Kat darted back a step and ran her hands down her blouse, smoothing nonexistent wrinkles from their surface. There was a faint flush on her cheeks.
Was she embarrassed?
Leo cut a look toward the door and found Chaz giving her a concerned look, but her father looked almost bored. The latter stepped forward. “Kat, Noah has agreed to a change in terms.”
Kat sucked in a sharp breath, drawing Leo’s attention. Change of terms? What did that mean?
“We both feel that it would be easier for us to maintain tabs on this project if one of our own were to be on sight at the time of the ground breaking. It would be good for us to know what’s in store moving forward as this opportunity is more than simply charity.”
“What… who would be…” Kat’s voice quieted, and her eyes shifted to Chaz. That blush deepened slightly, and Leo scowled at the man.
Chaz. What had he done?
“Seeing as you’re the one in charge of this project, we agreed it would be best if you moved to Rocky Ridge for the duration.”
Kat gasped. “What?”
“Chaz will of course take over any of the larger projects that need supervision. The smaller projects can be handled remotely.”
“But—” Kat started, but then she snapped her mouth shut.
It was then that reality set in. Kat was coming to Rocky Ridge.
He looked at her then. Really looked.
She wasn’t happy about it. There was not a reality where Kat Jerris would survive living in the country. Not with her pencil skirts that showed off her amazing body. Not with three-inch stilettos highlighting her gorgeous legs.
Montana would eat her alive.
He opened his mouth to… what? Argue? To what end? Apparently, Kat had resigned herself to her fate because all she did was nod, thank her father, and escape the room.
Stunned, Leo only moved when Noah and Jane reminded him they had a plane to catch.
CHAPTER FIVE
Business class wasthe only way to travel. Kat wouldn’t have it any other way. But the second they touched down in Billings, Kat immediately regretted not fighting her father on this ridiculous idea.
At first, she’d had several reasons it wasn’t necessary for her to come to the country and oversee the project. Video chat had been invented, had it not? Phone calls were easy to make from anywhere. Heck, coming down for a weekend here and there would have been better than spending the next four to six months on a ranch where she didn’t belong.
She stared out the window at the red and gold trees in the distance and what would be her new home before closing her eyes. They were taxiing on the tarmac toward the airport and soon she’d be greeted by the person sent to pick her up.
Dear old dad had said this would be a good experience not only from a business standpoint, but also as a way to ground her. He hadn’t grown up with wealth. Not like she had. Sure, there had been money in the family. They hadn’t wanted for anything, not really. But the extent of her upbringing was so starkly differentfrom her father’s. And her father had been forced to spend time away from the luxuries their wealth offered.
Kat sighed. If she’d only agreed to do that backpacking trip through Europe with her roommates, maybe she could have argued that she knew how to manage on her own. Then this wouldn’t have even come up.
Her dad was probably right about one thing. It would be good to see how things operated first-hand. And she might have even been excited about it if it weren’t for one thing.
Or rather, one person.
Leo.
She grimaced at the thought of seeing him. Then she reminded herself that this ranch seemed bigger than most. The way Noah described it, Sagebrush was similar in ways to that western television show that was really popular right now.
Kat stood when the plane stopped and grabbed her things. They’d have to gather her suitcases from baggage claim as well. Then she’d be off to her temporary home. The crew had broken ground yesterday. Everything was on schedule, but that didn’t mean anything, seeing as it was only day two of this adventure.
With the ranch being bigger, maybe her interactions with Leo could be minimized. He was only a liaison after all. Perhaps she’d be able to call in meetings once a week to get his input and other than that, she’d observe from a distance.
That thought brought her hope until she slipped past the security area and saw the one person she’d prayed to avoid—at least for today.
