Page 23 of My Rancher Valentine

“Why would you let that jackass get to you?” She shook her head.

Another curse word.

“I didn’t mean to,” I answered. “It was just something I wasn’t expecting.”

“Like what?”

“It isn’t important.” I faced her. “Why wouldn’t you let me tell them the truth? You didn’t sign up for this, and asking you to keep going for another couple of weeks, especially once we get back home, isn’t fair.”

“I know that, but we can figure out something.” She blew out a breath. “I agreed, and another thing you should know about me is that I don’t back out of my commitments.” She dropped her arms. “I’m not inviting my mom, though. She doesn’t need to be involved in this. I don’t know about your parents, but you could probably talk your sisters into being there.”

She wasn’t wrong, and I agreed. I wouldn’t want my parents there or a lot of other people, either.

“Are you sure?” As much as I wouldn’t mind spending more time with her, I didn’t want her doing this out of some type of false commitment. I wanted her to do this because she wanted to spend more time with me, but beggars couldn’t be choosers.

“No, but this is important to you, and I wouldn’t be a great sorta friend if I left you hanging now.” She gave me a half smile. “Besides, if we said anything, you’d probably do more harm than if you had never approached them in the first place.”

She wasn’t wrong, but I needed to clear something up.

“I want the sponsorship, but it isn’t more important than you.” I knew the words were true as soon as I said them. Well, fuck me. Dallas might have been more right than I thought. It was possible my feelings toward her were stronger than I believed.

Kat pulled in a long breath. I let the brush drop and walked closer to her. My arms went around her waist. “I like this shirt,” I smirked.

Her eyes widened, and then she groaned. “It’s yours, isn’t it?”

“Yep.” I leaned forward and ran my nose up the column of her throat. “I also like seeing you in my clothes.” It would be better if we were somewhere private, and the shirt was all she was wearing, but hopefully soon.

“No one’s here.” Her breath was shallow.

“Is that an invitation?” Not that I would make love to her here. There was far too much of a chance that someone might walk in. Later would be a different story.

“No.” She breathed out. “Just a reminder. You don’t have to keep pretending.”

I pulled back to look into her eyes. “I don’t care about anyone being here. This isn’t about them anymore. It’s about us.”

“Beau.”

“Kat. All of this is about us,” I repeated.

My lips closed over hers. If I was done playing games before, I was completely over it now. I had waited too long for her.

Kat grabbed hold of my chest and then slowly let her arms glide up and around my neck. I pulled her closer. My mind fully focused on the feel of her pressed against me. Nothing else mattered except getting her to feel exactly how I felt. I needed her to want me as much as I wanted her. I wanted her to decide at the end of this that she didn’t want to stop. That she wanted all of this to be real.

“Oops.” The sound of my sister’s voice broke us apart. “Sorry.” Daphne grimaced. “We were stopping by to wish you luck.”

“But I guess we were a little late.” Hailey’s smile had a bit of humor to it. Her lips twitching at the edges.

“I should give you guys some privacy.” Kat moved away from me, but I held her close.

“You’re fine.” I looked over at my sisters. “Thanks for being here.”

“Sure thing.” Daphne walked forward and put her arm through Kat’s other arm. “Why don’t you hang out with us today?”

“I have work to do,” Kat replied.

“But you can still sit with them for most of the day.” I didn’t want Devon near her. “And it isn’t like you can interview any of us while we are performing.”

“I guess that’s true.”

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