He suspected Kate understood him perfectly and she hadn’t even tried to know him.
How safe would he be if she set her sights on his heart?
Chapter 9
Kate
Kate lowered her guard around the Brody who wore jeans and a cowboy hat and a lazy smile. Could she have been dumber? Around this Brody she was in danger. He was dangerous with his brooding smile and strong hands, gentle words and casual demeanor.
She had to keep in mind that it was only a matter of time before the real Brody showed up. It was easy to relax around this Brody, to feel her calm return.
Something had sparked inside Kate when the ranch hands had found her in the living room while Brody had been out on a ride. They’d asked for help in the barn and she’d jumped into action.
Not only did she know about the situation, but she was bored as Hades in her rooms and in the house.
Returning to the suite before it was time to sleep became her nemesis and almost felt like a punishment. Even though the rooms were elegant and ample, she preferred being outside.
The dangerous Brody seemed to as well.
She spent a lot of time in the barn, her hair pulled back in a braid and Brody seemed to have nothing else to do but hang around out there.
A few days passed with them existing in the barn with nothing much between them but silence and side glances. Kate made sure she didn’t look directly at him, no matter how delicious he looked in his faded jeans and worn boots. She couldn’t afford to be weakened. She couldn’t afford to be off her guard.
But that afternoon, Kate found herself standing side by side with Brody, watching the colt and filly with their mother. Kate glanced at Brody a couple times, noting he looked as hot as she felt with a trickle of sweat working its way down the back of his jaw from his hairline.
The soft aroma of his cologne wafted toward her and she wrinkled her nose. He smelled so good and that was just one more thing weakening her resolve against him.
Maybe she could be friends with him. If she let herself be friends with him, but held herself from anything else, the rest of the two months wouldn’t be so hard. Well, she’d have to be strong about not falling for him. But that shouldn’t be too bad, as long as she remembered that he was essentially two different Brodys – this one that she could see falling for and the other one with the tux. As long as Tux-Brody was possible, she doubted she had any worries about falling for him. Plus, being around him when he smelled so good and smiled with a lop-sided twist weakened her like a crack in glass.
Best thing might be to ease into it, like when dieting – only a bite of a treat to take the edge off.
That would work, right?
With how her heart pounded when he was around, she wasn’t sure.
No, she could be friends with him. If that’s all she allowed herself, then they should be fine. She should be fine. She could be safe. Everything was fine. She almost snort-laughed. Safe with the dangerously good-looking man who wore jeans like he was born just wear them? Yeah, doubtful her heart was safe around him.
She cleared her throat. “It gets pretty hot here.” As lame as her comment was, at least it was something more than just shuffling back and forth on her booted feet. He’d made more than enough effort over the last few days. The least she could do was try to be partially friendly. She had to find a fault in him. With Tux-Brody not showing up lately, she needed something to dislike about the man.
“Yeah, it is.” Brody turned toward her, suspicion in his gaze. After studying her a moment, he nodded. “Want to go for a swim?” He said it nonchalantly like a swim in cool water while the heat was sucking their lives away wasn’t the best suggestion since she’d gotten to the ranch.
As interested as she was, Kate furrowed her brow. “Nice. You don’t have a pool. I checked already.” She’d been surprised and more than a little disappointed. Teasing her wasn’t the best way to get her attention. It was too hot to pretend right then.
Brody turned his body to face her and dropped his arm to his side. Half-shrugging, he nodded out the west-facing doors. “Nah, we have a lake on the other side of that knoll. It’s close enough to walk to. You wouldn’t have seen it from your rooms since they face east.”
A lake. Of course, he had a lake. Why would he have a pool, when he had a lake? Kate clenched her teeth. Some people had all the luck and all the money. That was it. She’d dislike him for his money.
It wasn’t his fault she didn’t have money. She was going to keep from forming an attachment to him to change her situation. She’d hang onto the thought of his money to keep him at arm’s reach.
The idea of the lake was appealing, but if she went with him, he’d see her. She hadn’t brought a swimsuit. If she was honest, she didn’t own one anymore. They’d gotten rid of as much as they could when they’d had to foreclose the house. She hadn’t imagined she’d be swimming much when they could barely afford food.
Everything she owned was in that backpack or in the back of her car. She shook her head and sighed. “I don’t have a suit.”
Brody scoffed, shaking his own head. “That must get exhausting.” He tilted his hat back on his head and returned back to watching the stall.
“What’s exhausting?” Kate narrowed her eyes. She wasn’t sure what he was getting at, but his tone was different than it had been the last few times they’d talked when he’d been courteous and polite. This time his voice was almost mocking. Her hackles raised.
“Getting in your own way. You have excuses for everything. When you lose this bet, you’re going to blame it on me or excuse it away.” He didn’t even look at her as he leaned forward and rested his chin on his forearms draped on the railing.
Kate felt like she’d been sucker-punched. How dare he? How dare he! She hadn’t felt like she’d been told can’t in so long. She wasn’t even sure if that’s why she was upset. She wasn’t sure what she was upset about, but she was… furious. His words… his tone…
She whirled around, whipping her braid back over her shoulder when it thwacked her on the chest from spinning. She didn’t care. Fine. She didn’t need a suit and she was just as hot inside as she was on the outside. She needed as much distance between her and Brody as possible.
Bursting through the barndoors, she squinted in the blazing afternoon sun and stormed in the direction Brody had said the lake was.
She didn’t need him. She didn’t need anyone. A rustling in the grass behind her didn’t even give her pause. She didn’t care. She was going to that lake and going swimming.
Long green and golden stalks of grass reached out, clinging to the edges of her jeans and leaving little specks of themselves on the blue denim. Kate’s chest rose and fell as she swung her arms, keeping them close to her body but tight in movement.
The sun beat down on her as if it had seen everything and wanted to watch what she was going to do next. Even the blue of the sky seemed to taunt her with its intensity. Was she out of line? She couldn’t help wondering what she was doing, why it mattered what he thought anyway? But it did and the fact that his opinion was shifting left her breathless.
The rustling grew louder as Brody fell into step beside Kate. But she didn’t care. Her fury was indignant and she had a sinking feeling it was because he was right.
Her anger grew thoughtful as he didn’t say anything but kept stride with her. He didn’t try to beat her there or try to compete. She unclenched her jaw and continued striding forward.
What if he was right? What if she was the reason she wasn’t going anywhere in life? She always blamed things on the income, but… what if she was the reason she wasn’t happy? Plenty of people were happy poor.
What if she was keeping herself from growth?
That didn’t matter. Her anger returned. He was supposed to be trying to get her to fall in love with him. How was insulting her accomplishing that? She shook her head and started unbuttoning her shirt.
The long golden grass on the plains sloped down and faded
into a thick, green, lush grass that disappeared into clear, sparkling water. Rocks speckled the shore, quartz lines sparkling in the afternoon sun.
A dock floated off to the left of where Kate approached. The water got darker toward the middle where it was deeper than the near the shore. The lake itself wasn’t more than the size of nine or ten football fields squished together. In the middle of the smooth surface a fish jumped, leaving behind a spreading ripple toward the shore.
A small breeze blew off the water, promising a refreshing swim and bring with it the scent of lily pads which hugged the far shore.
Under Kate’s shirt she wore a white, longer tank top that she’d tucked into her jeans. She’d wear the tank and her underwear in the water. She was so upset, she didn’t care if he stared at her. She just didn’t care. She wanted to get out of her own way, if that’s what she was doing. She wanted to cool off and just…
Kate wasn’t sure what she wanted.
She yanked her shirt off and tossed it to the side of the foot of the dock, finally stopping before actually stepping onto the wooden planks. She half-bent, yanking her boots from her feet followed by her socks. She tossed them beside her shirt. Shimmying out of her jeans, she made a point not to look toward Brody. The reality was, she did care and now that her anger was beginning to dim, the only reason she was still moving forward was because she didn’t want to seem impetuous or out of control.
Was he watching her? There was no sound coming from his direction and Kate knew that if she looked his direction, she’d be stuck with whatever expression he wore.
She needed more than that right then.
After she’d ditched her jeans, she didn’t wait. She tore toward the end of the dock, reaching up and pulling the rubber band from her hair at the last possible second. Lifting her arms above her head, she dove into the water, slicing through the clear, cool surface and breaking free about twenty yards from her dismount spot.
She faced away from the dock and Brody, breathing and treading water as she reveled in the sensation of finally cooling off in the Montana heat. For a split second, she felt bad for her mom. If Kate were with her, they’d be trying to stay cool in the cramped confines of the trailer, hoping for a breeze to whisper through the windows or maybe sitting outside in the shade, waving off mosquitoes. Thankfully, she’d had a few calls since she’d gotten home to reassure her that her mom was fine and in hopeful spirits. They both were.
After a moment and no sound indicating that he was following her into the water, Kate swiveled, looking back to find Brody facing away from her. “You can turn around.” She wasn’t sure what he was doing, but certainly he’d taken other women to that lake. She wasn’t naïve enough to think otherwise. She was hopeful she was special, but she hadn’t given him any reason to think or feel differently about her than another woman who actually wanted his attentions.
He turned slowly, his eyes shadowed by the brim of his hat and his arms crossed over his chest. He oozed pure frustration and Kate couldn’t figure him out! She’d done what he’d suggested. She’d proven him wrong. What more did he want from her?
“Are you surprised or something?” Kate continued treading the water, unsure what else to do other than hold her ground. She wasn’t even sure what she was doing. Maybe returning to her original plan of hiding in the rooms and not coming out was the way to do it. She could eat one meal a day and be set. She just had to last six more weeks. That was it.
Brody walked slowly to the end of the dock and watched her and then shook his head. “Not surprised. More… disappointed than anything. You think so little of yourself that you let my statement upset you. You did something you weren’t comfortable doing initially because you were rash. That doesn’t seem like you.”
He’d nailed it. Breathing hard with a catch of fear, Kate lifted her chin, kicking her feet harder as she tread which pushed her above the water line, then she bobbed back down. “You don’t know me.” But the more she was around him, the more it felt like he understood her more than she understood herself. She looked away. There were things about him that she found appealing and intriguing and the fact that he was disappointed was a bitter pill to swallow. She didn’t like it.
The sound of boots hitting the deck followed by clothing pushed Kate into turning around. She would give him the same privacy he’d given her.
A soft splash to her right had her closing her eyes. He would get close to her and try to touch her, wouldn’t he. It wasn’t a question. Of course, he would. And a tiny thrill of excitement sparked in her stomach.
Money aside, frustration aside, he was an attractive man and he’d shown interest in her. She’d be a harsh liar, if she said that didn’t do something to her insides, that his attention didn’t make her feel special. Even if she knew it was just to win a bet. That didn’t matter there in that body of water set in the center of God’s great country.
But when Brody came up, it was nowhere near her. He kept a distance of about ten yards between them. He tread water himself, his blond hair falling across his forehead. He moved into her line of sight and studied her with somber eyes, closing the distance but not by more than half. “I know you. You just don’t want to admit it.” He held her gaze for a long, drawn out moment and then dove under the water, swimming toward the other side of the lake.
He had read her mind. What else could explain the parallel between his words and her thoughts?
She stuck close to the dock while he swam laps. Kate couldn’t bring herself to do more than wait until it was time to go. She had a lot of thinking to do. She’d started the conversation with him. She’d broken the silence. Now that she’d torn down that barrier, she didn’t have a way to put it back up.
Because the way things were going now… she couldn’t guarantee he wouldn’t get inside her head…
And maybe her heart.
Chapter 10
Brody
Brody and Kate seemed to tactfully agree without speaking that it was time to leave the water. The tension in the air was palpable as if Brody could reach up and hold onto it with one hand.
Turning, Brody gave Kate privacy to climb out of the water and get her clothes on. He had kept his distance in the water because he wasn’t sure what he would try to do.
Her long, dark hair flowed out behind her in the glassy water and he’d wanted to run his fingers through the silky strands.
The woman drove him insane. She didn’t bow to his every wish and demand and she didn’t treat him like a king. Definitely not what he was used to. She was interesting and she’d been rash. He hadn’t really been disappointed, but the way she continually pushed at him, Brody wasn’t certain she wasn’t just playing hard to get.
Could anyone really be that obstinate? They could if they had a goal as important as hers.
Or his.
Kate walked toward the house, the sound of her moving through the grass reached Brody in the water.
He took a deep breath and looked over his shoulder to make sure she was gone. He climbed from the water, his briefs snug to his skin. Sluicing off as much water as possible, he soaked up some of the sun’s rays. He didn’t want to follow her back too closely. He needed some space between he and her.
As he got dressed, Brody tried to blink the image of Kate shedding her clothes from his memory. She hadn’t been in the right frame of mind to consent to him looking at her like he wanted to. He’d averted his eyes, when he saw her clothes coming off. Of course, he found her attractive, he couldn’t stop thinking about her. No, she was more to him already than the women he’d brought home previously.
Most of those women had been to shock his mother. Well, his mom wasn’t home now and Kate wouldn’t shock Pamela Hart one bit. Maybe the fact that Kate wasn’t his type Pamela would be a little put off, but Brody didn’t know what his type was himself. Not when he’d been unhappy and unsatisfied with the women he’d been with before.
No. The way Kate made him feel was challenged, invigorated, and like he wan
ted more when he’d only had a small taste of being around her.
The glimpse he’d gotten of a creamy, smooth shoulder and the curve of her calf was distracting enough. He blinked again to get the image from the forefront of his mind.
As he pulled on his boots and ambled toward the house, Brody had to take a good, hard look at himself.
What was he doing? He was acting like she really mattered. To him. Like what she thought and felt actually could affect him.
Dang it. Did Brody want a chance with her? Did he actually want to see if there was a possibility there?
Brody stopped mid-stride, dropping his hands to his sides. He stared ahead of him, his gaze focused on the lines of the grass, their tall forms waving and dancing in front of him. But he didn’t see a thing.
He wanted a shot with her. The realization punched him in the chest. For a man that had never really cared about anyone but his family and himself, the truth stunned him. If Kate fell for him, he’d win the girl and the business. He’d win and his gambling side thrilled at that concept. And his heart relished the opportunity.
But if Brody won, Kate would lose. And if she lost, she wouldn’t get the money she needed for her family. That didn’t sit well with Brody which told him just how much she was starting to mean to him. In order for Kate to win, Brody had to lose and in losing he had to give up the chance to fall for a woman who was obstinate and stubborn and honest and everything Brody had been unable to find in his world.
Usually winning mattered most – regardless of feelings or outcomes.
But with Kate?
Maybe he could give her the money. Maybe he could give her the money and she’d stay with him. He could just give it to her. Hand it to her at dinner and thank her for coming.
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