Page 60 of A Montana Secret Admirer
Mine.
He liked the sound of that. To claim Serenity as his own would be one of the best accomplishments he might have been able to claim. He wanted nothing more than to ask her to be his.
Was it too soon?
Not for him.
But he knew better than to voice such an idea aloud. It was as if doing so would ensure that it would end. He scrubbed at his jaw with his free hand. “It’s… complicated.”
Leo scoffed. “Complicated is when a woman you can’t stand looks at you with eyes you could drown in.”
Reese froze then slowly turned his head toward his brother. “You’re not talking about Kat, are you?”
“What?” Leo snapped, coming out of the brain fog he seemed to have found himself in. “No. Of course not. That woman—” He cut himself off. “Not worth the headache,” he finally said after a few moments. “I can’t wait until we’re done with this whole project and she no longer gets to dictate my schedule.”
Lifting a single brow, Reese bit back a smile. He also knew better than to poke the bear, and Leo discussing Kat would do just that. Still, based on the way he was bringing up the woman in everyday conversation, Reese couldn’t help but wonder if there was something deeper taking place between them.
“So…” Leo sighed. “Complicated? What is that supposed to mean?”
They were heading back to their horses, their boots chuffing in the moderately tall grass. The cattle around them didn’t seem to be interested in them anymore, now that they were happily grazing. They could see the barn in the distance from where they were, and it wouldn’t take much time for them to return. If Reese could have avoided that question until they were just a little closer, he might have been able to save himself the grief of trying to explain what was going on.
But Leo wasn’t going to let that happen—clearly.
Reese rubbed the back of his neck and heaved out a sigh. “It’s… her kids.”
“Don’t they love you?”
Reese couldn’t help the smile that crossed his face despite feeling like they were stuck in a standstill when it came to thoseboys. “Well, the younger one does. Jessi? I swear, some days he looks at me like I’m the sun and moon themselves.”
“And the older one?”
Grimacing, Reese shoved his boot into the stirrup and climbed into the saddle. “That one is trickier.”
“How so? They’re both just kids.”
Reese chuckled. His brother had no idea just how wrong he was. Tegan was far more observant than anyone gave him credit for. He had this knack of being able to see things before even the adults around him—at least when it came to his mother. Reese wouldn’t have been surprised if it came out that he’d been spying on his mother while she watched the sunset and inadvertently saw them kissing.
Completely possible.
“Reese,” Leo said loudly, as if he’d already said it. “You’re not going to let some kid stop you from being happy, are you?”
This time, Reese scowled at his brother. “I don’t like the point your trying to make. It’s really not that simple. This is a package deal. Serenity and the kids come together and I like it that way. They deserves to be happy, just like their mother.”
“So do you.”
“That’s not the point.”
“Yes, it is,” Leo argued. “The kid lost his dad. We did, too. It sucks. But that’s life. As much as we might want to think so, we can’t control our lives any more than we can control the sun rising in the morning. One way or another, that kid will loseeveryone he cares for. All we can do is hope that it happens when he’s grey and old.”
“That’s morbid,” Reese muttered.
“You know it’s true. Whatever is making you hold back, maybe you should cut yourself some slack. Kids are resilient. He’ll come around.”
“Or he’ll hate me forever for taking his mother from him.”
Leo scoffed.
They were both quiet as their horses plodded along the trail. When Reese didn’t say anything, Leo made it clear where his head was at.
