Page 73 of Untamed Heart
Kyle dropped my arm, frowning, glancing between us.
‘I’m at the Four Seasons,’ Kyle said, glancing across to Cole but not quite daring to hold his gaze. ‘You owe me a conversation, at the very least.’
‘I don’t owe you shit,’ I whispered, trying to stop the sob lodged in my throat from rising up. ‘I can’t believe you did this.’
‘What was I supposed to do?’ Kyle hissed back, flinching as he caught Cole’s glare over my shoulder. ‘Your dad said you were here, and then when Leo told me he was coming over—’
‘Oh my God, my dad put you up to this?’ I replied, trying to turn but coming up against Cole instead. He held firm, body tensed, ready.
‘Cole, c’mon, let them be,’ Jesse said, his voice just behind us.
‘No, it’s fine, Jesse. Kyle’s leaving,’ I said, willing him to go.
Kyle shook his head.
‘Not until you agree to meet me to talk, tomorrow, when they’re all busy entertaining your influencer guests.’
His eyes flicked over Cole, now pressed against me, my body blending into his. I hesitated, feeling the crossroads we stood at. Taking the wrong turn could end up with the weekend ruined, with Cole knocking ten shades of hell out of Kyle and God knows what else.
‘Fine,’ I snapped. ‘I’ll come to your hotel. Just go. Now. Please.’
He glanced at me, then at Cole, seemingly satisfied; then he climbed into the taxi. We watched in silence as it took off, disappearing quickly down the steep curve of the drive.
‘I’ll stall the guests a little, give you a minute,’ Jesse said, jogging over to the cabins, looking back at us once and nodding to Cole.
I stared blankly at the dust gradually settling back onto the road, trying to grapple with what the hell had just happened.
Without a word, Cole turned me around to face him, holding me tightly for a moment. The relief of touching him was almost too much as I tilted my head up to him, finding his eyes.
‘You don’t have to do a damn thing,’ he said, his voice hard, his expression bleak. ‘Like you said, you don’t owe him anything and I don’t trust him with you, not for a fucking minute.’
The implication was clear. Cole’s fear that Kyle would somehow talk himself back into his previous role, explain away what’d happened and somehow make it all right again was obvious. An echo of Cole’s pain, from his earlier life, flickered through his expression. Losing someone he cared for, knowing how that felt. But he didn’t know Kyle like I did.
‘I know. But he’s persistent. If I don’t explain, he’ll just—’
‘I’ll fucking kill him if he touches you again,’ Cole snarled. ‘I’ll drag him out of the Four Seasons by his fucking fancy jacket and send him back to London with my foot up his ass.’
‘Cole,’ I said, daring to break our pact in order to touch his face, my fingers stroking his skin, watching as his anger melted under them. ‘It’ll be okay. Forgiveness is not on offer, not for one second. I just need him to know that it’s finished.’
He scanned my face over and over, desperation in his eyes, his hands grazing my neck, my waist, drawing back as if he couldn’t control himself if he let go.
Jesse’s voice filtered back over to us, talking loudly, as if in warning. They were leaving the cabins, ready for the tour of the rest of the ranch. Kendra’s voice became audible, her laugh breaking the tension around us. This was not what she needed to see.
‘I need to go,’ I whispered, memorizing his face again. ‘Just stick to the plan. Please.’
‘I need you,’ he whispered back, hands on mine.
But I stepped away, walking quickly to the side of the house, taking myself around the back, fighting tears all the way.
CHAPTER19
I stayed in the background, not trusting my emotions.
As the influencers settled in, the team embraced the plan and fell into their roles with ease. Utterly on edge, I watched as they entertained them beautifully and I . . . wore my corporate mask. It felt so alien, yet so familiar: muted responses and crafted smiles, swimming at the surface and never reaching deeper. How could I have lived like this for so long in London? After almost a month here, I realized I felt like I’d ripped off a Band-Aid that couldn’t be replaced, the wound below now healing after exposure to the realness of this place, as fresh and raw as the mountain air.
‘Are we going to the Cowboy Bar?’ Kendra asked, draped over the sofa arm nearest the fire, the huge hearth allowing for a small bonfire that lit the whole living area. It was the largest, but somehow also the most cosy room at the ranch, rarely used day to day, when the kitchen and smaller seating area there was the focal point. But for guests, with its deep, soft, tan leather sofas, throws and cushions, it was perfect.
‘Oh my God yes,’ Ashley mouthed, mid-way through filming Alix giving a room tour.
