Page 24 of Love in the Details

That last word caused him to pause. She was the first person in his employ to say that in days. Or ever.

“Do you need help?” he asked, surprising himself. He had reports to file and information to go through for business deals coming up, not to mention the data for the local factory. But all of it sounded like more than he could handle today, and he just needed some kind of a mental break.

“You want to help me?” she asked, looking more surprised than he did. “Don’t you have some big decisions to make about a local factory?”

For a moment, he saw vulnerability in her eyes, and he wondered what that had to do with the factory. “There are always big decisions to be made when you’re in my position, but I need to get out of here. Looking at something that doesn’t have to do with numbers or money might help relieve the stress building in my head again.”

“You get headaches a lot, huh?” Kassidy said, walking out into the garage. There were several large boxes already piled up along the wall, all similar to the ones she’d brought in.

“More so since I came here. Maybe it’s the altitude change.”

Kassidy went to open the door of her Jeep, when Dustin reached over and touched her hand, the gesture feeling more intimate than he’d planned. Dropping his hand back to his side, he said, “We’ll take my ride.”

Her gaze slid over the car, and a smile spread across her face. “I’ve always wanted to ride in one of these.”

He helped her load the boxes in the trunk and the backseat, barely having enough room for all of them, and she jumped into the passenger side before he could move to open the door for her. At least his grandmother wasn’t there to see it. She’d have berated him up and down for letting a girl help herself into a vehicle.

Once they were in and driving down the hill, Kassidy turned to him and said, “I don’t think it’s the altitude, Mr. Hotshot Businessman. I think it’s the fact that you don’t ever rest. I’ve only seen you out of a suit a handful of times. What you need is a vacation.”

“You think my headaches are from stress? I’m the CEO of my company. How am I supposed to get away from stress?”

She grinned, her white teeth shining out against her olive skin and the dark hair framing her face. “Learn to relax when you can relax. Like right now. Do you have to wear a suit while you work from home? No!”

Dustin adjusted his suit jacket. “This is part of the uniform.”

Kassidy shook her head. “Not always. I promise your work isn’t going to suffer if you’re not wearing a tie.”

Dustin took the turns quickly, his foot pressing onto the gas pedal, and Kassidy lifted her hand to hold on to the handle above her, her face flushed and eyes wide with terror. “I thought you were used to horses. Why are you flinching?”

She shook her head. “Real horses, not the ones in an engine. And when I’m going fast, I know how to control it and trust myself that I can make the tight turns.”

“So you don’t trust me?” he said, his smile turning devilish. The sun had melted some of the snow on the road, but it was still slushy, and he finally slowed down a bit. He may have been up and down that road hundreds of times growing up, but he still didn’t trust himself completely in the snow since it had been so long since he’d driven in it.

She squirmed, and he could see the white of her knuckles as she gripped the bar. “You almost ran me and Easton over on the sleds, so, no, I don’t trust you.” The last part came out as a scream as he glanced over and then back, course-correcting away from a ledge.

Kassidy blew out a long breath, and he was sure she was going to hyperventilate.

“Are you okay?” he asked, trying to keep a smile from his face.

“No, I’m not okay. You almost ran us off the road. Stop the car. I want to get out.”

Dustin slowed the car but didn’t stop. “I’m sorry, Kassidy. I was just playing around. I drove this road so many times in my teens that I still do it sometimes while I sleep.”

“I prefer to stay alive, thank you very much. I’ve only lived for twenty-five years and don’t have anything set up if I die, so don’t be an idiot.”

He took the roads more carefully now, enjoying the bright sunshine of the day sparkling off the few leaves resting on top of the snow as they passed.

“What made you want to get into design?” he asked, hoping to break the tense silence.

Kassidy turned, the deep frown line in her forehead visible.

“You want to know more about me?” She jabbed her pointer finger into her chest, her eyebrows nearly reaching her hairline.

“Yeah, what? Am I that unapproachable? You’re working with me for the next couple of weeks. We might as well get to know each other a bit.” He was more and more curious about her every time she came to the house. From all he’d gathered, she’d been a barrel racer and now wanted to be an event planner. It was kind of a big leap between the two things, but he could understand wanting something different.

The car grew silent for several minutes, and he thought she was going to ignore him completely.

“I’ve always liked planning things. I recently planned a baby shower for my sister-in-law, and it was the best rush to see how it turned out after it was all set up. You probably already know about it from my application.” She turned to him then, her jaw moving up and down a couple of times with no words coming out, like she was trying to figure out what to say. “What made you pick me?”

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