by Rye Hart
“Fine, fine. I got it. You need anythin’ else?”
“Yeah. Requisitions are due to Dylan today. Got yours for the feed?”
“Yep. In that folder in the corner,” I said.
“Thanks. And Wyatt?”
“Yep?”
“Treat the damn girl with some dignity. If ya gonna ask her, then be a man about it,” he said.
“Got it,” I said.
I picked up the shovel, but who the fuck was I trying to fool? I had no idea how Katie felt about me, especially after seeing her with Dylan like that. I mean, I’d just fucking pushed her against a damn tree and kissed her. Had she been pissed that I wanted to hide it from my brothers? Was her sleeping with Dylan a signal to me that she had moved on? Was I wasting my time now?
Had I ruined a good thing?
Every time I saw her, I sank a little deeper into her trap. My heart clenched a little more, and my legs got a little wobblier. I wanted her again, but not just sexually. I wanted to make her laugh and take her out to eat. I wanted to take her horseback riding and feel her hang onto my waist. I wanted to do shit with her again like we did when we were younger.
Besides that damn kiss, I hadn’t had one moment alone with her to talk or do nothing. And I didn’t know when I was going to get another moment with her. The barn phone tore right through my thoughts and made me throw my shovel off to the side.
What the fuck did they want now?”
“What?” I asked.
“Wyatt?”
“Katie? Hey there. Sorry, been a long mornin’. What’s up?” I asked.
“I’m ordering pizza for all of us for lunch. You hungry?”
“Yeah, of course. That sounds great. When ya orderin’ it?”
“Now. I’m in the breakroom takin’ everyone’s orders, but Andrew, Caleb, and Dylan all told me they won’t be ready for another hour or so. How about you?”
“I’m ready anytime you are,” I said.
“Then I’ll go ahead and order the pizza and drinks. Soda okay?”
“Always. I’ll head up there and sit with ya ‘til the pizza shows up.”
“So you can have the first slice?” she asked.
“Ya know me too well. I’ll see ya soon.”
As if the heavens above granted me my wish, I was about to get some alone time with Katie. I threw some feed into the horse’s stalls, washed my hands, then jogged my way up the hill. I tore through the resort and pushed into the breakroom, finding no one there but Katie as she hung up her cell phone.
“Put the order in. It’ll be here in thirty or so minutes,” she said. “Hopefully, the guys will remember and come around for it.”
“Well, I’m here for it,” I said as I sat next to her.
“I figured you would be. You’ve always loved pizza way more than anyone really should.”
“What kind did ya order?”
“The usual. One three meat, one extra pepperoni, and one Hawaiian.”
“With the hot sauce?” I asked.
“And loads of ranch dipping sauce,” she said with a grin.
“Oh, my mouth’s already goin’ into overdrive.”
This was my only chance to talk with her. It was the alone time I had been looking for, and I wasn’t going to squander it talking about lunch and drinks. I cleared my throat and turned toward Katie, watching as her eyes panned over to me. She looked beautiful. She was in a black pair of work pants with a bright orange blouse tucked in. It was sleeveless and showed off the soft skin of her arms I wanted to reach out and touch. She was heavenly. An angel sent by God. My heart was thundering in my chest as I drew in a deep breath, readying myself for whatever was about to come.
“Could I ask ya somethin’?”
“Of course,” Katie said. “What’s up?”
“Do you feel anythin’ for me?” I asked.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, ever since our encounter. Was that just a bit of fun, or was it somethin’ more?”
She lifted her hand up to cup my cheek, and I closed my eyes. I nuzzled into the palm of her hand, my lips turning in to kiss her skin. Fuck, she was so damn warm. I wanted to pull her into my lap and have her all to myself. I couldn't believe another one of my brothers had touched her. She was mine. All mine.
She had to be.
“I’ve always had a thing for you, Wyatt.”
“Really?” I asked.
“Yep. Ever since we were kids. With you cheering in the softball stands and everythin’.”
“Why didn’t you say anythin’?” I asked.
“Because I was gonna go off to college in the city, and I knew being with you would’ve prevented me from going.”
“I would never have let you make that decision.”
“I’m a bullheaded woman, Wyatt. You can’t control me,” she said.
“So, what does that mean for us then?” I asked.
“I don’t know. I don’t know where we go from here.”
“Katie, I—”
Shit. Was I really going to say this? Was I really going to do this now? In the damn break room of the resort?
“I’ve always loved you,” I said.
“What?” Katie asked, looking stunned.
“Ever since high school. Ever since prom. Ever since those softball games and those parties and those bonfires. You’ve been the only woman who’s ever caught my eye, and all the women I was with after you left paled in comparison. Terrible substitutes for what I really wanted.”
“Wyatt, are you serious?”
“As a heart attack. I love you, Katie. I did then, and I do now.”
Before I could think about what I was doing, I raised up from her hand and captured her lips. She whimpered into my warmth, her body leaning toward me as I cradled her closely. I felt the tip of her tongue dance along my lips, begging me for more as I opened to let her in. She tasted like coffee and doughnuts. The sweetest taste I could ever have imagined. I tilted my head to the side and deepened the kiss, feeling her body buzzing for me.
Just me.
Not Dylan.
Not Andrew.
Not even Caleb.
But I had to know. And I knew I risked everything with her by asking this question, but it was going to gnaw at me all damn night if I didn’t ask.
I had to know if she felt the same way.
“Katie?” I asked.
“Hmm?”
“Katie, look at me.”
I pushed her back, disconnecting our lips as her eyes fluttered open. Her cheeks were flushed, and her lips were swollen. She looked exotic, primed and ready for the taking. I took a few deep breaths before I dropped my hands to hers, cupping them around her soft fingers.
“Do you feel the same way?” I asked.
“You mean, do I love you, too?” Katie asked.
“Yeah. Do you? Do you feel the same way about me?”
Katie parted her lips, and I braced myself for anything that was coming. What I didn’t brace myself for was Dylan and Caleb crashing into the damn break room with lunch. What I didn’t brace for was Katie pulling her hands back away from mine as quickly as they had burst into the room.
What I didn’t brace for was the look the brothers were giving us before Katie stood up from her chair.
“I see you guys intercepted the pizza,” she said.
“Next time you wanna surprise us with lunch, use the damn company card I gave ya,” Caleb said.
“Language,” Dylan said. “Buying us lunch was very thoughtful of you, thank you.”
“Andrew joining us?” Katie asked.
“He’s filing away some things, then he’ll be here. Promise, doll,” Dylan said.
It was the way the two of them looked at each other. The way Katie smiled at his nickname for her. It was the way she went to hug Caleb, then lingered on Dylan a little too long.
She couldn’t love me the way I loved her.
Not if she could touch Dylan like that.
CHAPTER 19
With the admission Wyatt made to me in the stables, I knew I had to act quick. Caleb told me about the little talk him and Dylan interrupted over pizza a couple of days ago at lunch, and he seemed pretty convinced that Wyatt was about to ask Katie out. That meant I needed to get some alone time with her before he made his next move. Wyatt was a pussy when it came to that kinda stuff, so I knew I had a few days to try and put something together.
I saw Katie come by my office and head for our current in-house counsel’s office. She jangled her keys and unlocked the door, and I knew this was my chance. I stood up from my desk and smoothed my hands over my button-down shirt, then made my way next door to see what she was up to.
“Hey there, pretty lady,” I said with a grin.
“Morning,” she said.
“I thought ya didn’t work this mornin’?”
“I don’t, but there’s a lot of information I need to read over if I’m going to be effective in this position,” she said.
“Does Dylan know you’re in here. He’s gonna wanna pay you for your time,” I said.
“I’ll leave him a note.”
I stepped into Katie’s office and shut the door behind me. She was looking around for something, her cheeks red and her movements flustered. I walked over to her and put my hand on the small of her back, coaxing her to an upright position.
“You okay?” I asked.
“Just been a long morning already,” she said with a sigh.
“Wanna talk ‘bout it?” I asked.
“Not really. I kind of just want to bury myself in some legal paperwork for now.”
“Sounds absolutely terrible. What if I take ya out to dinner tonight? Would ya be willin’ to talk then?”
“Andrew—”
“Ya need to talk. Your life’s been a little upended, and somethin’s obviously on your mind. Lemme treat ya to dinner, and we can talk about it.”
“Okay. Sure. That sounds nice. Thanks, Andrew.”
“Not a problem. I’m gonna go tell Dylan you’re here, and I’m just next door if ya need somethin’.”
“Thanks.”
I was excited she had said yes to dinner, but I was worried about her. She really did look flustered. Had something happened? Was she thinking about Wyatt? Had he said something to her to upset her? I was going to knock his fuckin’ block off if he’d done something to upset that woman.
“Knock, knock.”
I looked up with a smile on my face and saw Caleb standing at the door.
“Ah, just the man I wanted to see,” I said.
“Well, you’re very chipper,” he said. “What gives?”
“Got a dinner date with Katie tonight,” I said with a grin. “Wanted to let ya know since that was our agreement.”
“No shit, huh? Good luck, man. Lemme know how it goes,” he said.
I furrowed my brow at his comment. He wasn’t pissed? That didn’t seem right. I mean, I wasn’t lookin’ to intentionally piss off my brother, but I knew he had a thing for Katie too. That was why we were tryin’ to sort out all this information about her and Wyatt and Dylan.
Right?
“Thanks,” I said. “Whatcha need?”
“You put out an ad online in the Charleston area for applications for our resort?” Caleb asked.
“Yep. Opened it up yesterday,” I said.
“Got any hits?”
“None that hit the minimum requirements.”
“Send ‘em over to me anyway,” he said. “I wanna start siftin’ through ‘em.”
“You know Dylan’s gonna be pissed if ya hire someone else like ya did with that housekeeper.”
“Not my fault she lied.”
“I still don’t know how you managed to not catch that, and I still don’t know why she’s workin’ here,” I said.
“‘Cause she does good work and because that’s my area of expertise so you can shut your mouth on it.”
“Jesus, touchy much? I’ll forward these applications to ya. In fact, I’ll go into the damn post and change my email address to yours.”
“Even better. Try not to act like a dick tonight,” he said.
The rest of the day went by, and I had the brightest smile on my face. I couldn't wait to get some alone time with Katie. I wanted to show her what it’d be like to be with me. I wanted to show her a good time, to set a standard of how a woman like her should be treated.
And when I ran into her after work, I was ready to get going.
“How’d your day go?” I asked.
“Good. But I’m hungry,” Katie said.
“You wanna go change, or you wanna hit the road?” I asked.
“I’m fine with what I’m wearing unless we’re going somewhere fancy.”
“Pretty lady, I don’t do fancy. I do good. Come on, I got a great place to take us.”
I offered her my arm, and she took it with a smile. I led her out to my truck and opened her door for her, then helped her get inside. I was taking us across town to her favorite barbecue joint. Best damn pork barbecue in the fuckin’ city. But Katie never got over there much because it was a pretty far haul. Thirty-five minutes if you hit all the lights. And when you coupled their barbecue with the infamous tap beer they made in-house, you didn’t want to drive thirty-five minutes anywhere after that meal.
“Oh my gosh. I haven’t been here in years,” Katie said.
“Well I hope ya ain’t got your heart set on goin’ in, ‘cause we’re gettin’ our food to go,” I said.
“Why?”
“You’ll see,” I said with a grin.
I ran in to get our food and came out with that and a six-pack of their freshly-bottled tap beer. I stuck everything in the back and pulled away from the restaurant, heading out of town toward the country.
Then I slipped my hand into Katie’s and felt her grab onto it tightly.
“Come on, Andrew. Where are we going?” she asked.
“Just be patient. I promise you’ll like it.”
And like it she did.
We pulled into the yearly bonfire taking place that night, and her jaw hit the damn floorboard of the truck. I grinned as I slid out, then grabbed the food from the backseat. I whipped around to the back of the truck and grabbed a blanket I kept stored back there, then made my way to Katie and offered her my hand.
“Come on. Let’s go,” I said.
I led her through the crowd, and we found ourselves a nice patch of grass. I spread the blanket out so the two of us could sit down, then we each dove into our food. The stars were twinkling above us like they had all those years ago, and I smiled as I watched Katie’s body relax.
“Feelin’ a little better?” I asked.
“Much.”
“What had ya so flustered this mornin’?”
“I had a conversation with the girls that kept me up is all,” she said.
“Yikes. Whitney and Lizzie? No wonder. I can only imagine what they said.”
“It wasn’t bad. Just a lot. Life’s okay for now, but eventually I’ll have to find the path I wanna be on for the rest of it, or I’ll fall behind,” she said.
“Give yourself time to breathe, Katie. It’s only been a week since your life did a whole one-eighty. Let yourself enjoy this for a bit.”
“I know, I know. I’m just overthinkin’ things.”
The two of us ate our food in relative silence as the massive fire crackled in the background. It drew everyone away from us as we gathered up our trash, and I jogged over to a trash can to get rid of it. When I got back, Katie was handing me a beer. She had a fresh one to her lips as her throat bobbed with her swallows, and my eyes couldn’t rip away from the length of her neck.
I wanted to lean in and kiss that neck.
“You know what this reminds me of?” Katie asked.
“What?” I asked.
“That bonfire senior year.”
“The one where we danced?” I asked.
“We should’ve done more than
dance, ya know.”
I felt my pelvis lurch to life as I panned my gaze over to her.
“What?” I asked.
“Oh, come on. You’ll never convince me that you didn’t know I wanted you to kiss me that night,” Katie said.
“You did?”
“Stop playing stupid. It doesn’t suit you,” she said.
“I did wanna kiss ya, you know,” I said.
Her eyes met mine as she clenched her beer between those beautiful thighs of hers.
“Then why didn’t you?” she asked.
“I was nervous,” I said. “I didn’t wanna push boundaries. You were freshly eighteen, and I was well into my twenties. Didn’t know what ya’d think if I tried.”
“What if I told you I wanted you to kiss me now?”
My eyes fluttered down her body as she turned herself toward me. She sat up on her knees, the distant light of the fire dancing along her curves. She looked splendid. Her orange blouse was dripping with shadows that cast a voluptuous slope over her breasts. Her dainty waist was calling to my palms, and her black pants were draped over hips I wanted to feel against my body. I brought my beer to my lips and drained the rest of it, debating between taking my chance and being mindful of my brothers.
But I wanted her.
Just like I’d wanted her that night.
I set my empty beer bottle off to the side before I plucked hers from her fingertips. I tossed it onto the ground, listening as the beer poured out onto the soil. I grasped her waist and pulled her down into my lap, a little squeal falling from between her lips. I gripped her chin between my fingers and forced her to look at me, then I guided her lips slowly to mine.
They were soft and supple, like pillows on clouds that drifted through the sky. I wrapped my arm around her back and parted my legs, allowing her round ass to sink between them. She wrapped her arms around my neck, our tongues slowly exploring the other as fire coursed through my veins.
But then, Katie leaned up and straddled my lap.
CHAPTER 20
KATIE
Andrew’s hands rushed up my back, but his tongue kept a languid pace. I could hear everyone off in the distance enjoying the fire, but the two of us were alone in the field. The stars above us were twinkling like wildfire as Andrew’s hands pulled my blouse from my pants. His movements were so slow, and his skin felt electric against mine. I didn’t think he was ever going to start taking my clothes off, but he did.