Page 79 of Reclaiming My Wife

“Don’t patronize me. Some of us aren’t getting sexy workouts,” she shot back. I was about to ask what happened to the coworker she was dating, but she hung up on me before I had a chance. I’d grill her next time.

I decided to sneak one last glance out the window before heading downstairs to make sure Kim didn’t burn dinner. I was mildly disappointed when he was nowhere to be found.

“Looking for me?” he asked from behind.

Smiling like an idiot, I whirled around and ran to him. As I jumped, he caught me easily, and I wrapped my legs around his waist and kissed him. I was demanding, and he was more than forthcoming. When we broke apart, we were both gasping for breath.

“Keep that up, and I’ll just have you for dinner,” he threatened as he turned and pushed me up against the wall.

“That was just the appetizer. You’ll have to wait for dessert,” I admonished him as I pushed back. He refused to let me go and used one hand to start unbuttoning my shirt. “Brendan!” I laughed as he started trailing kisses down my neck.

“I need a shower. Join me,” he demanded.

Didn’t that sound nice? “I’d love to, but we know damn well that once we get started, we’ll be there for hours.”

He groaned as he pushed my bra down and ran a thumb over my nipple. “Are you trying to talk me out of it? If so, you’re doing a poor job of it.”

I was drenched and aching for him, but I still unwrapped my legs and pushed him away gently. “After dinner, we’ll have all night, but Kim has been gone most of this week, and I want to have dinner with her.”

As I put myself back together, he cocked an eyebrow. “As a family?”

His voice was quiet and full of questions. I wanted desperately to give him all the answers, but I wasn’t quite ready for that.

“As a friend.” His expression closed, and I reached for him before he could pull away. “I need time, Brendan. We need time. If we just jump back into things, we might crash just like we did before. Please understand that.”

“You’re not pulling away from me?” He searched my face, and I shook my head.

“Just the opposite. I promise.” With one last kiss, I pulled away from his embrace and hurried downstairs.

Kim was mashing potatoes when I joined her. Her face was tight with concentration, and her movements were so violent that I felt a little sorry for the potatoes. “Need any help?” I asked tentatively.

“No. Cooking is actually a little cathartic, and I could use that right about now,” she growled.

Knowing the girl needed to vent some, I cleared my throat and waited. After a minute, she put down the masher and scowled at me. “I could be every bit as good as Debra if I just got more time to practice, but Ben won’t give me more hours. He told me he’d actually give me more work elsewhere if I didn’t take a break. I’m trying to prove myself here. He works for me! Okay, technically, he works for Brendan, but when I try to talk to Brendan about it, he just brushes me off. I mean, what do I have to do to prove myself?”

All this time I thought Kim had been spending her nights with a man, but maybe she was actually spending them in the stables. No wonder she’d been on edge lately.

“I have a feeling that Ben’s decision has nothing to do with your abilities. He might just be worried about you. Whether your name is on the paper or not, you’re responsible for the ranch, and you can’t just focus on one area of it.”

“I’m not!” She viciously tucked her hair behind her ear. “I’m taking care of my work too.”

“And putting in extra hours training. At the expense of your health. You’re run-down, and that can be dangerous in your line of work.”

Her shoulders slumped in defeat, and she sighed. “I know. I just want to hear my brother tell me that I’m doing a good job. Sometimes, I think he still thinks of me as a kid.”

“With this problem with Blackwell, I think he’s just preoccupied. I know that he’s proud of you. He told me just the other night how far you’ve come.”

Her eyes lit up. “Really? He did?”

“He did.” Impulsively, I reached over and squeezed her hand. “When this is all over, you should make him sit down with you and talk. Let him know what you want, and if what you want is to hire another officer manager so you can spend more time with the horses, tell him that. But first, catch up on your sleep.”

“I am exhausted,” she admitted. “I feel like I’ve been pulled in a ton of different directions over the last few weeks. I think I even left my phone down at the stables.”

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