Was it possible that the corner of her lip twitched? Kat Jerris was amused. Leo bit back his own smile. Apparently that quiet ride home last night wasn’t as bad as he’d originally thought. She was okay. He hadn’t ruined everything.
Leo couldn’t tell if it was the fact that she was looking more and more like she belonged here, or if it was something else entirely. All he knew was that he couldn’t get her out of his head and he wasn’t completely averse to getting to know her a little better.
“Who knew that the grumpy cowboy could be tamed.”
“Tamed?” he scoffed. Then he took another step toward her, his whole body burning with something he wasn’t sure he was ready to investigate. “I assure you, Princess, I’m far from tamed.”
She didn’t bat an eye as she simply shrugged and stepped past him. “I seem to recall a few meetings where all you wanted to do was glower at me and bark out that you wanted nothing to do with this project.” Kat tossed him a teasing look over her shoulder. It was so different from the other ways she’d looked at him that it nearly had him stumbling over his own feet. “Or did I read you wrong? Maybe the handsome brooding cowboy just needed someone to pull him from the shadows.”
Kat had read him perfectly. And unfortunately for him, something had changed within him. He no longer viewed her as the enemy. On that note, he couldn’t seem to find the right words to argue with her. The old him would have had a snappy comeback that could set her cheeks flaming. But now? He was the one looking like a fool with his mouth hanging open.
When he didn’t respond right away, she tossed back her head and let out a warm laugh. It had the edges of his own mouth tilting upward. That laugh was magical. It wasn’t something she did often. Heck, he couldn’t recall the last time he’d heard her laugh at all.
For someone who wanted to point out his brooding nature, she sure had one of her own.
Leo rolled his eyes. “Well, now that you have your update, I’ll get going. Don’t need you pointing out all my mistakes in one day.”
She laughed again and he turned to the door but then her voice stopped him. “Leo?”
He glanced over his shoulder to look at her.
“I’m actually glad I caught you.”
He arched a brow. “I know I’m handsome and all that, but you’re taking this attraction too far.”
Kat snorted. “No, it’s got nothing to do about that. I need to head to town for something. Do you think you could drive?”
Without thinking it through, he nodded. “Sure. What time?”
She pulled out her phone. “In about an hour? I need to check in with the crew and then we can go.”
He nodded again. “Sure. I’ll be ready.”
Leo glancedat Kat out of the corner of his eye. She seemed relaxed today—so different from the night before. She lifted her face to the sky and inhaled deeply. Then when she brought her head down again, she cut him a look and frowned.
“What?” she demanded. “Am I not allowed to enjoy the fall air?”
The old Leo would have most definitely teased her about taking pleasure in such a thing—mostly because he thought her incapable of it. But the more time he spent observing her, the more he realized just how genuine she was. “On the contrary,” he murmured as they walked down the moderately busy streets of town. “I think you should take as much time as you can appreciating the things that bring you joy.”
She stared at him then. Was that surprise written on her face? Her scrutiny unnerved him to the point he had to finally look away. It was the first time he could remember feeling so—vulnerable.
What was wrong with him?
The silence between them weighed heavy on his chest as they continued to head to the next location. Kat had dragged him to three places already. First, they’d hit up the antique store. She hadn’t purchased anything which made him wonder why they’d gone in there in the first place. If she had errands to run, then there should have been a purpose.
Unless the purpose was to spend time with him.
No. Not yet. Kat wouldn’t do something like that without making her intentions known.
Would she?
The second stop was at the Zero Degree Desserts. She’d insisted on getting them each an ice cream despite the cold temperatures outside. And now they both seemed unable to stave off the chill. Now, they were walking into Cliff’s Market.
Leo frowned as he shot her a concerned look. To be fair, he hadn’t been eating with his mother and Kat for the last couple of days, so he didn’t know if she was in fact eating with his mother. He couldn’t imagine that would go over very well considering who his mother was.
“Are you not eating?”
The surprise on her face would have been comical if he wasn’t so concerned. “What? Of course I’m eating.”
