Kat placed her hands on her hips. “I’m… stuck.”
Leo bit back a laugh. This couldn’t have gone more perfect than if he’d planned it. “I beg your pardon?”
“I’m stuck. My shoe…” She heaved a sigh. “I need your help.”
Slowly, he moved toward her then investigated the shoe. Sure enough, her heel had been suctioned into the mud. “Hmm. You appear to be right,” he said blandly.
Kat huffed. “Are you going to help me or not?”
He folded his arms. “Don’t tell me that you’re the type of woman who can’t handle yourself. Isn’t that what you businesswomen holler about until you’re blue in the face? You can do anything?”
Her disgruntled sound had his smile coming completely out of hiding. He nearly expected her to beg him for help and reach out to him. Instead, she surprised him by reaching down and unbuckling the strap around her ankle. The problem, though, was that her foot was partially submerged in the mud as well. When she yanked her foot free, she lost her balance.
Arms flailed and her eyes flashed wide before she landed with a squelch on her backside.
Leo laughed. “Looks to me, you are in need of some practical shoes, huh?”
Even in the darkness, he could feel her burning scowl on him.
He opened his mouth to tease her further, but the sound of his cousin’s voice stopped him cold. “Leo!” Hallie snapped.
He jumped. Out of everyone at Sagebrush, Hallie had the ability to keep anyone on their toes. She was the sort of person who looked innocent until the very last second—until she’d lured you to her web and trapped you. Then those fangs came out and she was every bit as venomous as she wanted to be.
His shoulders bunched then relaxed when he turned to face Hallie. “What are you doing here?”
Hallie folded her arms. Her eyes darted down to Kat who was working at getting to her feet again. “Please tell me you didn’t just let our guest fall into the mud when you were more than capable of catching her.”
He huffed. Hallie didn’t know what she was talking about. Kat wasn’t their guest. Not really. She was here to wreak havoc and he planned to make her task harder no matter what it took. “I make it a point not to put my hands on a woman unless she’s begging me to.”
His cousin snorted. “Careful, Leo. I’m fully aware of what she’s here for and I don’t think Noah, Jane, or Bo would like hearing how your job is going. Being a liaison is more than just being around to answer questions.” With that, she shouldered past Leo, nearly knocking him into the mud as well. “Kat, right?”
Kat brushed at her backside. “Unfortunately.”
Hallie laughed. “Nothing unfortunate about it.” She tossed a scathing look over her shoulder at Leo. “Come on. I live next door. Let me get you some reasonable clothes so this doesn’t happen again.”
Kat glowered at Leo as she passed and Leo simply smirked. Then his smile fell away when she was no longer in sight. His hands twitched at his sides. He’d wanted to catch her, to help her before she fell. Deep,deepdown, he’d knew he should have. It’d pained a part of him to maintain his distance. But that wasn’t part of the plan. He needed to keep his distance from her for more reasons than one.
“Was that the chick who’s working with us to get the therapy center built?”
Leo flinched at another of his cousin’s voices. What was it with his family today? Why were they all coming out of the woodwork? He shot a look at Tripp, noting his own disheveled hair and rumpled clothes. He didn’t look like he came from the house on the other side of his own. Leo wrinkled his nose. “You sleep in the barn or something?”
Tripp shrugged. He nodded in the direction where Hallie and Kat had gone. “Well? That’s her, right?”
“Yeah,” Leo muttered.
“She’s a pretty thing, isn’t she?”
“You stay away from her,” Leo practically snarled.
Tripp held up both hands with a knowing smirk. “She’s yours. Got it.”
“She’s no one’s,” Leo snapped. “She’s trouble is what she is. And in six months, she’ll be gone and we’ll all be better for it.” He marched past his cousin and headed for the barn. “Tell Hallie I’ll giveour guestthe grand tour after lunch.”
“I’m not your messenger,” Tripp called after him.
Leo ignored his cousin, continuing toward the barn. While that dark part of him reveled in the humiliation Kat had suffered, another part of him knew he was a despicable human being. The two sides of one coin that warred with one another whenever Kat was nearby.
He groaned and forced all thoughts of Kat from his mind.
