she and Seth were off again, making big, dizzying circles.
“Real estate?” Jenny’s eyes narrowed as she took in everything about Kate. The woman looked too much like Seth not to be his mother. The woman to Jenny’s right was taller, more statuesque, perhaps a little lighter in coloring, but she bore a strong resemblance to Jenny. The woman to Jenny’s left, however, had vivid blue eyes and an almost icy demeanor. To a woman, however, they were wearing stunning tops underneath their coats. Kate looked longingly at Jenny Bolton’s soft peach sweater. She had a feeling that no matter how much her commission was, she wouldn’t be able to afford a sweater like that. The same went for the diamonds in Jenny’s ears and around her neck. And that had nothing on what the woman with blue eyes was wearing.
Kate refused to be intimidated by the unified wall of womanhood that was currently looking her up and down. Crap—could these experienced wives and mothers tell she was pregnant? Or were they just judging her by regular feminine standards?
“We were looking at an industrial property not far from here and had time to check in on the game before we signed papers on Mr. Bolton’s house this afternoon.” All of which was 100 percent the truth and had nothing to do with how good Seth was in bed.
After a moment’s hesitation that spoke louder than any niceties could, Jenny said, “I see,” in a tone that made it clear that she did—far too well.
Kate swallowed. This was not going well. Feeling desperate, she turned her attention to the rest of the group. “No need to get up,” she said when it was obvious no one would, anyway. She gave a little wave. “It’s a pleasure to meet you all. I enjoyed your show.” Bobby Bolton, still as handsome as ever, grinned—but his brothers both groaned. Kate pressed on. “And I’m excited to help your company move forward into its next venture.” There. That was a perfectly professional thing to say.
No one reacted. “Kate’s done an amazing job finding the right properties,” Seth announced into the awkward silence.
She could feel her face heating up. Somehow, turning tomato red didn’t seem to be the reasonable reaction here.
Then it only got worse because in the middle of that quiet lull, her stomach growled so loudly that it briefly drowned out the sounds of the game. “My apologies,” Kate said hastily, wondering if a woman could actually die of embarrassment at a soccer game. “We haven’t had time to grab lunch. We should go...”
But the words had no more gotten out of her mouth than the Bolton women descended upon her. “We have food,” the paler one said in a surprising British accent. “I’m Stella—Bobby’s wife. Clara’s mother.”
“Besides,” the other added, “Connie won’t turn loose of Seth for a good twenty minutes and Davey has to talk to someone about Pokémon—all the better if it isn’t me. I’m Josey—Ben’s wife. The rest of this brood is mine.”
“You should sit,” Jenny said, moving forward to put a hand on Kate’s arm and leading her to a folding chair. “We have chicken or burgers.”
And just like that, Kate wasn’t on the outside anymore.
She had no idea if that was a good thing or not.
Dimly, Seth was aware that there was still a soccer match going on. But that wasn’t the game he was playing right now.
“She’s pretty,” Bruce Bolton, Seth’s grandpa, said. He turned his flinty eyes back to Seth. “What’s she doing here with the likes of you?”
Seth tried to laugh that off. Over the years, he had learned to hold his own against the Bolton men. But that usually worked best when they’d chosen sides. The Boltons united was a fearsome sight to behold.
Like right now. The three brothers and their father were all staring at Seth, expecting a reasonable answer. It was at that moment that Seth realized he might have overplayed his hand. Time for some damage control. “Like I said, she’s my real estate agent. I’m closing on my house this afternoon.” They stared at him like he had lost his ever-loving mind.
“I wouldn’t waste my time with a lovely lady like that on real estate,” Bruce grumbled. Then he winked at Seth.
“The second site we looked at this morning seems like a good fit for the museum,” Seth went on, desperate to keep the conversation away from how pretty Kate was. “It’s halfway between the highway and the factory. It costs a little more up front, but the site’s already been cleared.”
If Seth had had any hope at all that talking shop would distract the Bolton men from the pretty real estate agent currently being coddled by the Bolton women, that hope died on the vine. “You be careful with her,” his uncle Ben said.
“I am. I mean,” Seth quickly corrected, “it’s not like that. We’re just working together.”
His dad’s glare hardened, and Bobby rolled his eyes in disbelief. Even Bruce looked like he wasn’t going to buy that line. Seth wasn’t a little kid anymore, but he began to sweat it. What if he couldn’t convince them there was nothing unbecoming between him and Kate?
The Boltons were family men, and if they thought Seth was leading Kate along under false pretenses, Seth didn’t want to even think what they might do. He wouldn’t put a shotgun and a preacher past them, though.
But the moment the thought drifted through his brain, something weird happened. Instead of shuddering in horror at the thought, he could see Kate walking toward him, her belly rounded under a simple white dress—not that cupcake confection she’d been wearing the day he’d met her. A smile on her face as she came toward him...
He shook the thought from his head and glanced back over to where his mom and his aunts had surrounded Kate. Jenny had taken a seat next to Kate and appeared to be asking her a series of rapid-fire questions—about what, Seth was afraid to ask. Josey was piling a plate with food and Stella stood back a little ways, watching it all unfold. Kate glanced up and caught his eye. Her cheeks blushed a soft pink before she looked away.
“Yeah,” Bobby said, chuckling. “Just working together. What did you say her name was?”
“Kate Burroughs.”
“And she sells real estate?”
Seth nodded, feeling like he was sixteen and getting busted for staying out past curfew—again.
Bobby’s grin turned sharp. “Wasn’t there a wedding...?”
Of course Seth should’ve known that Bobby had his finger on the pulse of Rapid City gossip. “Yeah. I told you guys about that—I found the bride by the side of the road? That’s her.” He hadn’t necessarily wanted to share that particular tidbit of information, but it was better to get out in front of this sort of thing.
Of course, being in front of anything with this crowd only guaranteed that he’d be run over. “You don’t say,” Ben said. “Business.”
Honestly, Seth wasn’t sure what this thing with Kate was anymore. It was, in fact, business. But it was also something casual and fun, a rebound to help Kate get back on her feet. And yet...
“Nothing
