by Em Petrova
He was in the barn, and two male voices drifted to her. Slowing her step, she recognized one voice to be Corbin’s, and she was shocked to realize it wasn’t even raised. They weren’t arguing.
What had happened last night? Clearly, Knox had taken care of more than his uncle. Since she and Knox had spent all night rolling in each other’s arms and professing their newfound love for each other, they hadn’t discussed the events.
As she neared the barn, their voices came in clearer, like tuning in to an old radio.
“What happened with Samantha was a tragedy, but it was years ago. And I just wanted to say neither of us were responsible. She was upset and shouldn’t have driven. But accidents happen, and well…” Knox paused. “It wasn’t your fault. Or mine.”
Her heart picked up its pace. They were talking about a woman? Someone who’d lost her life in an accident?
Suddenly, it all made sense to her—this animosity between Knox and the ranch hand really had gone back a long time, as she’d suspected.
Hearing enough but not wanting to eavesdrop, she walked away. A minute later, Knox joined her near the truck.
He looked at her and then opened the passenger’s door for her. “You heard that.”
She rested a hand on his chest, over his heart. “Yes. I don’t understand it all, but I’m glad you and Corbin made amends.”
“Get in and I’ll tell you everything.”
She hitched herself into the big truck and fastened her seatbelt as Knox settled behind the wheel.
She took in his good looks and the brown Stetson he wore and couldn’t help the smile from stretching over her face.
“What’s that for?” He smiled back.
“Being a cowboy suits you.”
“Wait till you see what I can do with rope.” He dropped her the most cowboy-like wink she’d ever seen in her life, and that was saying something.
He put the truck into gear. Minutes later, he spoke. “What you heard between me and Corbin…”
She waited.
“We went to high school together.”
“Ah. I figured it was something along those lines.”
He tugged on the brim of his hat, and the masculine gesture sent her insides into a series of back flips.
Turning onto the road that led to one of the problem pastures, he stared straight ahead. “There was a girl we both liked. And thing was, she wasn’t committed to either of us. She dated me and Corbin both, and we made it into a problem. We both confronted her after a dance, and she ran off in tears, got in her car and two miles down the road, lost control on a curve.”
“Oh God. I’m so sorry.”
“It was a bad time. I carried a lot of guilt, and I’m sure Corbin did too. Worse, though, was we carried a grudge for each other all these years. When I saw him again recently, it all sparked to life and I lashed out. But years have passed and life’s too short to continue that way. So I apologized to him today, and we came to terms with the event.”
She imagined the two men bonding in the barn and her eyes burned with emotion. “I’m glad you made amends. You’re right—life’s too short.”
He tossed a glance her way and caught sight of her tears. “Baby girl, you’re the most compassionate woman I’ve ever met in my life. I don’t know how I deserve you, but I’m going to try my damnedest.”
Now she couldn’t hold back those tears. They leaked from the corners of her eyes, and she dashed them away.
“I also offered Corbin a new position.”
She raised her brows.
“He’s going to take my uncle’s place here on the ranch as overseer.”
She paused. “Foreman?”
“We’ll see about him taking that job title, but for now, we’re out a foreman and John’s gone.”
“Tell me what happened.”
He did, relating the events in the more formal tone she knew from the mortgage company. And somehow, it fit in here at the Amazing Grace as well. His knowledge would cross the boundaries between worlds.
“It sounds as if you’ve figured out a lot about the ranch.”
“Yeah, now for the big decisions on the mortgage company.” He didn’t sound a bit happy about it.
She nibbled her lip. “Now I guess you need to figure out where you fit best. Either way, I’ll follow you, Knox. I love the ranch and I love learning the ropes of the huge empire you’ve created in Houston.”
He shook his head. “Kizzy, you’re amazing. But I can see clearly which life you favor.”
She pressed her lips together. “Is it that obvious I love the ranch?”
“You being here is the most natural thing in the world, and I’ve seen sides of you I never knew you had. I was intrigued by my personal assistant who wore tight pencil skirts and high heels back in Houston, but you fit here. Right next to me.” He laid a hand over hers.
She turned it palm up and meshed their fingers. “That sounds like you’ve made a decision too.”
He gave a nod. “Didn’t totally know till just now, but yeah. I’m stayin’ on the Amazing Grace. I’m going to take over where my father left off.”
“And the company?”
“My legal advisors have been encouraging me to incorporate the company for a year now. I think it’s time I do that. A board of investors running the place will do it right, and I can step aside, maybe just travel into the city now and then when I’m needed.”
Her pulse drummed faster. “Seeing you on the ranch like this…” she waved at him, “I can’t imagine you any other way now.”
“Then I’ve made the right decision.”
She smiled. “You have.”
He lifted her hand to his lips and brushed the backs of her fingers with a breath of a kiss. Desire clenched at her insides.
“There’s another thing, Kizzy.”
She stared at him.
“What I said about giving you part of the company and the ranch, I was serious.”
Her breath caught. “Knox, I can’t accept something like that. I’ve only done what was asked of me. I—”
He cut her off by stopping the truck and twisting to pierce her in his gaze. “You can’t even accept it as my wife?”
Her jaw dropped. Heart slamming her ribcage, she struggled to make sense of what he’d just said to her. It couldn’t be… Could it? A marriage proposal?
Drawing her fingers to his lips again, he pressed a kiss to each. Over their linked hands, his eyes burned. “I love you, and I don’t see any reason to wait to show you or announce it to the world. I want you by my side. Forever.”
Stunned speechless, she searched for words but none came to mind. A single tear tumbled down her cheek, and he reached out to catch it with his thumb.
“Baby girl, it’s not the most romantic of moments to ask you to marry me, but it’s pure, and that’s gotta be worth somethin’. Kizzy, will you be my wife?”
A cry worked in her chest. Over the past two weeks, Knox had been distressed. He’d endured his father’s passing, his uncle’s treachery, relived the loss of an old flame and made strides to fix the past wrongs with a friend.
But marriage? It was too soon for such a proposal, and there was no way she could say yes.
Though her heart was a fountain of love for the man, the timing was all wrong. They might get through another month and realize what a mistake this all had been.
Sure, it would leave her brokenhearted, but she couldn’t allow him to make a decision of this magnitude when his emotions were running so high.
Her silence stretched on, and he was staring at her.
“Knox.” How to let him down easy? “I need time to think, and so do you.”
He shook his head. “I never backtrack on a decision. You know that.”
“I do, but… I need some time. Things are happening too fast. We’ve just spent the night together, and said things to each other that I for one have never said to another man.”
His brows drew down. “I’ve never said them eithe
r.” His tone took on a note of defense.
“Knox. I just want us to stay levelheaded about all this. Let’s get through one thing at a time—there’s an avalanche of things to consider, and I don’t know if it’s the right time for making such a huge life choice.”
He bowed his head. “You’re right. As always, you’re right. But mark my words, baby girl—I will be sliding a ring onto your finger in front of your entire family to see. I’m going to make you Mrs. KC Cohen.” To punctuate his words, he lifted her fingers to his lips and kissed them with such tenderness, tears sprang to her eyes again.
Her insides shivered. To lighten the mood, she said, “You don’t know what you’re asking for with my family, Knox. But we’ll see where the wind blows us, all right?”
Chapter Nine
She didn’t say yes.
She didn’t say no either.
Their relationship was in limbo, and that was a strain on such a new connection.
As he and some of the ranch hands lassoed steer after steer so the vet could administer shots to help the scabies, he tried to push the confusing mess with Kizzy from his mind.
Irritation flooded him once more. He loved the woman. She loved him. Deep down, he knew joining their lives was right, but he could also see her point.
She believed his emotions were running high and he might not be thinking clearly. Well, he’d just have to show her, wouldn’t he?
He watched her from the corner of his eye. She stood nearby, ticking off the numbers of each steer so they didn’t confuse which had already received treatment. As efficient as always, but dammit, he wanted more from her right now.
What he wanted was his own way, and wasn’t that just like him? As head of a billion-dollar company and the new owner of one of the most profitable ranches in the country, he was accustomed to giving a command and seeing it put into action.
He wasn’t surprised his strong-minded lover would be the person to teach him patience. Hadn’t he thought more than once that she was good for him?
Still, he hated his proposal being left unanswered, and it wasn’t only his pride getting in the way.
What if she had gotten swept up by everything too? Carried away with the ranch and his new problems in life?
Dammit, he didn’t want a personal assistant—he wanted a wife. A partner in all things, and with love topping off the entire venture like a sunny day.
“Shit,” he muttered.
“You got a good grip?” Corbin asked from a few feet away.
“Yeah, I’m good.” The vet delivered the shot to the steer, and Knox quickly tugged off the rope he used to hold it in place and let it leave the chute they’d set up.
The part of the herd that had already received the injection were being herded off by a couple ranch hands, with the dogs running behind to help round them up.
They’d gotten through about half the animals, and he was ready to do something else to distract his mind from Kizzy. Damn, I can’t believe she put me off.
She hadn’t given him a flat no, but what man wouldn’t take a hit to his ego after hearing she needed to think about it more?
Hell, he had enough money to retire today and still set up a family for generations to come. He wouldn’t only provide for her—he would love and cherish her till the end of her days, and she’d never want for a single thing. If that wasn’t enough to win her, what could?
By the time the vet was loading everything up into his truck and leaving the ranch, with the promise to return in the morning and check the herd with Knox, he was in a foul mood.
Then he caught sight of Corbin and Kizzy together, discussing the day, and his mood got even blacker.
Maybe she was right—he wasn’t ready to take on a wife. If he was still feeling jealousy over Corbin, had he grown at all?
He went to his truck and started it. Kizzy spun around, said something to Corbin, and then jogged to the truck. When she got in, he drove without a word.
She was silent too, but he was aware of her tossing him questioning glances.
Finally, she spoke. “I’m guessing your mood is about my answer to your question earlier.”
“Maybe.” God, he hated himself for admitting she could weaken him.
“Look, I was worried this might happen. I care about you, Knox.”
“Care about?” he bit out, throwing her a look.
Her brows creased. “I love you.”
“But not enough.”
She made a noise that broke his heart and left him feeling like the jerk he was being. A moment passed, and she said, “My feelings for you are strong. Please don’t think that I would never wish to marry you.”
He stared straight ahead.
“I think we both just need a little time and maybe even some distance.”
“Like hell. Distance? We just got together, and you’re talking about putting distance between us?”
She didn’t answer him, and in the morning, he discovered she’d left the ranch.
* * * * *
“Knock-knock,” Kizzy said as she entered Jessamine’s new home. The odor of paint hit her as soon as she opened the door, and she peeked inside to see her sister standing there dressed in paint clothes and wielding a roller on a long stick.
Jessamine dropped it into the paint tray and came rushing toward her. “Oh my God! Kizzy, what are you doing here? I’m so surprised. It isn’t like you to show up unannounced.”
Her sister’s brows drew down, and she stopped just short of hugging her and covering her in paint too.
“Oh no. You’ve been crying, and that can only mean one thing for you—heartbreak. Come sit down. Let me get out of these paint things so I can join you and we’ll talk. Pour us some tea while I change, okay?”
Kizzy took her sister’s whirlwind commands in stride and located two glasses in the freshly painted farmhouse kitchen and filled them with tea from a pitcher in the fridge.
When she finished this task, she turned to look at the airy space. She’d seen the old farmhouse that her sister and her husband had just purchased, and this was a vast improvement on the dated interior she’d last seen. With walls in a pale gray and cabinets painted crisp white, it provided the perfect setting for the long birch wood table and chairs covered in cheerful checked cushions.
She was just inspecting these, when her sister returned, wearing clean jeans and a T-shirt. She walked right up to Kizzy and put her arms around her. The feel of sisterly comfort brought her tears to the forefront, and she was helpless to keep them from falling down her cheeks.
“Oh, it must be bad. Sit. Here’s your tea.” Jessamine grabbed the glasses and settled at the table beside her. “I’m assuming this is all because of your boss.”
She nodded and drew her tea into her hand, focusing on the cool of the glass instead of her own misery.
“So things did end badly,” Jessamine stated.
She shook her head. “No. He told me he loves me. Then he asked me to marry him.”
Jessamine clapped a hand over her mouth. Eyes wide in shock, she stared at Kizzy. “He…?”
She nodded.
“Well, what did you tell him?” Jessamine lurched to the edge of her seat.
“I told him that I thought things were going too fast and I didn’t want him making decisions he might not be emotionally able to handle right now. With his father’s death, and his uncle’s lies—”
Jessamine’s brows shot up.
“I’ll tell you about it later. There’s a mess on the ranch with a whole herd infected by scabies and the vet’s on call and… I just don’t think…” She broke off, heart aching. Meeting her sister’s sympathetic gaze was the last straw. The tears broke loose, the dam useless.
Jessamine wrapped her close and smoothed her hair as she cried, the same way their mother always did when they were little girls. “I hoped this wouldn’t be the way things turned out for you, Kizzy.”
She sniffed and pulled away. “I feel stupid. I’m not some silly teenager
with a crush.”
“No. I can see you love the man.”
“That makes it worse.”
“Why?”
“Because I told him I love him, but I left before he got up this morning and I didn’t even leave a note.” Fresh tears seeped from her eyes, and Jessamine got up to fetch a box of tissue.
“You just left?” she asked.
“Yes, how horrible of me, right? I didn’t know how to deal with it all, and I just wanted to find some room to breathe.”
“I understand. But I’m assuming you’re out of a job now too.”
“I resigned. The second time we… slept together.”
“It was the right decision. You can’t sleep with your boss and return to your position.”
“I don’t even think he’s going back to Houston. He’s going to incorporate the company and let shareholders make some of the big decisions. Knox wants to stay on the Amazing Grace and run it.”
“Wow. He really owns that place too?” Jessamine’s tone vibrated with awe.
Kizzy blew her nose. “He does. And it really is as impressive as we’ve seen in magazines or heard rumors about. You should see him there too—he’s completely different. I always admired his brains, but the man is sexy as hell in worn jeans and boots. And that hat…” She suppressed a little shiver. Too easy she could feel his hands and mouth all over her.
“Yesterday we spent all day treating the herd, and I never knew Knox could rope and ride the way he does. It’s damn impressive.”
“But he wouldn’t make a good husband, right? He’s too invested in his businesses—you’d never see him. He wouldn’t have time for a wife and family.” Her sister eyed her.
Kizzy jumped to his defense. “I don’t believe that would be the case. He was so sweet and tender with me. He made sure he took his time with me. He even brought me breakfast in bed.”
“He’s not thinking straight, though. He was grieving, wanting comfort.”
“It didn’t feel that way when we were together.”
“Then it must be that he’s so overloaded with decisions to be made that he let one slip through the cracks and took you to bed.”
