Midnight in Montana - Chapter 3

Cass

Was she that easy to read?

Cass cursed her fair skin that was prone to flushing with her emotions. Anger? Pink cheeks. Self-consciousness? Ditto. Hyper-awareness of a hot guy? It all looked the same on her.

And Emilio definitely checked the hot-guy box. More than ever, in fact. He’d filled out the frame that had been tall and lanky eight years ago, his shoulders rippling with muscles evident beneath his unbuttoned oilcloth duster. She could see his broad chest in a blue-and-gray flannel beneath it. His chiseled features were sharper now too, any hint of the boy he’d been long gone.

His eyes were the same, though. The gray-green striking against inky lashes and bronze-colored skin. They saw too much, however, if he could read her so easily even now, eight years after they’d pledged themselves to one another. Him falsely. Her with every fiber of her being. The memory made her tone harsh when she answered him.

“On the contrary, I’m thrilled to be here after an exhausting drive from St. Paul.” Not that she wanted to get into her reasons for being here with him. “I just wasn’t expecting to see you at Kingsland Ranch.

Or anywhere else in Montana, for that matter. When she’d known Emilio, he couldn’t wait to get out of the area. But she wasn’t about to bring up their past today. It had been enough of a shock just seeing him without heaping all of the brokenness between them.

He remained on the welcome mat, his coat dripping the last of the rain.

“I know Gavin well from our time together on the rodeo circuit.” He didn’t elaborate, but she recalled hearing he’d been a successful bronc rider. “And it turned out that Lauryn and I had foster homes in common. So when Gav’s dad passed away and they needed someone to help out here, I was happy to lend a hand this spring until they find a full-time foreman.”

That made sense. The former Kingsland Ranch patriarch, Duke Kingsley, had left his estate in upheaval when he’d stipulated his holdings pass to just two of his four biological sons.

“That was good of you to step in,” she mused aloud, wondering how often his position on the ranch would put him in her path. She felt twitchy just being in the same room as him, her brain demanding answers to questions she’d never ask him, especially while her body temperature simmered a few degrees higher than normal. “I’m supposed to start work with the Kingsland veterinarian tomorrow at the main stables.”

She figured forewarned was forearmed, so if he wanted to avoid her, she’d just given him the information necessary to keep away.

“Hope is a good vet, and she will appreciate the extra hands tomorrow when she has to vaccinate the whole herd.” He nodded at her approvingly. “I can pick you up to bring you over there.”

“Um. Excuse me?” She blinked at him, thinking she must be overtired to have misheard him.

“The stables aren’t close to the main house,” he explained, gesturing vaguely to the west before he took a step backward, closer to the door as if to exit. “I plan to help her tomorrow as well, so we can ride over together. Is seven too early?”

No. Yes. Well, mostly riding anywhere in the same vehicle as Emilio was the problem since being around him made her senses tingle and her heartbeat faster. Feelings that she resented, considering how he’d walked away from her eight years ago.

“I’m happy to drive myself,” she insisted, thinking that establishing clear boundaries would be important if she was going to spend any time at the ranch.

“That’s not going to happen.” Frowning, Emilio shifted to face her, his eyes serious. Intense. “Lauryn told me that your safety could be at risk while you’re here, Cass. And I’m going to make certain that you’re safe under my watch.”