As much as she’d dreamed of feeling his lips on hers again—God, did she want to—Kat knew it would undo every ounce of civility they’d managed to obtain during these past few minutes.
She took a step back. Understanding filled his dark eyes and Matt’s hand dropped back to his side.
Overwhelmed by the whole situation, Kat decided it would be best if she spent the rest of the evening alone.
“Actually.” She started gathering the food back into her hands. “I think I’ll wait on the sandwich.”
“Thought you were hungry.”
“I thought I was, too.” Kat went about putting the items back into their rightful place.
Matt filled her in on tomorrow’s plans while she did. “Derek called earlier. He’s Alpha Team’s computer specialist.”
“I remember.”
“Right.” He actually gave her a hint of a smile. “Anyway, he’s going to be stopping by tomorrow to bring me a few things. Is there anything you need from town? I can send him a list.”
The kind gesture was unexpected and actually pretty thoughtful. So why did she feel like he was hiding something?
Gee, I don’t know. Maybe because he’s gone from being Asshole of the Year to something closely resembling the sweet, caring man she used to know, in only a few hours’ time.
Still. This was Matt. He used to beherMatt. He may not fully trust her yet, but she trusted him with her life. At least she used to.
“I can’t think of anything I need.”Other than you.“Thanks, though.”
He nodded. “I’m going to check the perimeter and surveillance equipment one last time before hitting the couch.”
“Okay.” Kat gave him a tiny smile. “Goodnight, Matt.”
As she stepped past, she heard a low, “’Night, Doc.”
That time when he said it, the nickname made her smile.
Chapter 5
What the fuck was that?
Matt shut the door behind him and blew out a heavy breath. The spring, Texas air had cooled since sundown, a welcome relief to his feverish skin.
As he made his way around the cabin’s exterior and the immediate area surrounding it, he tried to make sense of the entire, fucked up situation.
After his big blow up, Matt had used his time securing the area to cool off and regroup.
He was supposed to be trying to get a feel for whether or not Kat was involved in the suspected plot to steal the formula. In order to do that, he had to at least make her feel comfortable enough to open up to him.
Something that would never happen if he kept throwing their past in her face and treating her like shit.
Determined to take one for the team, he’d gone back inside to swallow his pride and apologize. When he’d heard Kat crying through the bedroom door, he changed his mind and decided to give her some space.
Needing more time to process, himself, Matt had sat down at the table. His mind filling with memories—both good and bad.
Eventually, her sobs slowly faded away. By the time she’d cried herself to sleep, he felt like the biggest dick on the planet.
Matt didn’t know which pissed him off more, the fact that everything he’d said to her before was true, or that he’d actually felt bad for making her cry.
Then almost instantly, he’d given himself a mental slap on the head for feeling even an ounce of guilt.
He hadn’t been the one to crush her dreams. Didn’t tearherheart out piece by fucking piece. So why should he feel bad?
