He claps my shoulder on his way out, grip firm. “Good work, Seth. All of you. I’ll be in touch.”
The door swings shut behind him. For a beat, none of us move.
Then Carter exhales and breaks the silence. “Well. That was fucking great progress.”
“Understatement of the century,” Kai says, pacing, restless energy spilling out of him. “So we’ve got initial proof he might be stealing and proof he tried to frame you. What now?”
“Now we go to the police to see what they need in order to start searching,” I state. “We get official charges, see if we can lock down the records, and we force an audit of everything he’s touched.” My mind is already shifting into problem-solving mode, anger turning into action. “I’ll speak to the sheriff this morning. We get it on record before Holden realizes we’re onto him and he has time to spin a story.”
“I’ll come with you,” June says, already moving.
“No.” I step in front of her. I cup her face in my hands. “You go to the rodeo with Carter and Kai. Carter’s up soon, and I won’t be long.” I press a kiss to her forehead and breathe her in. I pull back, then steal a real kiss. Short, no nonsense, enough to put the taste of her on my tongue and remind her she is ours.
Carter stands and stretches, all long limbs and confidence. “Come on, beautiful. You can watch me be incredible on horseback. It’ll change your life.”
June snorts.
Kai slips an arm around June’s shoulders and steers her toward the door. “Let’s go before Carter starts turning into a greeting card. I want to check on the Brutus setup anyway. Make sure Crawford’s got everything ready for tomorrow.”
We all head out, June locking the door and then being flanked by Carter and Kai. She glances back over her shoulder at me. The smile she gives me is captivating, and all mine.
25
KAI
Ihave no idea what’s happening in the arena.
Somewhere in the distance, an announcer is saying something about the saddle bronc championships. The crowd is cheering, and cowboys are risking their necks on thousand-pound horses bred for violence.
I missed the entire introduction and the first rodeo star. The man could have been trampled for all I know, and I wouldn’t have noticed.
All I can focus on is the woman sitting next to me.
June is pressed against my side in the stands, her body warm and soft and impossibly distracting. My arm is draped around her back. Her scent wraps around me with every breath I take, and I swear it’s getting deeper. Richer. More intoxicating by the hour.
She insists she feels normal, says nothing has changed, but I know better.
“Kai.” Her voice cuts through the fog in my brain. “Are you even paying attention?”
“Absolutely,” I lie.
“Really? What just happened?”
I glance toward the arena, where a cowboy is climbing off a horse to scattered applause.
“That guy rode. Did okay. Not as good as Carter will do.”
She laughs, shaking her head. “You didn’t watch any of it.”
“I watched the important parts.”
“Which were?”
I lean in closer, letting my lips brush against the shell of her ear. “The way your thighs look in that skirt.”
Her breath catches, just slightly, and satisfaction curls through my chest. She’s wearing this tiny denim thing that barely covers anything, and with her legs crossed beside me, the hem has ridden up to dangerous territory. I’ve been staring at those legs for the past twenty minutes, imagining what it would feel like to have them wrapped around my head.
“Kai.” Her tone is warning, but I can hear the smile underneath it.
