting to love. “I visited here a lot as a kid, but my dad actually worked construction when I was growing up. We lived in Colorado most of my childhood. We only moved out here just after I graduated.”
“That must be why Bo wanted you as the liaison for this project.”
Leo hummed a thoughtful sound. “I suppose that makes sense. I do know some stuff about the process. But you haven’t really needed any help, so maybe I haven’t been as needed as he thought.”
She scoffed. “You’ve been helpful in different ways. You know a lot more about the ranch than I do. And I’m sure as we continue to work on this project together, your insights will be just as important.”
He shrugged. “Maybe.”
She pulled back and frowned at him. “Don’t sell yourself short. This lifestyle, it’s different than anything I’ve ever experienced. There are a lot of working cogs.”
He didn’t respond to that. Instead, he tugged her against him again.
“Do you like it?”
“Like what?” he murmured.
“Being a cowboy? Living in the middle of nowhere? Have you ever considered moving back to Colorado… or somewhere else?”
He went quiet for a moment then shook his head. “Nah. It’s great out here. There’s a sort of freedom and at the same time, there’s routine. You get the best of both worlds.”
“So this is what you want to do with the rest of your life,” she said pointedly. “Ride horses. Raise cattle. Work with your hands.”
His grip on her tightened and he used that husky voice of his. “It’s not the place that matters. It’s not even the work.”
“Then what is it?” she whispered.
“Family.”
Tingles erupted throughout her body, but before she could speak, he continued.
“My father died when I was in high school. We made do with what we had, but the day my mom got the call that her older brother wanted her to pick up and move out here to be closer to the family? She did it without question. The way my uncle runs this place is so far removed from anything else I’ve seen.
He cares about his family. He cares about the people in his life so much so that he’ll do anything to make sure they’re covered.
How could I walk away from something like that? ”
She pulled back to look into his eyes, seeing nothing but honesty. As irritating as he’d been throughout their encounters, this man made it clear that he was more than he let others see. His feet were planted firmly in a soil rich with loyalty and love.
It made her yearn to have something similar.
While her relationship with her father was strained to say the least, she wanted to say he loved her. He simply didn’t show her in a way she would have liked.
“I get that,” she murmured, allowing her cheek to rest against his chest. “My dad is all I have left. I think that’s why this is so important—beyond the whole needing to find something for me.
I think even if I wasn’t so determined to make my career something I could be proud of, I’d want to make sure I made my dad proud however I could.
I can’t wait to head back home and show them all what I’m capable of. ”
Leo stiffened. His whole body went rigid in a way that made her wonder what she’d said that could have offended him.
When she attempted to pull back to look in his eyes and ask exactly that, he held her firmly against him.
Both of his hands were splayed against the small of her back.
At least they were still swaying to the music that floated around them.
The reception was in a large barn-like structure decorated with rustic touches and floating twinkling lights. It was beautiful and lively. But right now, all she could focus on was the man who didn’t seem too keen on releasing her.
“I think it’s important to have a goal,” Leo rasped.
“I do too,” she hedged, still wondering what had happened.
“Everyone I know seems to have that. They make plans and execute them. Jobs. Family. Futures that are all mapped out. But honestly? I’ve never needed a plan.”
She listened raptly, unable to tear her focus from him.
“I’d be content as long as I had love. A family—people I can count on to have my back and I have theirs. A simple life.” Those last words were a whisper.
Goosebumps made another round on her body.
She’d never considered having a life like the one he’d described.
Not even her life growing up had been simple.
Her father had worked day in and day out.
He’d been so busy he hadn’t made it to half her recitals or performances.
He was absent most nights, busy building his empire.
Her mother was the one spending those hours with her and when Kat had been a kid, she’d wondered if her mother had resented her for it. If they hadn’t had a child, would her mother have had the chance to chase her own dreams?
The way Leo described such a life made it sound so enticing.
Heaven.
But that was just it, wasn’t it?
Heaven wasn’t meant for mortals. And Kat would never become like her mother—sacrificing the things she wanted in life for something as fleeting as love.
Leo was the one to pull back when the dance came to an end.
His eyes locked with hers, pinning her in her place.
For a moment Kat lost all sense of time.
She felt for the man before her—the man who wanted for nothing but someone to call his own.
She wondered if he understood how hard it was to find someone who wanted the same thing.
That in and of itself was no small feat.
Then what happened when that special someone was lost?
Leo had lost his father. Who was to say a similar tragedy wouldn’t find Leo. Then what would he have?
“You really are beautiful tonight, Princess,” Leo reached up and grazed her jawline with a knuckle. “I don’t think you realize just how special you are.”
Her breath hitched in her chest. Leo’s touch had sparks of electricity skittering along her skin, raising the hairs in their wake. He slanted his head, closing the distance between them. His eyes searched hers.
A question? Permission?
A kiss?
Her lashes fluttered and she lifted her chin.
Tonight, she’d allow herself to be what Leo thought her to be.
She was a princess and at the end of their thirty minutes, he’d take her back to Sagebrush Ranch where she could return to being the business mogul she’d always been.
But for now? She would revel in the fairy tale that Leo seemed intent on spinning.
He spoke of love, of dreams she wasn’t worthy of having for herself.
Dreams she hadn’t known could sound as beautiful as the way he’d painted them for her.
With an exhale, she allowed herself to give in to the possibility of something different.
But only for tonight.
“May I cut in?” A familiar male voice tapped on her shoulder and her eyes flew wide.
Leo glowered at whoever it was at her back. Without further prompting, Tripp gripped her elbow and guided her away for another dance.
Kat tossed one look over her shoulder in Leo’s direction, but he was gone.