Page 80 of Redemption

Kat:You snored.

Jack:Then I’ll buy you the prettiest ear plugs you’ve ever seen.

Jack:I’ll make ‘em pink, to match your cowgirl boots and Stetson.

I snorted at his silliness. But the idea of him doing something as small as buying ear plugs for me made me wonder if he saw this as more than it was.

“He’s just joking,” I muttered to myself before burrowing further under the duvet, trying to hide from all the thoughts running round my brain.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Jack

One moment everything was fine.

Then the next I had that horrible sinking feeling that you got when you went to school and all your friends didn’t like you for some stupid reason.

The anxiety churned in my gut and it made me desperate for her. I tried to tell myself to take it easy, let her come to me but I worried that if I did that, she’d never come to me again.

I knew Kat liked me, I could see it in the way she looked at me, the way she was when we were intimate. I didn’t have anything to compare us to, but it was pretty darn amazing and I didn’twantto be able to compare us to anyone else.

There were a tonof issues between us and maybe it was naïve of me but I felt like we could make it work.

The day I woke up after she’d left in the night, I wasn’t meant to be helping out at the ranch but I knew those two dipshit charlatans would be back for their money so I watched and waited. I knew she could handle herself, hell she handledeverythingherself, didn’t need help from anyone. But I wanted to be there for her, to protect her in any way she would let me.

I worked outside, making a new bookshelf for the cabin. I wanted to place one on either side of the crumbling hearth that I desperately needed to fix, preferably by winter. But carpentry was still new to me, let alone brickwork.

I lost myself in stripping and sanding the reclaimed wood, measuring the planks, slotting them together, and hammering the nails in. I felt at peace when I created something with my hands. I was able to pour my focus into it and all my thoughts and doubts disappeared.

When I heard a vehicle pull up to the house, I put my tools down and came up to the side of the porch, watching as Martin, with his creepy bodyguard, spoke to Kat. She oozed confidence and power, she was the boss here and she waslettingthem have their money. I was so proud of her for not taking any shit and settling what she needed to.

She handed over the stacks of cash she’d pulled together, I guess she hadn’t needed my help at the cattle market yesterday either. Martin leaned in to say something to her but he was already too close for comfort, let alone when he got in her personal space. My instincts roared to life and I cleared my throat, making my presence known.

Kat’s stare flicked to me, her brow dipped and she shook her head sharply. I nodded back in understanding.She had this.

Finally Martin and his bozo left. “All paid off?” I asked.

Kat turned to me, tugging on her blonde hair that hung in two long braids. “Yep.”

She moved like she was going to go inside the house.

“You avoiding me?” The words shot from me before I could stop them.

She slowly turned on her heel. “Yep.”

I smiled despite myself. “Why?”

She glanced inside the house then came over to me. “Because, I don’t know what my thoughts are right now.”

I tugged the end of her braid. “Why do you need to have thoughts?” She cocked her head at me, frowning and I back tracked. “I didn’t mean it quite like that. What I mean is, have all the thoughts you want but maybe you’re putting too much pressure on those thoughts.”

She puckered her lips like she was lost in thought. “So you want easy breezy thoughts?”

I smiled at her words. “Yeah?”

She laughed lightly, then her expression sobered. She put a hand on my chest, “I just don’t know if I can do that.”

The door to the porch opened and Kat leapt back, her hand dropping from my chest. I tried not to feel hurt at the way she reacted to us getting caught by one of her sisters.

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