by Jillian Neal
“Josh is in uniform so I’m gonna go ahead and assume he’s still a cop. Did you forget cops are bad in this particular situation we’ve got going on? There’s a blanket in the backseat. Duck down and get under it. I can talk my way outta this.”
“Yeah, because hiding from the cops always works.” She rolled her eyes. “Sorry, cowboy, this time I’m saving both of our asses. Roll your window down.”
“Who is this guy, Kaitlyn?”
“He was my brother’s best friend.”
“Sir, are you aware a vehicle matching this description was involved in an accident outside the country club this afternoon?” Josh spoke before he stepped fully into view, and he knew far more than Grant would’ve guessed.
“Josh,” Kaitlyn leaned across Grant’s lap. “Please, for me, just don’t tell him you saw us.”
“Kit-kat? Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. I couldn’t marry Seth. I just couldn’t. For me, please. For Keith, just don’t tell daddy you saw us. I … need to get away from here. Please. I can’t do this anymore.”
“Who is this guy? Does your dad know him?” Josh thrust his finger in Grant’s face.
Grant promptly moved his arm.
Fury flared in the cop’s eyes. “Kaitlyn, get out of the truck.”
“She ain’t going anywhere with you,” Grant countered.
“Josh, please. I am better than I’ve been in years. If you take me in, Daddy will get his way. Seth will get his way. Keith wouldn’t have turned me in. He would’ve helped me get away. You know he would’ve. Please help me. You’d be my hero.” She played the bastard like a fiddle. Grant hid his grin.
He noted Josh’s expression falter. Consideration eased the tense set of his shoulders and his right hand moved away from his holster.
“So, you are running away then?”
“I don’t know. Maybe. Seth is impossible and you know it. Daddy’s no better. I gave up everything when … well when I had to come back from New York. Just this once let me have this.”
“Where is he taking you?”
“I’m not going to tell you that because I don’t want you to get into trouble if this all blows up in my face, but I promise it’s better than here. Anywhere is better than going back to that mausoleum I’ve been living in.”
Well, damn. Girl was vehement when she wanted something. Clearly what she wanted was to go with him. Still couldn’t quite figure out who Keith was or what she was talking about with the mausoleum.
“Sophie knows I’m okay and that I’m running away for a little while,” Kaitlyn continued to plead.
“She does? Was she okay with it?”
“It was her idea. I swear, Josh. Call her, or go by her house. She’d like that.”
“She would?”
Grant’s brow furrowed. He was exhausted and it took him a minute to understand that Josh had a thing for Kaitlyn’s sister. Well now, wasn’t that useful information?
“Yes. And the two of you can help me. Call my cell phone when Daddy calms down and makes Seth drop the charges against me. It would mean so much to me.”
“You’re sure you’re safe? He isn’t taking you against your will? I’ll keep you safe, Kit-kat. Always. You know that. I could rescue you.”
Scratch that. Maybe it was Kaitlyn Josh had a thing for. Grant huffed out his indignation at the very idea. Jealousy slithered over his skin and took up residence in his muscles. “If you think for one blasted minute that I’m gonna let her go anywhere near you …”
Kaitlyn’s hand landed softly on his chest. It distracted him from his fury. Hell, the girl’s smile would distract the devil himself. “It’s okay. He has to check. Don’t you think if I didn’t want to be right where I’m sitting I would be clawing and scratching and screaming to get away?”
“Few years ago I’d agree with you, but I don’t know about now. You lost your fight when Keith died.”
Kaitlyn’s eyes closed as if they could dam back the words Josh had just spoken.
After an audible breath she blinked and stared Josh down. “My fight is back. I’m right where I want to be. I just need to get out of Lincoln. Please. I’m begging you.”
“All right, fine,” Josh sighed. “But listen to me. Your dad lost his shit when we found your car. He scraped your front fender himself and we got a tiny bit of the metal off this guy’s truck hitch. He drove out to the lab and paced outside for hours while they ran it under his orders. Made them push every other case they were working on aside. He was like a man possessed. He loves you, but you know how he gets. So, everyone is out looking for a 2017 GMC Sierra 2500 with a custom Curt hitch. Nice truck, by the way,” he offered Grant.
Grant gave him a single nod. He didn’t like this guy, and he wanted him far, far away from Kaitlyn. But he wasn’t above using the idiot either. “So, how the hell do I get her away from here? I stuck to the interstate because I figured there was storm damage on the backroads.”
“Yeah, there is. It stayed away from the main streets in Lincoln. I called in when I pulled you over. I had to. It’s the rules.”
“I ain’t ever been big on rules,” Grant explained.
“Yeah, you have that look about you. I’ll tell him it wasn’t your truck and spin something about seeing another truck matching the description heading the other way. That’ll buy you a little time. I don’t know how far you’re going, but if you’re staying west, 1st Street is clear. Maybe take it to Rosa Parks and cut across 77. The interstate isn’t a good place to be.”
“Nice try, but I ain’t telling you how far we’re going or if we’re staying west.”
“Grant,” Kaitlyn huffed. “He’s helping us.”
Grant offered her another grunt.
“You know, I could take both of you in now. I’m not sure you can take care of her.”
“I much prefer to prove my intentions than to argue about them. Much as I might agree that she needs someone lookin’ after her, I think every single shitlicker in her life, yourself included, needs to realize that she ain’t a little girl anymore. She’s more than capable of seeing about herself and doing whatever the hell she wants to do. Now, I’d be much obliged if you’d go get back in your car so we can leave. We got places to be. Places you ain’t.”
“Kit-kat, are you sure about him? I got a bad feeling. Does he know you can’t hear well?”
“I’m sure, Josh. More sure now than I was five minutes ago. I’m fine. I’ll come back when Daddy calms down.”
Grant wondered what he’d said that had elicited her claim of trust, and what the hell was all that about her hearing?
“Just be safe, Kit-kat. Call me if you need me. I’ll come anywhere to rescue you.”
“I know you would, but I’m going to be okay.”
“You could’ve been nice to him. He doesn’t even know you,” Kaitlyn smarted. Irritation kept her on edge. Stupid, stubborn cowboy could’ve ruined everything being a jackass. Seth desperately wanted to be someone’s hero. He had since he was a little boy. With a deep breath, she reminded herself that the stubborn cowboy was rescuing her.
“You aware he’s got a thang for you? I just told you we got something going on. I don’t share.”
“He has a thing for my sister. He always has, just like he’s always looked out for me. I told you he was my brother’s best friend. You didn’t have to be a jerk.”
“So, Keith was your brother.”
“Yes.”
“I’m sorry, sweetheart.”
“You’re sorry he was my brother?”
“God, no. I’m sorry for whatever happened that made it so we keep having to use the word was instead of is.”
The sadness Kaitlyn had fought so hard to keep at bay nipped at her heels. She wasn’t going to be able to escape it much longer, not if they kept talking about Keith. “You should get off the interstate like Josh told you. He wouldn’t lie to me.”
She noted a single nod from Grant in the passing flashes of car lights. It was distinctly od
d to have driven away from downed trees, roofs ripped from their structures, destruction on every side and to now be on a road that appeared never to have seen the tornado. Just a few miles the other way lay havoc and ruin. Grant kept the truck moving quickly the opposite direction.
“That’s gonna add another hour to our trip, but it’s fine. I got two sisters myself. Got two brothers, too. Most of the time growing up we’d fuss, and fight, and try to get each other in trouble. But let me tell you something, anybody else ever did anything to any one of ‘em, I’d clobber ‘em good. And if you messed with my baby sisters, God himself couldn’t save you. I know your brother loved you like that, too. It’s an automatic thing.”
No. No, they were not going to have this conversation. Swallowing down the pain for what had to have been the thousandth time in the last few years, she nodded. “He did.”
Seeming to sense that she couldn’t bear to talk about Keith anymore, Grant squeezed her hand. He’d placed it in his own as soon as he’d started driving again. “You’ll get to meet all of ‘em when we get to the ranch. We all run it together.”
Kaitlyn had been aware her entire life that just outside of Lincoln, thirty miles west, just beyond the borders of the life she’d been instructed to live, there was a great deal of corn and a great deal of cattle. It just hadn’t been part of her existence. “I don’t know anything about cows or ranches or anything. You don’t all live in the same house, do you?”
That elicited another one of those chuckles that she swore she would remember for as long as she lived. It soothed her. She wished she could have the chance to hear him talk and laugh with both ears. The sounds pervaded the marrow of her bones. She longed to lay in his lap and just listen to him talk.
“Hell no, sugar. It’s a big ranch. Bigger than I figure you can imagine ‘til you see it. You could get lost out there, and if we ain’t got cattle out in a nearby pasture we wouldn’t find you for days. I moved out into the house on the land that’s mine when I was seventeen.”
“You figure if you keep talking to me about your life I’ll eventually tell you about mine?” Kaitlyn knew what he was up to. Her temptation to do just what he wanted grew with every word he spoke. Why did he have to be so easy to talk to?
“Figured that was preferable to me demanding you talk. I’ll get demanding later, after we get to know each other a little better.”
Heat fluttered in her abdomen. Her nipples tightened against the slight bra she was wearing. The UN t-shirt she’d put back on was tight against her and did nothing to conceal her cleavage. Why did the very idea of him making demands sound so utterly appealing?
“Cold, peaches?” He turned up the heat in the truck, but the cocky smirk on his face and arrogance in his tone had her crossing her arms over her chest. She didn’t require any more heat. There was enough to charge the sun currently residing in her cheeks. And he knew it.
“You just notice everything, don’t you?”
“See, that’s another reason I call you peaches. When I say something that makes you blush you turn that cute shade of pink and orange and all of them freckles glow. Makes me damned hungry.”
“Would you shut up and just tell me why you moved out when you were seventeen or whatever you were talking about?”
“Well, I can’t really shut up and tell you why I moved out now, can I? And I hadn’t finished answering your first question.”
“Which question was that?” The way he kept her constantly off balance juxtaposed with the calm steady feeling she felt when she was holding his hand made no sense. What was he doing to her? No one had ever had this effect.
“You asked me if I noticed everything, and the answer to that is if it’s about you, hell yeah, I do. Never doubt for a moment, sweetness, that I intend to learn every single thing there is to know about you. What makes you smile, what makes you laugh, and most importantly what makes you moan. This whole manure pile with your daddy and your ex might keep me distracted for a minute, but soon as I know you’re safe, we’re gon’ spend a whole lot of time getting to know each other.”
“I don’t suppose after what happened on your grandfather’s couch I could really pretend I’m not interested in all of that.”
Another grunt preceded him easing his hand out of hers so he could squeeze her thigh. Higher. More. She shook herself again. Now was not the time to let him distract her so thoroughly. Apparently, she was going to get to stay with him for the next few days. He could distract her all he wanted then.
“You can suppose anything you want, sugar. I never mind working hard for what I want. You can give chase. I’ll sure as hell catch ya.”
Refusing to give him any other indication besides her nipples—which were practically standing at attention and saluting him—that he was affecting her, she tried to remember what they’d been discussing. Anything but Keith’s death was fine by her. “So, you were saying you moved out when you were seventeen.”
“We still playing that game? All right, I’ll allow it for a little while. Mom and Dad’s rule was you could move out of their house when you either had a degree or were running your own herds. I sure as hell wasn’t getting a degree. Got caught with Macey Davidson in my bedroom. Got mad and mouthed off to my old man. My daddy’s ‘bout as even-keeled as any man could possibly be, but you don’t get mouthy with him. After a week of him working my ass harder than I’d ever worked, I decided I didn’t need him and Mama nosing in my business no more. I figured I was smarter than Mama and Daddy combined. Hell, I figured I was smarter than Jesus Christ himself.
“Hellbent on moving out, I told Daddy I wanted some of my money out of the family ranch business trust. He let me go on thinking I was a genius and buying cheap stock in the fall which is ‘bout the dumbest-ass thing any rancher living in Nebraska could possibly do.”
“Why?” Kaitlyn was genuinely fascinated. Deciding to contemplate why she was interested in cattle all of a sudden much later, she tried to guess what the explanation might be.
He turned to stare at her. His brow furrowed. “You really want to know that?”
“Yes. I like learning things. I was stuck at UN getting a law degree I didn’t want, bored out of my mind. This is interesting.”
Seeming pleased at that, he gave her another one of those panty-melting half grins. “Well, you gotta figure out how to feed ‘em all winter. There ain’t no grass to eat, and Dad and Luke, that’s my big brother, owned all the hay from the ranch since they’d worked the hay all summer. Meaning I had to buy hay and feed on top of what I’d spent on the stock. For about a week living in my own house, I thought I had it made. That was the week before the first snow. When I ran outta money, Dad saved my sorry ass. Shame’s a real good teacher. Take it from me. He supplied the feed and the hay, but I had to do all the work. Also had to keep up the house I’d taken possession of. The one that had no furniture. Turns out a sleeping bag ain’t all that great for long term usage. But I ‘spose I learned my lesson. Mama finally took pity on me and fed me meals again.”
“Macey Davidson must’ve been some girl.” Kaitlyn couldn’t believe she was giggling. Another layer of the shield she’d erected around herself the day Keith died fell away as they drove further out of Lincoln. Teasing him felt so good. Almost as good as flirting with him had. But nothing felt as good as being in his arms. She willed the miles to go by quickly.
His warm laughter filled the cab of the truck. “She’s married to Trenton Weber now. They got like five kids of their own. I swear to you, I have no idea what it was about getting caught with her that drove me to pure idiocy. I can’t hardly stand to be around her when I see her and Trent in town. God, she bitches ‘bout everything. Women are nothing but trouble.”
Chapter Eleven
Having no clue as to why he just kept right on talking other than that smile that brought out that sweet little dimple in her left cheek when she looked at him, Grant sighed. “Like I said, I learned my lesson. Had to drop outta school few months ‘fore graduation b
ecause I refused to admit I couldn’t do it all and ask if I could move back in with mom and dad. They would’a let me, but I’m sure you’ve noticed I’m kinda stubborn.”
“I might’ve noticed that,” Kaitlyn assured him with another one of those dimpled grins. “I can’t believe your parents let you drop out of high school.” She continually spun her curls around her index finger over and over. Grant changed his mind on it being a nervous habit. Maybe she also did it when she was thinking.
He shrugged. Dropping out wasn’t something he was proud of. He still couldn’t figure why he’d up and admitted that to her. He hadn’t even thought about it in years. “Ranching’s probably easier with some business learnin’, but it can be done without it. Camdens have been ranching since before the Civil War, so it wasn’t like I didn’t have people who could tell me what to do if I didn’t know. And I did know. I’d been on horseback since I was weaned. I’d just gotten impatient to get out of the house. Deep down I knew I was setting myself up for heartbreak. Ranching’s a crap-shoot, even with the odds in your favor. But most important rule of thumb is to be patient, and work hard, and let things work out. Never take nothing for granted ‘cause it might not be there tomorrow.”
“At least you got to do what you wanted.”
And once again Miss Kaitlyn spoke volumes in just a few words. There was still so much he wanted to ask, but she’d clearly been burned and clammed up every time he touched on something raw. But he wasn’t going to let her off the hook either. He considered his words. She didn’t want to talk about the past. That was more than obvious. Didn’t take a genius to figure that the past held all of her pain. Besides, he was much more interested in her present and in their future.
“And what do you want, Katy Belle?”
“Ka-ty Belle?” She sounded appalled.
“I’m trying out a few different things. Josh gets to call you Kit-kat. I want to give you a name, too.”