Page 19 of Love, Hate, Love

“It’s my call day. I’m supposed to get a half an hour. If you didn’t want me to come here, you should’ve come to me instead of whatever else you were busy doing.”

I could see the minute it hit him. He’d completely forgotten. It was probably easy to forget when you could make a call anytime you wanted. I was stuck with once a week. Thirty minutes every Sunday to reach out to the people I loved. That was it. That was all I got. Not so easy to slip the mind in my case.

“Yeah, okay.” He dragged a hand through his hair, setting off rippling muscles everywhere. “I’ll meet you at the office door.”

No apology. No mea culpa. Justmeet me at the office, which I could see the door to from where I stood with freezing wind blowing through my hair. He wouldn’t let me set foot in the house, even now, afterhismistake.

“Kade?” A sexy little brunette, wearing only Kade’s t-shirt, was walking across the room toward him.

“Everything is okay, Melissa. Go back to bed. I’ll be there soon.”

She continued toward him anyway, scanning every inch of me with a calculation that seemed to take in that extra piece of toast I’d had this morning and the brand of my hair conditioner. Considering it was whatever I found in the bunkhouse bathroom, it wasn’t working out so well.

She leaned into his side, her hand landing on one beefy bicep as her big doe eyes continued to track me. She got up on her tiptoes, pressing her breast against him as she pretended to whisper, “Is this the convict?”

Well, didn’t that say it all? Must be pretty interesting pillow talk now that I was around.

“Yes,” I said, holding her stare. “I’d make sure to lock your door tonight. Never know what urges might come over me.” I did a little shudder.

She stepped back, shifting behind Kade as if she needed his protection. I wasn’t sure why, but that one little movement made me want to grab her by the hair and drag her out of the house.

“Leah,” Kade said.

Melissa smirked at me from behind where she clung to Kade’s arm.

“I’m sorry. Just trying to live up to your expectations,” I said with a big, fat, phony smile.

Kade rolled his eyes. “Go to the office.” He shut the door on me before I could scare his girlfriend any more. After all, wouldn’t want poor little Melissa rattled.

I took a step toward the office, but not before Melissa’s voice carried through the door.

“Wow, she looked a little rough,” she said. “You were so nice to take her in, but I don’t know if you should’ve.”

“I’ll be back in a few,” Kade replied, not responding to her comment.

Rough? See how she looked after going a week with no hair products and mucking out stalls. My nails had been perfect too, once upon a time.

I walked to the office door and waited. This wasn’t anything more than I’d expected and one of the reasons prison would’ve been better. At least I wouldn’t have little twits judging me for frizz and chipped polish. It wasn’t as if I could go buy anything to fix my nails. I couldn’t leave the ranch.

The wind was howling like a wounded wolf right now, and I leaned my shoulder against the doorframe, trying to avoid the worst of it. Whatever Kade was doing, he was taking his sweet-ass time. I didn’t pound and rush him this time. I took the extra minutes to steel my spine against the recent blows.

He finally opened the door, having stopped to put on a t-shirt before letting me in out of the cold.

“What took so long? Had to calm your precious girlfriend over having a criminal in your house?”

“My private life is none of your concern,” he said, watching me as I walked in.

He was staring at my arms, and I uncrossed them, refusing to show him any signs of weakness, even if it was from the cold. As far as he was concerned, nothing bothered me, ever.

“If you’re going to get cold so easy, you should dress warmer,” he said, giving me a once-over. “Don’t you own a decent coat?”

“My clothing is none of your concern,” I said, throwing his words back at him.

He didn’t respond, just shook his head and pointed to the chair behind the desk, where the phone was.

I settled in as he fiddled with the thermostat by the door. I wasn’t delusional enough to think he was increasing the heat for me. He only had a t-shirt on and was probably cold himself.

He walked over to perch on the corner of a filing cabinet. “The speaker button is on the bottom.”

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