Christmas With The Billionaire (10 page)

Her gentle mother could blaze with fire when she was in defense of her cubs, Kate reflected ruefully. “I do mean a proper man,” she confirmed.
 

“A man who respects you and cares for you, like your dad does me?”

Kate had to think about that. She would never tell a lie to her mother. “He is a proper man. And yes, he respects me. But he’s a busy man, and a bit out of my league—”

“No one’s too good for my daughter,” her father argued gruffly, making Kate laugh as he said this.

“I thought you were supposed to be eating, not listening to our conversation,” she complained with a smile.

“You know your father,” her mother defended. “He’s one of those strong, silent types.” She flashed a loving glance across the room.
 

“Yes.” Kate’s smile died again as she chewed her lip. “Funny enough, I met someone just like him in London.”

He’d gotten an address, and was drawing closer to the village closest to the farm, hour by tortuous hour. There was only one thing spoiling his sense of closing down on the woman he loved. Yes. Loved. And about time he admitted it. And that was the weather. Each mile further north saw the snowfall thickening. Even the main roads were deserted, something he might have appreciated if the police hadn’t flashed him to warn him of black ice. He stopped at a service station to fill up the tank where they told him the village he was heading for would likely be cut off by snowdrifts by midnight.

“I’ll keep on going.” He ignored the exchange of looks. “But thanks for the heads-up.” He hadn’t come this far to turn back now.
 

They were right. He got as far as the village and no further.
 

“Better stay here for the night,” the innkeeper told him when he came in for directions. “At least wait until first light.”

He should wait. It made sense to wait. “I’ll take a room, if you’ve got one.”
 

The landlord showed him into a comfortable suite of rooms on the top floor. “There are no other visitors,” the landlord explained, “for obvious reasons.”

He stared around at the tempting comfort presented by a warm and well-furnished room. It was an ideal refuge from the storm, and it made sense for him to stay—to wait until first light, at least. But he couldn’t relax. He couldn’t settle while Kate was so close by. Everything in his life made sense, except for Kate, and where she was concerned, there were no rules, and no blizzard strong enough to keep him away from her. He couldn’t stay here, however tempting the prospect of that might be. He had the clothes, the compass, the flashlight and the phone, and thoughts of Kate to keep him warm.
 

He shrugged when the landlord expressed concern. “Some things can’t wait,” he explained.

“Ah, a woman,” the landlord guessed.
 

“Not just any woman.”

“Take this number in case you find yourself stuck,” his host advised.

“That’s good of you.” He pocketed the card.

“We look after each other here.”

He warmed at this reminder of a woman unlike any he’d ever met before. This was why Kate was the woman she was. These were her people. This land was harsh, but she was a survivor, and a winner, and he was more convinced than ever that he couldn’t risk losing her.
 

About a mile out from the village he abandoned the Jeep and continued on foot. It wasn’t as bad as he’d thought, or maybe his hunger to see Kate again was driving him. He reached the brow of a hill and climbed over a snowdrift blocking the road. It was then that he saw the sheep. Not one, but a flock of them, all buried deep. They baaed plaintively as he dug them out, which spurred him on as the cold seeped into his bones. When he had finished he raised his head to see lanterns bobbing, and beyond them a farmhouse with windows twinkling. He was closer to Kate than he’d thought, he realized with relief. Straightening up, he relaxed and smiled. At last, he’d found her.

But first he had a job to finish. He called out repeatedly until the lanterns stilled, and then started bobbing again in his direction.

There was no time for handshakes or introductions as he helped the men to carry, haul and drag the sheep into the pen behind the snow tractor they had brought with them.
 

“We wouldn’t have found them without you,” an older man told him, shaking his hand.

“I’m glad to help.” He couldn’t shake his attention from the farmhouse where he knew Kate must be.

“Come back with us, lad. Get warm...”

“I will.”

Chapter Twelve

“They’re coming, Kate!”
 

Her mother was ecstatic. It was dangerous for anyone to be out on the moors in this type of storm so late at night. “I can see the lights on the tractor heading this way. Get the coffee and the kettle on, and get that soup heated up. There’s fresh bread in the oven, and a round of cheese in the pantry. Don’t forget the pickles—”

“I won’t.” Kate felt a matching surge of relief. There was nothing easy about sheep farming up on the moors, and this winter had been particularly savage, by all accounts.
 

She quickly did as her mother said and then threw on a heavy jacket and rushed out to the barn to make last minute checks that everything was ready for the animals when the men returned. Teamwork got them through pretty much anything. It always had. There was no place here for star performers. They each had a role to play, and when winter closed in there were many long nights like this when hill farmers went without sleep.

She thought briefly about Jason and his solitary life, and then brushed those thoughts away. She couldn’t afford tears. They’d freeze on her face. But how would he get on here, away from all his luxury and soft living? She looked around the basic barn with its thick, warm bed of hay, knowing that she had thought of Jason as a hero in a fairy tale, who could turn his hands to anything, but this was harsh reality, and she was fast coming to the conclusion that her fantasies were just that: stories to keep her happy whenever life decided to kick her in the teeth.
 

She’d invited that kick. She hadn’t said no to him. So why was she surprised when Jason Kent disappeared out of her life? He’d only taken what she’d freely offered, and then he’d moved on. It was time to get over it, over him.

She was up in the hayloft above the sheep pens when she heard the men coming home. The tractor cranked to a halt outside the barn, and then someone swung the double doors of the barn wide, while Shep and Petra, the family’s two sheepdogs, harried the sheep into the pens. Gates crashed shut. Dogs barked. Brothers yelled. Kate smiled as she tossed down more hay. Nothing changed, not really, she thought as the door to the farmhouse slammed behind them. Her brothers were all forces to be reckoned with...just like Jason.

Where the hell was she?
Why wasn’t she here in the cozy farmhouse kitchen with the rest of her family? He could hardly demand to search the house, any more than he could refuse when Kate’s father had ushered him into the farmhouse to meet her mother.
 

Little had been said, but glances had been exchanged discreetly, and he wondered what Kate had told them about him. Her brothers had no idea who he was. Almost as tall as he was, between them they made the spacious kitchen seem small. The Blacks were welcoming, pressing food and drink on him. The animals were safe, and that was enough cause for celebration, even in the early hours of the morning. Voices were loud and thankful as sheepdogs with fur steaming in front of the fire snuffled for scraps at their feet. He envied Kate this. He didn’t really know what home should feel like. He only knew that he’d never felt more at home than he did here. It reinforced his opinion that Kate was a product of her background. She’d grown up surrounded by strength and warmth, and had an irrepressible urge to share those things. He glanced out of the window, where dawn was already tingeing the pewter sky pink, still hoping to see her. It had been a long night, but no one was ready for bed yet.
 

And then the door opened.
 

He saw the dog first. “Yappy?”
 

“Apparently his owner didn’t want him,” Kate’s mother explained with a bemused look, as if the notion of an unwanted animal was incomprehensible to her.
 

He didn’t respond. He couldn’t respond. Kate had just walked in.
 

Bundled up in a scarf and fingerless mittens, wearing a heavy coat several sizes too big for her, she didn’t see him to begin with. Her concerned glance darted instantly to her father, and then to her brothers, as if she were counting them in. And then she saw him.
 

“Jason?”

He couldn’t say her face paled, as her cheeks were bright red from the cold, but her eyes widened with surprise and her mouth dropped open. The noisy conversation in the room was briefly silenced as everyone turned to look at each of them in turn.

“Kate,” he said, breaking the silence. “Can I get you a coffee?”

“Yes... Yes, please,” she said, frowning as he filled a mug from the industrial-sized coffee machine.

“Why don’t you lot go upstairs and get cleaned up?” Kate’s mother said into the ringing silence, staring at Kate’s brothers until they took the hint and moved. “Dad—you go and shower first, I’ll follow you. Kate—can you entertain Jason while I go and freshen up? I’ve been on duty for nearly twenty-four hours now.”
 

“Of course,” Kate said faintly. “You go.”
 

Her mother had effectively cleared the room for them. Kate’s voice had sounded dry, but her mood was hard to judge. She had to be shocked to walk in and find him here.
 

“Can I do anything to help you?” he asked once they were alone.

She looked at him and then at the cooker he suspected was never out of action for long.
 

No surrender, he thought. He knew that look in her eyes.
 

“Yes. You can do something for me,” she said at last, coolly, “You can tell me where you disappeared to, and what you’re doing here now.”

His warrior genes kicked in. She was pleased to see him, but she wasn’t going to show it until he explained himself. He had a better idea. Crossing the room, he dragged her into his arms and kissed her hard.

There was nothing better on earth than Jason kissing her. He smelled so good, so fresh, so clean, so familiar, kissing him was like coming home. There was so much heat between them she was instantly thawed out, her bone-chilling work in the barn forgotten. Her body melted around his like candle wax, but when they finally broke apart, she pressed her hands flat against his chest. She still wasn’t one hundred percent sure of him. She had to know where he’d disappeared to.
 

She frowned as she stared into his thrillingly intimate stare. “Why are you here? I don’t understand.”
 

“What’s to understand, Kate?” Jason’s firm mouth curved. “I’m here for you. You can’t ignore my calls and then expect me to walk away.”

“And you can’t disappear without a word—”

“Like I said, I tried to contact you. I called you repeatedly. I had to go to Paris suddenly on business, but you wouldn’t pick up your phone.”

She made a garbled sound. She guessed her fire-warmed cheeks had just turned a deeper shade of red. “There’s a reason for that. I had an accident with my phone.” She hesitated, and then screwed up her face as she admitted, “Water damage?”

“You mean it dropped out of the back pocket of your jeans when you—”

“Thank you. That’s quite enough.”

He laughed. “You don’t have to elaborate. I can imagine the rest.”

“I just got it back,” she explained. “We’re not exactly over-blessed with tech shops round here.” She pulled a face. “Have you really come all this way for me?”

“I can’t think of anything else that would persuade me to drive up here from London in a blizzard.”

“And now you’ll have to stay. The roads are closed.” Her lips pressed down with mock-regret.
 

“No.” He pretended surprise. “Really?”

“Stop,” she warned. “You’re not allowed to tease me.”

“Where’s the fun in that?” Jason growled, dragging her close again. “I’ve taken a room in the village. Perhaps, if the weather clears later, we can walk down and have something to eat. That gives you the chance for a siesta first so you can gather your strength.”

“To walk down to the village?” she teased.

“I think you know what I mean.”

She laughed ruefully. “I only wish I could spare the time. But I can’t, and I can’t have a siesta, either. There’s too much work to do on the farm. The blizzard means all the animals have been brought inside, and will have to be fed and watered, as well as cleaned out.”

“Then I’ll stay and help you.”

“There’s no need.”
 

“But I insist.”
 

“In that case...”

“—You would be foolish to disagree,” Jason confirmed. “And when we’re done here, pack an overnight bag, and come back to the inn with me to freshen up.”

Narrowing her eyes, she threw him a look. “Am I supposed to concentrate on my work now?”