She let out a disgruntled scoff. She hadn’t been thinking about that until this moment. Still, what he said made sense. She couldn’t stop shaking and a fire sounded like heaven.
With numb fingers, she worked at removing the clothes that clung to her body. It took her longer than normal to change and by the time she was done, Leo had a fire running. Still, her shaking remained uncontrollable. “Are w-we g-going to g-go h-home?”
He glanced at her. “It’s not a good idea to head out on horseback in this weather. But if you want to call Jane, we might be able to get someone out here to pick us up in a truck.”
She nodded, then reached for her clothes and froze.
“What?” he muttered.
Her eyes lifted to meet his. “My phone. It’s not here.”
He let his head fall back as he closed his eyes, and another expletive slipped past his lips. “You’re kidding me.”
She scowled at him. “I’m s-sorry. I f-fell and m-must have l-lost it o-out th-there. What a-about y-you? Where’s y-your ph-phone?” Her eyes followed him as he paced on the other side of the room. He was still in his wet clothes and she bit back the instinct to tell him he should get changed, too. But that thought process came to an abrupt halt with his next words.
“My phone’s dead.”
Her eyes widened. “You’re ph-phone’s d-dead? S-seriously?”
He threw a finger in her direction. “Don’t you dare blame me. If you hadn’t gone running off, we could have left on time and beat the rain.”
“So th-this is m-my fault?” she stammered.
His eyes darkened, making it clear that was exactly how he felt.
They were stuck here. In this cabin for the night—maybe longer.
And there was only one bed.
CHAPTER TEN
“Get closer to the fire,”Leo demanded.
“You’re n-not the boss of m-me,” Kat snapped back.
Leo closed his eyes and prayed for patience. They wouldn’t have been caught in the rain if she hadn’t run off. And he knew if he told her that, she’d only argue with him. “Just try to get warm.”
She scowled at him. “S-sorry for being s-such a n-nuisance.”
“You’re not a nuisance. This is just a mess we didn’t need.” Leo couldn’t believe he’d gotten himself into this position in the first place. He was trying to not snap at her. She didn’t deserve meanness even if he was annoyed with her. He couldn’t help wondering what he’d been thinking, going along with Jane when she’d told him to take Kat out for a ride.
Lightning flashed outside. His adrenaline was wearing off. When the rain had started and he couldn’t find her, he’d started thinking the worst. He’d been worried and for more reasons than what it would mean for Jane’s project. Just thinking about Kat being hurt somewhere had put him more on edge than he’d ever been. “Will you just… get closer to the fire? I don’t want youcatching your death.” This time, his voice softened. He couldn’t keep the worry from his voice. Exhaustion was eating at him—mostly stemming from the anxiety he’d had to fight off while tracking her down in the woods.
“You should ch-change, too,” she murmured. It was quiet. He almost didn’t hear her. When he opened his eyes, he found her scooting closer to the flames. Kat wasn’t looking at him anymore. She was holding her hands out to the fire. Her hair hung wet and limp, but at least her chattering was improving.
He could feel the cold seeping into his own skin. She was right. He should change, too. If they were going to be stuck here tonight, he didn’t want to catch anything either. If something happened to him, how would she get back to the ranch?
Leo headed toward the dresser where they kept backup clothes for emergencies. He changed quickly and quietly, forcing away the fears that he’d gotten to Kat too late. If they were lucky, she wouldn’t get sick, but there was a very real possibility that she would.
He raked a hand through his damp hair and heaved a sigh. He could blame her all he wanted, but the fact of the matter was he’d pushed her to run off. He’d hurt her. Leo had seen the way his words had destroyed that defiant light in her eyes.
The apology he knew he should say aloud felt thick and heavy in the back of his throat. Why couldn’t he just go up to her and tell her he shouldn’t have said what he had? Because he was still battling with the terror he’d felt in nearly losing her.
That cold, hard, truth hit him in the chest like he was being crushed by a rockslide. He didn’t want to lose her. But why? This didn’t make any sense.
She sat huddled by the fire which was the only source of light in the cabin besides the occasional flash of lightning. He watched her, expected her to blame him for their situation because he’d scared her off and been unprepared with his phone.
But she didn’t.
