Page 89 of Unmasking Mr. Crown

The forces of fate at play were cosmic. No way in hell could mere mortals conjure this scenario. He’d spent the party quietly watching her, convinced at times she might be a ghost. A hallucination. The times their eyes had met, he’d had to look away. The memories of her final farewell—the ice cream, the goodbye note, missing her by a few minutes—played on a loop in his mind. Like a replay on a football stadium jumbotron, where the ref’s call didn’t go his way.

From the moment he shook Natalie’s hand, he’d quietly filed away dozens of unanswered questions, the most important being: Does she remember me?

A close second: Do I come clean with Kate or pretend like Natalie and I never happened?

What the hell is she doing with a d-bag like this Hart dude? rounded out the top three.

Yeah, he’d watched Hart Lockwood closely, noting every instance of self-promotion and grandstanding. A skilled actor, appearing to give Natalie the spotlight when in reality he was using the event to promote himself. Dash had dealt with his type over the years. While the guests might have been fooled by Hart’s performance, he’d pegged the man’s insincerity right off the bat. Hart didn’t truly care for Natalie—not the way she deserved to be cared for anyway. And then for him to bolt at the first sign of trouble? He didn’t even stick around long enough to tell Foster and Kate goodbye.

So, what did Hart have that he didn’t? What was it about this guy that made an Absolutely-No-Interest-In-A-Relationship Natalie decide to start dating him? His celebrity status as a bestselling author? No way. One-Night-Stand Natalie wasn’t shallow. Or a gold-digger, for that matter. Natalie was …? He waded through a sea of descriptors—the same ones he’d confirmed within minutes of meeting her at the pub. Smart. Witty. Beautiful. But a new descriptor fell into place, one that stood above all the others: sister. Natalie was Kate’s sister, and no amount of wishing, crying, or pleading with the universe would change that fact.

If Kate knew you were having these thoughts, she’d be crushed.

She’s crazy about you … and you know you care about her too.

Kate’s not some consolation prize.

Open your eyes, man … Kate IS the prize.

"You know a lot about horses,” he said.

"I was practically born on the back of one, so I didn’t have much choice. Not only do I ride, but I have been known to jump and shoot from horseback."

"What I wouldn’t give to see that, Annie Oakley," Dash teased.

Kate stopped brushing. “Is that a dare, sir?"

He smirked. "It might be. Of course, it’s too late now that the sun’s gone down.”

“Sunrise tomorrow then, before you fly back to Houston. We’ll saddle up and head out. Find out just who the better horseman—or horsewoman—is.”

He gave the horse a healthy pat on the neck. “Deal. I call dibs on the devil woman here. What's she called?"

“Katie," Kate said. “After yours truly.”

Dash couldn’t help but laugh. Kate tried to stare him down with a look that was all business, but she broke in seconds. They held each other’s gaze for a moment. She looked beautiful, dressed now in jeans and an old Vols t-shirt, her hair tucked up beneath a well-worn baseball cap. She’d looked beautiful at the party too, in a cream-colored tailored suit, dozens of gold bangle bracelets adorning each wrist. Kate was a chameleon, adaptable to every setting and always self-assured. So why were his thoughts still drawn to Natalie?

“Does your sister have a horse named in her honor as well?”

“No. Natalie’s an excellent rider, but she was never really a horse girl. Not the way I was. I remember when we were kids, all our friends wanted to hang out here and run around the stables, but Natalie thought it was boring. She wanted to live in a proper neighborhood with paved roads to ride bikes. A place with a pool and parks. She wanted true community, even as a little kid.”

“Makes sense that she moved back to Chicago then.”

“A country girl by birth, a city girl by choice.”

“So, how long have she and this author been dating?” he asked, trying to sound casual.

Kate continued to brush the horse. “I’m not sure. She hasn’t said much about him. Then again, most of our conversations have been about the showcase so I don’t really know what’s going on.”

You don’t know … or you're not willing to share?

Dash nodded. “She put up a brave front at the restaurant, but my guess is that she’s pretty torn up about what happened today.”

“She poured every dollar of her savings and every spare minute of her life into it. But I’m not worried about it. She’ll bounce back. She always does.”

“I’d be more than happy to sit down with her and discuss her business plan⁠—”

“No.”