Page 97 of Kayla's Cowboy
Damn. He really was the chauvinist Kayla and his sisters kept calling him. If he wanted to become a better man, he had to stop making assumptions. After all, he didn’t want Morgan or DeeDee growing up thinking they had to give up everything for a man. He wanted them to stand up for themselves.
So he couldn’t expect Kayla to simply drop everything and move to Montana. If they got married, they would have to work out a lot of details, and both of them would have to compromise.
He loaded his bag into the Suburban, glad it had been serviced after their return from Yellowstone. Morgan carried her duffel bag out and he put it next to his own. “You’re already packed?” she asked.
“Sure. I come up with my best ideas in the middle of the night, so I took care of a few things in case you wanted to go.”
“I hope I didn’t forget anything.”
She touched her throat very quickly, as if to be certain the pendant Kayla had given her was there, and Jackson had the urge to buy her every single piece of jewelry he could find, but only if it was what she wanted. It was time for her to be her own person.
“Don’t worry, we can buy anything you forgot,” he assured. “After all, we’ll be doing your school shopping.”
“Do you think Kayla might help me choose stuff?”
“You don’t trust your dad’s questionable taste?”
Morgan laughed, then sobered. “I’m just not sure what kind of clothes I want, and Kayla always looks super pretty.”
“Yes, she does,” Jackson agreed. “If you want to dress like her, that’s fine, but it’s also okay to experiment and find out what style fits you the best.”
Morgan jumped into the Suburban and eyed the cooler on the floor behind the seat. “What’s in there?”
“Snacks I raided from the refrigerator. I also made sandwiches while you were out running and grabbed that bowl of barbecued chicken from last night.”
“Yum.” She squirmed around the seat, opened the cooler and pulled out a sandwich.
“Hungry already?”
“Duh, I ran miles and miles.”
She munched as he drove out to the main road. He’d considered having Morgan stay with his parents or Flora, but they did need to take care of her school shopping. Besides, how could he leave her behind when they’d finally started talking again? As much as he loved Kayla, he didn’t want his daughter to think he loved her less. Once he would have thought it was impossible for Morgan to get such an idea, but lately he’d been humbled by his assumptions.
Reaching the highway, he turned toward Seattle, and resisted hitting the accelerator too hard.
CHAPTER TWENTY
WHEN KAYLA RETURNED to the house after her run, she peeked in at the kids. Yucca, their cat, lifted his head from where he was tucked under Alex’s chin. He yawned and snuggled back down, closing his eyes. In her room, DeeDee was sprawled across her bed, oblivious to the world.
Kayla had told them to sleep as long as they wanted. It might make it more difficult for them to adjust to a school schedule, but she was hoping the treat of a late night at Safeco, not to mention the disgustingly fun junk food they’d consumed, had lifted their spirits.
After showering, Kayla resisted the temptation to crawl into bed again herself. It wouldn’t do any good anyhow. Once she got there, her imagination would simply take over, picturing Jackson lying next to her.
Hell. If she had to fall in love again, why couldn’t it have been with someone suitable who wouldn’t break her heart? Why did it have to be an old-fashioned Montana rancher with a boatload of macho attitudes?
* * *
KAYLA SPENT THE rest of the day reviewing paperwork at the office. While she’d still been in Montana, Roger had mentioned there were several new clients who wanted to use Smooth Billings. He’d gotten the contracts together and she went over them carefully.
Because the new clients would expand their workload, Roger had also set up interviews for a new employee. The following morning they sat down with the first applicant. Unfortunately, despite his excellent résumé, something about the guy didn’t seem right.
“He’s a no go for me,” Roger announced when they were alone.
Kayla nodded. “Same here. I think it’s best to go with your gut.”
“Definitely. I’ll see if the next applicant has arrived. We need to get someone hired and trained before those contracts go active.”
“Yeah. By the way, I owe you a bonus for doing such a great job while I was gone.”
Roger grinned as he left.
Kayla studied the next application, wishing her head wasn’t so mixed-up. Normally her instincts were fairly reliable...except when it came to romance.