He let out a little sigh as his hand dropped. His gaze never left hers as he said, “I liked you and I thought you liked me.”
Her brows drew down as she frowned. “I did like you.”
I do like you. She swallowed those words down. Not the time. Not the place.
Not the guy.
He was not the guy for her, and he was definitely not part of the plan.
He gave her a hint of a smile and for the first time since she’d met him, she saw beyond that confident exterior to something shockingly vulnerable. “Good. But what I meant was…” He took a deep breath. “Last night I thought you might like me back, and I knew you didn’t know who I was, just what I was.”
“A hottie.” She clamped her lips shut. Oh no. Did that really just slip out of her mouth?
His shocked laugh came out in a short burst and she found herself smiling sheepishly in response. “That’s not what I meant,” he said. “But thank you.”
“No, thank you,” she said, her tone teasing. Joking she could do.
“What I meant was, you didn’t see me as Bryce Dalton, with all that entails—”
“Money, power, and a Fortune 500 company with your name on it?”
He let out a long breath. “Exactly.”
“I see.” And she did. Just like that, what he was trying to say became clear. He’d gotten used to women liking him for other reasons—well, she highly doubted women were repulsed by his looks, but she could imagine that it would be hard to tell who liked you for what when one had not only good looks, but money and power to boot.
Gosh, life was so tough for people who had it all.
She knew better than to crack that joke. Something told her he was a tad sensitive on the subject and she knew better than anyone that being liked for the wrong reasons wasn’t fun.
“So,” she said, letting out a sigh that matched his. “You’re really trying to get out of this with the poor-little-rich-boy act, huh?” She said it laughingly, without a hint of malice and it had the desired effect of lightening the mood, along with his demeanor.
He lost that sad, puppy dog vulnerability that had made it impossible not to feel something in return. His sincerity had demanded reciprocation, which she resented. But now… well, now they were back on even footing.
This she could do.
“So, here’s the thing,” she said, moving toward him slightly so she was no longer out of reach. “I still like you for a bunch of reasons except for the fact that you’re Bryce Dalton, big man on campus.” Lowering her voice by several octaves, she’d done her best movie trailer voiceover impersonation when she said his name and made-up title.
“Oh yeah?”
She nodded. “Yeah.”
He tucked his hands into his pockets again and her heart did a weird little tug at the totally sincere boyish grin that lit his face.
Gah! It was hard enough to resist this guy when he was all manly lumberjack, but this boyish excitement because she’d admitted to liking him? It was like some two-pronged attack on her heart.
“So then,” he said, his voice unbearably sexy. “Where does that leave us?”
She blinked herself out of the daze that bass voice of his had sent her into. “Nowhere.”
It was his turn to blink now, and his smile faded fast. “What?”
She shrugged, her legs shaky as she backed away. “I’m sorry. I mean, I appreciate what you said—”
“But you said you like me too.” His frown was sudden and intense.
Kat made a mental note never to get on this guy’s bad side. Between the way he’d handled Todd and this frown, she had a feeling that despite his laid-back demeanor and his easy charm, he would be an intimidating and formidable foe.
Which meant she had to handle this with more tact than she was currently exuding. She licked her lips.
Mistake.
His gaze dropped to follow the movement and she froze as she felt the full weight of his stare on her mouth.
For a second she could have sworn she felt his gaze as surely as if he’d run his thumb over her lips.
“I like you,” he said slowly. “And you like me.”
“Correct.” She resisted the urge to backpedal again. It might feel like he had some sort of gravitational pull, but that was obviously just in her head. And she didn’t fear this guy…
She just…feared this guy.
But not like that.
She couldn’t exactly explain why he set her pulse racing, but it wasn’t because she feared he would accost her or hurt her in any way.
No, this fear he stirred was something else, and she wasn’t quite ready to face it. There would be a long plane ride and countless hours home alone in her apartment to sort through this particular neurosis.
He crossed his arms and his gaze held an undeniable challenge. “I don’t get it.”
She shrugged. “What’s so difficult to understand? We might like each other, but that doesn’t change the fact that you are…you. And I am…me.”
His steady gaze and answering silence seemed to echo her words back to her. She could feel an unpleasant warmth creeping up her cheeks. Of all the times to lose her way with words. And I am me? Really, Kat? That’s the best you’ve got?
She cleared her throat and tried again. “Look, I’m heading back to New York in…” She did a mental tally. “Twenty-two hours and twenty minutes.”
He arched a brow.
“I may be counting down.”
His lips quirked up and her belly dove down. Goodness, he ought to give some kind of warning before he smirked like that.
“I do leave Montana on occasion, you know.” Amusement laced his voice, and she had the distinct impression that he was laughing at her.
Of course he came to New York. One did not run a Fortune 500 company entirely from the backwoods of Montana.
She assumed.
Truth be told, she had no idea what his job actually entailed.
He arched a brow. “Next argument.”
She gave a huff that was part exasperation and part amusement. “You’re stubborn.”
“And you’re delaying.”
“Delaying what?”
He took a step toward her. “The inevitable.”
She retreated two steps as her heart burst into a Calypso beat that was not of her choosing.
Oh dear.
She stepped behind a stuffed chair and used it as a shield. “I told you last night. I don’t do romance.”
“Never?” Confusion had his brow creasing.
She shrugged helplessly. “Not now.”
She tried not to cringe as he eyed her, fully aware of how bizarre that must sound. “There will be a time and a place for it.” Nope. That didn’t sound much better.
“So you don’t date,” he said.
“No.”
There was that stare again, but it was impossible to read. She couldn’t tell what he was thinking so that had her blurting out random information about her life. “I tried it in college.”
“A relationship,” he confirmed.
“Yes.”
“And you…didn’t like it?”
She shrugged. “It was…okay.”
His lips twitched and she shifted defensively. Of course he thought she was such a freak. Her friends did, why shouldn’t he?
“Relationships are a distraction. They have their uses, of course—”
“Of course.”
She narrowed her eyes. He was teasing her. She let out a long exhale. Had she really thought he wouldn’t? At least he wasn’t being cruel about it. He seemed amused, but he wasn’t outright mocking.
“But there’s a time and a place for them.”
He tilted his head to the side. “And you think you can control the time and the place.
She waited for him to give her grief like her friends did. Like her mom did. But her mom was the very reason she’d created these rules for herself in the first place. She was the reason for the plan.
Her mom had given up everything when she’d fallen in love with Kat’s dad—she’d dropped school, career plans…she’d let all plans be pushed aside because she was head over heels for Kat’s father.
After her dad left, Kat’s mom never let her forget it. That she’d given up her own ambitions, her own dreams…and for what?
Kat. That, of course, was the unspoken answer. She’d given up her life and got Kat in return.
Kat couldn’t do anything about that. It wasn’t like she’d asked to be born. But there was no way she was going to repeat her mother’s mistake.
Bryce’s gaze was moving over her, studying her so intently that she had the horrifying sensation of being an open book.
“There will be a time and a place.” He murmured it quietly, under his breath. His eyes darted left to right as he took in her expression, her defensive stance. Then all at once, he shifted. His demeanor changed so quickly her lips parted in surprise. Gone was the intensity, and in its place was that now-familiar laid-back charm. “That’s a real problem, Katherine. Because I like you here and now.”
She bit her lip as her muscles tightened and her chest expanded. It was fear and it was excitement, and it was a million other emotions she didn’t know how to name.
So what did she say? “Kat.”
He widened his eyes. “Pardon me?”
“Everyone calls me Kat.”
His smile was slow, the facial equivalent of a swagger. “Well, then, Kat…you’re in sales. Surely you know how to negotiate.”
She blinked rapidly as her brain struggled to keep up. She heard a robot’s voice in the back of her mind. Does. Not. Compute.
“Negotiate what?” she finally asked.
“A compromise.” He moved to stand behind his desk. Between her bracing herself against the chair and him behind the desk, she felt like they were facing off for a battle rather than compromising on how they might date.
“Let’s not call it dating,” he said again.
Her brows drew down. Or they were compromising on how they might not date. Her insides seemed to wriggle in discomfort, and her fluttering heart seemed to come to a standstill.
She hadn’t even realized she’d started smiling until she felt it fall. “So…what? You want to work out some sort of…arrangement? Like a hookup, or a fling, or something?” She took a step back, kicking herself for this disappointment. Of course that was what he meant.
His brows drew down in a glower. “That’s not what I meant.”
She stopped backtracking toward the door. “Then what do you mean?”
“We’ll spend time together. Get to know each other.”
She frowned. “To what end?”
As soon as the words came out, she wished she could call them back. She’d gone from sounding like a freak to some nineteenth century barrister.
He very nicely refrained from mocking her. “What do you mean?”
She heaved a sigh of annoyance at having to explain herself. “I mean, what’s the point? I’m leaving. We live very different lives in very different worlds. So, what’s the point?”
“Does spending time with someone I appreciate and admire have to have a point?” He sounded like he was musing a philosophical question, but to her it wasn’t merely a theoretical question.
She honestly could not see the point.
“Haven’t you ever spent time with a man to get to know him better?”
She arched one brow. “Yes. And I called it dating.”
He laughed softly. “I see. So you think dating, or getting to know a man you’re interested in, must always be a means to an end.”
She shrugged. “Isn’t it?”
He eyed her steadily. “The ‘end’ being marriage and family, I suppose.”
Her mouth went dry at the odd intensity of his gaze. She fought another wave of heat because… “That wasn’t what I meant in our particular scenario. But yeah, in general. That’s the point of dating.”
He made a sort of ‘hmm’ noise. Noncommittal. She couldn’t tell if he agreed with her or not.
Not that it mattered. They weren’t dating and they certainly weren’t talking marriage.
“Personally, I think dating can just be an experience in and of itself. Think of it as practice for when you’re ready.” His sudden grin was wicked. “The right time and place, and all that.”
She shifted uncomfortably again because she was pretty certain he was teasing her again, but she wasn’t entirely sure why. “I guess that makes sense,” she hedged.
He crossed his arms again. “But we won’t call it dating, because that obviously makes you uncomfortable.”
She blinked. “Okay.” She managed to draw that one word out into three syllables. But honestly, repeating what they weren’t going to call each other explained approximately nothing.
“So…” She threw her arms out wide as frustration overrode embarrassment. “If we’re not talking about dating, what are we talking about?”
He shrugged. “Dating just means getting to know each other, right?”
She drew in a deep breath as she thought that over. “I guess.”
“Then let’s just say we spend the remainder of your time at my lodge getting to know each other.”
Kat stared at him for a long moment. “Like…friends?”
And suddenly she felt eight years old. She resisted the urge to roll her eyes at herself, but luckily he didn’t so much as smile.
“Like friends,” he agreed.
She shifted from one foot to the other. Mentally she was on board. Her heart and her belly were dueling it out to figure out how they felt about being friends with the hottie lumberjack bartender who’d given her the best kiss of her life. She lifted her gaze to meet his. “I can be friends.”
His lips curved up. There it was. The impossibly sexy little smile that ought to come with a warning label. “With one exception.”
Her heart stopped. “What’s that?”
His grin was full force now, and it nearly knocked her sideways. “Kisses.”
On instinct her gaze fell to his lips. Oh, who was she kidding? She’d been absurdly and acutely aware of those lips ever since she walked into this office. Ever since she’d seen him in the foyer. Ever since… Well, ever since she’d first met the guy.
“Friends who kiss?” she asked. It was a stupid question. At this point, she was just buying time.
His grin said he knew what she was doing. His gaze held a challenge, and that was when she remembered what he was doing…what they were doing.
Negotiating.
She wasn’t some inexperienced, insanely attracted young woman who was wildly out of her league. She was saleswoman of the year. And she was negotiating.
“Five.” The arbitrary number popped out of her mouth, and once it did, she felt a little more clearheaded.
He arched his brows. “Five…kisses?”
She nodded.
His eyes narrowed a bit as he considered this. “Five kisses,” he repeated. “One day—”
“Twenty-two hours,” she amended.
He smirked. “But who’s counting?”
She grinned. Oh yes. She could definitely be friends with this man.
Kissing him, on the other hand… Her belly held a rave in her abdomen. “There have to be rules.”
He moved from around the desk and by the confident smirk he wore, he already knew he won. “Rules?”
She nodded, her grip tightening on the chair before her as he approached. “We need ground rules.”
He stopped in front of her, the chair awkwardly stuck between them. “You’re big on defining things, aren’t you?”
“When it comes to work and other life goals? Yes.”
And dating fell into the category of ‘other life goals’ because when she was ready to marry, she’d certainly date. And until then…
She struggled to swallow as she tipped her head back to meet Bryce’s gaze.
Well, until then she’d practice. Like he’d
said.
One day. Five kisses. How much trouble could she get into?
He gripped the back of the chair as well, his fingers brushing against hers. “Twenty-two hours, five kisses—” He paused and cocked an eyebrow. “A romantic dinner?”
After a heartbeat she gave a short nod. “But no nature.”
He chuckled. “I wouldn’t dream of it.”
“And no funny business,” she added. Because she wasn’t eight, she was eighty.
He held his hands up. “Fair enough.”
His gaze held hers and for a few seconds all she could hear was her heart beating. She was pretty sure it was trying to tell her that this was a mistake.
But then he leaned in, slowly lowering his head, his gaze never wavering from hers.
“What are you doing?” It came out as a whisper.
His grin made her heart thud against her ribcage. “Sealing the deal with a kiss.”
His lips closed over hers and she sighed as the world seemed to tilt around her. Heat spread through her limbs, making her feel heavy and drugged.
His kiss was slow, and gentle, and so very thorough she forgot her own name. When he pulled back she blinked up at him.
His grin was definitely wicked. “That’s one.” He reached out and cupped the back of her head, stroking a thumb over her cheekbone. “Four left. I’d better use them wisely.”
Four more kisses. Her breath hitched in her throat as he winked and backed away.
She was never going to survive four more kisses.
Four
Kat’s two best friends were staring at her with wide smiles and shocked eyes.
“So wait….” Her former college roommate Yvette was twirling one of her long purple extensions as she stared at Kat over her cocktail, the din of the crowded bar a dull roar in the background. “After finding out that your mystery man was the owner of this lodge and some big-time billionaire, you proceeded to kiss him?” Yvette recapped, her stare filled with disbelief.
Kat nodded. “Multiple times.” Five, to be exact.
“And you spent time with him,” Caleb said, as if the thought was too absurd to comprehend.
She nodded. Every spare second of her trip. Needless to say, she hadn’t slept. Neither had he. They’d stayed up all night long, despite the fact that neither of them had slept much the night before… and it had absolutely been the best night of her life.
Once Upon a Lumberjack Page 5