From the minute Kaia saw Ridge's face, she knew the bachelor party had not gone well, and it was all she could do not to run to him.
Vivi rushed to take a grumbling, stumbling Duke from his sons and usher him to the master bedroom. Archer and Casey huddled in the corner sharing low whispers and stolen kisses. Tara, Ember, and Aria read the situation correctly, that the festivities were over, and began cleaning up. Ranger joined them.
Kaia met Ridge's turbulent, troubled eyes across the room. He turned away, headed for the front door. An emotion she couldn't name settled in the pit of her stomach, churned hard.
In hushed tones, Ranger revealed what had happened at Chantilly's between Ridge and Duke.
Kaia couldn't leave it alone. She had to go after Ridge, never mind that she was in a Minnie Mouse nightgown and leggings.
Without making an excuse, she slipped out the front door, closing it softly behind her. There was a light breeze in the air and she wrapped her arms around her, scanned the expanse of arid land. The moon was a sliver of almond in the sky, and it took her eyes a minute to adjust to the darkness.
She didn't see Ridge at first, but he didn't have a vehicle of his own, and both Archer's SUV and Duke's Ford King Ranch pickup were parked in the yard. He couldn't have gone far.
"Ridge?" she called.
No answer.
In the distance she heard coyotes howl, and from the barn across the way, a horse nickered. Had he gone into the stables?
She started in that direction, but spied movement near Ridge's plane. She stopped, peered into the gloom. He stood in the shadows watching her.
"Hey," she whispered, drawing nearer to him.
"Hey." He was leaning his shoulders against the side of the plane, looking cagy and mysterious.
"Are you okay?"
He shrugged so slightly she wasn't sure he'd even done it. She moved closer until she could see the whites of his eyes in the dim lighting. "Do you want to talk about it?"
"No."
"Okay."
"So Minnie Mouse, huh?" He smiled like he had sexual fantasies about Minnie Mouse, but maybe that was just her imagination.
"It was either this or my Ruff Night sleep shirt with cartoon dogs on it. Minnie Mouse was newer."
"The Ruff Night suits you better."
Silence dropped like a curtain. She stood there, not saying anything, arms folded over her chest. Waiting to see if he'd fill the empty space.
He did not.
A minute passed. Two. Three.
Clearly, he was not going to start the conversation. She had three choices. Keep quiet. Leave. Or say something.
Kaia took a deep breath, plunged in. "You punched your father?"
"Yeah."
"Knowing Duke, I'm sure he had it coming, but-"
"I shouldn't have done it," he said his voice heavy with the weight of what he'd done, regret etching lines on his face. "But Duke was so drunk and worked up. He kept swinging at me and missing and knocking into things. I was scared he was going to hurt himself. A controlled punch seemed better than letting him flail wildly."
"This has been years in the making," she said softly, lacing her tone with extra kindness.
"That too," he admitted.
"Don't beat yourself up."
"Who says I am?"
"I know you," she said. "You put on this tough, I-don't-care act, but inside you feel things deeply. I've got two sympathetic ears. I'm a good listener. It's safe to unload."
He sized her up. "Go back to your party."
"It's winding down."
"I ruined the fun."
"You didn't ruin anything." She reached out, touched his arm.
Instantly, his muscles tensed beneath her fingers. Her knees quivered, and so did other, more feminine parts of her, parts of her that had been dormant for a long time, parts of her that ached to wake up and live again.
His eyes glittered. "You're playing with fire, Kaia."
The way he said her name drew a hot, slow shiver down her spine to lodge in her pelvis. What did he mean by that? Her heart thudded.
"Ridge," she whispered, curling her hand around his forearm.
"Please," he said in a clipped tone. "Just let me be."
"I know you're feeling badly about your dad, I-"
"That's not it." His voice was rough, husky.
Undaunted by the turbulence in his eyes, she held tight. "What is it then?"
"You."
She dipped her head, studying him speculatively. "What about me?"
"You're what's driving me crazy."
She stared into his eyes. Run. Run like hell before it's too late. But she didn't run. Instead, an insane part of her stepped closer. "Oh yeah?"