Again she stroked her pillow, but this time she said nothing.
“What’s with the umbrella on the beach?” he tried.
More nothing.
“Maybe you think you’re not good enough,” he said.
Her eyes flashed at that. Good. She knew she was good enough.
“I really think this might be my year,” she said.
“Your year? How may years have there been?”
“It’s the third year,” she admitted.
“You’ve put this honor off for three years?”
She lifted a shoulder, looking as defensive as any of her second graders.
“And the umbrella?” he pressed again.
“That was my dad. He’s been leaving me little hints, like the umbrella. He says I’ve wasted enough of my life raising him, that it’s my turn to fly.”
Grif agreed wholeheartedly, but as someone who’d been told what to do for far too much of his life, he knew when not to do the same. “So what’s the real reason you haven’t gone? Don’t you want to?”
“I do,” she breathed, her entire heart in her eyes. “More than anything. But . . . Ashley’s going through a phase, and she’s sort of falling apart—”
“Falling apart is the very definition of being a teenage girl.” He knew this firsthand as he’d been there for most of Holly’s formidable—and terrifying—teenage years. “And she’s your dad’s problem. You’re her sister not her mother.”
“And Tommy—”
“Is a great kid,” he finished. “He’s just different. But he doesn’t give a shit about that, so you shouldn’t either.”
“I don’t.”
“Then what?” he pushed.
“Well, it’s a lot for my dad—”
“Bullshit,” he said. “Again, you’re Tommy’s sister, and you’re not your dad’s wife. And you said yourself he wants you to go. Kate, you’ve taken care of them a long time, and you’ve done a great job. But from what I can see, they’re getting on just fine.”
“Because I make sure of it.”
“So trust yourself; you’ve set them up to be just fine in your absence.”
She stared up at him, eyes unfathomable. “You really think I should go.”
“Hell yeah. Do you like San Diego?”
“Love it,” she said, then gave him an embarrassed laugh. “In pictures anyway. The truth is that I’ve never been. It’s a dream of mine though, to be on the beach. I want to see the sun set on the water.”
He smiled. “You want some more fun.”
She smiled back and sat up, hugging her knees to her chest. “Not that this, tonight, wasn’t a whole bunch of fun. But . . .”
“It doesn’t compare to a Pacific coast sunset.”
“Actually,” she murmured. “It was pretty darn close.”
“Pretty darn close?” He’d just put on his clothes, but he made a show of kicking off his shoes, which made her laugh.
“That wasn’t a challenge or anything,” she said, but her breath caught when he put a knee on the bed.
“Pretty darn close?” he repeated softly.
“Well . . .” She lifted one creamy shoulder and let the sheet slip a little bit. “Maybe I’m not remembering clearly.”
“Let me help you remember.” He fisted the sheet and pulled, wrenching a laugh-filled gasp from her. Then he wrapped his fingers around her ankles.
And tugged.
She gasped again as he came down over the top of her, pinning her to the bed beneath him as his hands slid up her body to cup her face. “You’ll remember this time,” he said.
And then he set out to prove it.
* * *
Grif left Kate’s bed before dawn. It took a shocking amount of discipline, but staying wrapped up in Kate’s soft, warm body seemed more dangerous to his well-being than heading back to the ranch and working his ass off.
Which he’d been doing every day. He’d found that though Reid Ranching ran smoothly in general, there was a definite disconnect between Holly in the office and his father’s crews in the fields. This was mostly because their ranch manager had left a month ago to move to Colorado and they hadn’t replaced him, instead various ranch hands had stepped up.
But Donald Reid wasn’t the most patient of men, and he was preoccupied with his hobbies, his girlfriend, and enjoying himself.
So Griffin had inadvertently stepped into the role. Over the past two days he’d been spending a lot of time going through barn inventory for Holly, who’d been freaking out about quarterly paperwork and taxes.
By seven thirty he was in her office with the spreadsheets she’d been hounding him for.
She snatched at the iPad like it was the last donut in an assorted box. Unfortunately, the real box of donuts on her desk was empty except for a few crumbs.
“You’re a lifesaver,” she said, and shocked him by rounding her desk and giving him a big hug.
“Does that mean you’ll stop yelling at me via text all day long?”
She stepped back. “I don’t yell. I direct.”
“You’re bossy as shit,” he said, and opened her pencil drawer, stealing the candy bar she always had hidden there.
“Hey! That’s my emergency chocolate!”
He bit into it. “Should have saved me a donut. Besides, it’s not good for the baby.”
Ignoring his comment, she clicked and read through the iPad inventory files. “Griffin—”
“If you’re going to tell me I did it wrong, get some other sucker to do your bidding.”
“No.” She lifted her head, her eyes shining with emotion.
“Uh-oh,” he said. “What are you doing?”
“Nothing.” She reached for the box of tissues on the desk.
“Shit,” he said. “What is it? Baby hormones? Do I need to kick Adam’s ass? Dad’s? What?”
“No!” she said on a watery laugh, and blew her nose. “Nothing like that.” She hugged him again.
“Okay, now I’m really freaked out,” he said, freeing himself. “Two hugs in the same day and not a single smack.”
She smacked him. “I’m just happy to have you here, you stupid jerk. Helping. Being a part of the family. It feels good.” She searched his gaze. “Doesn’t it?”
He blew out a breath. He knew where this was going. “Holly—”
“He put you on the payroll, you know.”
“What?”
“Yeah,” she said, and turned her computer to face him, showing him the payroll files. “You’ll be getting your first check this week, along with the rest of us.”
He stared at his name on the report, under which the title read Ranch Manager. “He didn’t even ask me.”
“He won’t.” This time she patted his chest gently. “He wants you to stay. I want you to stay.” She put his hand on her belly. “The baby wants you to stay.”
“The baby is a bean.”
She laughed. “Fine. But everyone else wants you to stay.”
He blew out a breath. “I don’t know what to say.”
“Say you’ll think about it.”
He was surprised that he felt utterly calm at the very thought. “I’ll think about it.”
She beamed at him. “Good.” She smacked him again. “Now go buy me another candy bar.”
* * *
Kate got up, showered, and made her usual stop at her dad’s. She was shocked to find him in the kitchen stirring oatmeal on the stove. Ashley was pouting at the table, but she was at the table.
“He said I had to eat it,” she grumbled. “And FYI, oatmeal’s disgusting.”
Kate hugged her dad and looked in the pot. It did look disgusting, but she said, “Yum.”
Her dad slid her an amused look and scooped her a bowl, too.
It was overdone, but Kate choked down every bite.
Five minutes later, she and Tommy slid into Ryan’s car. She was sipping a coffee, desperately trying to get rid of the oatmeal sticking to her gut like lead. Plus, it was career day at school, always a circus, and she needed the kick of caffeine because she’d spent most of the night being ruined for all other men by Griffin.
Ryan glanced at her over the top of his sunglasses.
“Don’t say it,” she warned.
“I don’t have to. The smile says it all.”
Kate grimaced. “I know.” She’d seen the smile in the mirror when she’d been dressing. She hadn’t been able to get it to go away.
Ryan let out a huff of annoyance. “It’s like you’re just showing off now.”
Kate sipped some more coffee.
“Where’s mine?” Ryan asked. “Coffee might help ease my pain.”
“You’re not in pain. And you told me to stop babying you.”
He stared at her.
“Well didn’t you?”
“Yeah.” He put the car in gear and pulled out, looking a little broody. “I just didn’t think you’d really do it.”
“Shouldn’t say stuff you don’t mean,” Tommy piped up from the backseat.
Ryan glanced at him in the rearview mirror. “Now you listen?”
Tommy grinned.
Ryan sighed. “I bet you’d throw me to the wolves in a heartbeat.”
Tommy adamantly shook his head. “Nope. No man left behind,” he said. “That’s the man rule.”
“Excuse me?” Kate asked. “Man rule?”
“Grif said,” Tommy said. “Never leave a man behind.”
Except he was leaving her behind. Any day now. Which was okay, she reminded herself. They’d had their night. Hell, she’d even had a second and third night . . . “Or a woman,” Kate said. “Never leave a woman behind either. Or a child.”
“Well, duh,” Tommy said.
Ryan made a play for Kate’s coffee, but she merely held it out of his reach and then went back to drinking it.
“Mean,” Ryan said.
“I’m your friend, not your mother.”
“Huh?”
“Nothing,” Kate said, feeling both amusement and a pang of yearning.
They pulled into the school. Ryan put the car in park and held Kate’s wrist when she would have gotten out with Tommy.
“What?” she asked.
“Four more days.”
“I know.”
He met her gaze, his own void of its usual sarcasm. “Do you?”
“Yes,” she said.
“Then turn in your acceptance!”
She nodded. Seeing her dad trying went a long way toward easing her mind. “I will.”
Ryan blew out a sigh and thunked his head against the headrest a few times.
“You’re going to shake something loose,” she said, and handed him her coffee.
“Bless you,” he said fervently. “Sometimes I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
She met his gaze and saw the exact moment it hit him.
“I didn’t meant it like that,” he said quickly. “I want you to go. For you.” He squeezed her hand. “We’ll deal, Kate. We’ll all deal. We’ll be fine.”
Yes. But would she?
* * *
A few minutes later Kate was chitchatting with her career day parents when her gaze collided with Griffin’s. Her greedy ni**les tingled. “Hey,” she said in surprise. “What are you—” She broke off when someone tugged at her sweater.
Tommy.
He smiled up at her. “You know how you always tell me I can be anything I want when I get all growed up?”
“When you grow up, and yes.”
“I want to be a soldier and save people, just like Grif.”
Ah. It was starting to make sense now. “Tommy, did you invite Griffin here today as your career guide?”
Tommy beamed at her. “Yep.”
Yep. She straightened and met Griffin’s gaze. He looked at her right back, giving nothing away.
She, on the other hand, was pretty sure she was giving everything away. How could she not? The last time she’d seen him she’d been bouncing on him like he was a wild bronco ride at the fair.
She tried to ignore this as the first parent walked to the front of the class and talked about being a doctor. He’d brought a poster chart of hereditary features and was showing the kids how they got their eye color, blood type, and other traits. Unfortunately, he was also nervous, spoke in a monotone, and kept dropping the poster.
The kids were shifting around and whispering. Kate shushed a few of them and gave Griffin a quick glance. She couldn’t imagine how different this situation was from his usual world.
He was facing the front, listening politely to the doctor, but then, as if he felt her looking at him, his gaze slid to her.
Had she thought he kept everything hidden? Because everything he felt was right there, and it stole her breath.
The doctor finished, and the next parent moved to the front of the class. A banker. Kate bit back her sigh as the kids got even more restless.
And then it was Griffin’s turn. Unlike the others who’d stood at the dry erase board and given dry, boring speeches, he went to the reading corner and sat in a circle with the kids huddled close.
There he taught them how to build a camp with makeshift items he found in the classroom, such as jackets and coats and umbrellas.
“Where’re our guns?” Dustin wanted to know. “We need guns.”