Chapter 17
Leah
I was brushing down Princess late the next day when Missy walked over, giving the horse a rub on her head, and Princess leaned in.
She shot me one of those smiles. Missy was as transparent as cellophane. Her face told you so many details that words sometimes got in the way if she spoke.
“You heard.” I was getting so used to my business being aired that I didn’t even blush. After having a nickname like the Devious Debutante blasted throughout one of the largest cities in the world, a handful of people finding out about an embarrassing evening didn’t have the same weight it used to. I just assumed someone would’ve heard our fight and then it would spread like fire through bunched-up newspaper.
“I swear no one was trying to pry, but it was hard not to know. First the deputy was here and then none of you were very quiet. Raised voices tend to carry around here. After all that hoopla, it would be more shocking if we didn’t know.”
“Yeah, we had words. It’s pretty much done now, though. Hopefully you won’t have to hear us fighting again for at least a couple days.” Our longest streak was three days, but that was only because we were avoiding each other on and off.
“I think you push his buttons like no one else can.” Missy had a look on her face like she was holding back a secret.
“Don’t get any crazy ideas. It’s not like that.” And it never would be. I was keeping Kade at arm’s length. No way would I let that man close enough to hurt me again.
“Do you think he was jealous? It sort of seemed that way,” she said, trying to sound na?ve.
“I think he likes to fight. That’s it.” This girl was watching too many rom-coms. She’d be better off switching to murder mystery if she was going to label us, because I was about to bury Kade in an unmarked grave behind his ranch.
“I don’t see him fighting with anyone else, though.” She shrugged, keeping up the innocent act.
“Okay, he likes to fight with me. But that’s all it is. There’s nothing romantic between us. Trust me.” Any illusion of caring on his part was just that. And me? I couldn’t afford to care for him. This year was about survival and holding on to the last shreds of who I was. If I let Kade in, even an inch, he’d obliterate me.
That finally wiped that look from her face, but it shifted into furrowed lines. It was too much of a swing in the other direction. She glanced around before she stepped a little closer.
“So that thing Kade said about you and Alec, that wasn’t true, was it?”
She looked like she was holding her breath while waiting for my answer. Oh no, this wasn’t good. Of all the people to crush on, Alec was not the one. He’d been a playboy before he got out of his teens. He’d been born to it like a zebra was doomed to stripes.
“We’re just friends. That’s all,” I said, not having the strength to break her heart—not that he wouldn’t if given the chance.
The breath visibly left her as she put a hand on Princess’s neck and leaned in to the mare.
“I wouldn’t care. It’s just I think Kade might be upset—at least, that’s how it seemed last night,” she said.
“The fact that I exist upsets Kade.”
She giggled.
“So are you interested in Alec?” I asked.
“No,” she said, shooting that out a little too fast and hard as her cheeks pinked. “I mean, he’s hot and all, but I don’t like him like that . I know what he is. He’s visited before, and I’ve heard the talk about town.”
“That’s good, because even though he’s an amazing friend, he likes to live a little fast.”
Her lips turned down as she shifted her toe in the hay. “Yeah, I know. But he is awfully nice. Maybe it wouldn’t be the worst thing ever to get used by him, you know? As opposed to being used by someone like Adam.” She shrugged, as if this were just another casual musing that she hadn’t been playing out in her head.
“If you can deal with the casual situation.” Some women might be able to enjoy the night and move on, but Missy seemed already half smitten with him from the few breadcrumbs she was giving me.
“Hey, don’t you have to go make your calls?”
“Yeah, maybe later.” If I could force myself to see Kade. “Would you mind if I borrowed your shower again?”
“I don’t know why you keep asking when I keep telling you to come use it.”
I followed her out of the stable. I’d figure out if I had the energy for calls later.