glinted off the honey strands of her hair, giving her a halo. In all the years and miles heâd put between himself and Laci, heâd never found a woman who came halfway close to the way heâd felt about Laci. There was a reason she was a superstarâshe had something specialâand heâd known it from the start.
Back away
, he told himself when the urge to touch her cheek became too hard to fight. âIâll be feeding the cattle,â he told her, stepping away, needing to put some space between them right this second before he scooped her into his arms and finished what theyâd started this morning. Boy, wouldnât that be the most epically bad decision of his life? Yeah, but if he were going to screw up his life and everything heâd built to this point, he might as well go big, right?
Not really
, the voice answered drily.
Keep it in your pants, big boy,
and remember what her daddy told you all those years ago...she ainât for you, son.
Ainât that the truth. Kane started for the door but Laciâs voice at his back stopped him.
âIâm heading to town to pick up a few things. You need anything?â
He half turned, regarding her with a slow, deliberate gaze.
You naked beneath me and all the time in the world to make up for what I lost a long time ago.
But he couldnât say that. Not in a million years would he, either. So he uttered the one thing he could, âNope,â and then exited the house as if it were on fire.
* * *
M AYBE SHE SHOULDN â T STAY . Laci rolled the idea around in her head, weighing the pros and cons of staying a few days in the same house as Kane when stacked up against the very real problem of their long-buried, but obviously very much alive, attraction to one another. Allowing her gaze to roam the familiar kitchen with its worn hardwood floors, she noted the disrepair creeping up and taking over. Rusted hinges on the cupboards, chipped countertops...everywhere she looked she found something that needed a little TLC. It was just Cora and Warren in this old ranch house and Cora, bless her heart, was sick and Warren had his hands full trying to care for her and the ranch without any help. Why hadnât they called her? She wouldâve flown in the best of care for Cora if need be. Round-the-clock care, even.
Laci worried her lip, concerned and feeling out of sorts for being unaware that all this had been happening to two of the nicest people she knew and loved. She could blame Trent for keeping her going 24/7, but the fact was, sheâd stayed away because of Kane. The Bradford ranch was so much a part of her memories with Kane that for a while itâd been too painful to go there knowing that Kane was gone.
Of course, in hindsight, thatâd been just selfish. Warren and Cora were good folk and theyâd been there for her when sheâd had no one except her daddy, God rest his soul, and sheâd repaid that kindness by relegating them to a few hurried phone calls in between shows. Laci rubbed at the sudden tickle in her nose. She ought to have the kitchen remodeled for Cora. But even as the thought took root, she remembered how particular Cora was about her kitchen and realized she couldnât go and make a big change like that without the old galâs permission. The shock of it alone might send Cora into a tailspin.
Laci leaned against the counter, her gaze finding Kane through the kitchen-sink window. He crossed the yard to the barn where she could hear the cows making their usual morning racket. A smile found her. Sheâd forgotten how loud those milkers could be.
The first time sheâd stayed here, Cora had filled a mug with fresh milk and given it to her with a mile-high stack of flapjacks for breakfast and Laci had never experienced something so good as Coraâs cooking coupled with milk straight from the cow. However, at first, Laci had been resistant, pushing away the milk with a polite