He took one of her hands and pressed it against his chest.
She stared up at him, slowly letting her fist open to set her palm over his heart. “Mad,” she whispered. “I’m so mad at you.” She paused. “But I’m also so very, very, very, VERY glad to see you.” She shoved him again. “How could you?”
He didn’t budge, which made her let out a sound of frustration. “And what the hell did they do to you? You’re built like one of the Avengers now.” Just like that, she threw herself at him again. “Were they mean to you? Did you get hurt? Are you okay?” She lifted her head. “Why didn’t you want us at your six, dammit? We’re family. We’re all we have.”
He was a man who’d learned how to react quickly, function under the worst of circumstances, and survive everything that was thrown at him.
But none of his training had prepared him for this. He had no idea what to do, so he let her cry, let her hit him a few more times and yell at him, too, until she just threw herself at him and held on for a long, long time.
When she finally pulled back, she took a moment to wipe her nose on his shirt—like she used to do when they skied together, and it made him laugh past the lump in his throat. And when she lifted her head and gave him a watery smile, he knew the storm had passed.
At least for now.
“I’ve gotta go,” she said. “Got a board meeting. And since you’re here, guess what. You do too.”
“Hell no,” he said immediately.
“Hell yes.”
He crossed his arms over his chest, but she stared up at him, eyes narrowed. Once upon a time she’d been one of his very few weaknesses. She’d been able to get him to do whatever she wanted, drive her off the mountain when she needed an escape, stand up to her crazy mother when she needed backup, buy her the clothes she’d needed to compete on the ski team when she couldn’t…Those things had been easy for him.
But this, facing everyone he’d wronged…
“For me,” she said.
Damn. They both knew he’d never been able to deny her a single thing. He blew out a breath. “If I go, no more tears?”
She swiped at her eyes. “Gone.”
“No more yelling at me?”
“Well, I wouldn’t go that far,” she said demurely. “You’re bound to piss me off again.”
“No more punching me,” he said firmly.
“Oh, like you felt a thing.” But she shrugged. “Fine, no more tears and no more punching you. And you—” She stared up at him, smile gone. “No more leaving without saying good-bye, without a plan to come back. Without a plan to keep me and the rest of us in your damn life. You hear me?”
“The people in China can hear you.”
She rolled her eyes. “Tell me about the cabin you’ve leased.” She smiled when he went brows up. “People talk. I drove by last night actually, but you weren’t home. I saw you have a boat in your slip. You didn’t have to buy one. We still have ours. It’s moored at South Lake Campgrounds right now, but we’ll be moving it to the north shore for several upcoming lake events we’re running.”
“It’s not my boat,” he said. “It belongs to Sophie Marren. I’m just letting her moor there while she figures out where she can live on the lake without paying fees.”
“Wait—really? Sophie Marren’s living on her ex-husband’s boat?” She grinned. “Serves that asshole right.”
“You know him?”
“Yeah, and soon enough, so will you. Lucas Worthington’s our new attorney for the resort. We needed a high-profile, bottom-feeding, soul-sucking lawyer to help us outthink Dad and the mess he left the resort in.”
“Mess?”
She sighed. “You’ll see soon enough.”
Right. One problem at a time. “Sophie was married to Lucas Worthington?” Jacob had gone to high school with the guy. He’d been class president, taken the debate team to three state championships in a row, had enough charisma to light up everything on this side of the Continental Divide. He’d used that charisma to his benefit, sleeping with more girls than all four of the Kincaid brothers combined.
And that was saying something.
“Yeah, and he raked her over the coals too,” Kenna said. “How’s she doing? I thought maybe she’d left town.”
Jacob thought about how Sophie had looked striding up to that cab to get to work earlier. Strong. Beautiful. Determined. Gutsy. “She’s not cowed by this, and she isn’t going anywhere.”
Kenna stared at him.
“What?” he asked.
“So you and her…?”
“No.”
She arched a brow but wisely didn’t say anything more. In fact, she made him love her all over again when she changed the subject. “The meeting’s at two. I’m keeping you in my sights until then.”
“I’ve got a thing for lunch,” he said.
“No problem,” she said. “I’ll come with.”
He grimaced, knowing he’d never be able to shake her. Which was how he ended up standing in line with her for tacos at Paco’s taco truck.