She looked up at him and blinked as if just now realizing where she was and why. She turned those big baby blues in my direction and it was all I could do not to scoop her into my arms and kiss her until she forgot all about the damn phone. Her work. Hell, New York City. Better yet, haul her into my truck and fuck her brains out until she was too blissed out to care.
But as quickly as she'd looked up, she turned her attention back to that fucking phone. "Hang on one sec. I just have to send one more email."
Sam arched his eyebrows at me over the top of her head. Just one more email. Our Katie sounded like a damn junkie when it came to her work. There would always be one more email. I knew this because Sam had been just like this. Until he saw the light.
I was ready to snatch the phone out of her hand right then and there but judging by the understanding look on Sam's face, he knew exactly where she was coming from. Being a former workaholic himself, I let him take the lead.
"What's the emergency this time, doll? Tell us about it."
Huh. This was a new tactic. I trusted my cousin and it seemed his approach was exactly what she needed because Katie's shoulders slumped with something that looked heartbreakingly like relief at having a sympathetic ear. Snatching the phone would only mean we didn't understand, which was probably true, at least for me. I'd always wanted to run the ranch. No rat race for me. Hell, the only rush hour traffic I ever saw was when a herd of cattle stopped traffic as it crossed the road.
"It's that asshole Roberts," she muttered as she stabbed at the keypad of her phone. "He took my case and he's trying to steal another. And Farber is letting him!"
She glanced up at us and I swear her eyes were wild with a frantic energy. A mix of stress and anger that had her wound up so tight, she could snap at any second. Now, I had no idea who Roberts and Farber were but I would beat the shit out of them on the spot just for putting that look in her eyes.
"Then there's my ex. He keeps calling and he sent an email to mess with me."
I could see Sam felt the same way judging by the tightness around his mouth and eyes. Ex? He hid his anger better than I did, but either one of us would put our lives on the line for this woman-and kill for her, if it came to that.
Her ex was fucking with her? He was a dead man and we had hundreds of acres to bury the body.
"He's already junior partner and gloating," Katie continued. I wasn't sure if she was talking about Roberts, Farber or her ex. Her fingers were still flying over her phone and though she might have been standing in Bridgewater, her mind was clearly thousands of miles away.
"Would that be so bad?"
We both shot Sam a look of surprise at that. Katie, for obvious reasons, but for me-I could see where he was going with this. I just hadn't expected him to bring up this conversation quite so early in the night, or while Katie was in one of her stressed out stupors, for that matter. I'd kind of envisioned this talk happening when all three of us were naked and content in bed.
But hell, if Sam thought it was time, I was game.
"Would that be so bad?" Katie repeated the question slowly as if it was the most ludicrous thing she'd ever heard. "Of course it would be bad, Sam. I've worked my ass off to make partner. I've earned it."
"No one's saying you don't deserve it." I tried to keep my voice low and soft, the way I'd talk to a spooked horse to make sure it didn't hurt itself or me. Sure enough, she swung around toward me with those wide, crazed eyes.
I cocked my head, studied her. "Sweetness, just how many coffees have you had today?"
She ignored the question as she turned back to Sam. "How can you ask that?" she insisted. "You of all people should know how hard I've worked for this … how much it means to me."
Sam took a step closer and placed his hands on her shoulders. From where I stood, I could see the gravity written all over his face and knew Katie had to see it, too. "I'm sorry, Katie. Real sorry. I know you've worked hard, and there's no doubt that you've earned that promotion, but is that what you really want?"
He might as well have been speaking Greek. Her brows drew together as she turned from him to me in confusion. "This is what I've been working for forever. Of course, this is what I want."
"You really want to work for some douchebag chauvinist pigs?" I asked, taking a step closer so I could reach for her hand and soften the blow. A real man might be dominant, commanding and very demanding, but only to protect his woman. Not to fuck her over. "Do you really want to work your ass off for a firm that doesn't value you?"
Tugging her hand out of my grip, she backed away from me. From us. "What is this about?"
Sam gave me a questioning look, and at my nod, he spoke. "We want you to stay, doll."
And there it was. My cousin had just spelled it out for her and now our future was on the line. There was a tense silence as we watched her closely. Watched as she shook her head.
"I've already stayed here too long. I need to get back to New York before Roberts-"
"He means, for good," I added, though I figured she knew that. "With us."
Judging by her skittishness, she was well aware we were talking about more than just extending this fling by a day or two. She instantly defaulted to anger, like I knew she would.
"You can't possibly expect me to drop everything-my career, my home, my friends. I have a life, you know."
"And I'm sure it's a good one," I lied. What she had back in New York was no life-it was a rat race. An endless competition where the winner got an ulcer and a heart attack as a prize. And an ex who seemed to like to fuck with her. I caught her gaze and held it. "But we'd like to think you could have an even better life here in Bridgewater … with us."
Sam stepped in, coming closer to her other side so she was surrounded by her men, forced to listen to us. "We want you with us for the long haul, doll. You're the one for us."
Scoffing, she crossed her arms in front of her chest. I had to assume she wasn't aware that she'd just made her tits jut out in spectacular fashion. Of course, that made me hard, but now was not the time. I had to will the fucker down.
"You can't possibly know that I'm the one. It's too soon, too-"
"We know," I said. My tone left no room for argument, but that didn't stop her from trying.
She gaped up at me. "We've only been together-if that's what you want to call it-for one night. And … and whatever that was on Sam's desk. You can't possibly be sure-"
"We know, doll." Sam looked at me to explain.
I gave Katie a shrug. "It's the Bridgewater way. When two men find their woman, they just know. It's like lightning-"
"Oh, please," Katie interrupted, clearly not buying it. "Declan gave me that whole ‘lightning strike' speech. Do you really expect me to believe it's that simple?"
Sam's voice was low and gruff, filled with more emotion than I'd ever heard. "Do you really expect us to believe that you don't feel it, too? That when we touch you, it isn't … more?"
Her stunned silence was answer enough. For the first time since we arrived, some of the tension eased out of my shoulders. She felt it, she just didn't want to admit it. I hadn't even realized how nervous I'd been to have this talk-cowboys weren't exactly anxious by nature-but this was a big fucking deal. Her response would affect the rest of our lives.
She seemed to know it, too. For the first time since I met her she seemed at a loss for words.
Sam took her by the elbow and steered her toward the truck. "Come on, doll, we've got a dinner to get to."
It wasn't until we were all in the truck that Katie came back to her senses. "You can't seriously expect me to give up everything and move to Bridgewater."
"Look at you," I said. "You're so stressed out over this job, you can barely see straight. Is this really how you want to live?"
She glared over at me. "That's easy for you to say. You haven't spent your entire adult life working toward a career goal. It's not that easy to walk away from."
I shrugged. She had a point. I had the ranch, but I wouldn't say there was any need to move up any damn corporate ladder. Sam was the career-driven one in our family. He caught my look over her head and by silent agreement we let the conversation drop. There was no point in arguing with Katie-she could out-argue both of us, if we let that quick brain of hers make all the decisions. No, if we wanted to win her over we'd have to show her what she wanted. Let her body and heart decide.
"Hand over the phone, doll." Sam held out his hand and when she hesitated, he lowered his voice in that commanding way of his. "We're done fighting with you, Katie. You know the rules."