by Taylor Hart
Pulling herself out of bed, she noticed the sundress she’d peeled off of her body the night before lying in a crumpled mess on the chair. Then she saw the belt buckle half hanging out of her pocket.
Smiling, she picked it up. Shiny and gold and huge. Totally gaudy. It had “Bronc Riding Championship” etched across the bottom in tiny lettering. Had he given her his championship belt buckle? Confused, she put the buckle back on top of her dress.
Her phone buzzed. She pulled it out and saw Steven was trying to call her. “Hello?”
“Hey. I bet you’ve been up and working away since six, haven’t you?”
This was what she’d told him her plan was for every Friday, and she had done it the last two Fridays. “Not this morning.”
“Oh.”
“I went out to celebrate with a bunch of people from the guide company.” Which was totally true.
“With Jet?” His voice had spiked to a jealous tone.
“And others.” Another truth, kind of. She turned the fake ring on her finger. What would Steven say if he saw it? If he found out she’d been pretending?
“Well, I just finished teaching my morning classes, and I saw Professor Talbot on the way back to my apartment.”
“Uh-huh.”
“We’re having dinner next Wednesday to discuss it.”
“Great.”
“There’s just one thing.”
“What’s that?”
“I think we need to work on the research a bit and try to add more quantitative research. I think we should add in the governmental data you’ve collected, too.”
This bugged her. He’d been trying to get her to make serious changes to her data for a long time. “My program is much different from a government program. It’s going to take a lot of private funding.”
“Kat,” he said in a bored tone. “I’m trying to help you.”
“It feels like you’re always trying to change my project.”
“Not at its core.”
“But you are in the way it should be implemented. I want these kids in nature. My research proves that having kids out on the land, on the river, riding horses, is what they need.”
“But what about focusing on cultural programs?”
“Nature is better,” she stated, unwilling to bend on this.
“Kat, let’s not argue.”
“Fine.” Even though they agreed not to fight, it always felt like she was acquiescing to him.
“Are you still sure it’s okay if I stay with your friend Jet?”
“Yes.” At least, she hoped it was, after last night. Jet had seemed kind of ticked off when he’d caught her dancing with Cam, but he’d been fine after she joined the rest of the group at The Moose. They had all hung out and danced.
Right before she’d left, Jet had pulled her aside and asked if she had something going on with Cam. When she’d adamantly denied anything, he’d simply given her a pointed stare and said, “Look, if Steven is out, I want to be in the lineup.” She hadn’t even acknowledged his comment, instead simply telling him she’d see him on Monday at work.
“I could just stay with you.” Steven pressed.
“You know how I feel about that.” She didn’t want to debate this again. “Anyway, Jet is only charging two hundred a month, and we’ll only be here until the end of August. C’mon, you’ll love it.”
Steven sighed.
“What’s wrong?”
“You’ve been kissing other guys.”
Her breath caught.
He sighed even louder. “I … I’m sorry. Never mind. It just seems like a lot of extra cost.”
Not wanting to fight with him, she remained quiet.
“Kat?”
“I told you about kissing him because I wanted to be truthful.”
“I know.”
“But you’re mad?”
“I guess I am.”
“Okay.” Her heart was racing.
“Maybe things should go on hold between us.”
“What?” She suddenly felt desperate. “Wait. Steven, what about our plans? Aren’t you coming?”
Another sigh. “Let me think about it. I’ll talk to you later.”
Kat heard the phone line go silent, and frustration coursed through her. It felt like no matter how close she and Steven got, with one pull of a string, they unraveled so quickly.
Four hours later, Kat sat in the sunroom of the mansion house, frustrated that the cursor hadn’t moved more than a page and a half since she’d started.
What had Steven meant, Let me think about it? Grr.
But her mind flashed to the past few months. Hadn’t she done the exact same thing to him after she’d found all those texts? Made him work for it?
All the energy suddenly went out of her. The tables had turned, and she didn’t like it.
He was the one deciding whether to stay together or not.
She sighed and pushed the computer off of her lap. Standing, she did a full body stretch, lifting her hands to the ceiling and closing her eyes. Dang it if Cameron Cruz’s face didn’t appear inside her mind.
Opening her eyes, she stomped the ground, thinking how peculiar it was that she was throwing a mini-fit because she couldn’t get the stupid guy’s face out of her mind.
Then she thought of the belt buckle. The championship belt buckle. For some reason, she’d brought it with her over to the mansion house. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.
It intrigued her. She stared at the guy on a bronc, looking at the complete absurdity of it and thinking of how he’d given her something really valuable. Why had he done that?
It was like a token, she realized. Something that needed to get out of her physical realm so she could get him out of her mind. She’d read a whole academic book about people who suffered from this, or thought they did. Cam must have known the psychology behind possessions and thought patterns. He must have put some type of spell on her or something, or on this belt buckle that now tortured her …
Okay, it sounded silly and witchy, but stranger things had happened. She recalled some of her grandfather’s stories of a local Indian tribe that gave out little dolls for good or evil. Had he given her this dumb belt buckle to vex her because she wouldn’t give him more than friendship?
Was this the reason all the bad things were happening between her and Steven? Had Cam somehow known she was going dancing last night? But how? Maybe he’d heard Jet talking about it with someone and taken a shot and gone to try and find her in order to give her this......
Crazy. He was driving her absolutely insane.
Picking up her laptop, she rushed out of the mansion house, making sure to the lock the door. Going to the cottage, she went to her room, plugged in her computer, and put the belt buckle down as she combed out her hair and then put it into a loose braid.
The buckle stared back at her. Mocking her.
Picking it up, she threw it down the hall, then ground her teeth at the way it scraped the tile floor. She quickly threw on some mascara and lip gloss, telling herself she was getting presentable because she had to stop in at the shop to get Cam’s address. It was not because she would be seeing Cam to return the stupid thing.
She wanted it out of her life. Out of her apartment. Out of her mind. Erased.
Chapter 14
Cam sat in his music room, strumming away at a new rhythm that had come to him when he’d gotten home last night. He’d stayed up late writing and working out a chorus and all the verses. It’d come to him as easy as reaching up and throwing the perfect pass.
Of course, as he’d written it, he’d thought of Kat. He thought of the way her face lit up right before she broke out into laughter. The way her aqua-green eyes flashed with fury right before she slapped him. The way her skin glistened in the sun and how it warmed the center of his chest to see her wearing a Denver Storm hat.
A muse. That’s what she’d been for him. She was the perfect muse, because she was perfectly untouchable.
He softly sa
ng the new song, feeling alive, happy, and content. More content than he’d felt since …
Oh no. He did not want to think about his dad.
Abruptly stopping, he tugged the pencil from between his lips and bent over the notebook, erasing that last chord and adding in another. He tried it out, and it fit perfectly.
He’d gone to bed around two, but surprised himself by being up by seven. He’d run and lifted, and then he’d had breakfast, showered, and started songwriting. He felt clear, capable, determined. It was the version of himself he liked, the one he’d missed lately.
After taking a lunch break at noon, he headed to the stables and took Sugar for a ride. It was a stupid name, he knew that, but that’s what had felt right since he’d gotten the horses last week. Sugar and Harper. The names fit: Sugar was fast and fun and sweet; Harper was strong, but would fight him a bit more.
He rode each horse for about an hour. He even took a spin over to Montana’s property, knowing Montana wouldn’t care.
As he sat in the music room, he strummed out the song, feeling amazing. Glowing. Had he just thought that? He was glowing? What was happening to him?
He grinned, but then frowned, thinking that he wouldn’t see Kat until Saturday—bright and early at six in the morning. He’d booked the tour with her, and he was happy about it.
He wanted to see her now, though, and show her his song. He wanted to just … talk. Like yesterday on the river. He wanted to unwind with her. To just be.
It’d felt so amazing to him to not be “Cameron Cruz.” It’d shocked him that he’d told her about his dad. What had shocked him even more was the understanding way she’d responded. The connection they’d made had been more than he’d ever had with any woman. Oh man, he sounded like a lovesick teenager.
He thought of his first girlfriend, Karen. The woman he would have married. He’d even written her some songs. Grinning, he played the old song he’d written for her. It was amateur, but it actually made him happy to remember his first love, the innocence, the freedom of giving his heart away for the first time—without fear. That was what was so special about a first love, the lack of fear. When you jump into that pool, you’re not worried about depth.
There hadn’t been another girl that he’d felt these silly feelings about since Karen. Honestly, he’d told his dad he wondered if he’d been ruined by his first love. His dad had assured him that a woman that left him was never the right woman—God had a plan for him, and a woman he could love and who could love him back would show up.
He broke off playing and frowned, immediately and overwhelmingly depressed. Kat was already taken. Plus, she didn’t feel the same way about him. He thought of holding her in his arms last night. It’d been all he could think of or write about. He’d fallen asleep wishing he could have gotten closer and just taken a deeper breath.
Meanwhile, she probably hadn’t even given him a second thought.
He put the guitar down and squeezed the pencil in his hands. She’d probably gone home and talked to Steven on the phone as she fell asleep. He’d never wanted to punch another man for simply being someone else’s boyfriend before, but he did at this moment.
Letting out a long breath, he slumped back onto the piano bench and put the pencil down. How could this be happening to him? He’d fallen in love with the wrong girl.
Closing his eyes, he did something he hadn’t done in a long time, something he’d refused to do since his dad had passed. He bowed his head and spoke to God. “Lord, if this is right, if you’re even there, please help me to know what to do about this woman. She’s … it’s complicated, but … I feel like I met her for a reason. Please help me. Guide me. Help her. Please, help me do the right thing.”
Without warning, he heard the chime of his doorbell echo through the house.
Raising his head, he stood, wondering who would be coming to the house.
It must be Montana, he concluded. Or Hunter. He grinned to himself. He’d been more than mad about Cam giving away his precious championship belt buckle. Even after Cam had told him he’d pay more than the going rate for it, Hunter had told him he didn’t want more than the going rate; he wanted his belt buckle back.
Casually grabbing the door fixture, he pushed the lever and swung it back.
He’d never expected that the woman he’d just been praying for would shove the belt buckle he’d given her in his face. “Take it back!”
Chapter 15
Kat knew she looked pretty crazed and angry. It’d only gotten worse since she’d left the cottage, gone to the shop, and retrieved Cam’s address from the computer. That had been a nightmare, since Jet had watched her like a hawk.
As she shoved the belt buckle in Cam’s face, she completely ignored the way her heart pitter-pattered and her stomach tightened. He did not get to have any kind of effect on her. It was nonsense.
A stupid grin spread across Cam’s face. After he took the buckle, he grasped her hand. “Hey.”
Pulling her hand back, she shook her head, trying to calm down. “Don’t ‘hey’ me. I know you did some type of voodoo when you left that with me. Do you realize it’s seriously cursed? I had to chuck it down the hall before I felt even remotely better. I’ve been completely distracted all day. I don’t know what you and your sister did to curse it, but I want you to know I’m giving this back, so the spell is back on you.”
When she got through, she expected some type of acknowledgement—guilt or remorse. All he did was throw back his head and laugh. Then he put his hand over his stomach and laughed harder, holding onto the door.
“I hate you.” And she meant it. Who would do this to somebody? She turned and rushed back down the steps.
He was there in an instant, passing her on the stairs and stopping in front of her at the bottom. “Stop, Kat.”
She barreled toward her car. “No.”
He barred the way. “Kat.”
Stopping to prevent herself from running into him, she glared up at him. “Move.” Her voice was shaky.
He didn’t have sunglasses or a hat or anything like that on. His beard was trimmed, and he wore athletic shorts and a fitted Denver Storm athletic shirt. “I wrote the song, Kat.”
She felt herself getting pulled into another slow, sticky moment. All the anger rushed out of her, replaced with curiosity. “You were in flow?”
“All flow. The whole night.”
Briefly, it felt like all his happiness seemed to transfer to her, but then she shook her head. “Tell me the truth. Did you spell the belt buckle?”
He started to reach out and touch her shoulder, but he seemed to think better of it and pulled his hand back to form the Boy Scout sign. “I swear I didn’t spell the belt buckle.”
Her lips twitched.
“Kat, I promise.”
Not ready to let him off the hook, she scowled. “Was the flow amazing?”
A wide grin split his face. “Come and hear it,” he whispered.
Hyper butterflies erupted into her stomach. Then guilt.
Their eyes met, and all she could think about was kissing him after he’d saved her life. Searching for something else to focus on, her eye caught the glint of the gold in his hand. “When did you get the belt buckle?”
“What do you mean?”
“It says ‘Bronc Riding Championship’ on it, but which championship did you win?”
“Oh.” He covered his mouth and coughed, hiding a grin.
“What?”
“It’s Hunter’s belt buckle. He loaned it to me last night.”
“It’s Hunter’s?”
He nodded and crossed his arms. “This explains why he was so mad I gave it to you.”
Without warning, she let out a laugh. Thinking of all the stress of the day and that stupid belt buckle, she laughed even harder.
Cam frowned. “Are you okay?”
Wiping beneath her eyes, she shook her head. “Sorry, I just thought I was going crazy. I guess …” She sighed, feeling worse. “A
ctually, I was crazy for a little bit.”
Cam watched her while she composed herself. It didn’t escape her notice that he looked amazing. “Want to come in and hear the song?”
“Ah, I should get back to work on my dissertation.”
Scrunching up his face, he put his hands together in mock begging. “Please?”
Thinking of how she’d wasted most of the day, she shook her head. “I really have to work.” Not to mention her maybe boyfriend would really not approve.
He hesitated. “Okay.”
Impressed he was giving up, she began moving for the car, feeling out of sorts. “Okay. Well, see ya.”
“Kat.”
She stopped and looked back at him.
“Did I mention that I watch this place for a friend and part of my job is to exercise the two horses, Sugar and Harper? They need to go for a ride, and it would really help me out to have another person come with me.”
“Really?” Horses were her weakness. Had she told him that? She tried to remember all the things she’d told him yesterday.
Waving a hand in the air dismissively, he shrugged. “But if you have to work, you have to work.” Turning away from her, he started up the steps. “You are wearing the perfect boots for it, though.”
Horses. She hadn’t ridden since her grandfather had passed away. Defeated, she rushed after him. “Fine. Show me the song, and then we’ll take the horses for a short ride. But after that, I have to go.”
He waited for her to catch up wearing a big, dopey grin.
Pointing at him fiercely, she kept walking up the stairs. “But don’t forget—”
“You have a boyfriend,” he filled in for her.
At this point she couldn’t tell him that her boyfriend status had gotten even shakier. Nor would she need to. She and Steven were going to be fine. They were.
When she and Cam got to the top of the stairs, he held the door open for her. “Just go around the corner there into the music room.”
The first thing that Kat noticed about this house was how light it was. There was a skylight overhead by the front door, and the room let in even more light with two windows. The wraparound deck was also all windows. Stopping, she stared out at the back of the house. The landscaping was a beautiful mixture of rock and grass that cascaded down the side of the property and ended in a little waterfall. “Wow.”
