Page 94 of Keeping Kaitlyn

Damien texts me back a few minutes later.

Damien: I won’t be able to pick you up from the airstrip this time. Just let me know when you get to the ranch.

Me: What’s going on? Is everything okay?

Damien: Everything is fine. I’m in the field today. Can’t get away. LMK when you get there.

Reading and rereading his message because something is off, I decide to ask him what’s going on in person, rather than push it.

Me: Okay. TTYL

Twenty minutes later, I’m wrapping up some last-minute details when I catch movement in the corner of my eye. Looking up to find Kait standing in the open doorway, in nothing but one of my T-shirts and a major case of bedhead, I can’t help but smile.

“What are you doing?”

“Waiting for you to wake up,” I say, flashing her a quick grin. “Race red or agate black?”

“Black.”

Making my final selections, I hit send before looking up at her again. She’s still standing in the doorway. Still watching me like she doesn’t know what she’s supposed to do next. Which version of me she woke up to and I hate myself for doing that to her. “We’ll need to leave for the airport in a few hours if we want to make it to the ranch by nightfall,” I say, reminding her that what I said last night stands.

I’m going back to Barrett with her.

Instead of arguing with me, Kate nods. “I have to go home and get Mook. I can’t leave him. He’s good for an overnight with Molly every now and then but?—”

“Come see me, Sunshine.” Tossing my phone on my desk, I swivel my desk chair to face her before I sit back in my seat so I can watch her cross the room to stand in front of me.

Running my hands up the backs of her bare legs, I feel my dick twitch when her nipples visibly tighten under the thin fabric of her borrowed shirt. Growling softly at her response, I remind myself that Kait and I are out of practice and she’s undoubtedly sore from last night. Even though I know if I slipped my fingers between her legs right now I’d find her willing and more than ready for me, I don’t.

Instead, I pull her into my lap, situating her across it to drape her legs over the arm of my chair. Barely able to stifle a groan, my cock stiffens the instant her ass settles against it. “Six years later andstillnot morning wood,” I tell her with a smirk when she looks up at me with wide eyes. “That pretty, pink pussy of mine sore?”

Blushing, she rests her cheek on my shoulder and gives me a shrug. “Maybe a little.”

Because I knowa littlemeans a lot, I feel my face fall into a frown while I start to move toward the kitchenette behind me. “Do you need?—”

“No.” Tightening the arm she has looped around my neck, Kait shakes her head. “This is all I need right now.”

Making a noise in the back of my throat that tells her I’m willing to let it go for now, I look down at her. “Is everything okay?” It’s a stupid question. I know it’s not. She’s been called back to the place she ran away from by a dying father who hates her and even after last night, things between us still feel uncertain. When she doesn’t answer me right away, I lift my hand off her hip to tuck the crook of my finger under her chin to lift her bright blue gaze up to meet mine. “Talk to me, Sunshine,” I encourage her quietly. “Tell me what’s going on in that head of yours.”

Watching her bottom lip roll between her teeth, I fully expect her to tell me it’s nothing. That everything is fine, but shedoesn’t. “It’s a lot,” she tells me instead. “I don’t know where to start.”

“Just pick one.” Slipping my hand from under her chin, I resettle it on her hip before stroking the other one down her back. “We’ll work through them together.”

Letting her cheek rest on my chest again, Kait loosens her arm from around my neck to let her hand slide across my shoulder while light fingers trace over the ink tattooed into my skin. “What’s going to happen to my mom and Abbey after my father dies?”

“Your mom and sister are going to be okay. Nothing has to change unless they want it to.” I’ve already decided that I’ll buy the ranch after Kait’s father dies and do whatever I have to financially to keep it afloat if that’s what it takes. “I’ll make sure of it.” Dropping a kiss onto the top of her head, I give her hip a squeeze. “Next worry.”

She hesitates, but only for a moment. “Your mother doesn’t like me,” she whispers against my chest before she looks up at me again. “She’snevergoing to like me, Went.”

“I don’t care.” Giving her a crooked smirk, I shake my head. “Astrid’s opinion stopped mattering to me a long time ago, Sunshine.”

Frowning up at me, the fingers skimming across my chest stop moving. “But?—”

“Silver liked you very much and I know Delilah is going to adore you. That’s enough for me,” I reassure her. When the look on her face doesn’t soften, I lean down to kiss the frown lines on her forehead. “There’re more worries in there—I can see them. Give it up.”

She hesitates, but only for a moment before she looks down at my chest and her fingers start to trace across it again. “I don’t think I have a job anymore.”

“Why?” It comes out hard and demanding. When she doesn’t answer me, I fit my hands under her arms to reposition her until we’re face to face and she’s straddling my lap. “Answer me, Kait. Did Ryan fire you? Did he?—”

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