by Leanne Davis
Biting her lip, she finally relented. “Kyomi. My name is Kyomi Wade.”
“Wade?” His brain scanned his memory. She saw when it clicked. “Tom Wade any relation?”
“Yes. My father.”
“I didn’t know he had a daughter.”
She flipped around and muttered, “He didn’t know it either.”
Flinching, she wondered why she admitted that to a total stranger.
“Sounds like a story there, one you need a drink to tell, like I do with my wife.” Hunter’s voice was quiet and more respectful. Like he noticed her finally as something more than a meal prepper and server.
“Don’t we all?”
“True that. Life is nothing but a punch in the gut, sometimes, isn’t it? KY-omi?” He emphasized the first syllable of her name. “It’s a lovely name, by the way, even more unique and prettier than Naomi.”
“Thank you. You can’t stop the suave charm, can you? It just rolls out of your mouth like others say their name, huh?”
He grunted. “Yes. I guess. I didn’t realize I was doing anything unnatural. What if I’m just like that?”
She tilted her head. Okay. That would make her the mean one. She was way too judgmental of this man. And he wasn’t like that with her. It was because she was insecure. She relented. “It was my mother’s idea. Because it means pure and beautiful.”
She turned to wash her hands. Only when she was drying them on the dish towel did Hunter back up and lean against the counter. “So, the delightful Kyomi, Tom’s child I didn’t know about… and there is quite a story there; could I propose a compromise?”
She smirked and raised an eyebrow at him. “I wasn’t aware this was a negotiation. Let’s see… I brought the food. I paid for it. I know what the menu is… wait, what was my problem again? Oh, yes, nothing but getting you to move your blinding-white ass out of my way.” She smiled sweetly, glad to find her groove again, along with her mental ability to shake out the attraction. To treat him as one of her guy-friends. She had so many, she would just add him. They’d have that funny introduction to fall back on, starring his shiny, blinding-white ass. Like it was all a fun joke. She was teasing and annoyed with him. She ignored the way it made her brain short-circuited and fantasized instead, indulging the strange, serious desires of want and interest with this stranger.
However, he wasn’t letting her hide behind her aloofness or ignore him.
“Damn. Okay, you’re right. Maybe you could take pity on me then? The poor scrub whose wife slept with her own stepbrother and he caught them in the throes of the act. In unedited, porn-worthy, Technicolor, 3-D exposure. Could you just forgive the desperately depressed, jerk-off that I am, and give me a break? Cook for me, but I’ll help you. I’ll do anything you ask me to. I will be your bitch. How about that?”
“I don’t need a bitch to cook Sloppy Joes, and besides, that’s kind of a sexist statement.”
“I can’t cook those. I have no idea how to begin. I can be your bitch. I can’t be sexist because we reversed the roles. So come on, Kyomi. Please?”
She rolled her eyes as she walked to the bag again, pushing up her sleeves to pull out hamburger buns and sauce mix, which she set next to the fresh ground beef. “I’ll include you, fine. Just quit your sob story. Get it together, man. You don’t know me and already you’ve shown me your naked butt, blubbered about your wife, begged to be my bitch as well as to feed you.”
It was harsh. Perhaps way too harsh but his close proximity did odd things to her. It made her heart beat faster and her stomach squeeze and her insides jump around. It made her nerves kick up and she was anxious all at once. She just didn’t get that way with anyone, especially guys. Never mind married guys—whether happily or not.
“Damn. You don’t put up with much, do you?’
She gave him a quick look and smile to slightly soften the harshness. “No. But I will make you dinner. Because your situation falls on the extreme side of pathetic.”
There was a long stretch of silence. She waited, unsure how he’d take her. She was hiding behind all the sarcasm, kidding, and ribbing. She strained to act the way she would with any other guy from town she knew. Even Asher. She grew up on a ranch and farm. Her brothers had the run of the place and all their friends hung around most of the time. So that was her way. The people who taught her how to socialize were not exactly soft, kind, charming or eloquent. Nothing like Hunter.
He nodded as he swung his butt up to sit on the kitchen counter. “So in other words, pull up my big boy panties.”
She gave him a once-over. “If you have any on, then yes, do that.”
“I have them. I’ll put ‘em on now.”
She shook her head. “Enough about your ass and covering it. I really don’t care about discussing it, Hunter Rydell, despite you showing and sharing it with me.”
He let out a laugh. “I think you could be a great distraction from my pathetic life. How come I didn’t know you before now? Where’s your dad’s place? In Tarlson?”
“Yes. Correct. I left here when I was sixteen. I didn’t come back very often. Lived with my mother.”
“You’re back now though?”
“Yes.” She busied herself by heating up the skillet. Dumping the meat into it, she started separating it to a crumble.
“Right. Part of the story. So how long have you been with Asher?”
“We ran into each other buying cattle a few months back. It started then.”
“I can see why you’re so good for him.”
She turned the fire on the stovetop down as the meat started to sizzle. Glancing back, she gave him an ironic look, “You mean, because unlike Daisy, I’m a country girl who came back here? Score one for me, I live here now.”
He tilted his head. “You know that? I mean you know all about him and Daisy?”
“I think from start to finish. He’s a good guy, Hunter. He tells the truth, lives the truth and tries not to hurt others with it. They both got hurt, even though he tried for years to warn Daisy it would most likely end that way. She refused to see that. She denied it. She hurt him in her staunch denial. He loved her enough to try and ignore his gut worries. But as it turned out, he was right.”
“Wow. He really is honest with you. And I dig that you value honesty. Not many women would listen to the intricacies of his relationship with Daisy. And the fact that—” Hunter’s voice kind of wandered off.
“He’s in love with her. Most likely will be forever. It’s something he told me on our first date. I told him that was really great. We—well, we get each other. So you don’t have to worry about censoring what you say. Unless he told you to, then honor that. But I doubt he’d hide anything from me.”
Hunter jumped off the counter. He came nearer to her, leaning casually on the counter beside where she worked. “That is the rarest thing I’ve ever heard from a woman. No, screw that sexism. I mean, that I’ve heard from anyone. I both admire and feel a little intimidated by it. I’ve never known that kind of honesty.”
“You should try it. Maybe that’s what your wife needs.”
“Maybe. But I think I was long after the fact. The cover to whatever she needed.” He winced. “But just for the record, I think Asher’s insane to cling to a memory of a woman who isn’t here. Especially when here you are, with all your understanding awesomeness.”
“He and I have no regrets. No secret longings. What we both feel is right and it works.”
“Damn. Then… I have to tell you, it’s really a pleasure to meet you, Kyomi Wade.”
Her stupid heart lurched at his admiring tone. Stupid. He only admired her sense of honesty because he was inured to his wife’s lying, cheating and horrendous betrayal. He’d never take a second look at the likes of her. No way. Not Hunter Rydell. City boy with roots in the country who ran as far away as he could from it. Only returning to wallow in self-pity, and find a way to put his head back on straight.
“I didn’t fully appreciate who I was meeting th
e other night,” he said, and his gaze raked over her with unmasked appreciation. “I really didn’t understand. Now it’s the greatest pleasure.”
Oh, yes, words like that made her heart race and her entire body reacted. Damn. He was too polished. Too smooth with the long, deep looks and pretty words. Pointless words. But pretty nevertheless. His charm oozed from his pores now that the liquor wasn’t seeping from them.
He shook their hands and winked as he smiled and said, “Can’t wait to hear more of your wisdom, Ms. Wade. I really think I was destined to meet you right now. “
She flushed, turning back to her mediocre cooking of a less than mediocre meal. “Lucky me.” But inside, her heart was flipping for joy at his undivided attention. The ordinary, all around gal and guy-pal, her, Kyomi Wade, had successfully captured Hunter Rydell’s attention.
Chapter 4
KYOMI WADE. SHE WAS the most unexpected company Hunter ever imagined to find in this so-little-known refuge, it might as well have been on the moon, called Reed Ranch. Kyomi wasn’t a whole lot to look at. She had a fine face, clear skin, a round face, high cheeks and narrowly set eyes. Her hair was interesting, a nondescript, unspectacular brown in a riot of curls. But she wasn’t like the women in the city he knew. They would have tamed and frozen those curls into something truly beautiful. Hers were left frizzy and haphazard. A kink here and there, and a flat spot on the back of her head. She had a pleasant, average, girl-next-door vibe and body. He was rather surprised to see Asher switch from the stunning, blonde Daisy (but being his cousin, he couldn’t think too hard about Asher’s interest in her!) to this Plain Jane country girl.
But after a few words from her mouth, Hunter fully got it. Kyomi was awesome. She told the truth. The whole truth and nothing but the truth. Be damned, conventional mores of society. Be damned, feelings, his or hers. Just be honest. No games. Asher described Kyomi as everything opposite a diva and Hunter had to agree. He was watching her make Sloppy Joes, which he’d eaten before, having grown up in the country with a typical family too, but he hadn’t eaten them since he was a kid living at home.
He watched her shove a spiral of curls over her shoulder. She wasn’t a dainty girl. Not very tall. She didn’t move gracefully either. Nothing like Francine whose limbs of glory seemed to go on forever. Kyomi was average. All of her physical features were average. But her arms showed off well-toned, defined muscle. She was strong. Exceptionally strong. But she wasn’t anyone who could catch his eye before he knew her.
Except for the honesty thing.
And now? After being humiliated by the treachery perpetrated by his wife and her stepbrother, honesty rose to be the most important and most extraordinary virtue a woman could possess. He kept staring at her, deeply intrigued by the unicorn woman. She appeared to have no jealousy. She didn’t stress over her boyfriend being in love with another woman, or turn it into an epic—worthy of a sad movie— kind of love. Or end it tragically with the realization they could not fulfill each other. No. Kyomi was totally cool with that.
When she finished preparing the meal, she busily scooped it all onto the plates and slid it to the eating nook table. Startled to realize she was already finished, Hunter asked with a pointed look at her, “Is that for me?”
“Duh. You’re the one begging for it.”
“But what about Asher?”
“He’ll be in to eat whenever he’s done with work. Might be five minutes, could be three hours.”
“You don’t get mad when he’s late for dinner? Cooking for him when he doesn’t show up for it?”
“He’s restoring a ranch almost single-handedly. Hell no. He works full days at your family’s ranch and then comes here to hammer away at his dream. I find it both commendable and kind of incredible the way he works all the time. He literally does physical work twelve or more hours a day. Of course, I don’t get mad at him. I can’t stop admiring how amazing he is.”
He instantly understood her comment, “he literally does physical work” was a direct jab at him. No physical labor for Hunter. And further still, she admired it? Was she really glad Asher chose his ranch work over her company?
“Let me get this straight. You celebrate how he works like an insane man, going twelve or more hours every day. His job and this entire ranch takes priority over spending time with you. And yet you still come by to make him a meal he probably won’t even eat with you? Won’t he even stop for ten minutes to eat before going back out? Are you totally cool with that?”
She took a bite of the messy sandwich and wiped her lips when a little oozed out. She munched vigorous, hungry chews that were neither ladylike nor polite. He liked seeing it. She went after her food with purposefulness. That was obviously her motto in life: be real all the time. “Yes, I’m totally cool with that. I work hard too. I’m tired too. I like to be here, whether he’s here or not. I enjoy the quiet, and being away from where I live. He gets that. Though, I suppose coming in for fifteen minutes to eat would not kill him and might even restore his energy for the evening workload. I’ll mention that to him. Good idea. But if he doesn’t? Of course, I won’t mind or get mad. That’s his choice and I would never question what he chooses to do.”
Hunter sighed, chewing a mouthful and swallowing as she did. It was great to ignore the protocol of manners and napkins, and he happily wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. He hadn’t been around a woman like Kyomi, maybe never, but certainly not in all his years living in the city. “I think you should marry me, what do you say, Kyomi Wade? You aren’t jealous, you cook and don’t get mad at meals being eaten on someone else’s timeline, and you’re happy the work is getting done even at the cost of time spent with you, and oh, yeah, you never sugarcoat your thoughts or feelings, but say exactly what they are. What do you say, Kyomi? Marry me, you wonderful unicorn.”
She gave him an exaggerated eye roll and sigh. “I think you’re still drunk. You’re already married. And you could never appeal to me, so never is my answer. Only in your dreams.”
He pretended to clutch his chest as if she shot him in the heart. “Oh, you are tough. A dagger in my heart. But what is so terrible with me?”
“You reek of city.”
He laughed out loud and gave her a long look. “Okay, I’ll bite. How is that? How can you tell? Why are you so disdainful of the city?
“Your entire attitude. And your demeanor.”
“I was born a Rydell right here in the Rydell River Valley. How can you call me a city-boy?”
“Because you fled here as soon as you could. Look how you dress. Here, where there is literally no one but Asher and me to talk to. I mean, you and me are about as compatible as a pig and a horse.”
“That’s so mean. I don’t know who plays the pig in your scenario but I take offense. Pig because I’m from the city? Or pig because you’re not? Either way, no. I reject that and your honesty goes too far.”
“I thought my honesty was exactly what you wanted and the reason you’d marry me,” she sparred back instantly.
“Well, I didn’t know how hurtful you could be.”
“Hence why most people are tactful and use a filter.”
“Do you?” His eyebrows shot up.
“Always. But not with you. Somehow, you just bring the truth out of me.”
“Am I the only one who gets the full, unfiltered version of Kyomi Wade?”
She took a bite, chewed thoroughly, wiped her mouth, and took a drink of water, before she finally answered. “I think so.” Then she full-on smiled.
He paused from taking his own bite to observe the sparkle of joy that lit up her eyes, sliding her lips up and showing her teeth. It was like opening the drapes to light up a dark room. To give him a fleeting glimpse of her soul. That was far more interesting and pretty than perhaps first glance.
She started to frown as he stared. “What?” She pinched the paper napkin with her left hand.
“In the interest of sheer honesty and no filter—is that how we intend to be tog
ether? The brutal honesty thing but without even a polite filter for it?”
“Uh, I didn’t plan out a relationship with you, but sure, that works.”
“Okay, then in the interest of honesty, I was thinking you have a great smile. It transforms you. Truly lovely, Kyomi.”
Her eyebrows furrowed downwards, her mouth scowled and her head shook. “Now you’re just being a shit.”
There was something in her voice. At first, he thought she was justifiably angry, but the look that flashed in her eyes revealed a different truth; she thought he was teasing and it hurt her. Reaching across the table, he set his hand on hers, squeezing it and withdrawing it as he said, “No. I wasn’t. I was being serious. The truth thing goes both ways. You got a great smile and I can notice that, even if I’m a pig from the city.”
“I wasn’t calling you a pig. Or me. It was simply a metaphor. A way of contrasting our many differences. That’s it. Insert chicken or goat or sheep if you don’t like pig.”
“Not so different. We were both born in this valley. We both had our reasons for leaving but here we are again, right now, this evening we’re together on the lonely and lovely Reed Ranch. Enjoying Sloppy Joes—together.” He lifted his empty plate to punctuate his point. “We both like unfiltered honesty, you have a great smile and I have a great ass, we both shared those discoveries with each other, so we’re not fully and tragically different. Just enough to be interestingly different.”
She gave him a long, almost callous stare. “Is there ever a time when all this charm doesn’t work? When it unexpectedly blows up in your face?” But she did laugh as she shook her head saying that.
He nodded, his smile fading. With an honesty he rarely used, he said, “Yes. The time I last opened my bedroom door.”
Her lips parted, then closed and she nodded. “Fair enough. You deserved better. Was her lover really her stepbrother?”
“Really. He was.”
“Asher told me most of the details. It’s such a shit thing to do to anyone. I mean, they have a right to be together if they want to, but asking you to marry her if she wasn’t fully in love and committed to only you? That’s what makes her transgression so terrible.”