Babs bobbed her head. “Oh, yes, ever since he was too young to know what those looks meant.”
Leslie smirked. “I bet it didn’t take him long to find out.”
Babs turned serious. “No, but he also didn’t let it go to his head and get all cocky like some teenagers. His father taught both Kurt and Brittany to respect others and hard work.” Sadness flitted across her rounded face. “It was a shame, what happened to that girl, and what her passing did to the two of them.”
She wanted to know the whole story, but it should come from Kurt or his father. Maybe helping them mend their rift would ease some of the guilt riding her over the unconditional stance of protection Kurt and his employees had given her. Eying the two plates Babs was filling with eggs, sausage and toast, she asked, “Who’s the second one for?”
“Cory, Mr. Wilcox’s aide. He’ll be in there by now.”
“Mind if I deliver them? I’d like to make myself useful.”
Babs cast a critical eye over her before handing Leslie the plates and pointing in the opposite direction of her guest room. “The master bedroom is on the far south end of that hall. The missus wanted privacy from her children. Just don’t overdo. I’ll be here all morning, so you tell me if you need anything.”
She grasped the plates, grateful for Babs’ support. “I will, Babs. Thank you.”
Leslie got a better idea of how the sprawling, one-story house was laid out as she wound her way toward Leland’s quarters. Splashes of sunlight streaming through wide windows and skylights brightened the buffed, dark hard wood floors throughout, the views outside them amazing, no matter what direction you looked. She itched to explore the property, get a closer look at the beautiful Thoroughbreds she spotted grazing in the pastures and familiarize herself with the running of a working ranch. In the three and a half years she’d lived in the midst of cattle country, she’d stuck to the familiarity of city life, but now found herself interested in learning more about how Kurt spent his days.
That new interest didn’t bode well for keeping a physical distance between them, but she wouldn’t be content to sit around the house all day for long. She needed to stay busy to keep from freaking out over someone intent on killing her.
The door stood open when she reached the bedroom, the frustrated voice coming from inside reaching her before she saw who it belonged to.
“Why don’t you want to go this morning?”
“I didn’t sleep well,” Leland snapped.
A tall, young man in his mid-twenties shook his blond head at Kurt’s father who was up and dressed and sitting at a small table in a corner of the spacious room. “You used that excuse last week.”
Leslie held up the two plates as she entered. “Maybe breakfast will perk you up and then you’ll feel like going out.” She smiled at the aide. “Hi, I’m Leslie.”
“Kurt mentioned you this morning. I’m Cory,” he said, reaching for the plates. “Thanks but I could’ve gotten them.”
“No problem.” She looked down at Leland with a wry expression. “Are you starting the day giving him a hard time? I don’t know you except for what Kurt’s mentioned, but I’ll bet you’re balking at going into therapy again.”
Leland’s glare reminded her of Kurt’s when he was annoyed with her. “Mind your own business,” he returned sourly.
“I’d love to but your stubbornness is weighing your son down with worry and since I care about him, I hate to see him upset. I would think his father would have even stronger feelings.” Satisfied with the consternation filling the older man’s eyes, she beamed at Cory. “Nice to meet you. I’m going to rest so I don’t give my generous host anything else to fret over.”
Cory’s face split in a knowing grin. “Nice to meet you, too.”
Pivoting, she ignored Leland’s disgruntled hrrmph. Her gaze landed on a chess set by the window as she headed out. An idea took hold and, pausing, she turned her head to say, “I used to be damned good at that game. I’ll play a match with you after your next therapy session.” Satisfied she’d given him something to think about with that challenge, she left the room.
Leslie made it back to her room, closed the door and leaned against it before her trembling body could threaten her composure. Admitting her feelings hadn’t been easy and added to the hardship of her uncertain, risky future. It also ratcheted up her anger over her circumstances, Edwin Glascott and whoever he hired to come after her. Stuck between a rock and a hard place, she prayed for a quick, safe end to the threat against her, wondering if it was too much to hope she could stay in Montana and see where these feelings could lead.
Kurt kept himself busy over the next few days, giving Leslie time to recover and think about where she wanted to go from here. Denying her submissive needs while living alone and staying home from the club was one thing, dismissing them while living with her Dom would be much harder. He joined her for dinner Monday night and breakfast the next morning, sitting close, touching her often, and enjoyed watching her tremble or hearing her sudden, indrawn breath, the flash of arousal in her eyes before she masked it with annoyance.
The unguarded moments when he caught the fear and uncertainty on her face tore at him, her hands-off stipulation grating the most then, the depth of his feelings as obvious to him as the sun at high noon on a cloudless day.
Tuesday morning, he started the day on a positive note when Leland announced he was going into therapy. Kurt greeted the news with relief even though he silently questioned his father’s change of heart. And then he’d returned to the house for lunch and found Leslie sitting with his father, her hand hovering above her bishop on the chess board that had gone unused since he’d returned. When his dad refused to join them in the kitchen for lunch, she’d surprised him by standing and saying, “Then we’ll have to finish this later because I want to have lunch with Kurt in the kitchen.” She’d breezed out with a small smile, his father’s irritated scowl priceless.
And Kurt fell in love a little bit more.
Now, as he let Atlas out in a full run back to the stables two days later, Kurt realized Leslie had transferred her drive for encouraging kids to work hard toward reaching their full potential to his father. Whenever he saw her with Leland, sparring over a chess game with Cory looking on in bemusement, the clutch around his heart gripped his chest tighter. She’d even managed to coax Leland out to the patio table for dinner last night after Kurt grilled steaks for everyone, including Roy, Babs and Cory.
As pleased as he was with her efforts toward his father, Leland still kept a wall between him and Kurt, still refused to discuss what had driven Kurt away for so long and wouldn’t put out the effort to do anything physical outside of his bedroom. But as he savored the hoof-pounding ride across the pastureland, the strength of Atlas’ bunching muscles against his legs and the brisk air rushing by him, he shoved aside thoughts of his difficult parent and focused on his difficult guest. Leslie was moving without pain, hadn’t taken the prescribed meds past the first twenty-four hours and he’d caught several fleeting longing glances aimed his way from those blue eyes. It was time to push his sub back where she belonged, under his sexual control.
Pulling up on the reins, he slowed the stallion by degrees until he cantered into the stable yard with a toss of his head. “Yeah, that’s my boy.” Kurt patted his sleek neck before dismounting and looping the reins around the fence rail. Powerful ripples ran under the soft pale fur as he tugged the saddle off. He intended to escort Leslie to the stables soon and was looking forward to her face when he showed her the surprise he’d been holding for her, but today they would start target practice.
“I take it you located our lost mama and her baby,” Roy said, walking up to run a hand over Atlas’ flank.