“No, it’s just—” She stopped abruptly and he glanced over to see her bite her lip. “I was just thinking about Claire and Cole.”
He frowned at the road. “What about them?”
“I was thinking about their kind offer for me to stay for their wedding.”
Dax’s heart leapt with excitement. He would have more time with her. Of course, it would still have to end at some point but he couldn’t worry about that now.
“I’ve been thinking,” she said slowly. “That I think I’d better go back on Monday, as planned.”
His heart fell with a thud into the pit of his stomach. He gripped the steering wheel so hard it hurt, just like every other part of his body. “Oh.”
That was all he could manage. He didn’t trust himself to say more. If he did he might do something crazy…like beg.
She reached out and one of her hands covered his on the steering wheel. “It’s not that I’m not enjoying myself here…”
When her voice trailed off he glanced over and saw that her mouth was pinched and the soft skin around her eyes looked strained. She looked miserable. Had he done that?
But they’d been having such a great time. This connection—she felt it too, he knew she did.
“But?” he prompted.
Her hand fell from his and he felt the loss of her heat keenly. It was as if she’d severed their connection with that gesture. Or rather, it was like she was refusing what he had to offer.
He was being silly and he knew it, but he couldn’t seem to stop this flood of feeling.
When she spoke again her voice was soft, vulnerable.
It just about broke his heart.
“But,” she said quietly. “It’s going to be hard to leave here and staying will only make it harder.”
He bit back every protest that wanted to come out of his mouth. She was right. He knew she was right.
It might be crazy yet there was something real here…but it was untenable. There was no future in it. And much as he loved the idea of her staying for another week, he knew she was right. What would be the point in the long run? They might have some fun for a week but it would be overshadowed with the knowledge that it was coming to an end.
His chest already ached mercilessly at the thought of her leaving in…he mentally tallied the hours…thirty-something hours. How much worse would that pain be if they had an even stronger connection?
Heck, if one day in her company had him thinking thoughts of love, he wouldn’t be surprised if he found himself proposing after a week.
And would that be so bad? A little voice nagged at him and much as he tried to set it aside, he couldn’t. How would it work? Physically, mentally, emotionally—they lived different lives in different worlds. He couldn’t ask her to give up everything and move to the Twilight Ranch to be with him, and he had a legacy to uphold, a family to provide for. He had too many responsibilities to take off to Los Angeles, even if he did have any desire to live in a city.
Those logical arguments kept him quiet. His protests remained unspoken and the silence in the truck grew heavy with unspoken words.
When they finally came to a stop by the guest house, he opened his door to help her out but she was too quick.
“I’ve got it,” she said, already one leg out the door and shimmying down as if she were wearing jeans and a T-shirt, and not a form-fitting dress and heels.
He didn’t want the night to end like this. This day shouldn’t end like this. Too much had happened between them. This feeling was too strong.
She paused with the truck door ajar and opened her mouth as if she had something to say. But then she clamped it shut. “Goodnight, Dax. Thanks for a great night.”
She closed the truck door and started walking toward the house, but something in him could not let it end like this. He couldn’t watch her walk away. She was hurting and he didn’t know why.
Well, he did know why and he hurt too. But something had changed in her and it had happened abruptly.
He couldn’t let the night end like this.
“Wait.” He hurried out of the truck and raced after her. She heard him coming and stopped just in front of the guest house door.
When she turned she wore a rueful smile, but he saw the hint of sadness she couldn’t quite disguise. “Don’t tell me. You believe in walking a girl to her door at the end of the night?”
He smiled despite the uncomfortable feeling that something was wrong. That an opportunity was slipping through his fingers.
That the love of his life was getting away.
He slowed his stride and came to a stop in front of her. So close he saw her shiver and slipped off his jacket and used it to cover her shoulders. She’d brought a light wrap but it did little now that the wind was picking up.
She looked up at him and the emotions in her eyes were nearly his undoing. She looked just as confused as he felt. He saw the same jumble of emotions that he was sorting through.
Did he see love?
He wasn’t sure. He hoped so. But then, what good would that do? Then they would both be brokenhearted when she left.
Unless there was another way…
He pushed that thought aside for another time. For now, he needed to make things right. At the very least, he needed to make sure she knew how he felt. He didn’t know why it was so crucial, but it was.
She might still walk away from him in thirty-odd hours, but he’d be damned if he let her walk out of his life without showing her exactly what she’d come to mean to him in such a short amount of time.
She’d breathed life into his world. She’d opened his eyes to the magical mystery that was love. She’d made him see his own life with different eyes.
He reached out and cupped her face between his palms.
“You coming into my life has been nothing short of a miracle,” he said.
She widened her eyes at his gruff tone and all the emotions there that he didn’t try to hide. Then her lips parted in a brilliant smile and her voice filled with laughter. “I suppose you didn’t expect a miracle when you met me on the plane.”
He laughed and leaned down closer, relishing her floral scent and the soft warmth of her skin beneath his hands. “Now that’s the truth.” He grinned. “I expected you would be a pain in the butt.”
She laughed and so did he. Some of that tension eased between them and he was grateful he’d gotten out of the truck. “I know you have to leave,” he said softly. “And I understand why you don’t want to stick around longer than necessary.”
“You do?” she breathed.
He nodded before dropping his head so his forehead rested against hers. The truth came tumbling out. “But I hate it.”
He heard her sad smile in her voice. “Yeah. I hate it too.”
He took one last deep breath, taking in every precious moment. Then he lifted his head and met her gaze. “Goodnight, Katy Hunter.”
She smiled, her eyes filled with a bittersweet sadness. “Goodnight, Dax Deckland.”
He leaned down and kissed her, her lips parting beneath his as naturally as if they did this every morning, noon, and night.
The sweetness of it was perfection. If he could have stopped time he would. He would have lived in that moment for eternity if that were allowed.
But the moment ended and despite the fact that she had sighed and leaned against him, meeting his lips with the same fevered passion, he pulled away. She clearly needed some space tonight and maybe he did too.
It wasn’t every day one went and fell in love.
In fact this was the first time, and something told him it very well might be his last.
Chapter Twelve
Katy still felt that kiss the next morning as she sat at the little breakfast nook table in the guest house with Alice, poring over all the information Alice had brought her. They both sipped their coffees and Katy did her best to concentrate, despite the fact that her mind kept wandering back to the night before.
And that kis
s.
That kiss kept stealing the show.
“Katy?” Alice nudged her gently and that was how she discovered she’d been staring off into space.
“Sorry.” She gave her head a little shake. “I guess I didn’t sleep all that well last night.”
Alice’s smile was understanding. “Do you want to take a break. We can discuss all this later if—”
“No, no.” Katy shook her head. No amount of napping would help right now, though it was true that she needed more sleep.
But who could sleep after a day like yesterday? So much had happened and her emotions had gone into a tailspin trying to sort themselves out. All night she’d tossed and turned, replaying things they’d said, what Dax had said, how she’d responded.
It was stupid, really, since in the long run none of it would matter. She rubbed at her throbbing temple as she reminded herself yet again that she’d be gone tomorrow. After that this would all be a memory—a distant, sweet memory.
She cringed as her stress headache grew worse. Yeah, that thought definitely wasn’t helping.
Alice’s hand reached out and covered hers. “Are you sure you’re all right?”
No! She forced a nod. Because really, how could she explain to Dax’s little sister that after spending a grand total of twenty-four hours with him, she’d a) fallen head over heels and b) gone insane with jealousy over Ellen, quite possibly the nicest woman on the planet.
Oh, it wasn’t like she wanted to claw Ellen’s eyes out or anything. She was just jealous, plain and simple. Jealous for the life the cute redhead could have with Dax that she could not.
And yes, she was jumping to assumptions. Maybe the two of them would never get together. But they could, and that’s what was making her head feel like it was in a vice this morning.
It would never have occurred to her to be jealous if it hadn’t been for that Deputy Leo guy. He’d been nice, but his words… Oh, his words. She wondered if he had any idea how they’d haunted her all night. She had half a mind to call up the nice deputy and chew him out.
It had all started harmlessly enough when he’d sidled up to her and introduced himself. They made some polite chit-chat and then he’d gotten this low, knowing tone as he’d asked her if she was there with Dax.
Which, of course she was. The entire town had been watching them and Dax hadn’t exactly tried to hide the fact that he was holding her hand and fussing over her with that blanket. So she’d nodded and his grin had grown as his gaze had turned to Dax and Ellen, who had their heads together as they talked in private.
She was not a jealous woman by nature and she didn’t think anything of it, until Leo said, “That’s great news for me.”
“How so?” she’d asked.
“If Dax is with you, that means maybe someone else will have a shot with Ellen.”
He might as well have set off fireworks at her feet. Her whole world had burst into flames of crazy, irrational jealousy as she continued to watch them together. She saw the way Ellen touched his arm, the thoughtful look on his face.
They looked so easy together, so comfortable.
She’d assumed because they were friends but what if… Oh, what if?
Leo had continued to talk as if he hadn’t just thrown a grenade into her perfect little bubble. And now today, her body was still suffering the aftereffects of that explosion.
She couldn’t sleep, she couldn’t eat…Her whole body was in chaos over this man and she couldn’t decide whether she wanted to book an earlier flight and run away as fast as she could, or if she wanted to drag her feet and torture herself with more heated glances and thoughts of what could have been.
For the millionth time she found herself mentally cursing that charming deputy. He was the one who’d spoiled her perfect night. She’d been caught up in a magical bubble of giddy perfection. Really, could he have planned a better night? Dinner had been a revelation—the conversation had ranged from easy, fun small talk to intimate bonding. She hadn’t realized she could feel so close to someone so quickly.
That had never happened to her before. But then, she’d also never fallen head over heels in an instant either. She stared down into her cup of coffee as if life’s answers might be found there.
If this truly was love, then she felt certain she could say this had never happened to her before. This was new and it was…well, it was terrifying. It was too overwhelming and she had no idea what to do about it.
What do you mean, what are you going to do about it? a voice of reason nagged. You’re going to get on a plane, return to your normal life, and forget all about Dax Deckland.
She accidentally let out a scoffing noise. Yeah, right. As if it would be that easy.
Katy heard Alice shifting beside her, probably concerned that her client was acting insane when they were just supposed to be going over possible seating arrangements and crunching some numbers.
Maybe she could ask Alice about what that deputy had said…
She glanced up and saw Alice’s frown of concern. Oh, what the heck. It wasn’t like she had a lot of pride left to protect at this particular moment.
She cleared her throat. “If this is too weird to talk about, feel free to ignore the question.”
Alice widened her eyes in obvious surprise. “Okay.” She drawled the word like Dax had a tendency to do and even that reminder of the hottie cowboy was enough to make her heart hurt.
She cleared her throat once more and shifted in her seat. Mercy, this was hard. She felt ridiculous bringing it up. This was stupid. She wasn’t in junior high anymore and—
“Is Dax into Ellen?”
Alice stared at her for a moment in surprise. Then her nose scrunched up in confusion. “Ellen Rhinebeck?”
Before she could answer, Alice was shaking her head and Katy slumped over the table in instant, and absolutely ridiculous relief.
“No, of course not. They’re just friends,” Alice said.
She should not feel this giddy. It was so stupid. She knew that rationally, but reason had taken a backseat to insanity ever since she’d arrived in this state.
She nodded, trying to play it cool. Alice was clearly not fooled. She leaned forward again so Katy was forced to look at her. “Hey,” she said. “I don’t know where you got this idea in your head, but trust me—I have never seen Dax look at anyone the way he looks at you.”
The words brought stupid tears to her eyes—the stupidest part? She didn’t know if they were tears of happiness or sadness. Or maybe both.
Alice frowned at her. “Seriously, why would you even think that? Those two have been friends for ages, but that’s it. Just friends.”
Katy nodded. She believed her. It was the impression she’d gotten too. “Thanks. Deputy Leo had said—”
“Ugh.” Alice’s loud groan cut her off. With a smile of amusement she shook her head. “Don’t listen to Leo. I love that guy but he has an ego the size of Alaska. He can never understand when a woman isn’t into him. He probably hit on Ellen once and when she wasn’t into him, he blamed Dax.”
“Oh.” She wasn’t sure what else to say to that. It sounded reasonable enough, and now she just felt that much more ridiculous for believing him.
Not to mention, she was an idiot of the highest caliber for caring so much in the first place. What was she going to do? Set up an electric fence around Dax so no other woman could go near him after she left?
Of course not.
And that…that was the crux of the matter.
Alice sighed. “What is it now?”
Katy glanced up in question and saw Alice’s knowing smile. “You’d perked up for a bit there but all of a sudden you got this look on your face as though someone just told you Santa Clause doesn’t exist.”
Katy let out a short laugh despite herself. “Am I that obvious?”
Alice nodded. “Yeah, you’re pretty much an open book.”
Katy stirred the spoon in her coffee even though the sugar had long since dissolved
.
“Look, I know he’s my brother and all, but you can talk to me,” Alice said. She gestured toward the pamphlets and spreadsheets on the table. “Just consider it one of the many perks we offer here at the Twilight Guest Ranch.”
Katy found herself laughing despite her miserable state. “I already told your brother, you should think about putting that in your brochures. Therapy included. That could be your niche.”
Alice laughed. “Brilliant!” Then she grew serious and her empathetic expression almost made Katy tear up all over again. “It’s obvious there’s some sort of connection between you and my brother…” she prompted.
Katy nodded. There was no denying that much. “There is a connection.”
Alice arched her brows, clearly looking for more. “And I’ve assured you that there’s no one else in his life. There hasn’t been for ages, honestly.” She shrugged. “So what’s the problem?”
Oh Alice. Oh, sweet, young, optimistic Alice. She swallowed down a sigh. “The problem is, we live in two different worlds.”
“Ah,” Alice said, sounding so much wiser than her years. “I figured as much. But if this is serious between you two, maybe there’s a way—”
She stopped when Katy shook her head. No, she wouldn’t even go down that path. Everything in her rebelled at the idea. Hadn’t she spent the better part of her adulthood forging her own path, making sure she didn’t compromise or settle for a man?
There was no way she would give up her hard-earned success, the business she’d worked so hard to build. No way. It wasn’t an option.
Oh no. There they were again. The dreaded tears she’d been fighting all night and all morning. Much as she knew she was right, her tear ducts had zero interest in logic.
She shook her head. “I’m sorry, I’m being so silly.”
Alice immediately interjected. “You’re not—”
“I am.” And she was. There was no doubt about that. “I shouldn’t be getting jealous over Ellen. It’s so stupid. Dax is free to date whomever he wishes.”
Alice frowned. “But he clearly wants to date you.”
Steel Toes & Stilettos (Sweet & Rugged in Montana Book 2) Page 12