Night Hawk. Lindsay McKenna
love with each other. “That’s fine,” she said, frowning. She hoped he wasn’t going to hang around her, working with her. That wasn’t something she could tolerate, because the anger and hurt over his walking out on her was boiling just beneath her surface. And she had to keep this job. If she rounded on Gil, took him to task, he could get her fired just like that. Insubordination toward a superior.
“We’ll go over things after breakfast,” he said casually. “And then I’ll leave you alone. Come to me with the list once it’s finished.”
“I can do that.” Relief sped through Kai. Was Gil reading her mind? Did he see the expression on her face and figure out she wanted him the hell away from her?
“Good,” he muttered.
Kai stood up, her bowl empty. As she walked toward the kitchen, she said, “I’m going out there now. I’ll see you when I get done with that list.” She saw him give a brisk nod but not look up. Good. Drenched with tension and the urge to run the hell out of the house, Kai forced herself to act normal. Not scared. Not angry. She knew during the first month of working here, Talon would be assessing her closely to see how she fit in with the ranch team or not. And more than anything, Kai wanted to integrate. She had loved the warmth and camaraderie at the table last night, despite Gil’s dark, quiet presence.
She rinsed her bowl out and placed it in the nearby dishwasher. After washing her hands, she quickly dried them off. Walking out into the foyer, she grabbed her green baseball cap off a wooden peg and left the house.
The air was chilly. A lot more than she realized. Turning, Kai went back inside. As she walked through the living room, she felt Gil’s gaze on her. Refusing to look or tell him why she was back, she hurried to her room. She retrieved her new Levi’s jacket and pulled it on. Patently ignoring him, she left, glad to be away from him.
The sky was pink on the horizon, along with a band of gold. The sun was just about to rise. She saw the light frost on the plants in the flower beds as she opened the gate and then shut it. Her breath was white vapor as she walked around the ranch house and down a gravel path toward the green barn in the distance.
There were no cattle at the ranch yet. She’d heard Talon say something to Gil about going to look at buying a bull and thirty Hereford cows, but that was all. The ranch was quiet, as if it were still slumbering. Kai could see the amount of work ahead of everyone. Her boots crunched on the gravel as she made her way past the rusted corrals. The sky was now a pale blue. In the distance, she could see the sharp, teethlike Tetons with a thick white coat of snow on the upper half of their blue granite slopes. The song of several robins and a cheerful cardinal picked up her spirits. The farther away from Gil that she got, the happier Kai felt. He was her past. And that’s where it was going to stay.
KAI HAD PUSHED the big green door on the barn wide open to allow maximum light into the area. The sun came over the horizon and rays shot into the area, lighting up everything so it was easy to see the equipment.
Trying to still her angst over Gil coming out at some point, she busied herself with her notepad and pen. Every piece of machinery in this place, including the floor, was dusty and needed a good sweeping. Each one needed a full, thorough assessment by her.
Above her, the cooing of mourning doves soothed her tightened stomach. Kai kept glancing down the graveled slope of the barn, expecting to see Gil coming her way. The morning was near freezing and she was glad she had on thick, warm leather gloves. The cooing made her look up. She spotted a nest high in the rafters of the third floor where the doves were more than likely sitting on a clutch of eggs. She remembered the dove hunting that took place in Wyoming every September, hating it. She loved the gray doves whose beautiful sounds always filled dawn and dusk. Kai didn’t like killing anything if she could help it. Another strike against her, because her father was an avid hunter.
Walking to the red barn, she opened the locker and carried her toolbox over to the green barn. There was a set of lockers there, and she chose one and placed the box down beside it. Opening it, Kai dragged out a few tools and had everything she needed to start the inspection on the green-and-yellow John Deere tractor. She wished she had a bucket of water, a washcloth and a dry towel to take the worst of the thick layer of dust off the big machine, but that would have to wait.
“Find what you need?”
Kai gasped, jerking up and whirling around. Gil stood there, the sunlight backlit around him, darkening him. “God!” she whispered, her hand flying to her throat, “you scared the hell out of me!” Kai reminded herself he was black ops and, of course, she wouldn’t hear him approach her.
“Didn’t mean to,” Gil growled unhappily, apology in his tone.
Heart pounding, Kai didn’t want to be this close to Gil. He was a big man, thickly muscled, hard and powerful. She saw his eyes narrow upon her and then felt a bolt of heat from her breasts down to her lower body. Damn. The man could incite her body from simmer to boil in a split second. Scowling at him, she muttered, “Yes, I have everything I need.”
“Good. Let’s check this tractor first.”
Alarm spread through her. “I thought I was supposed to do this on my own.” Gulping, Kai just wanted to be left alone, not have him underfoot. When she saw him stare down at her, she snapped, “I know my job. You had something else to do? Right?”
Gil pushed up his Stetson with his gloved hand. “Did you get enough sleep last night?”
His growly demand only made her more surly. “That’s none of your damned business!” She was breathing hard, her chest rising and falling beneath her denim jacket. His full mouth compressed into a hard line, his blue eyes glittering. She felt as if she was in combat mode with him. Well, wasn’t she?
Gil held up his hand. “We need to talk this out, Kai.”
Her nostrils flared with anger. “Yeah, you’re years too late!” Her hands fisted and unfisted at her sides. And, dammit, her voice was wobbling and she tried to shove down the nest of snakes in her gut crawling up to choke off her voice. “There’s nothing to talk about! You left. End of story!” Her breathing was rapid and choppy as she glared at him, hunched, as if getting ready to fight. But he wasn’t her enemy and Kai knew that. For a moment, the hardness melted in his face. His mouth softened a little as her voice grew strained with tears. Kai wasn’t going to cry! She was so angry at Gil that she wanted to slap his arrogant face. But there was no arrogance in his expression right now. His blue eyes were murky looking and it probably meant he was emotionally upset. Well, so was she!
Gil took a step back. He closed his eyes for a moment, then lifted his head and held her mutinous glare. “I didn’t know you were hired,” he admitted wearily.
“Yeah, and I bet if you had,” Kai said angrily, “you’d sure as hell have told Talon to pass on me. Wouldn’t you have?”
She saw the confusion in his face. Oh, Kai knew Gil could come clean and take off that damned game face he wore the way Sam had. But where Sam couldn’t let down his game face, she knew Gil could do it. And to her surprise, he was allowing her to see him. That shook her because she didn’t expect it. Especially right now. She saw him struggling, his expression ravaged.
“No,” he breathed in a gruff tone, “I would not have said anything to Talon. I know how good you are.”
She straightened, throwing back her shoulders, battling tears she refused to let fall. “I’ll bet.”
“I owe you an explanation.”
“Ya think? Gee, Gil, it must have been one helluva shock to you to see me here, huh? I’ll bet you thought life was rosy here on the Triple H until I stepped back into the picture.” Kai jerked off her gloves and threw them down on top of her metal toolbox. “Well, I don’t like this situation any more than you do. But you know what? I earned this position here at this ranch!” She jabbed her finger down at the wooden