Книга - Tycoon Cowboy’s Baby Surprise

Tycoon Cowboy's Baby Surprise
Katherine Garbera


It only takes one night in Vegas… From USA TODAY bestselling author Katherine Garbera.Wedding planner Kinley Quinten's luck runs out when her job brings her back to Texas – and face-to-face with her child's father, rancher Nate Caruthers. The passion that got them in trouble during a one-night stand three years ago is still there, too strong to deny.Nate can't help it: Kinley gets under his skin. But what happened in Vegas really needs to stay there. Too bad that cliché only gets him so far as he falls for the woman whose baby secret will change everything!







It only takes one night in Vegas... From USA TODAY bestselling author Katherine Garbera.

Wedding planner Kinley Quinten’s luck runs out when her job brings her back to Texas—and face-to-face with her child’s father, rancher Nate Caruthers. The passion that got them in trouble during a one-night stand three years ago is still there, too strong to deny.

Nate can’t help it: Kinley gets under his skin. But what happened in Vegas really needs to stay there. Too bad that cliché only gets him so far as he falls for the woman whose baby secret will change everything!

Tycoon Cowboy’s Baby Surprise is part of The Wild Caruthers Bachelors duet.


Everyone went into the room but Nate. He hung back.

Kinley shook her head.

“What are you doing here?” “I’m the big brother of the groom. He asked me to come, so I did,” Nate said. “This is why I wanted us to chat earlier. Just to clear the air. Like I said, I was a jerk, and I’m sorry. I don’t want anything to mess up Hunter’s wedding.”

Oh.

When he said it like that, he sounded so reasonable. And she realized that coming to Cole’s Hill had more consequences than she’d thought. She was losing her professional edge because of Nate. Part of it was the way he made her pulse speed up. A bigger part was the fact that he was her daughter’s father and she hadn’t told him. And the cost of keeping that secret seemed higher than she might be able to pay.

“Sorry. I’m just a little short-tempered today. Must be the jet lag.”

“Don’t be. It happens to the best of us. After the tasting, can we get a drink and talk? It’s obvious we’re going to need to.”

* * *

Tycoon Cowboy’s Baby Surprise is part of The Wild Caruthers Bachelors duet: These Lone Star heartbreakers’ single days are numbered


Tycoon Cowboy’s Baby Surprise

Katherine Garbera






www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)


USA TODAY bestselling author KATHERINE GARBERA is a two-time Maggie Award winner who has written more than seventy books. A Florida native who grew up to travel the globe, Katherine now makes her home in the Midlands of the UK with her husband and a very spoiled miniature dachshund. Visit Katherine on the web at www.katherinegarbera.com (http://www.katherinegarbera.com), or catch up with her on Facebook and Twitter.


To Courtney and Lucas, who showed me that being a mom is about the best damned job any woman can have and for making my life so much richer.

As always special thanks to Charles for being a wonderful editor and for getting me. Also thanks to Nancy Robards Thompson, who originally brainstormed a version of this story with me.


Contents

Cover (#u61771dda-c9a7-560b-9323-d2dbac5ddcde)

Back Cover Text (#u5990c305-78c1-59a9-a331-71667468687f)

Introduction (#ud8942d7b-d296-5fb7-8a3b-f6d92e9a85fb)

Title Page (#ub73a7f5d-c219-5e76-b004-c55dbe142a7f)

About the Author (#u3daa4b81-c0c2-5967-8713-4e874b477bd0)

Dedication (#uea489d42-16a6-5176-8c27-9361386f699b)

One (#ud360a9a6-6782-5da4-8e68-34aa6bc0e712)

Two (#u4979cc22-d54e-5d42-b0ed-ba18687603e1)

Three (#ub4397ab5-dab3-511e-b8ec-0caac6c12149)

Four (#u02a93946-7119-5a5e-bbff-4dd546409289)

Five (#litres_trial_promo)

Six (#litres_trial_promo)

Seven (#litres_trial_promo)

Eight (#litres_trial_promo)

Nine (#litres_trial_promo)

Ten (#litres_trial_promo)

Eleven (#litres_trial_promo)

Twelve (#litres_trial_promo)

Thirteen (#litres_trial_promo)

Fourteen (#litres_trial_promo)

Fifteen (#litres_trial_promo)

Extract (#litres_trial_promo)

Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)


One (#u55e4c8d5-265a-5fe6-87bf-092fc4ad1ebd)

“Pack your bags, kid, we’re taking the show on the road,” Jacs Veerling said as she swept into Kinley Quinten’s office. The term was a stretch for the large workroom she shared with Willa Miller, the other wedding planner who worked for Jacs.

Jacs had the smarts of Madeleine Albright, the figure of Sofia Vergara and the business savvy of Estée Lauder. She was fifty but looked forty and had made her career out of planning bespoke weddings that were talked about in the media for years, even after the couples had split up. She wore her short hair in a bob, and the color changed from season to season. As it was summer, Jacs had just changed her color to a platinum blond that made her artic-blue eyes pop.

“Who’s going on the road? Both of us? All three of us?” Kinley asked. Based in the Chimera Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, they did in-house weddings, but the bulk of their business came from destination weddings all over the world. Wherever their A-list clients wanted.

“Just you, Kin,” Jacs said. “I’ve inked a deal to plan the wedding of reformed NFL bad boy Hunter Caruthers. It’s taking place in your home state of Texas, and when I mentioned your name, he said he knew you. Slam dunk for us. I think that might be why he picked our company over one in Beverly Hills.”

Caruthers.

At least it was Hunter and not his brother Nate.

“I can’t.”

Willa abruptly ended her call with a client, saying she’d call back, and turned to Jacs, who gave Kinley one of her patented she-who-must-be-obeyed stares.

“What? I’m sure I heard that wrong.”

Kinley took a deep breath and put her hands on her desk, noticing that her manicure had chipped on her middle finger. But really she couldn’t help the panic rising inside her. She had no plans to return to Texas.

Ever.

“I can’t. It’s complicated and personal, so I really don’t want to go into it, but please send Willa instead.”

Jacs walked over and propped her hip on the edge of Kinley’s desk, which was littered with bridal gown catalogs and photos of floral arrangements. “He asked for you. Personally. That’s the only personal that matters to me. Will you die if you go to Texas?”

“No. Of course not.” Kinley just didn’t want to see Nate again. She didn’t even want to see her dad again in person. She was content with their weekly Skype chats. That was enough for her and for her two-year-old daughter, Penny.

“Is it because of your baby?” Jacs asked.

She’d told Kinley when she started that even though Jacs had made the decision to never have children herself, she understood that being a mom was an important role. She was very understanding about Kinley’s needs and had a generous child-care policy for their small office.

“Sort of. She has just really settled into the day care here at the casino. Is it just a weekend trip?”

“Uh, no. I said pack your bags. You’re going to be out there for the duration. That means six months. I’m taking on two more clients in Texas—one is a Dallas Cowboy and the other plays basketball for San Antonio. I think you’ll have plenty to keep you busy.”

“Where would I stay?” Kinley asked, realizing there was no way to get out of the trip.

“I’ve rented a house in a nice subdivision...something called the Five Families. What an odd name,” Jacs said.

“Is there anything I can say that will make you change your mind?” Kinley finally asked.

“Not really,” Jacs said. “The client wants you, and you really have no reason not to go, do you?”

Yes. Nate Caruthers. The man who’d rocked her world for one passion-filled weekend, fathered her child and then interrupted her when she called later with that important news, telling her what happened in Vegas needed to stay there. He was her new client’s older brother and still lived on the family’s ranch outside Cole’s Hill. But she didn’t want to tell Jacs any of that. And she wasn’t prepared to lose her job over it.

The only thing that was vaguely reassuring was that Nate would be too busy running the Rockin’ C Ranch to be all that involved in wedding planning.

Fingers crossed.

“No reason. When do I need to start?” Kinley asked.

“Monday. I’m having Lori take care of all the details. You’ll fly out on Friday, so you have time to settle in over the weekend. I’ve even included your nanny in the travel plans. Keep me posted,” Jacs said as she turned on her heel and walked out of the office.

Kinley glanced down at the framed picture of Penny on her desk and felt her stomach tighten. After that disastrous call to Nate, she’d vowed not to allow him to let Penny down the way her own father had let her down. She just hoped that promise would be easy to keep once she was back in Cole’s Hill. All she had to do was avoid Nate. Surely she could handle that except in this town she knew it would be impossible.

* * *

Nate Caruthers was a little bit hungover as he pulled his F-150 into the five-minute parking outside the Cole’s Hill First National Bank. He reached for his sunglasses as he downed the last of his Red Bull before getting out of the cab of his truck. His younger brother was back in town, and that had called for a celebration that had lasted until the wee hours of the morning.

He tried the door on the bank, but it was locked. He leaned against the brick wall and pulled his hat down over his eyes to wait the five minutes until it opened.

“Nate? Nate Caruthers?”

The voice was straight out of his past and one of his hottest weekends ever. He pushed the Stetson he had tilted to cover his eyes back with his thumb and looked over.

Kinley Quinten.

He whistled.

She’d changed. Again. Wearing some kind of lacy-looking white dress that ended midthigh and left her arms bare, she looked sophisticated. Not like the party girl he’d spent that weekend with almost three years ago in Vegas. His gaze followed the curve of her legs, ending at a pair of impossibly high heels. She looked like she’d stepped out of one of his mom’s Neiman Marcus catalogs.

There may have been five years between them but none of that had mattered since he’d seen her in Vegas. She’d been twenty-three and he’d been twenty-eight.

“Eyes up here, buddy,” she said.

He straightened from the wall and gave her a slow grin that many women had told them would get him out of any tight spot as he walked toward her. “Sorry, ma’am. Wasn’t expecting you to look so good.”

“Is that supposed to be a compliment?” she asked, opening her large purse and pulling out a pair of dark sunglasses, which she immediately put on.

“How could it not be? I guess the men in California must be blind if you’re not sure.”

She crossed her arms under her breasts. “I live in Las Vegas.”

“Really? Since when? I thought you were only there to celebrate graduating from college,” he said. “You should let me buy you a coffee after I’m done at the bank and we can catch up.”

“Catch up? I don’t think so. I’m in town for business, Nate,” she said. “Plus, I think we said all that needed saying two years ago.”

The door next to him opened with a gush of cold air-conditioning, and Kinley gestured for him to go first, but he shook his head. “Ladies first.”

She huffed and walked past him.

He watched her move, her hips swaying with each of her determined steps. She probably wouldn’t appreciate his attention, but he noticed that Stewart, the bank manager, was watching her, too.

Nate got in line behind her to wait for the cashier.

“I’m sorry I was such a douche on the phone. Can we please have coffee?” he asked. His mom always said, “If you don’t ask, you don’t get,” and he wanted Kinley. Or at least to spend a little more time flirting with her before he headed back to the ranch.

She sighed. “One coffee, and then that’s it. Okay?”

“Why will that be it?” he asked. “Maybe you’ll want to see me again.”

He grinned at her, and she shook her head. “I won’t have time. I’m here for business.”

“What business?” he asked. “Are you working at the NASA facility out on the Bar T?”

“No. I’m a wedding planner. I’m here to plan Hunter’s wedding,” she said.

“Well, I’ll be damned.”

“Yes, you will be,” she said. An emotion passed over her face but too quickly for him to interpret it.

The cashier signaled Kinley over, and Nate stood where he was and observed her. She’d changed more than just her wardrobe, he realized. There was a core of strength that he hadn’t noticed in her when they’d spent the weekend together. Maybe that was because they’d both been focused on having fun.

She concluded her business, and Nate stepped up to do his. He talked with Maggie, the cashier who’d been working the opening shift since before Nate had been born. When he was done, he looked around and noticed that Kinley was waiting for him by the exit.

She had her smartphone in her hand and was tapping out a message to someone. She’d pushed her sunglasses up on her head and was concentrating as she typed. She looked so serious.

He wondered what had happened in her life in the last three years and then realized he really had no right to find out. He’d ended their affair because her dad worked for his family and Nate wasn’t really big on monogamy or commitment.

But seeing her again reminded him of how good that weekend had been and how hard it had been to hang up on her when she’d called and said she wanted to see him again.

She glanced up as he approached her.

“I hate to do this, but I can’t make coffee this morning. I have to get my office set up here, and my boss has a potential couple scheduled for 10:00 a.m.”

“Rain check, then?” he asked.

“Yes, that would be great,” she said. She held her hand out to him.

She wanted to shake hands. Did she think this was a business deal? He took her hand, noticing how smooth and small it was in his big rough rancher hand. He rubbed his thumb over the back of her knuckles and then lifted her hand to his mouth to drop a kiss there.

“I’ll be in touch,” he said, turning and walking out of the bank. He went to his truck and realized his hangover was gone.

* * *

Kinley put Nate out of her mind as she unpacked the office and got the client meeting room set up. She glanced at her watch as she worked. The day care she’d signed Penny up for was two blocks down. Kinley wanted to get the room ready for the meeting with the basketball player and his fiancée and then go to see Penny before the meeting.

Her thoughts drifted back to Nate.

Damn.

He’d surprised her. Though she’d known she would run into him, she hadn’t been prepared for it to be today. She’d sort of hoped to establish herself here first. She stood in the doorway and looked at the table she’d set up with a variety of faux cakes and flower arrangements.

Her phone rang and she glanced down. It was Jacs on the Skype app. She answered the call.

“Do you hate me now that you’re back there?” Jacs asked.

“No. I don’t hate you. But I could have used a little more time before seeing the client this morning,” Kinley said.

“Sorry about the rush, kid, but these two are hot to get married. They want to expedite the timeline but still make sure everything is one of a kind. You are going to have to really work your contacts to get this done. But I have confidence in you. Also don’t let Bridezilla bully you. She was full on this morning with me.”

“I won’t,” Kinley said. Actually, it would be good to get straight to work. “I’m seeing the local baker this afternoon for the Caruthers-Gainer wedding. If she doesn’t work, I’m going to see if I can get Carine to fly in from LA.”

“Good. Do you need anything from the office here?” Jacs asked.

“I might after I talk to my ten o’clock. We still have the dress from the O’Neill-Peterson cancellation. She was very demanding. Maybe it will work for this bride if she doesn’t know it was designed for another woman,” Kinley said.

“I like your thinking. I’ll have Lori email the sketches so you can use them,” Jacs said. “Have a good one.”

Jacs disconnected the call, and Kinley gave the room a final once-over. She nibbled on her bottom lip as she realized that she was rubbing the back of her right hand...the hand Nate had kissed.

She shook her head. This was a horrible idea. For one thing, she’d never really gotten over him. She hadn’t been pining over him; she was too sensible for that, or at least that’s what she told herself. But she still thought about him.

Still remembered all the things that had gone on in that big king-size bed in the Vegas penthouse suite. Sometimes she woke up in a sweat thinking about Nate.

Usually it only took a moment to shove those thoughts away. She’d been telling herself that he wasn’t as good-looking as she’d remembered, but the way those faded jeans had hugged his butt this morning had confirmed he was.

And the spark of awareness that had gone through her, awakening desires that had been dormant since she’d given birth to her daughter, couldn’t be ignored. Maybe it was like Willa had suggested to her last month. It was time to start dating again.

Yes, that was it. She’d find a nice guy, a townie, and ask him out for a drink. Or maybe she’d go to the local bar and see if she could find someone...to do what? She wasn’t the party girl she’d once been.

She was a mom, and frankly the idea of going out and hooking up sounded like too much work—and not the kind she wanted to do.

She left the office, grabbing her purse and keys on the way out and locking the door behind her. She needed to see Penny.

Her daughter grounded her and made her remember what was really important.

As she walked down the streets of the historic district, she took stock of how far she’d come. When her parents had divorced, Kinley was a tomboy, the daughter of a housekeeper for one of the wealthiest families in Cole’s Hill. Now she was living in one of the houses her mom used to clean and planning a wedding for the son of her father’s boss. She felt like she’d come a long way.

Not that there had been anything wrong with her parents’ careers, but she was different. She always had been.

She entered the day care facility and was shown to the room where Penny and the other two-year-olds were playing. Her daughter was right in the middle of a group that was clustered around some easels. She walked over to her daughter and stopped next to her.

“Hi, Mama,” she said, dropping her marker and turning to hug Kinley’s legs.

“Hey, honey pie,” Kinley said, stooping down to Penny’s level. “What are you making?”

“A horsey. That boy said he has his own,” Penny said.

Kinley tucked a strand of her daughter’s straight red hair behind her ear and brushed a kiss on her forehead. “There are a lot ranches around here.”

“Like Pop-Pop’s?” she asked.

Penny had seen the ranch on the many video chats they’d had with her father. And the last time they’d talked, her dad had taken his tablet into the barn and shown her his horse. The toddler couldn’t wait to visit her Pop-Pop and meet his horse.

“Just like that one. But Pop-Pop just manages the hands. It’s not his ranch.”

“I can’t wait to see it,” Penny said.

“We might not get to go out there,” Kinley said. She didn’t want to take Penny to the Rockin’ C and chance her running into Nate. She had no plans to tell Nate about Penny; he’d made it clear a long time ago where his interest lay, and it wasn’t with raising a family. “Pop-Pop is going to come to town and visit us.”

“Okay,” Penny said.

Kinley hoped that would be the last of Penny talking about going to the ranch. She visited with her daughter until snack time, and when it was over, Kinley left after giving Penny a hug and a kiss.

She got through her meeting. She’d talked the bride, Meredith, into looking at the sketches for the dress they’d already had made. Meredith liked the design but wanted a few changes. Kinley was still thinking about that as she drove over to the Bluebonnet Bakery to sample the cakes for the Caruthers wedding.

She saw a familiar pickup truck with the Rockin’ C logo on it parked out front but told herself not to jump to conclusions. The Rockin’ C probably had a lot of F-150 pickups. It was probably just Hunter.

But when she walked into the bakery, she found her gut had been right. Nate stood at the counter along with his middle brother, Ethan, Hunter and a woman who had to be Hunter’s fiancée. Derek, the second-oldest Caruthers, was a surgeon and probably not available to sample cake.

“Hello, everyone,” Kinley said.

She just had to be professional. She could do that.

“Hi, I’m Ferrin Gainer,” the woman said, stepping over to her. “It’s so nice to meet you.”

“I’m looking forward to working with you and helping you plan your special day. I’ve arranged for us to have a tasting in the back room,” Kinley said, motioning everyone in the right direction. “Why don’t you go through there and I’ll be right with you.”

Everyone went into the room but Nate. He hung back.

She shook her head.

“What are you doing here?”

“I’m the big brother of the groom. He asked me to come, so I did,” Nate said. “This is why I wanted us to chat earlier. Just clear the air. Like I said, I was a jerk, and I’m sorry. I don’t want anything to mess up Hunter’s wedding.”

Oh.

When he said it like that, he sounded so reasonable. And she realized that coming to Cole’s Hill had more consequences than she’d thought. She was losing her professional edge because of Nate. Part of it was the way he made her pulse speed up; another, bigger part was the fact that he was her daughter’s father and she hadn’t told him. And the cost of keeping that secret seemed higher than she might be able to pay.

“Sorry. I’m just a little short-tempered today. Must be the jet lag.” Though with only a one-hour time difference between here and Vegas, she knew jet lag was a bit of an exaggeration.

“Don’t be. It happens to the best of us. After the tasting we can get a drink and talk. It’s obvious we’re going to need to.”

She nodded. She had to check in with her nanny, Pippa, and make sure that Penny would be fine for the evening. “I have one more appointment, and then I can meet you for a drink.”

It would have been so much easier to just say no if Nate wasn’t...well, so likeable and charming. And if she didn’t have Penny. But she did. And now she was going to have make a decision that she’d thought she’d already made.


Two (#u55e4c8d5-265a-5fe6-87bf-092fc4ad1ebd)

Cake tasting. There were times when Nate wondered what had happened to his family. Though he didn’t begrudge Hunter his happiness or his wedding, Nate liked things the way they’d always been: when the Carutherses were out working hard, playing even harder and making respectable mamas lock up their daughters.

“What do you think?” Hunter asked, pulling Nate aside so that they could speak privately for a moment.

“About what?”

“The cake. Do you have a preference?” he asked.

Nate shook his head. “I do like the idea of your groom’s cake being shaped like a football field.”

“That was discussed fifteen minutes ago. Where is your head?”

He looked over at the pretty redhead taking them through the different types of jam and icing that could be used between layers. Kinley. She was too much in his head. Going for a drink had stupid written all over it, but he’d never been one to back down from anything, even when it went against his own better sense.

“Don’t do it,” Hunter said.

“Don’t do what?” Nate asked. Though he knew what his brother was talking about.

“She’s practically family,” Hunter said. “Marcus is like a second dad to us. Don’t mess with her.”

Too late. Nate recalled every detail of the weekend that he and Kinley had spent together; a part of him didn’t want to ever forget it. Another part didn’t believe it could have been as good as he remembered. But he knew it was. Then he remembered that silly little handshake she’d limited him to this morning at the bank and the rush of energy that had gone through them when they’d touched.

“I’m just looking.”

“Make sure that’s all you do,” Hunter said.

He clipped his brother on the shoulder with his fist. “I don’t take orders from you.”

“You do now. Ferrin really wants this wedding to be special. And that means not letting you, Ethan or Derek screw anything up. So be good.”

“When have any of us ever been good?” Nate asked. He wasn’t going to mess up Hunter’s wedding. As much as he was against marriage himself, he really liked Ferrin and thought she was perfect for his brother. Hunter hadn’t enjoyed being single the way the rest of the Carutherses did. His college girlfriend had been murdered and suspicion had fallen on Hunter for a good ten years before the real murderer had been convicted. So the only women Hunter had dated were those looking for a thrill...until Ferrin came along.

“I won’t do anything to hurt your wedding,” Nate promised.

Hunter reached over and squeezed his shoulder. “I know you won’t. You’ve always looked out for me.”

“Someone had to,” Nate said. He loved his brothers and had always been the one to stand up for them.

“You two done over there?” their mother asked.

“Yes, ma’am. I was just saying how much I liked the mandarin filling,” Nate said, luckily recalling the last cake he’d tasted.

“That’s the one I am leaning toward as well,” Ferrin said.

“Honey, that’s my favorite, too,” Hunter said, giving his fiancée the sweetest, sappiest smile Nate had ever seen. What the hell had happened to his brother?

“Then it’s decided,” Kinley said. “I have your other preferences marked down. Are you happy with this bakery? We can have one of our specialty bakers from Beverly Hills fly in and talk to you as well.”

“We’d like to keep it local as much as we can,” Ferrin said. “Hunter and I want this to be as authentic as it can be.”

Kinley made some notes in her notebook, her hand gliding across the page. Nate couldn’t help remembering the tomboy she’d been and the time he’d caught her sitting under one of the scrub oaks out in the pasture crying because her teacher said she had the worst handwriting in the class.

He shook his head. Where had that old memory come from? He had spent hours under that tree showing her how to write until her handwriting had been passable. It wasn’t that he’d had the greatest handwriting, but Nate had never liked to be second best at anything. So he’d practiced a lot, and he remembered how grateful little Kinley had been that he’d helped her.

The women had moved to leave the room, but Ethan and Hunter hung back. Hunter just shook his head, but Nate noticed that Ethan watched until Kinley had rounded the corner.

“Dang. That Kinley sure has changed,” Ethan said. “She makes a man—”

“Don’t. She doesn’t make you anything, Eth.”

Both of his brothers turned to stare at him, and Nate knew he’d showed his hand without meaning to. But he wanted her. She had been his once and he knew himself well enough to know that he was going to try to make her his again. He didn’t think it would last longer than it took her to plan Hunter’s wedding, but damned if he was going to let any other man—especially one of his brothers—make a play for her.

“The lady might have something to say about that,” Ethan said.

Nate shrugged. “We’re having drinks tonight.”

Ethan put his hands up. “Fair enough. I was just saying she sure isn’t the girl who used to follow us around on horseback.”

“No, she isn’t,” Nate agreed. He thought of all the changes he’d seen in Kinley and how much he appreciated each one of them. She’d been a party girl once, but she’d matured past that and he could see that she was stronger now. She’d changed and he acknowledged that he hadn’t really, but one thing he knew for sure was that he still wanted her. And he was pretty sure they weren’t finished with each other yet.

There had been something in her eyes when he’d shaken her hand earlier, maybe attraction, maybe something more. Whatever it was, he was hungry to explore it.

* * *

Ferrin was a marked contrast to the bride Kinley had been working with that very morning. They were in the office at the bakery discussing a few details. Where a true bridezilla would never take any of the first things that Kinley offered, Ferrin pretty much did. Her mom was a professor at UT Austin and wasn’t able to make the cake tasting, so Ferrin did ask if Kinley would mind very much if they waited to finalize the cakes until her mom drove over on Saturday to give her opinion.

That was a very easy yes. Food was easy, Kinley thought, or it should be most of the time. It was a little bit funny to see all of the Caruthers brothers sitting around trying cake and pretending they cared what it tasted like, because even Ma Caruthers—as she’d always insisted Kinley call her—knew her boys weren’t interested in cake flavors. They were here because Ferrin had asked Hunter to give his opinion and had suggested his brothers might want a say as well.

It was sweet.

The bond between the Carutherses was one of the many things that Kinley had always envied about them. Being an only child hadn’t been a burden, but it had been lonely. Her parents both had demanding jobs that kept them away from home most of the time. She’d spent a lot of her childhood alone or tagging after the Carutherses. Now she was planning a wedding for Hunter... It was almost too much to be believed.

She made a few more notes. “Ferrin, what’s your schedule like for the rest of the week? I’d love to get your dress selected. I have some designers that I like to use who are in New York and Beverly Hills, but also I have a friend from London who is just starting out. Her dresses are exquisite and I think they would flatter you.”

“I’m teaching at Cole’s Hill Community College on Thursday and Friday morning. But I’m free in the afternoon,” Ferrin said.

“That’s fine,” Kinley said. “I can forward you the look books so you can go through the sketches and photos before you start narrowing down your choices.”

Hunter came in as they were talking, and Kinley was very aware that Ethan and Nate were right behind him. She wasn’t sure what they had been discussing, but given the way all three men stared at her...she guessed she’d been the topic.

“Hunter, y’all are free to go. We are going to be discussing the dress, and I want to surprise you on the big day,” Ferrin said.

“Sounds good to me,” Hunter said, coming over and giving her a kiss before leaving the room with his brothers behind him.

“Do you want my opinion?” Ma Caruthers asked. “I know you have your mother and you might want to make the decision with her.”

“I’d love your opinion,” Ferrin said, then turned to Kinley. “Tell me more about what will happen after I look at the designs in the books. Pretty much my entire bridal experience has been limited to episodes of Say Yes to the Dress. And I don’t know how much of that is real or not.”

“Well, once we have an idea of the type of dress you want, I’ll get samples in similar styles shipped to us and then we’ll arrange for you to try on all the different dresses until you narrow it down to a designer or a type of dress you like. Then someone from the designer you’ve chosen will be assigned to you to come out here and fit and measure the dress properly,” Kinley said. Finding the perfect dress was really Kinley’s favorite part of the wedding planning service. She was naturally organized, so the other parts of her job were easy and almost routine. Every wedding had food and cake and wine and music. But it was the dress and the theme that the bride selected that set each wedding apart.

“That sounds...exhausting,” Ferrin said. “Also a little daunting.”

Kinley walked over to the bride-to-be, who was a few years older than she, and put her arm around her shoulders. “Don’t worry about anything. I will be by your side the entire time and we are going to plan the wedding of your dreams.”

Ferrin turned and hugged her, and for the first time since she’d gotten off the plane in Texas, Kinley was glad she was here. Ferrin was the kind of bride that made her glad she was a wedding planner.

“Thank you.”

“Told you you’d be in good hands with this one,” Ma Caruthers said. “She’s always had a good head on her shoulders.”

“You’ve been wonderful to help me so much. I really appreciate it,” Ferrin said to her future mother-in-law.

“Well, I never had any daughters and am hoping that you are going to give me a granddaughter one day. Thank you for letting me help out,” Ma Caruthers said.

Kinley felt the heat in her chest and cheeks as she blushed. She hadn’t considered anyone besides herself and Nate when she’d made the decision to keep Penny a secret from him. He was wild and not ready to settle down—she wasn’t sure he ever would be—but his mother and father...they were nice people. People who wanted a grandchild.

And they already had one.

Kinley excused herself and left the bakery. Guilt weighed heavy on her shoulders as she walked to her car. It was hot on this summer afternoon, and she wished she could blame the heat for the feeling in the pit of her stomach. But she knew the truth. She’d let the secret of Penny go on for too long. There was no way to casually introduce her daughter to the Carutherses without them getting angry—justifiably so. She realized she might have bitten off more than she could chew by agreeing to come to Cole’s Hill.

Now she was stuck between a rock and a very hard place. She could either stay here and hope that no one noticed Penny and that the guilt that had started to grow inside her would be bearable, or she could quit her job and run away from life.

She knew which option she wanted to choose. But she’d never been a coward, and she didn’t want Penny to grow up thinking that she could run away from her problems. Kinley was going to have to figure out how to tell Nate he had a daughter, and she knew the sooner she did it the better it would be for everyone.

* * *

Nate had half expected Kinley to cancel on him and had gone to the Bull Pit with Ethan to have a drink while he was waiting for her to finish up with her afternoon appointments. What was it about Kinley that always made him feel on edge? With most of the women he dated he usually fell into a comfortable feeling pretty quickly. He knew what they liked and how to give it to them.

But not with her.

“Dad wants me to go to San Angelo to check on one of our mineral contracts. It’s set to renew, and he’s not sure if we should renew it or sell it,” Ethan said. He was the family lawyer but also worked for a big-time law firm. He used to work in Houston but now handled his clients from his home office here in Cole’s Hill. “Then I’m probably going to fly to LA and be back a few days later.”

Ethan had a woman in Los Angeles. They all knew it but he never mentioned her, so Nate had figured she was either casual or married. And since he didn’t want his brothers nipping in his own business, he’d never asked.

“Sure thing. We aren’t doing anything major this week. Mitzi is looking for men for the Fourth of July bachelor auction... She’s suckered a few of those astronauts into doing it and has a theme of American Hero for this year’s event. She wanted Hunter, but since he’s off the market he promised to get a friend from Dallas.”

“Then why does she need me?” Ethan asked.

“Well, we all know lawyers are sharks, so it must be that she remembers your gold buckle rodeo days and wants to have you as a cowboy in the lineup.” Nate liked to rib his brother about being a lawyer but he’d be welcome at the auction.

“How about I just make a large donation and sit on the sidelines?” Ethan said.

They all felt about the same way when it came to participating in events like the charity auction. “You can’t. One of the Carutherses already did.”

“Derek? He’s a doctor—he should be used to this kind of thing,” Ethan said.

“He is and he likes the attention, so he said yes as soon as she asked,” Nate said.

“You?”

Nate shrugged. “I have been dating her off and on, so she was willing to let me out of it.”

“Well, damn. Okay, I’ll do it,” Ethan said.

“Good,” Nate said. He thought it would do his brother some good to find a woman here in Cole’s Hill whom he liked instead of driving to Midland whenever he wanted to hook up. Or whatever Ethan did over there.

“So when’s your date with Kinley?” Ethan asked as he took a swallow of his beer.

“We’re having drinks tonight,” Nate said.

“Drinks? That’s not a date,” Ethan said.

“Isn’t it?”

“Hell, no. You and I are having drinks and this sure as hell isn’t a date,” Ethan said.

“Damned straight,” Nate said. “I’ve never had any problems turning drinks into something more.”

“None of us have,” Ethan said. “Can you believe Hunter is getting married? I thought...well, I guess we all thought that he was never going to find a woman who’d trust him.”

“I know,” Nate said. He didn’t like to think about how many times he’d defended his brother in places like the Bull Pit and in boardrooms whenever someone had brought up Hunter’s past. Gossip had it that their family had bought Hunter’s freedom, but the truth was the cops never had enough evidence to charge him with murder. Not that that had made any difference in the court of public opinion. “I’m glad to see him so happy. Damned if I could have ever seen any of us as married, but being engaged looks good on him.”

“It does. Ferrin seems to be an important part of his new life. And I’m going to deny saying this if you bring it up, but he seems like a new man now.”

Nate had to laugh at that. Hunter was a new man. A man freed from the past and the guilt that he’d carried for ten years.

“Guilt did weigh on him. That’s why I lead a free and easy life. The only thing that weighs on me is the family business, and to be honest I like a good tussle in the boardroom, so that’s not really a big deal.”

Ethan laughed. “You said it, brother. Speaking of a business, Dylan Gallagher has a Cessna he wants to sell us. He’s thinking of buying a big jet.”

“What does he need a jet for?”

“Apparently, he has a lady friend on the East Coast he wants to visit,” Ethan said. “I’ll drive over and look at it this afternoon. It would be nice to have it as a backup for the older one we’ve been thinking of getting rid of.”

“It would be. Ranch assets are your domain, so if you think we should buy it, I’ll agree with you.”

“Wish all things with you were this easy to settle,” Ethan said.

Before Nate could respond, his phone beeped and he glanced down at the screen to see he had a text message from Kinley. Nate finished his beer and stood up. “I’m easy to get along with. You’re the troublemaker.”

Ethan’s laughter followed him out the door. He left his pickup in the parking lot at the Bull Pit and walked across town to the restaurant where Kinley was waiting for him. The sun was setting as he came around the corner and he saw her standing to the left of the entrance. She was backlit by the sun, which silhouetted her curves and seemed to highlight her reddish-brown hair. He stopped for a minute as he realized that he didn’t want to screw this up.

He’d hurt her with the way he’d behaved when she’d called him from Vegas, and this was a fresh start. The kind of thing that he needed with her, because no matter what he’d said to her on the phone, one weekend hadn’t been enough to get her out of his system.


Three (#u55e4c8d5-265a-5fe6-87bf-092fc4ad1ebd)

Kinley had a rushed dinner with Penny and her nanny before leaving to meet Nate. Tonight was important, and she needed to be stronger than she’d ever been before. She’d dressed carefully, choosing a gray cap-sleeve dress that nipped in at the waist before ending at the knees. She’d paired it with a piece of costume jewelry she’d purchased at a vintage shop in Melrose the year before her mom had died.

Wearing it always made Kinley think of her mom. She touched it like a talisman, trying to glean a little of her mom’s courage before Nate showed up. She was scared.

She’d made the only choice she felt she could make when she’d decided to have Penny and to raise her daughter on her own. But circumstances had changed, and it was time to make another choice.

She pulled her phone out of her purse for the tenth time since she’d texted Nate that she was waiting for him at the Peace Creek Steak House, not because she expected him to respond, but because she felt so vulnerable just standing there waiting for him.

She heard a group of people approaching the entrance and looked up to see Bianca Velasquez walking toward her. Her mom had cleaned the Velasquez home way back when, and Bianca and Kinley had been really good friends. She smiled when she noticed Kinley, waved her friends on and came over to give her a hug.

Her friend had thick black hair that she wore long and falling around her shoulders and olive skin Kinley had always envied. She was wearing a pair of slim-fitting white jeans and a flowy navy-colored blouse.

“I didn’t know you were back in town,” Bianca said.

“I didn’t know you were, either. I thought you were still in Spain,” Kinley said. Bianca’s young husband had recently died in a fiery car crash, leaving the window with an eighteen-month-old son to raise. Kinley and Bianca kept in touch by email and had a lot to share since they both were single moms.

“I recently moved back. Mom and Dad were really persistent. And I missed Texas,” Bianca said. “Do you have plans tonight? You can join us.”

“I’m only back for a few months to plan Hunter’s wedding,” Kinley said. “I’m meeting someone but I’d love to catch up sometime.”

“Me, too. I’m looking for a job, believe it or not,” Bianca said in a sort of self-effacing tone. “I have your number, so I’ll text you and we can find some time to meet up with our kiddos.”

“Sounds great,” Kinley said, hugging her friend and realizing how nice it was to see Bianca. The combination of secrets and guilt had been weighing on her, but seeing a friendly face, making some normal plans, made her feel better.

Bianca waved goodbye before going into the restaurant. Kinley felt someone watching her and glanced up to see Nate at the end of the driveway, walking toward her. He hadn’t changed since their earlier meeting; he still wore dark jeans paired with what she knew was a designer shirt and hand-tooled, custom-made leather boots. He walked like a man who knew his place in the world. He was confident and sure, and a part of her truly resented him for it.

She’d been struggling to figure out her place her entire life. She might not have been aware of it when she’d been younger, but these days it felt like a yoke around her neck. Like she’d been carrying it for too long. Part of it, she knew, was the burden of what she had to tell him and her own uncertainty about how to do it, but she knew another part was the fact that she felt like she was always running to catch up.

Probably that could be traced back to living two different lives for most of her upbringing: the weeks in town with her mom at the Velasquez home and the weekends on the ranch with her father.

“Nate, I’m glad you could make it,” Kinley said. To her own ears, her voice sounded too bright. Like she was trying to force out a happiness she didn’t feel. But she put a smile on her face, determined to keep it in place until she actually could smile around him.

“It was my idea, so I wasn’t about to say no.” He winked at her as he reached her, putting his hand at the small of her back to turn her toward the entrance.

She moved forward, trying to ignore the pulsing that had started as soon as she felt his hand on the small of her back. His hands were big and hot and made her very aware of the last time he’d touched her there.

They’d both been naked and he’d rolled her onto her stomach in that big king-size bed to give her a massage, which had ended with him deep inside her as she’d climaxed again and again. A shiver of pure sexual need went through her.

It had been a long time since any man had touched her save for her ob-gyn, and Kinley, who had been too tired to think of dating before this, now thought that might have been a huge mistake.

She wished she’d had at least one other man since Nate so she’d have some sort of buffer. He reached around her to hold open the door, and she was both elated and disappointed that he broke contact.

She stepped inside, waiting a moment for her eyes to adjust to the dim interior. She was losing control of herself, which would mean loss of control of the situation if she didn’t pull herself together.

She skimmed the bar and spotted a booth in the back that looked like it would give them some privacy from the other patrons in the steak house.

“I see a spot,” Kinley said, walking toward it quickly, not giving Nate a chance to touch her back again.

* * *

Touching her had been a mistake, because as he watched her walk through the bar, images of the last time he’d touched her back ran through his mind. He remembered the afternoon sunlight shining into their room and how creamy her skin had looked against the white hotel sheets. She had freckles on her back, and he’d taken his time to touch and caress each of them before he made love to her.

A jolt of need went through him, and he knew whatever lie he’d been telling himself about meeting up with Kinley to clear the air was paper-thin. He wanted her. And pretending that there was anything other than that motivating him would be a mistake.

She slid into the booth she’d spotted in the corner. It was darker back here, lit only with an electric fixture mounted on the wall that was made to look like a gas lamp. The bulb flickered like a live flame. They had more privacy than he’d expected.

He started to slide in next to her, but she shook her head and gestured for him to sit across from her. He sat down on the hard wooden bench, hoping it would cool him down, but it didn’t. Instead his legs brushed against hers under the table, and every time he inhaled all he could smell was her perfume. It was some kind of flowery, summery scent that made him more determined that they should spend the summer together.

He was a temporary guy and she was here temporarily; it should be easy enough for both of them. But his gut warned it wouldn’t be. It couldn’t be. First of all, her job was going to bring her into contact with his family—a lot. Second, her dad was his foreman, and Nate didn’t want to do anything to compromise that relationship. Plus—and this was the big one—he was pretty sure that Kinley had already written him off.

So he was going to have to figure out how to convince her that he was more than a wealthy playboy. Was she worth it?

Even as he asked himself that question, he knew the answer was yes. There was something in her big chocolate-brown eyes that made him determined to figure out what he needed to say or do to claim her as his own.

“What are you drinking?” he asked. His voice sounded almost too loud in the quiet intimacy of the booth.

“Sparkling water with a twist of lime,” she said.

“I can’t order that at the bar or they will laugh me out of here,” he said.

“Then I’ll order it. What do you want?” she asked. He noticed that her tone was all business, and he realized that while he was thinking this was the first step to renewed intimacy, she wasn’t.

“I was joking, Kin. I’ll get the drinks,” he said. “I’m ordering something to eat as well.”

“Thank you,” she said as he left the booth to go and place their order.

A good five minutes had passed before he returned to their table. He put the glasses down before retaking his seat.

“I’m sorry about overreacting about the drink. I’m a little on edge tonight,” she said.

“Planning weddings is stressful work?” he asked. He took a swallow of his beer and leaned back, stretching one arm along the back of the wooden bench.

“Sometimes. Ferrin’s such a sweetie, so she’s making my job pretty easy. But I’m working with another client who is a bit more demanding,” Kinley said.

“I never would have pictured you as a wedding planner,” Nate said. When he’d known her as a child, she’d been so rough-and-tumble. The kind of cowgirl who could do anything the boys could on the ranch. His parents had always treated his brothers and him the same way they did all the kids whose families worked on the ranch. That meant they all did chores together and they all got a horse of their own to take care of. It was a tradition that Nate had followed when he took over running the ranch from his dad a few years ago.

The Caruthers fortune derived from the cattle they ran on their property as well as oil and mineral leases they’d had for generations and the newer stud operation that was just fifteen years old. The stud farm had been Kinley’s dad’s idea for diversifying the ranch.

“I guess you don’t know me,” she said. “I like planning weddings.”

“You might be right that I don’t know certain things about you,” he said. “But I’d argue there are parts of you I know very well.”

She flushed. Her skin was so creamy and pale that any time she was aroused, angry or embarrassed it flashed in a pinkish red across her face.

“Don’t, Nate,” she said. “Please do not bring up that weekend in Vegas or our intimacy again. I really would rather your brothers and parents didn’t know about it.”

He leaned forward over the table. “There isn’t anyone here but you and me, Kin, and we both know what happened.”

“We do. And we both remember how it ended...or is that just me?”

“I already apologized for that,” he said, sitting back. Damned if it wasn’t just like a woman to keep reminding him of how he’d screwed up.

“I know. And I accepted your apology. All I meant by my comment was that we’re like oil and water—we don’t mix very well.”

He thought they’d mixed just fine. But arguing now would just get her back up more and not move them any closer to the ending he wanted for them. He knew he had to ease up, and he did. “I’m not the same man I was three years ago.”

She gave him a small smile and nodded. Then she laced her fingers together, and he noticed she wore a small thin ring on her middle finger. “Fair enough. I’m definitely not the same woman. So what’s changed with Nate Caruthers?”

* * *

Kinley knew she was stalling, but honestly she needed more time. She toyed with the lime on the side of her glass, rubbing it around the rim to distract her from the fact that Nate’s big frame dominated the corner booth. His legs were on either side of hers, the rough fabric of the denim abrading the bare skin of her legs. She tried to shift but just ended up rubbing her leg against his.

She glanced over at him to see if he’d noticed. He had.

He didn’t say anything. Instead he took a sip of his beer, and she watched the muscles of his throat work as he swallowed and then leaned back, stretching his legs out under the table, brushing them against hers again.

“I’m still doing some investment stuff, but my main focus now is running the ranch. Dad wanted to ease off on the everyday running of the Rockin’ C. And as you know, it’s a full-time job. So I stepped up,” Nate said.

The Rockin’ C was one of the largest ranches in Texas. They ran cattle, had oil, operated a stud farm and employed more than one hundred families on the property. They weren’t gentleman farmers; they were more like the Ewings of TV’s Dallas.

“Where are your folks living now?”

“Still on the property. Mom wanted a smaller house, so they built a five-bedroom ranch house out near the small lake.”

“That’s small?” she asked with a laugh.

“For her. Plus she said she wanted enough room to spoil her grandkids once we all settled down,” Nate said.

Once again Kinley felt the white-hot needle of guilt pierce through her. “When is that going to happen?”

“Not any time soon, as far as I’m concerned. Hunter is the only one who seems interested in getting serious. But after ten years of hell, I think it’s about time he had a break.”

“That stuff about him... It was really hard to watch when I was in California. I mean, there was the Hunter I grew up with and then this other guy I was seeing stories about on TV. I’m glad they finally caught the man responsible.”

“We all are. Mom spent a lot of time at St. Thomas Aquinas Church praying,” Nate said.

When he spoke about Hunter, Kinley heard the love and concern in his voice. She’d been in high school when Hunter had first been accused of murder, but all that was in the past now. And Hunter had Ferrin.

“He’s got the happy ending he deserved,” Kinley said. It gave her hope that once she came clean with Nate she’d be able to move on. Maybe keeping Penny’s paternity a secret was one of the barriers that had kept her from dating over the last few years.

But she knew it wasn’t. She knew it was her own fear of trusting a man again. Or, to be more honest, trusting her heart. She’d thought what she felt for Nate had been the beginning of something more solid, but in the end it had only been lust.

Which was raising its hotter-than-hell head once again.

“He has. How many weddings have you planned?” Nate asked. “How did you get started doing that?”

She sipped her sparkling water and took the reprieve he’d unintentionally given her. “I’ve planned close to twenty weddings. All of them high-end, destination-type affairs. I got started when I answered an ad for a personal assistant and starting working for Jacs. She had one of her planners flake out and gave me a trial run. I guess she saw something in me and decided to promote me to planner.”

“I’m not surprised she saw something in you. I’ve never known you to be a woman to back down,” Nate said. “No matter how much the outer packaging has changed over the years, that solid core of steel still remains.”

It was one of the nicest things that anyone had ever said to her. That Nate Caruthers was the one saying it made her heart heavy. “Thank you.”

“It’s okay. I should have remembered that when you called me. Instead I felt trapped, and I wasn’t ready for that. Despite the fact that we spent a weekend together, you’re not the kind of woman a man should ever be casual about.”

She didn’t know what to say to that. The fact that he hadn’t been ready to settle down gave her pause in her determination to tell him about Penny. Was he ready now? How would she know for sure?

She wanted to make things right. For Nate. For Ma Caruthers. For herself. But her duty was to Penny. And Kinley had to determine if it would be better for her daughter to never know who her father was or to know and have him disappoint her.

It was a tough call.

One that was going to take more than a sparkling water and a single conversation to figure out. She wasn’t sure if it was cowardice or not, but she decided she needed to get to know the man that Nate was today before she let him know he had a daughter.

It was the only fair thing to do for herself and Penny. And for Nate, who was still running wild, if word around town could be believed.

“I’m not sure that I was ready for anything more during that weekend in Vegas,” she admitted. “But I am definitely not as casual now.”

“Can I talk you into dinner?” he asked.

She hesitated, but she’d already said good night to Penny, so she knew her daughter wasn’t expecting her home until after bedtime. Kinley had promised to call at seven thirty and could still do so.

If she was going to figure out how and if to tell Nate, they were going to have spend more time together, and dinner seemed like a safe enough way to start.


Four (#u55e4c8d5-265a-5fe6-87bf-092fc4ad1ebd)

Nate normally would have gone to the country club for a midweek dinner and then played a few games of pool with Derek before hitting the Bull Pit for more drinking and carousing before heading home. Instead he was seated across from Kinley eating a steak and listening to her talk about the latest book she’d read.

He didn’t want to dwell on the fact that this was shaping up to be one of his best weeknights in a long time. She was animated when she talked, and now that he’d put the brakes on anything too sexy, she’d relaxed. Her hands moved as she explained a part of the book she really liked, and then she laughed and his gut clenched and his blood seemed to flow a little heavier in his veins.

“It’s just the funniest thing I’ve read in a long time and I thought while I was reading it, this girl could be me. Have you ever felt that way?” she asked.

He hadn’t. “Not really, but then, I’ve always had Dad to show me the kind of man I wanted to be.”

“Your dad is the best,” she said.

There was a note in her voice that made him wonder if Marcus hadn’t been the same kind of dad as his was. His father lived for his sons and made sure they knew it. They’d all been very certain that he had a strong moral code for them to live up to and he expected a lot from them. But he’d always treated them with love.

“Was your dad?” Nate asked.

“He wasn’t horrible or anything like that. But he did tend to work a lot on the weekend when I was out there. Mostly I think I saw your dad more than I saw my own.”

Nate hadn’t realized that and now wondered if he was keeping any of his employees from seeing their kids as often as they liked. He never really thought about the ranch children. His life was very different from his employees’, since his days of working the ranch were long gone. He spent most of his time in his high-rise office building here in Cole’s Hill doing deals and managing the business that the Rockin’ C had blossomed into.

“I didn’t know that,” he said, at last understanding that there was a lot to Kinley that he didn’t know.

In his mind he always imagined that she’d had the same sort of upbringing he had. He remembered Kinley being on the ranch on the weekends. He’d thought of her as a sort of girl version of himself.

“Why would you?” she asked. “It would be weird if you had. Besides, my dad and I have a pretty good relationship now. It’s just different than yours is with your parents.”

Nate shook his head. “I was very glad to move them into their own home, not that I forced them out. But as much as I like having my town house in the Five Families area, I do prefer to be out on the ranch.”

“Couldn’t you have lived there with your parents?” she asked.

“Of course, but if I did, then Mom wanted to meet any of the women I brought home, and sometimes that could get awkward.”

“I bet,” she said. “Are you still mostly keeping it casual?”

“Mostly. But I am here with you tonight.”

“Tonight? Should I just be thinking of this as temporary... What am I talking about? We’re having dinner to clear the air and give us a friendly base so that we don’t make Hunter and your family aware of what happened between us.”

He should have been very happy that she understood the kind of man he was.

But...

He didn’t want her to dismiss him so easily. Yeah, he was a temporary cowboy, the kind of man who knew how to show a woman a good time for a short stretch, but he might change for the right woman.

That was a big ask, though. And Kinley was perfectly within her rights to friend zone him the way she had.

“Fair enough. But for the record, you’re not like everyone else,” he said.

She paused for a second, her eyes widened, and he realized that a part of her wanted him to be Mr. Right. He could see it there in her gaze, and he’d never been anything close to that.

“Really?”

There was so much hope in her tone that it was almost painful to listen to it. He was afraid of hurting her and before this moment hadn’t been aware of how likely it was that he could. He’d thought she was like him. The female version. Party girl to his party boy and that like him she’d segue into the next phase of her life as a successful businesswoman. But in her eyes was a hope that he hadn’t counted on or ever seen before.

She wanted him to be a hero.

Not a bad boy.

Could he do it? Could he be the man she wanted?

The selfish part of him wanted to pretend he hadn’t noticed and maybe just go with it. But he had always prided himself on being honest in all of his relationships, and pretending was a form of lying. Some would say the worst form.

“Yes. You are very special,” he said at last.

She fumbled for her water glass and took a sip before placing it carefully back on the table.

“You’re kind of unforgettable, too,” she said.

Just like that he knew he could have Kinley again if he wanted to. If he kept his mouth shut and acted the part. But he’d already decided that would be the kind of low-down behavior he wouldn’t indulge in. But, oh, he was very tempted.

Her mouth was full and peach colored in the ambient lighting of the restaurant, and he was so tempted to just lean across the table and kiss her. To stop talking before he did anything that would ruin whatever it was she thought she saw in him.

* * *

Kinley was teetering on the edge. There had been a flash of something in Nate that made her want to believe he could be the kind of man who would spend the rest of his life with her. And though she was killing it—or at least managing it—as a single mom, there were times when she fantasized about having the perfect family that she’d always dreamed of having as a child. Growing up her family hadn’t been perfect, and she’d believed when she finally had kids she’d do it the right way. Have that perfect family from television and magazine ads that she’d always craved.

And now Nate was here sitting across from her saying things about how she was different from other women and looking at her...like he might have changed in the last two years. But she couldn’t just take a chance on that being the truth. She needed to be logical with this man whom she’d never been able to be logical about.

He’d always fascinated her. When she was younger, Nate had been the Caruthers who’d always looked out for her when she’d been on the ranch for the weekend. Then when she’d grown into her awkward preteen self, she had crushed on him—hard.

Now he tempted her again. Not with his easy charm and good looks, but with the slightest hint that he might be the partner she lacked. The father Penny needed.

She reached for her wineglass and took a sip. She was riding the crazy train straight to some sort of dreamlike existence that she knew didn’t exist. She knew that Nate was a great guy, sexy as hell and able to make any woman feel like she was the center of his world. And there were times when Kinley was able to make herself believe that she had been the center of it for that weekend in Vegas. But then he’d moved on.

A new business interest caught his attention, probably a new woman and a new expensive toy. She had to keep her wits about her.

But she liked him.

She’d always liked him. And it had been a really long time since a man—any man—had looked at her the way Nate was now.

And she’d left herself the slightest bit vulnerable when she’d just gone with her gut and told him he was unforgettable. He was. Even if she hadn’t had Penny to remind her of him every day, she doubted she would have been able to stop thinking about him.

“So...?” she said at last. Yeah, she was great at conversation, she thought. She could handle a full-on bridezilla on the warpath trying to make her special day the most fantastic ever, but put her across the table from this man and her verbal skills suddenly dropped to nothing.

“How do you feel about getting out of here and taking a walk around the plaza? The city commission is sponsoring a light show on the side of city hall that I’ve heard is pretty amazing,” he said.

It sounded so nice and normal. Like a real date. Except, was this a date? She wasn’t about to ask him and make herself look silly. But they’d said drinks, and now it had turned into dinner. She was holding a secret she needed to share and no closer to actually figuring out how to do it. And he had invited her to do something that sounded so normal.

So not a part of the chaos in her mind.

“I’d love to,” she said. She glanced at her watch, realizing it was almost time for her to call Penny and say good-night. “I need to make a call first.”

She reached for her wallet to leave some money toward the bill, but he stopped her. “I’ve got dinner. Go make your call. I’ll meet you out front.”

She got to her feet, put her purse over her shoulder and left the table. She glanced up and noticed that Bianca was watching her. Her friend waved. Kinley waved back, realizing how much she’d missed living in a town like Cole’s Hill. These people were part of her past, and they knew her. She had a connection here that she’d never have in Vegas.

She’d missed it.

She wanted so much for Penny. Not just that perfect fantasy family in her mind, but also to have friends like Bianca, a solid base for her childhood so she’d always know where she came from.

She stepped outside, noting that the sky was clear and the sun was starting to set. She walked away from the entrance of the restaurant. At a safe distance, she hit the video call app on her phone and dialed Penny’s iPad. Her daughter would be waiting for their good-night ritual.

“Mama!” Penny said as the call connected.

“How are you, sweet girl?” Kinley asked.





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