Page 22 of Wild Highway (Runaway 2)

A night I hoped had remained a secret.

“He calls you Kat?” I asked.

“It’s something Cash started.” She shrugged. “I’m the little sister, so I got a nickname.”

A nickname and status she didn’t want. At least, not with Cash. Her friends comment was beginning to make sense.

“Would you like to go on a few excursions while you’re here? Maybe a ride or a hike while the weather’s good?” she asked, changing the subject.

I hummed, sipping my wine and thinking it over. Without work, I had nothing to do but sit in my room. “I haven’t ridden a horse since I was here last. That might be fun.”

“Great. I’ll arrange a private lesson for you tomorrow.”

“Perfect.” When she raised her glass, I clinked mine to hers. “There’s something else I wanted to talk to you about. Carol wouldn’t let me pay when I checked in, but I’d like to. Can you make that happen? Please? She did so much for me, and the least I can do is pay for my room.”

“If she finds out, I’m dead meat.”

I zipped my lips shut.

“Okay.” She laughed. “You can pay.”

“Thanks.” I smiled. “And thanks for hearing me out. I know I’ve said it about a hundred times tonight, but I am sorry. Truly.”

“It’s okay, Gemma.”

“Are you sure?”

Katherine nodded. “I swear. It’s forgotten.”

The two of us stayed in the dining room until midnight, chatting and drinking more wine before saying our goodnights. When I fell asleep, it was with a smile and a light heart.

Katherine didn’t hate me. She’d accepted my apology. And I’d reunited with my friend.

But the next morning when I showed up at the stables for my riding lesson, I realized I’d assumed too much. Maybe she was out to punish me for my mistake, after all.

Because Katherine, my friend, had paired me with the worst riding instructor on earth.

Easton.

“Forgotten, my ass,” I muttered. “She hates me.”

Chapter Five

Easton

“What the fuck? You’re my ten o’clock?”

“Hey, don’t look at me like that.” Gemma fisted her hands on her hips. “This wasn’t my idea.”

“Goddamn it.” I pulled my phone from my pocket and called Kat’s cell. She didn’t answer. So I called her office. It went straight to voicemail. Shit. “I don’t have time for this. We have paying customers who need lessons. And I have work to do.”

“I am paying,” Gemma shot back. “But forget it. I don’t need to ride a horse this bad.”

As she spun on a boot heel and marched away, my phone dinged with a text from Katherine.

Everyone else wa

s booked. You were the only instructor available.