Chapter 21
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Guilt wasn’t a normal emotion Kat ever experienced in her life. Even when they had to dismantle a company her father had acquired, Kat was smart enough to see the promise of their decisions in how they handled everything.
Unfortunately, something had changed.
Whenever Kat met Leo’s eyes, she felt that guilt. It practically strangled her. She couldn’t breathe. She felt sick to her stomach. It wasn’t that she hadn’t been honest with Leo about her plans to meet with her father, but at the same time she got the feeling she was going to be unsuccessful.
Her father was a pro at reading people. He would be able to tell that her heart wasn’t in it. He’d likely tell her that the plan had merit, but that it wasn’t something they’d work toward for several years.
Yesterday, Leo had made it perfectly clear where he stood. He expected her to move to Montana. And she’d done nothing to dissuade him from that belief. The idea of living out here—with Leo—filled her with such a terrifying sort of joy that it gave her pause.
What if she moved here and everything changed?
Right now, Leo was supportive of her job. But he didn’t know what it was like when she was in the thick of it at the office. Would he think of her differently when he realized that she would prioritize her job?
The fact was that Leo had no idea just how deep she’d get into her work. And until he understood that, she wasn’t sure moving out here to start up another location would be a good idea.
Two weeks.
Fourteen days.
She’d have to stand in front of her father and tell him she wanted to move away. Well, she didn’t want to move away. But she wanted to be closer to Leo.
Kat shut her eyes, allowing the sounds and smells of the ranch to permeate her soul.
A cup of steaming coffee warmed her hands as she stood out on the front porch of Leo’s house.
It was freezing out here, but she couldn’t stand to be inside at the moment.
Any second now, Leo would return from his morning duties and he’d be able to tell that she was feeling more than a little lost.
What was she supposed to do?
The sound of a car door slamming shut had her eyes flying open. She hadn’t actually noticed the approach of the vehicle. She was out of it more than she realized. What started out as curiosity shifted into surprise and then into fury.
There was only one reason why Chaz would be here and it had everything to do with the way Kat’s father thought she was running things.
Her face flushed hot and her hands shook.
Kat had been sent to Montana as a way to prove herself.
She’d done everything right. She’d made sure to fill her father in on every single update there was possible.
She’d put out several fires along the way.
So why in heaven’s name was Chaz showing up in Rocky Ridge?
Her jaw tightened until she nearly feared she’d crack her teeth. Eyes narrowing, she watched as Chaz first glanced around the immediate area before he turned his attention on her. His shoulders were stiff initially, but the second he met her gaze, he relaxed and flashed her his perfect smile.
Any girl would be lucky to have his affection.
He was handsome, tall, well put together, and he was close to becoming one of the most eligible bachelors in New York.
But there had never been a point in Kat’s life where she had viewed him as anything more than a co-worker and that was why she was so furious with his presence.
“Hey, Kat,” he called out, trudging toward her.
He was dressed in what was likely a several thousand-dollar suit.
His shoes were too shiny and his hair was slicked back with gel.
He was clean-shaven and the suit coat he wore came down to his thighs.
He looked so out of place standing before her at the base of the stairs.
“Chaz,” she said through gritted teeth. “What are you doing here?”
He gestured around himself. “Your father would have been the one to come, but he got caught up in another merger. So he sent me.”
“He sent you to… what? Babysit me? Check up on me? Why? Does he think that I’ve been lying in my reports?”
“Kat,” Chaz said softly, placatingly. “You know he didn’t.”
“Don’t I?” She shook her head with a dark laugh.
“He sent me out here to do a job and he can’t even trust me to do that.
What was the point if he’s only going to send someone to look over my shoulder?
” She left out the part that Chaz was less experienced than she was when it came to working for her father.
She’d been working for him since she was a teenager.
But Chaz was older and a man. Maybe that was the reason her father had issue with her.
“Don’t be like that, Kat. He only wanted to send his support.”
She scoffed.
Chaz climbed the steps and met her at the top. “Mind if I join you?”
“I’d offer to get you some coffee, but you’re a little too picky for this stuff.” She lifted her still steaming mug.
He glanced at it and smirked. “I seem to recall a time when you were, too. Something change?”
Counting to ten in her head, Kat willed herself to not lash out. Chaz wasn’t the one responsible for her foul mood. He was only doing his job. She had to remind herself of that before she did something she regretted.
Being in Rocky Ridge had changed her, yes. But for the better.
She now appreciated the little things. She loved spending time outside.
She loved the family dinners and the free time she spent with Leo.
Her work was different, too. Where she’d rarely stepped foot out of her office back home, here she oversaw so many different moving parts that she got to taste a bit of everything.
“Yes,” she managed to finally say to Chaz. “A lot has changed.”
Chaz studied her for a moment then leaned against the porch much like she was. “I can see it,” he murmured quietly. “You’re different.”
She cut him a glance out of the corner of her eye. “Is that a bad thing?”
“Of course not.” His voice was gentle and it threw her off. She blinked several times as she turned to fully face him.
How was she supposed to react to that? She swallowed hard, attempting to gather her thoughts but that was near impossible as Chaz inched closer.
He placed a leather gloved hand on her wrist and squeezed, forcing her to meet his gaze again.
“What are you doing here, Chaz?” Her voice was raspy, and it trembled slightly, giving away her nerves.
“You know I care about you, right?”
She didn’t react. She couldn’t. Chaz had never been this forward.
He’d never told her he had feelings for her.
There had been clues that he might, sure, but she’d never entertained them.
It had been so much easier to pretend there was nothing there.
Kat stepped back from him, pointedly putting distance between them. “Chaz, this isn’t a good—”
“Your father knows. I have a feeling he knew before I did.”
She scoffed. “You’re not serious.”
“I am, Kat. I’ve had feelings for you for a long time. But you’ve never been all that receptive to any advances, so I waited. But I can’t be patient anymore. I want you in my life. I want to work with you by my side and spend my life with you.”
This time she threw her head back and let out a laugh of disbelief. “Chaz, you’ve never admitted any such thing before. You can’t expect me to believe—”
“Well, believe it,” he said a little harsher this time. “Your father has plans for his empire and the two of us are part of that. He wants to see us bring it into the next decade.”
“I’m sorry, Chaz, but like I told my father, I’m not interested. I have my own plans.”
“Kat, think about what you’re saying—”
“I have,” she snapped, facing him with a glare. “I’ve thought long and hard about what I want my future to look like and you’re not part of it.”
To Chaz’s credit, he didn’t show any reaction to her words. She would have almost preferred he did react. That he would look shocked or hurt by her admission. But he remained just as stoic as he did in most of their meetings.
She searched his expression for any signs that she’d hurt him or that he was angry but saw nothing. If he was right, then her father wouldn’t likely be thrilled to hear about what she’d said. This wasn’t the way she wanted her father to hear that she was interested in another path.
Chaz stepped toward her then, invading her space.
He pried the mug from her hands and placed it on a small table that was situated beside a chair then returned to face her.
He took her hand in his and wouldn’t release her when she tried to pull away.
His voice was low and clipped when he spoke again.
“I care for you, deeply, Kat. I still want to be part of your life. I understand this is a new idea for you, and I’m confident you will come around.
You care about your father and if you were even remotely honest with yourself, you’d admit that in the end you’re going to do exactly what he says. ”
Kat finally extricated her hand from his. “No.”
Amusement flickered across his face and he shook his head with a dismissive laugh. “What’s the plan, Kat?” He gestured around them. “This? Are you seriously telling me that you want to move out here? To the middle of nowhere? Do you hear how insane that sounds?”
“It’s not insane, Chaz,” she snapped. “It’s just different.”
He laughed again and that niggling feeling of doubt crept its way into her chest. “You were not bred to be some hick who lives in the middle of nowhere. This lifestyle? It’s great for a little while but eventually you’d want to come home.”
“You don’t know that,” she seethed.
“Oh, but I do. Because we’re cut from the same cloth, Kat. We both thrive on our way of life back home. This place? It would drive you crazy. You would eventually start to resent living here. I’m assuming your decisions have to do with someone else? That cowboy, maybe?”
She flushed hot, but kept her mouth clamped shut.
“Do you really want to grow to hate him? It wouldn’t even be his fault. Could you live with yourself if you pushed him away? If you broke him?”
An indescribable pain etched itself on her heart.
Chaz might have been wrong about a lot of what he’d said, but he was right about one thing.
She didn’t want to hurt Leo. And if there was even a sliver of a chance that she’d end up hating this place and hurting him in the process, she couldn’t follow through with any of her new dreams—the ones that included him.
“Get the information you need for my father, Chaz, then leave.” She gritted out the request with venom. Right now, she didn’t want to speak to him any further.
“I have a hotel in town for the night. Would you like to—”
“No. I suggest you do what you have to with the time you have today and then leave early. I’m sure my father could use you back at the office.”
Chaz frowned. He looked tempted to say something more, but she wasn’t interested in what he might want to say. So she turned back to the mug on the table, grabbed it, then headed inside.
Later that day, Leo seemed distant. He was a shadow of his usual self. The problem was, she knew that feeling all too well. After Chaz had left, she’d closed herself off from everyone including Jane.
She couldn’t help but go over every single thing Chaz had said about them.
About her father. And about Leo. The future wasn’t promised.
It didn’t matter that she’d told Leo that they’d have to wait and see how her meeting with her father went when she saw him in two weeks, she already knew what the outcome would be.
Kat didn’t have to be a psychic to see her future.
Once she was back home, her father and Chaz would likely corner her and convince her that the best course of action would be to secure the future of the company by showing a strong, unified front.
Then, and only then, would they consider her suggestion for a location closer to the west coast. Knowing her father, Kat figured he’d recommend a location in Washington or even California. But Montana? What would be the point?
She went to bed early, feigning not feeling well.
And when Leo knocked on her door, she didn’t answer.
Two more weeks before she visited home. Then a couple more weeks after that before the project was done and she’d leave here for good.
Maybe it was time to put some distance between herself and Leo after all.