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Kit eased his mouth from hers and raised his head. His eyes half closed, he watched her lazily as he slowly straightened and stepped awkwardly back on his crutches.
    "That was better than any cake," he said as he turned and started toward the door again.
    Kelly hadn't moved, looking at him with bewildered eyes. Why had he stopped? She could have gone on forever. She traced her still-warm lips with her tongue, tasting Kit. She felt cold and alone with him gone. Her arms ached to hold him, her mouth ached for his. But he walked away.
    Pushing away from the wall, Kelly followed him to the door, standing there to watch as he made his way to his truck. He never looked back. Lightly tracing her lips again, she watched the red lights of the truck fade in the distance.
    * * *
    God, I'll have to watch myself, he thought as the town lights disappeared behind him. She was so sweet, so feminine, so damned tempting. Yet she wasn't shy and timid and scared around him like Sally.
    She gave as good as she got. He smiled, remembering some of the things she'd said to him, starting with that first day when she'd called him an idiot. She had a mouth on her.
    Hell, he'd prove he was an idiot if he continued. There was nothing he could offer her. Forget the hot kisses. He needed to return to the way things had been before he met her. He'd stay on the ranch and ignore her. And she'd forget him before long.
    The decision did nothing to improve his mood.
    * * *
    Sally Lockford called Kelly Friday morning.
    "I'm going to get a new dress for the dance tomorrow, so I'm coming to town. Kit's going to drive me in. Want to have lunch at the cafe?"
    "I'd like to have lunch together, but why don't you eat here? Kit, too, of course." Kelly smiled in secret glee at the prospect of seeing him again. He'd been constantly in her thoughts. That kiss was hard to forget. She'd wondered how to arrange a meeting again without being totally blatant about it. Had he thought of her even once?
    "I'd love to. I can't speak for Kit, though. He's been grouchy as can be this last week, worse than usual," Sally said.
    "Well, the invitation's open if he wants to join us."
    Kelly hoped he'd stop for lunch, but Kit only dropped Sally off just before noon and roared down the street with the same disregard for others on the road as he had displayed the first time Kelly saw him. Not wanting Sally to suspect the extent of her fascination with Kit, Kelly merely commented that she was sorry he couldn't stay.
    Sally left after lunch to look for a dress, Kelly sat out on her front porch, watching in case Kit didn't see Sally in town and stopped back Kelly's place. Actually, she was hoping he'd miss his sister-in-law in town and stop. She was rewarded when she heard the throaty growl of his engine, Kelly hurried to the driveway as he turned in.
    He sat in the truck, motor running, watching her approach with brooding eyes. When she smiled, he did not. Did he ever greet people? Smile? Wave? she wondered. It didn't matter, she was glad to see him, for however brief a time.
    "Hi," she said brightly.
    "Where's Sally?"
    "Fine, thank you, and you?" Putting her hands on the open window as if to hold the truck in place, Kelly responded as if he'd asked how she was. "Don't you say hello when you see anyone?"
    "Why?"
    "It's polite."
    "Hello. Where's Sally?"
    "She went to get the dress for the dance. I think she's at Beth's. Are you going to the dance?"
    "Now why would a cripple who can't even walk go to a dance?" his insolent voice asked her as he flicked his glance over her before turning away. He put the truck in reverse and released the brake. The truck began rolling slowly back toward the highway. Kelly walked along, her hands still on the window.
    "I thought it was a social gathering to celebrate Memorial Day. Couldn't you come for that?"
    He shook his head. "Take your hands away. I don't want you to get hurt."
    She stepped back and watched him drive away, wondering if it was already too late to