"What the hell do you think you're doing? Charlie asked, angry and hovering over her, his graying hair mussed, a complimentary robe wrapped haphazardly around his middle-age spread.

"Looking out for a company I don't even work at, which is a hell of a lot more than I can say for you." Kat replied, eyeing him up and down, with disgust.

Charlie stepped back, tightened his robe. "You're a real piece of work, Kat. You made your decision a long time ago. You have no standing. Now leave." He raised his hand toward the door.

"No standing? I'm a JAMESCO heir, Charlie. Whether I work in the business or not, the legacy is still mine. And I don't want our Father's name trashed, because you've let Parker steamroll you and turn it into some kind of polluting sweat shop!"

Irritation colored his face red. "You'd really trust the word of some hick with an agenda more than you'd trust your own family? That is utterly disgraceful."

Kat scoffed. "My family?" She gestured between them. "You call this family? Hell, I know my drycleaner better than you."

"Ah, yes, let's warm up the string section, shall we? Another stirring performance by the deprived and misunderstood Kat James, with the family who had the gall to give her everything she could ever want or need." He smirked. "It's inconceivable that you were able to manage under the weight of such an unbearable burden."

The expression on Kat's face caused Charlie to back up.

"Nice try. I'm sure you'd like to change the subject. And a part of me would love to accommodate you, rip you apart for your role with Grant-just for starters. But I don't have time. I want to know what's going on at JAMESCO, and your part in it. Is Parker the one pulling the strings? Are you his little puppet?" Charlie stood mute, a sheen of perspiration above his lip. "You're the president, the CEO. You're supposed to be calling the shots, but I bet you're not," she paused, "because you're a pussy. You always have been."

His finger jutted out, inches from Kat's face. "How dare you! You had your chance to be a part of this family, and to join the business. But you'd rather judge us with your loud, filthy mouth, as if you're better than us. Well, you're not! You're the same attention-seeking, snot-nosed brat you've always been."

Kat grabbed his pointed finger and bent it back, hard. He howled in pain.

"The days of you sticking your fucking finger in my face are over, Charlie. You don't like my loud, filthy mouth? Well, get ready, because I'm going to be your worst nightmare."

She headed for the door, then looked back over her shoulder. "And you can tell Parker that goes double for him."

"I'll be checking email and voicemail regularly while I'm gone, but I have every confidence that Karen will do a great job in my absence." Kat nodded to the astute, accounting department manager she'd hired a few years back, and then looked around the conference table, confident with the capable team she'd built over the years. "All right, let's get back to work."

Kat crossed the hall to her office and resumed the search she'd started earlier in the morning. She opened the bookmarked links on her browser and read the dirty details in news reports about the JAMESCO site in Nebraska. Tucker hadn't exaggerated the mess, disgusting in its scope and damage. Her brothers had clearly used the fact that the plant belonged to a subsidiary as a means to deflect much of the coverage from JAMESCO itself. However, their spin hadn't kept some of the more dogged journalists from shining a light on the parent company.

"Why the scowl, Kat?" Cassie plopped in a chair, hugging files and a binder to her chest.

"Just one of those days." Kat gauged her business partner. "Have you heard anything about JAMESCO I should know about?"

"Like what?" Cassie placed the armload onto her lap.

"Anything, really. Just curious if I'm the only one who's unaware of what's going on around me." She tapped a pen on her desktop.

"Well, I do my best to stay connected, you know that, but outside of our little world," her eyes swept around the room, "I barely have time to give David the attention he wants." She watched Kat. "What's going on? You seemed so excited this morning about leaving with Tucker and now," she paused, searched Kat's tense face, "you seem distracted."

Kat decided to fill her friend in on the appalling events of the last twenty-four hours. And to say Cassie appeared dumbstruck would've been a colossal understatement. Her gaping petal pink lips hung open, silent. Kat sat back and gave her time to digest the sordid news, already knowing exactly where her friend would jump in first.

"So let me get this straight," Cassie said, her tone tinged with indignation. "You're telling me Grant Collins was an elaborate setup orchestrated by your mother and brothers? He knew about you in advance. Your interests, your likes, and dislikes-because your family fed him the information. The great story about how you two accidentally met in the park was really just a hoax? Part of the plan?"

Kat nodded, numbly.

"They knew each other the entire time and yet pretended not to the first time you introduced them-Charlie and Parker too." Cassie grunted with disgust. "So we were all played. You worst of all, of course." She fell back against her seat, the outrage giving way to bigger questions. "Why on earth would Grant have agreed to such a thing?"

Kat mulled over the answer, what to reveal, what to zip away.

Cassie studied Kat, her gears grinding, the growing suspicion evident in her posture. Then compassion softened her face; she'd solved the Rubik's Cube.

"I bet it has to do with his trust fund or inheritance ..."

"Probably does, Cass."

Great friends can say much with few words, and they also know when to change the subject.

"And your father actually complimented you? In front of everyone?" Cassie's head swiveled in disbelief.

"Crazy, right? Worries me actually. Is he sick or something? I mean, what else don't I know? Maybe he's not well and felt like he needed to say those things to me."

"I'm sure he's fine, Kat. Don't worry. Maybe he's just mellowing with age or reached his limit with some of this nonsense in his life. It sounds like everything you've read backs up what Tucker said, and your father can't be too thrilled with your brothers right now." Cassie gave Kat a questioning look. "Tucker really called Charlie a bastard?"

"Yeah, pretty much. I've never seen him so fired up, never witnessed anyone talk to them the way he did. And they deserved every bit of it." Kat slumped back in her chair with a sigh of admiration. "He was amazing."

A perceptive smile brightened Cassie's rosy cheeks. "Now you know how Kyle has always felt about you." Kat's gaze landed on the steady stare of her friend. "You may be the youngest, but Kyle has looked up to you for as long as I've known you two."

Being a spectator last night had demonstrated the difference in the view from inside the ring compared to watching in the stands. Kat remembered Kyle's awed expression and her own feelings of astonishment from last night as Tucker had single-handedly smacked down their brothers.

Is that really how Kyle saw her ...?

"You've always said exactly what you think, rules and manners be damned. It's one of my favorite things about you-it's what drew me to you all the way back in third grade." She pressed manicured fingers to her mouth and giggled. "Remember Andrew Weinstein from our cotillion days?"

"Mr. Feel-My-Weiner-Schnitzel?" Kat snorted. "Hated dancing with that kid. I always risked a wet spot on the front of his bespoke pants if he got the chance to rub against me."

Cassie chuckled. "Well, you managed to get unpaired from him as I recall."

"Yeah, and Mrs. Stick-Up-the-Ass deserved the humiliation too. She refused to listen when I told her to put me with someone else."

"I'm pretty sure telling Mrs. Castagnola instead of asking had a bearing on her decision. Manners 101."

"Whatever. It was her fault I had to yell in front of everyone that I was tired of him pinching my ass and rubbing his slimy junk all over me."

The friends belly laughed at the memory until their sides hurt and then blotted away their happy tears. After last night and then the run-in with Charlie, Kat had needed a good gut buster.

"At least no one ended up with a broken finger," Cassie said.

"Oh, please, Charlie is just fine, and he deserved it. I've had it with his self-righteous act. He constantly cheats on his wife and runs a company that intentionally pollutes the environment. He's in no position to judge me."

"You're really going to go after them, aren't you?" Cassie asked.

"Wouldn't you? Look at what we've built, Cass. We develop a product that's environmentally safe. A product that makes an industry that's already dirty, a little bit cleaner, because that was important to both of us." She pointed to the images on her laptop screen. "Doesn't this make you sick? It does me."

"Of course, it does, Kat. I just want you to think it through, that's all. You're an outsider on this even though it's your family. As it stands, you're David going after Goliath."

"And if I remember anything from my compulsory Sunday school days, David won."

Cassie grinned and nodded at her relentless friend.

"So when am I getting a proper apology from Mr. Williams?"

"What do you mean?"

"For his behavior the last time he was here." Cassie's arm swept in a dramatic gesture. "You may have been the one who shattered the glass across the hall, but he was to blame. I think he owes me a lunch before he takes my best friend away. Probably never to be seen or heard from again once she knows what fresh air really smells like." A grin danced on Cassie's lips. "But I'm sure those Barney's sales will help you find your way home." A wet sheen glossed her eyes. "I'll miss you. It won't be the same without you here."

"I'm only going for a visit, Cass. I don't know where this thing with Tucker is headed, but I will be back."

Cassie didn't look convinced.

"He's good for you, Kat. I can't believe I'm even saying that considering how it all started. But you're different now. Calmer. You laugh more, smile more, like you did when we were younger. And the look on your face when you talk about him, I've never seen that before from you, not in any of your other relationships. Even with Grant-when he seemed like the perfect man for you."

Kat stretched her neck, rolled away the tension of the afternoon. "He has thrown me off a bit. He's definitely not like any man I've ever been with. I'm not thinking too far ahead on this, Cass. I just want to have fun, enjoy myself for however long this lasts."

Cassie's pen tapped against her chin. "Oh, that is definitely the new and improved Kat James talking." She bent forward. "And I like her-just so you know."

"Yeah, she's growing on me too."

Kat observed the blinking light on the airplane wing, then pulled back to her reflection in the window. Her eyes traced the upward curve of her mouth; it seemed permanently affixed these days. The man squeezed into the seat next to her was fully to blame. The mere thought of him broadened her smile even further.

Whenever she analyzed Tucker and their relationship, looked for the reasons why it could never work, the sheer simplicity and relaxed nature of their give and take always smacked her between the eyes. Made her rethink long-held beliefs about jockeying for position, her need to be in charge, her unwillingness to change in order to appease a man. With Tucker, she headed down a new path, a land foreign to her. A course with enough space for both of them. The notion baffled her.

Could a relationship with a man really be this simple? This easy?

A strong hand grasped hers and the unhurried cadence she'd come to crave murmured in her ear. "Not too much longer now." His fingers fluttered against her cheek. "Can't wait to roll around with you in my big bed."

A knowing grin drew across her face. "Yes, I know you've felt cramped in my apartment."

"Oh, I'm not complainin', darlin'. It's harder for you to get away in tight quarters." He nuzzled next to her ear, his hot breath like a feather against her skin. "Not that I'd ever let you get far." He angled her face, tipped her chin up, and planted a deep kiss on her that made her toes curl. The man knew how to kiss. The best she'd ever had.

His soft lips lifted from hers. "Now I don't want you worrying about this business with your family, Kat. You need some down time, just a few days, then we'll compare notes. Okay?"

Such a hard man to refuse. "You'll show me yours, if I show you mine?" Kat asked, her voice a sexy invitation.

Tucker's thumb dragged across her bottom lip. "Somethin' like that." He kissed her again. "I just want you to unwind, slow down, and get the lay of the land first before you take down your brothers."

Kat dismissed him with a wave. "I'm not trying to take anyone down, Tucker. I just want answers, and I want them to clean up whatever messes they've made-literally-that's all."

"Oh, that's all, huh?" Tucker shook his head as if she were a nave child about to experience a rude awakening. He settled back in his seat, closed his eyes, and spread his wide hands on his outstretched legs. "You're in for a long haul, sweetheart. Get ready for lots of closed doors, zipped lips, unanswered calls, and a whole lotta pushback."

Kat's eyes swept over his fine, fit form wedged into his first-class seat, his long legs angled out into the aisle. The sight was laughable.

If his remark had been intended to dissuade her, he had another thing coming. In the past, whenever she'd been told she couldn't or shouldn't do something, or her personal favorite-it wasn't ladylike-guess what she always did? Call her response a character flaw, obstinacy, bullheadedness, whatever. She'd always been a smart girl. Kat James hadn't made it to this point in her life by adhering to the marginalizing opinions of others. And she sure as hell wasn't going to start now.

Besides, she had an ace in the hole on this one: Kyle. He still hadn't returned her calls. He was supposedly out of town again. But she'd get him to open up. It might take some extra effort, but she could convince him to do the right thing. And then she would take care of the rest.

At which point she would gladly hold her other brothers' feet to the fire.

The drive to Tucker's ranch filled Kat with anxiety. The property lay about forty miles northwest of the Helena Regional Airport. Night hadn't fallen yet; the vastness of the open land and the Elkhorn Mountains rising in the distance with their snowcapped peaks sprawled before her undeterred. Tucker's chattiness at the airport while they'd waited for their luggage to unload had dialed down to only sporadic interjections of points of interest, local history, or some funny personal story.

Kat appreciated him giving her time to quietly soak in the staggering change of scenery; it was a lot to absorb right up front. And had he known of the swirl of emotions and concerns whipsawing her as she surveyed the wide-open landscape sliding by, he most likely would've been surprised, disappointed, or even worse-hurt.

The big city girl who had only ever traveled to other highly populated destinations and luxury resorts had not been prepared for mile after mile of emptiness. This landscape came straight from a dystopian movie where humans had died off, except for the two currently riding in this dust-covered truck seeking out some pocket of life they'd contacted on their static-filled radio. She already felt out of place, and out of sorts. Pictures on Google Earth hadn't prepared her for the harsh reality of being dropped down into no man's land. No stores in sight. No restaurants. No clubs. No coffee shops around the corner. No blaring horns or sirens. No monolithic herds of pedestrians shuffling along endless sidewalks.

Tucker had probably thought she'd feel free for the first time in her life, able to breathe without bumping the person next to her. But in truth, she found the open space acutely suffocating.

How crazy was that?

A dull ache settled behind her eyes and nagging worry squeezed her chest. This was a mistake. She'd never make it here as long as Tucker had lasted in New York. No way. Just simple things like needing a bottle of her favorite shampoo or wanting a late-night chili cheese dog would require planning and advanced notice. Hell, there wouldn't even be any place to get a late-night chili cheese dog around here. When she craved a caramel macchiato, she couldn't grab her Starbucks card and make the two-minute walk to get her fix. No, she would be completely isolated from everything and everyone she'd ever been connected to, everything she'd ever known.

Everything that gave her a sense of control over her life.

She white-knuckled the leather padded handgrip on her door, gritted her teeth, and used all her mental fortitude to restrain the demand blaring in her head to tell Tucker to turn his big-ass truck around and take her back to the airport, right now.

Tucker pried open her fist, slid his warm hand around hers, and gently swept his thumb over her knuckles. "Breathe, Kat." His tone was understanding and nonjudgmental.

She gulped in air, not realizing she'd been holding her breath.

Tucker braked, shifted the truck into park, and pushed the steering column back out of the way. Then he reached across the console and easily lifted Kat over, even against her protests. Now she straddled his lap.

"Tucker, you can't just stop in the middle of a road."

"Really? Look around. Think I'm in anybody's way out here? Any chance of even bein' in anybody's way out here?" One corner of his mouth lifted.

Kat giggled nervously at her absurd comment. "I'm sorry, Tucker. I-"

His finger pressed against her lips, then his thumb brushed softly across them.

"Don't say that. This is a big change for you, I know that. It's not what you're used to. I'm the only person you know here and it's in the middle of nowhere with none of the stuff you're used to havin' at your fingertips. It takes some time to adjust to that. Trust me; I know how you're feelin'."

The story he'd told her about John Diamond bringing him here from Houston when he was just a boy, after money had exchanged hands with his mother, played in her head. A mother who had died years later of an overdose, leaving two sons, Tucker's half-brothers, to bounce around in the foster care system.

Shame washed over her, exposed her self-centeredness. She would only be sacrificing her amenities temporarily while forgetting the permanent life change he'd survived long ago.

"I hope you'll decide to stay for a while, Kat." He stroked her cheek. "But if it only ends up bein' a few days, well, that's okay. We'll figure somethin' out." His hands circled around her waist. "You can relax. You haven't been roped into anything you can't get out of whenever you want. Okay?" He looked hopefully at her.

And just like that, the barbed stress gripping her in sharp doubt released and faded away. The illusory logic of their tenuous relationship having a snowball's chance in hell took a much-needed hiatus. And with unexpected, overwhelming emotion flooding her, no logic in sight for miles, Kat's lips landed on his with an intense and desperate need to connect with him.

Their limbs tangled. Their frantic breaths laced with needy moans and curses. Highly charged bodies unable to squeeze close enough left them both feeling like frustrated, horny teenagers with no other option but to fog up the truck windows while sitting parked on a lonely, open road.

Tucker fisted his hand in her hair and pulled her fiery lips from his skin, her eyes now drunk with desire. "I need to get you home." His voice was rough, dangerous.

She dipped forward. Her tongue teased a trail along his throat, then her teeth tugged at his ear. "I want to roll around every fucking square inch of your bed. So you'd better get this big-ass truck in gear, cowboy, or I'm pulling you in the back seat and putting your crew cab to good use.