Maybe it’d keep my mind off how wonderful my afternoon was with Katie.
Fat chance.
CHAPTER 12
WYATT
I hadn’t been able to stop thinking about Katie; our encounter in the stables, that kiss out by the tree. All through the family reunion, I kept staring at her, trying to catch her gaze while people talked to her about everything under the sun. People asked her about what happened to her wedding and gave her their condolences. More people asked what she was going to do with her life and if she was planning on going back to the city. Even more, people asked her if she was already thinking about dating again and more than once I had to save her from the conversation.
I didn’t want her getting overwhelmed or pushed into topics she wasn’t ready to discuss.
The guys kept stealing her from me all damn night and it pissed me off. All I wanted was some time alone with her, but every time I turned around they were calling her for something. Dylan was teaching her how to flip burgers on a grill, and his hands were a little too close to her hips. Caleb kept pulling her off for conversations on the back porch, talking about fuck-knew-what. Andrew kept wrapping her up in games of cornhole, his hand grabbing hers to help her aim.
I didn’t like the way they were touching her.
I didn’t like it one damn bit.
I wondered if Andrew had the hots for Katie. The way they arrived together and the way she was smiling at him made me suspicious. I saw him staring at her ass more than once, and it made me see red. Here I was, scared of what my brothers would think if they found out what Katie and I had done in the stables, and Andrew was practically eye-fucking the hell out of her. What the hell was I so paranoid about? It wasn’t like he was trying to conceal what he was doing.
And if he was, he was doing a shit job of it.
Things had been weird and tense between Andrew and me anyway, ever since Katie and I came up from that walk we took at the resort. Something in my gut told me he knew something was going on, which made me wonder why he was eyeing Katie like he was. If he thought something was going on between us, why the fuck was he making moves on her?
I didn’t want the competition. I didn’t want to share Katie. It’s not like we’d never shared a woman before. But not Katie. Not a woman like her. She was mature and sophisticated. She knew us well – better than most of us liked. Katie was different. I couldn’t share Katie. I was going to fight my brothers to have her all to myself because that was what I wanted.
I tried to sleep off the shit from the reunion and distract myself with the horses at the stables. We had a groom and someone to feed and water the animals, but the stables were where I found my peace. I often fed the animals myself just to stay connected to my roots. But every time I walked into that place, all I thought about was Katie. I thought about how perfectly she molded to my body and how wonderful it felt having her bounce on my lap. How easy it was to get her to cave to me and how thick and beautiful her body was. Fuck. Bridling and saddling up the horses was becoming a pain in the ass. Fucking her in the stables was not a good idea. I couldn't even focus on the task at hand.
The main part of the family reunion was over. People came last night to eat and shoot the shit and drink all our damn beer. Some of our family members wanted to stay the weekend at the resort, which was fine. We cut them a nice deal, and I told them I’d treat them to some horseback riding. The kids loved that shit. Riding the horses and telling them to ‘giddyup.’ Andrew seemed pissed about the whole idea, but he had a tendency to get pissed over stupid shit.
He was a hothead sometimes, and whenever he was mad, we just let him be mad.
I got all the horses set up just as Dylan came striding into the stables. He had his hands in his pockets and that shit-eating grin he got when he knew something I didn’t.
“Spill,” I said. “What’s up?”
“So, you remember all those conversations Caleb kept having with Katie last night?” he asked.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“Don’t play stupid,” he said.
“Yes, I saw them headed to the porch a lot. So what?” I asked.
“Caleb was hirin’ her on for a position here.”
“What?” I asked.
“You seem shocked.”
“I didn’t know Caleb had already found her a job,” I said. “What’s she doin’?”
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“I was supposed to be interviewin’ her for a front desk managerial position, but we also need another lawyer on our side. The one we’ve got gave his two-week notice a few days ago, and we’ve gotta keep our affairs in order. I can’t keep checkin’ in guests all the damn time with this financial stuff we got goin’ on with the Charleston installation, and we need in-house counsel to help pick up the slack.”
“Katie’s our front desk manager now?” I asked.
“And temporary in-house counsel. Both part-time positions which give her a good chunk of change to help her along with any future plans moving forward with her life.”