Montana Promises

by Law, Kim

  But Nate’s head faced forward, and his posture said that this was the only subject he was willing to discuss.

  Fine. She started after him.

  “I don’t know,” she answered. “Maybe?” She thought back to her early teenage years when she’d first had the idea. Uncle Ray used to take her to job sites when she’d visit for the summer. At that point, she hadn’t been living with them full-time yet. And he’d answer every question she ever asked. “I at least wanted to talk to him about it, I guess. I always loved the idea of being involved myself. I mean . . . I know I’m no contractor, but the idea of helping to design my own home from the ground up is appealing. I want to picture every room as it’s built. Have a hand in all the details from day one.”

  “Kind of like you’re doing here?”

  He’d finally looked down at her, and her cheeks heated with embarrassment. “I guess I kind of forced myself into your project, huh?”

  He didn’t smile, but his eyes did. “Maybe a little. But that’s okay. I’m glad you did.”

  Dang. Were they about to have another quasi-moment?

  She waited, her breath held in her throat, but again, he turned for the truck.

  “When did you lose your aunt and uncle?”

  She blew out a breath. She needed to give up the idea that the man might have even a tiny percentage of the lust for her that she did for him. “Uncle Ray passed when I was sixteen,” she said in a monotone. He’d died just two months into the school year the first year she’d moved in with them. “He developed cancer, and there was nothing they could do. And Aunt June”—her voice hitched, but she recovered quickly—“I lost her my sophomore year in college.” That one had hurt more. That one wasn’t supposed to have happened.

  “And what about the rest of your family?”

  “What about them?”

  They’d reached the truck, but instead of getting in, they both turned toward the lake. Toward the sun that was just about to dip behind the mountains. “What kind of family do you have?” he said. “Big? Small? Close?”

  She could feel him watching her instead of the sunset. “I was closest with my aunt and uncle.”

  “No other family?”

  She wanted to tell him to stop. That she didn’t want to talk about any of her family.

  But at the same time, she wanted to tell him. She wanted to have someone to rant to because with her somewhat large immediate family, she often felt so very alone.

  Not taking her eyes off the other side of the lake, she said, “I have a mother, a father, two sisters, and one brother. There’s twelve years between me and my next-oldest sister. Mica is basically Mom made over. They both live in Boston.”

  Nate paused before saying anything more, and she finally felt his attention shift back to the sunset. She wanted to lean into him.

  “That’s a long distance away,” he observed. “What about your other siblings? Are they like your mom, too?”

  She shook her head “They’re like Dad. They’re scholars. They have a passion for all things science.”

  “So, you’re more like them, then? A scholar?”

  She shrugged, but she didn’t say anything. She supposed she was like them—aside from the fact that she’d moved to Birch Bay due to Jaden. That was on the scale of something her mother would do.

  She also supposed she should quit ignoring her father’s text messages and send him her resume.

  The sun dipped behind the mountain, but Nate didn’t move to get into the truck. Instead, he asked, “Which one of them was on that phone call last week?”

  “What?” She looked at him without meaning to, and when she caught him studying her, his eyes quietly saying that he wanted to help, she couldn’t look away. She swallowed. “What are you talking about?”

  “I’m talking about that phone call that sent you running from the house.”

  She knew he’d had to have guessed it upset her. “That phone call wasn’t important. I just remembered something I had to do at home, that’s all. That’s why I left.”

  “Liar,” he murmured. He then leaned in and whispered, “And not a very good one.”

  Nor had she ever been. “Why haven’t you gone out to visit your dad since he’s been in rehab?”

  Surprise flashed across Nate’s face at her question, then something resembling appreciation colored his gaze. “So, the lady fights dirty.”

  “The lady fights to win.” She inched up her chin. “Are you going to answer the question or not?”

  He held his stance. “Are you?”

  She wanted to. She really did.

  And that scared her more than the idea of telling him about how much it hurt that her dad was never around for her and that she was the only one it seemed to bother.

  She opened the passenger door. “Let’s go back. It’s too dark to see anything else.”

  * * *

  Nate watched Megan drive off. They’d returned to the house in silence, and when they’d gotten there the guys had been gone. The fire had been snuffed out, and silence greeted them. Nate hadn’t pressed again on that phone call, nor on the fact that there was obviously some issue with her family. But he had made the decision that he’d do just that at some point in the future. Just like he suspected she’d made a similar decision concerning him and his dad.

  And being “only friends” with Megan or not—and truly that’s all they could ever be . . . a brother didn’t do that to another brother—deep down, he didn’t think either of them were finished pushing.

  He turned back to the house, climbing the deck stairs in silence, only to discover Dre sitting in the dark.

  “Hey, man.” Dre nudged his chin in Nate’s direction. “You get everything squared away out there?”

  Nate had mentioned before today that Meg would be helping with both the cabins’ interiors as well as the website. “She saw what she needed to help fill in the holes.”

  “Good to know.” Dre stood from the Adirondack chair where he’d had his feet stretched out in front of him. “Then I have one more question.”

  “Shoot.” Nate picked up a stick and poked at the smoldering embers.

  “Do you have something going on with her?”

  At the question, Nate’s motions slowed, and he looked over at his friend. He’d known Dre since his first time out in the Bering Sea, and the two of them had been through a lot together. What they’d never done, though, was want the same woman. At least not seriously.

  “She’s my brother’s ex,” he said.

  “Which doesn’t answer the question.” Dre stood with his back to the house, the light from inside casting a shadow over half his face, making it impossible to get a read on what he might be thinking.

  “No. I don’t have anything going on with her.”

  “Do you want there to be?”

  He felt raw from the last forty-five minutes of being near Meg. “Are you into her?” he asked instead of answering, and Dre didn’t respond at first.

  Then he gave a slow nod. “I could be.”

  And there it was. The gauntlet had been tossed down. Though it wasn’t so much a gauntlet, Nate knew, as it was making sure not to step on a friend’s toes.

  “She’s my brother’s ex,” he repeated, though it pained him to do so. “There isn’t and there won’t be anything going on with us.”

  Dre nodded, but then Nate added, “But hurt her, and you’ll answer to me.”

  Chapter Eleven

  “That was an excellent band.” Megan tugged at her earlobe as they drove toward her place, mildly worried about hearing loss after she and Dre had found the only empty seats in the bar tonight—which had been right next to the stage. She smiled when he looked her way, though, to show that there were no complaints. It truly had been a fun night.

  “They were great,” he agreed. “But I’m sorry it left us with so little opportunity to talk. When I asked you out, I had no idea there were so few things to do around here on a Saturday night.”

&nb
sp; She chuckled at his mock shudder. She’d grown used to the small-town feel of the place. “Just wait until it warms up. I’ve been in town a few times during the summer months, and there’s always someone out on the lake or coming and going from hikes.”

  “That’s what I’d like to do.” Dre pulled his car in front of her apartment, parking next to hers, and turned off the ignition. “The summer I spent working in Glacier was the best.” He turned toward her. “I’d love to take you hiking someday.” His sincerity was palpable.

  “That would be fun.” She didn’t commit to the idea any more than that, but she could totally see hiking in Glacier with Dre. He was definitely the outdoors type. A man who had energy oozing from his pores. So, sitting in a crowded bar tonight had not done their date justice.

  Of course, by the time enough snow melted to go on a hike and really get up in altitude, he would probably already be gone.

  The reminder put a damper on her mood. Dre had called the store the day before and asked her out, and she’d been excited at the idea. But the more she’d built it up in her mind, the more she’d also wondered if there was any point. Even if they started dating regularly, chances were slim they’d be at a place by the time the cabins were finished where he’d consider sticking around. And she wasn’t at all interested in a long-distance relationship.

  “Can I see you again?” he asked, and in the darkened front seat, she pushed her worries aside and found that she couldn’t quite discount the appeal of him yet. At least not entirely.

  “Maybe,” she said, and she smiled again when he blew out a dramatic breath at the letdown. But she needed time to think about it. She stretched across the seat and pressed her lips to his cheek. “Call me next week and we can talk about it?”

  His eyes, so similar in color to hers, stared back at her when she pulled away, and a shiver ran through her at their intensity. “Is that the best I’m going to get?”

  His voice was like warm cream, and she wasn’t sure if he meant the question to be as far as a commitment to seeing him again or about a good-night kiss. But the answer remained the same for both. Once more, she touched her lips to the roughened beard covering his firm cheek. Dang, he smelled good. “Next week,” she whispered. She needed the distance from tonight to see things more clearly. She needed to figure out if getting tangled up with someone who might not be around for long was worth it.

  She got out of the car and had made it within ten feet of her front door when he spoke from behind her. “Next week,” he said, and she peeked over her shoulder, flattered at the way he had both arms hanging out the open window and a seriously playful—and super sexy—smile gracing his lips. “I’ll call you,” he added, then tacked on an air kiss, and she almost said yes right then. What could it hurt to go out with him a second time?

  But she’d already made up her mind. “Next week,” she agreed, and when he bit his lip before pulling his head back into the car and backing out of her driveway, she laughed out loud.

  The man had obviously wanted to kiss her. She’d sensed it while they’d been at the bar and had felt it again in the tension all the way back to her place. But something had held her back. She didn’t know if it was due to the doubts that had been plaguing her leading up to the date. Or if it had anything to do with who his friend was.

  If the latter was the case, she might be screwed all the way around until Nate finished the work at his place and left town. And if that was so, that would just suck. Because that dry spell was only going to get longer. Not to mention, she’d never been an overly patient person, and she was already frustrated with dating as it was. She’d been with Jaden for so long that she’d forgotten how difficult it could be to find someone you truly clicked with. And as she’d decided when she’d broken up with Jaden . . . she had no intention of settling.

  As she approached the small porch, keys in hand, a creaking noise came from the back corner, and the hair on the back of her neck immediately stood up. Jabbing her hand into her bag, she had her pepper spray out and pointed in that direction before her mind registered that someone was saying her name.

  A voice she recognized.

  “Nate!” Her eyes adjusted, now seeing him standing in front of the rocker, his arms outstretched in front of him, and she flipped on the small LED penlight that hung off her keychain. The beam shined in his eyes. “What in the heck are you doing sitting on my porch?”

  The man had scared her to death!

  He shielded his eyes with one hand. “Waiting on you.” Twisting his head to the side, he added, “Can you please turn that thing off? I don’t want to go blind here.”

  She switched off the light. “What are you doing here?”

  It was eleven o’clock on a Saturday night.

  “And how long have you been here?”

  “Which question do you want me to answer first?” he grumbled, and as he stepped closer, she had the urge to kick him in the shin.

  “I want you to answer both of them. Along with”—she turned back to the street to make sure she hadn’t missed it before—“where in the world is your truck?”

  She unlocked the front door, but instead of stepping inside, she simply reached in and flipped on the porch light. She’d intended to do that before she left, and now, it would certainly be the first thing she did the next time she went out. One scare of a lifetime was enough.

  Turning back to him, she crossed her arms, her irritation mounting. “What are you doing here, Nate?”

  He held up a spiral-bound notepad. “I wanted to talk about designs for the cabins.”

  Her bullshit meter went off. That didn’t seem a topic worthy of an almost-midnight, Saturday night visit. But on the other hand, from the looks of the thing in his hand, she could at least see that the notepad wasn’t brand new. So, it was possible it held design notes.

  “And how long have you been here?”

  “Not long.” His words were followed by a glance across the street to the two-story belonging to Gabe and Erica, and she couldn’t help but wonder if they’d give a different answer if she went over and asked. But then, maybe they hadn’t even seen him here. Like she hadn’t until she’d practically been on top of him.

  “Where is your truck?” She shouldn’t be so riled up at finding the man on her porch, but the scare he’d put in her still had her adrenaline flowing.

  This time when he answered, it wasn’t just a blunt few words. It was a few embarrassed ones.

  He nodded toward the darkened dead end stretching beyond her house, the line of his jaw clenched in the glow of the overhead light, and she would swear that his neck turned pink. “I parked at the end of the road,” he muttered. His eyes no longer looked directly at hers.

  “And then you walked all the way back up here?” Before he could even nod, she added, “To talk about the design of the cabins?”

  What a load of crap.

  She knew exactly what the man was up to, and she didn’t like it one bit.

  Crossing to stand in front of him, she jabbed him in the chest. “You knew I was out with Dre, didn’t you?”

  Again, his jaw clenched. “He might have mentioned it.”

  “And what? You’re just nosy? You wanted to see how it went?”

  He opened his mouth to reply, but she slapped a hand over it before he could speak.

  “What if I’d invited him in, Nate? Would you have just sat here in the dark and watched us?”

  “Of course not.”

  “Then what would you have done?”

  He didn’t answer, and from the way his eyes frosted over, she had the feeling that sitting there unnoticed would have been the last thing that would have happened. But why?

  If he didn’t want her, what would be his issue if his friend was interested?

  “Good grief,” she muttered. She stepped away from him and pushed the door to her apartment open wide. “Come on.” She motioned for him to go before her. “Come in and let’s talk about these all-important designs that couldn�
�t wait.”

  When he looked at the door and then back to her, as if silently saying that she needed to go in before him, she let the full heat of her anger flare.

  “Get. In. My. Apartment.”

  He went into her apartment.

  And then he just stopped.

  “Oh, good grief,” she mumbled again. She shoved in past him and slammed the door. “It’s just a fireman’s pole. Have you never seen one before?”

  She’d rented the place from Erica, who’d bought it late the year before after renting it when she’d first moved to town. The place had been renovated before that, and what once had been a fire hall was now the cutest little one-bedroom apartment she’d ever seen. And it didn’t still just have the pole in the middle of the living room. The hole remained in the floor above, as well. The bedroom was located up there, and some mornings after she got up, just because it was fun to do so, she slid down the pole instead of using the stairs.

  “Take off your coat,” she said and tossed her own over the back of the couch. “No need to just stand there looking shell-shocked.”

  Her phone chirped then, and as she watched the muscles in Nate’s shoulders tense, she smiled to herself. She seriously hoped it was Dre texting her after just driving away from the place. Just like she knew Nate assumed it would be. And if it was, she just might set up that second date right now. Because darn it, this man shouldn’t be here. Not if he didn’t want to—

  Her thoughts cut off, and her irritation switched focus.

  “What is it?” Nate finally moved from just inside the front door and crossed to where she stood in the connecting kitchen. She’d dropped her purse on the island countertop, and she remained there, staring down at her phone.

  Son of a—

  “Megan?”

  “What?” She bit the word out as if the anger caused by the text message was Nate’s fault.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “You mean besides my so-called ‘friend’ checking up on me after my date?”

  He stared at her as if trying to figure out what she’d meant with the air quotes around the word “friend,” and she rolled her eyes. Men wouldn’t have a clue how to function in the world if it weren’t for women.