Page 17 of Love in the Details

A wooden arch rose up, and he read the sign on top:McBride Ranch.

He stared down the long stretch of road lined with a few pine trees. Once those ended, a large cabin came into view, accented by the mountains as a backdrop. It wasn’t as big as some of the places he’d stayed, but it was well-kept and everything looked taken care of.

He stared at the lights through the windows as he pulled up to the house, wondering for a moment which room was Kassidy’s. Throwing the car into park, he paused. What was he doing? He wasn’t some high school kid who could just go up to the door and say, “Hey, is Kassidy home?”

He was her boss. And he didn’t date his employees. Not after the second-biggest betrayal of his life when he’d been with Cynthia Carlisle. She’d been one of the VPs in his company, and they’d gone out together whenever he was in Colorado. Until he found out she was actually engaged to some guy from her hometown. Why didn’t people just tell the truth up front?

And then Lila. Yeah, he wasn’t going there.

Putting the car into reverse, he was about to back down the driveway when the front door opened and Kassidy stepped out, looking both concerned and nervous.

He stopped the car. He couldn’t just drive away now. He’d been spotted, and from the look on her face, he wanted to make sure she was okay.

He pulled forward, putting the car into park and opening his door.

Kassidy came down the steps, the frown line in her forehead scaring him just a bit.“What are you doing here?” she asked, cocking her head to the side and giving him a forced smile.

“You forgot this paper, and I, uh, I just wanted to make sure you got it.”

She stepped forward and took the paper from his hand, their fingers brushing as she did so. Dustin felt that zip of electricity crackle between them before she broke her gaze away from him and looked down at the paper.

“Oh, thank you. You didn’t have to bring it all the way here, though. I could’ve picked it up the next time I was at your house.”

And that’s why he shouldn’t have come. Maybe he was feeling something she wasn’t. That sounded just like him.

He shrugged, trying to look unaffected. “I was in town to get some dinner and figured I’d bring it by.”

Her chuckle was nervous, and she said, “I thought you’d come to fire me already.”

Dustin relaxed somewhat. “Oh, uh, yeah. I mean, no. You haven’t done enough to know if I should fire you or not.” He winced, wishing he could have made it sound more like a joke than a threat.

A crack of thunder sounded overhead, and he jumped, not expecting it.

“Are you scared of thunder?” she asked, her smile returning.

“No.” He chuckled, wishing he’d just gone straight home. This was nearly unbearable. “Well, I better get back before the storm hits. I’ll, uh, see you soon, I guess.”

“Drive safe,” she said, her voice a little more tender compared to the other things they’d talked about in the last two minutes. She stood there and watched him back out, waving once he got to the end of the drive.

Why did his feelings have to surface now? And what was he going to do about his rule to never date an employee? Or date any woman, period?

Chapter 11

“Who was that outside, Kass?” her father asked as she walked back in, paper in hand.

“Dustin Wakefield. He brought me the paper of the measurements I’d taken of the rooms today.”

Kassidy stepped into the kitchen and slipped the paper into the notebook she’d been working on for the last few hours, since she’d returned from the Wakefield estate. There were so many things to cover and get ordered that she figured she’d better start now.

“Well, that was nice of him, don’t you think?” her mother said with a wink. She was stirring something in one of the large pots, and it already smelled delicious. Something with garlic and onions.

“Sure, it was nice,” Kassidy said out loud.

She wasn’t sure what to make of the gesture. Dustin seemed so abrupt, and sometimes cold, about everything. But then he took time out of his afternoon and drove to her house, in the opposite direction from his own, to drop off a piece of paper.

The romantic part of her wanted to run wild, swooning that he’d just wanted to see her again. But reality swept in, telling her that he’d left too hastily to even make it worth anything. Maybe he was just an analytical guy who was worried about the gala going off without a hitch for his grandmother’s sake and thought she’d need to get going on the preparations. He seemed every bit the workaholic she’s already suspected. She just hoped he wouldn’t expect her to be one as well.

Anytime she hoped things could be possible in the future, she remembered that he was debating the closure of the plant. Sure, he might take bald facts into consideration by meeting there at the plant, but Wakefield Fabrication hadn’t gotten to where it was without keeping decisions all about business.

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