Chapter Twenty-six
Kate leaned her headback under the pulsing jet of the shower, rinsing the shampoo from her hair. Aquick lift of her face under the warm spray and she was done. Flicking the tapsoff, she stepped out onto the bath mat and lifted her towel from the rail,wrapping it around her as she walked back into her bedroom. She took cleanunderwear from her top drawer and thought about what to wear.
Normally she wouldn'tcare but tonight looked a bit more special. Stevie was here with Rooney, andthat may be cause for a celebration. Skinny jeans would be okay so long as shewore a nice top with them. That way if they ended up sitting outside, themossies wouldn't make a feast of her legs like they usually did. Being ared-head and fair-skinned had its problems and that was one of them.
After Kate had dressed,she wrapped the towel around her hair and scrunched it to absorb most of the moisture.Unwrapping it, she shook her head and her wet locks fell over her shoulders ina mass of tight red curls. With just a touch of make-up, she was ready.
Wally wound his waythrough her legs waiting for his dinner as usual. When she looked in his bowlto find it still full from breakfast, she scolded him. "You’re getting fartoo fussy for a barn cat, pal. Now, let me go. I need to eat and spend timewith friends and idiot men who don't know what's good for them."
She dimmed the lightsin the lounge and kitchen, leaving one on outside so she could see her way homewithout stumbling in the dark. Wally meowed and followed her to the front door."No." Kate stroked his head as she opened the door.
The cat spat and lashedout, scratching her hand in the process before running through the house,hissing.
"Shit." Theblood ran down her hand and the scratch stung like crazy. She looked up to seeCade standing at the door, his gaze concerned. "What the hell was that allabout? Since when did you scare the crap out of my cat?"
He grabbed her hand toinspect the scratches. "Hell, Kate. I'm sorry. I didn't think your catwould be scared of dogs living on the farm." He pushed her back into thehallway and hobbled in, shutting the door behind him.
"What dog?"
"I'll tell youabout it later. Let's get this clean before we go for dinner." He followedher into the kitchen. When she reached under the kitchen sink for the first aidkit, he nudged her out of the way and leaned down to get it.
Kate watched his blondcurls and resisted the urge to touch them as he placed the kit on the bench andundid the lid. With unhurried precision, Cade pulled out a small bottle ofdisinfectant and a large band aid, along with a tube of antiseptic cream. Hetook a small bowl from the rack on the bench and poured disinfectant into it,using cotton wool balls to wipe the blood from the back of her hand.
Her heart rate hitchedup a few notches as he held her hand and she had to concentrate to keep herbreathing steady. Having Cade in her house alone was too tempting by far."Thanks." He dried the scratch and dabbed cream on before taking thebacking off the band-aid to cover it. "I didn't take you for the caringtype, Cade."
"You wound me withyour assumptions, Kate. I'm not the playboy you make me out to be."
"Really? Funny howI don't actually believe that, but it's not my problem." She moved pasthim in the tiny kitchen, the contact with his body making her stomach quiver."Let's go and have dinner, shall we? They're probably waiting." Shewalked out of the kitchen and down the hallway to open the front door again. Onthe step sat the dog that caused the incident with Wally. It backed away whenit saw her. "That dog better not be a stray hassling the cattle."
"It's okay,girl." Cade brushed past Kate and reached down to stroke his dog on thehead. "This is Molly. I rescued her yesterday and she's turning into myshadow."
"You rescued her?Why and where from?" Kate stood and looked from him to the dog. She shutthe door as he started for the house and followed him.
"Tell you allabout it later, after dinner when the squirt has gone to bed. She doesn't needto know what happened."
"What were youdoing at my front door anyway?"
He glanced up and downher body, sending small jolts of electricity down her spine and to hersensitive spots. When he didn't answer, she shrugged, deciding to ignore him.They walked around the side of the house and true to her promise, Rooney had aglass of wine for Kate. "Thanks. I need this tonight."
"Sounds likeeveryone’s had a rough week. What's the problem, Kate?" Rooney took a seaton the cane lounger and held her hand out for Kate to join her.
"Short-handed atthe moment. I lost a guy a couple of weeks ago and can't find anyone worthhiring. Seriously, people don't want to work for a living these days. Theyexpect everything for nothing, so I'm doing longer hours—but that's what I'mpaid for."
She saw the look thatpassed between Cade and Rooney, and raised her eyebrow. Rooney winked andlooked away.
When Essie called themin for dinner, Kate found she was placed next to Cade. Awesome…not! How thehell am I supposed to act normal with him so close? He's already playedhavoc with my body tonight. She managed to join the conversation and talknormally when she had something appropriate to say, all the while aware of theheat between the two of them. If she wouldn't hate herself in the morning, shewould be tempted to rip his shirt off and push him against the wall, runningher tongue over his perfectly sculptured
