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  “I’m sorry to come by so late . . . and without calling,” he added, looking down at her from his towering six-foot-five height. “I thought we needed to talk.”

  “About what, Kael?” she asked, leaning against the door to look up at him.

  “Us,” he said.

  “There is no us,” she reminded him gently.

  “I wanted to explain why.”

  Lisha waved him in, closing the door once he stood in her living room. The breadth of his shoulders and his height made the room seem half its size. She lightly touched his arm as she eased past him to turn the television down.

  “Nice apartment,” he said, looking around at the bright and simple décor.

  Lisha bit her cheek to keep from smiling as she watched him, but she said not one word.

  Kael finally faced her. “It was nothing personal with my sister,” he said.

  She nodded. “Once you told me she called . . . and not you, I never thought she had a problem with me. We get along real good.”

  Knock.

  Lisha frowned as she walked over to the door. “Yes, Junie,” she said before opening it.

  But there was no one there. She stepped out and looked down the hall just as Junie’s front door closed. Kael stepped up beside her.

  “There’s something on your mat,” he said.

  She looked down between her feet and choked on her own spit at the box of condoms. Lisha kicked the box and it went spiraling across the concrete and under the rail to fly off the second-floor landing. She turned and didn’t miss Kael’s grin as he turned from her.

  “Junie loves playing pranks,” she said weakly, feeling mortified.

  Kael just held up his hands.

  “She is not funny,” Lisha added.

  He shrugged.

  “What did you want to talk about?” she asked, wanting to head to Junie’s apartment to pimp-slap her. Twice.

  Kael eyed her. “Is that your favorite color?” he asked.

  She looked down at her terry-cloth sweat suit. “Huh?”

  “You had the same color on at church,” he explained.

  “Okay, no . . . no, it’s not,” she said, crossing her arms over her chest when she noticed her nipples were hard and poking through the thin material. “White is actually.”

  “That color looks good on you.”

  Lisha started to throw her hands up in exasperation, but caught herself. “Kael Strong, you cannot say things to me and kiss me and look at me like that and then be quick to say you don’t want a girlfriend. It’s not fair because I like you. I mean I really like you and I’m not a part of the sexual revolution like my cousin—regardless of those stupid condoms—so all I know is all in or all out.”

  “But I can’t help but look at you like that and say things . . . and kiss you,” he admitted, taking a step toward her.

  She held up one hand. “Stop,” she said.

  And he did.

  She was thankful. The room was already charged with their energy even with the distance between them. “I have never felt like this with anybody before,” she admitted, hating the tears of frustration that welled up. She blinked them away and lowered her head.

  Even a second before his hands pressed against her face she knew he was nearing her from some unspoken awareness and reaction to his body. That chemistry that could not explained.

  He raised her head and she looked up into his eyes. His thumbs softly traced along her skin beneath her eyes and she knew some of the tears had fallen anyway. She felt light-headed from his touch. “I hardly know you and I don’t understand what this is between us,” she admitted in a voice barely above a whisper.

  “Me either,” he said, curving his lips into a half smile as his eyes took in every aspect of her face. “I wish I met you years ago.”

  Lisha stepped away from him. “Are you married?” she asked, her voice accusing.

  Kael’s handsome face filled with confusion. “Huh? No. I’m not married.”

  She visibly relaxed. “Then what is it?” she asked.

  “I just got out of a relationship less than a year ago and I’m just not ready for another one.”

  “You still love her?” she asked in understanding, reaching out to rub his elbow comfortingly.

  Kael scowled and reached out to stop the circles she rubbed on him. “Hell, no,” he snapped abruptly.

  Lisha looked confused.

  “She cheated. I was away from home busting my ass working to provide for both for us and she cheated,” he explained.

  Lisha saw the anger he felt. She felt it and understood it. No one wanted to be betrayed. No one wanted to be hurt. She reached out and held his wrist. “Hey, she didn’t just cheat on you . . . she cheated herself out of what I think is a really good man,” she said with earnest.

  Kael looked at her in wonder. “And that’s why you scare the shit out of me, Lisha,” he professed.

  She took him in. All of him. “What a dumb girl she is,” she said, fighting the urge to step up and kiss him. Wanting so badly to feel the passion she found in his arms earlier. Wanting so badly to get lost in it all again.

  But instead she moved past him to get her equilibrium back. Kael Strong made her feel like she walked a tightrope, caught up in the thrill and the danger all at once. “Thanks for explaining,” she said.

  “I better go,” he said from behind her.

  She nodded as she turned.

  He opened the front door, but turned to look over his shoulder at her as she walked up. His face was filled with his regrets as he took her in from head to toe. “Bye, Lisha,” he said.

  “Good-bye,” she said, holding the doorknob.

  And he was gone.

  She closed the door and turned to press her back to it. “Damn,” she swore.

  Lisha turned back to look out the peephole and was surprised to see him still standing on the top step looking back at the door with all the uncertainty he felt clearly written on his face. Lisha opened the door and rushed up to him, reaching up to press her hands up his chest to grip his shirt in her fists and pulled his face closer to hers before she tilted her head to the side and whispered, “One more kiss?”

  She didn’t wait for an answer and kissed him instead with a few gentle pecks before she lightly probed his mouth with the tip of her tongue and deepened it with a small moan of sweet release.

  Kael wrapped his arms around her waist and easily lifted her body up against him as he opened his mouth a little wider to let Lisha suck the tip of his tongue as she brought her tremulous hands up to grasp the back of his head.

  Neither knew how much time passed as Kael leaned back against the wall and held Lisha’s body against his as they kissed. With passion. With electricity. With fire.

  Lisha tilted her head back as she gasped for breath. She brought her hands down to grasp his broad shoulders as her world continued to spin off its axis. “I really, really hate your ex,” she said, before dropping to her feet and turning to walk away without another word or even a look back.

  Chapter 9

  “Lisha, someone is here to see you about Mr. Strong.”

  She looked up from the stacks of charts she was updating at a table in the employee lounge. Taking another sip of her bottle of Crush strawberry soda, she nodded at the clerk before rising from her seat and following her out the room.

  Lisha thought it was Kael, but it was Kelli standing at the front desk of the clinic. Smiling at the woman, she approached her. “Hi, Kelli,” she said.

  “Hey yourself,” she said, looking pretty in a red sundress with a wide full skirt. “I wanted to apologize for the mix-up and wanted to come down personally to apologize and to make sure everything was okay about you returning on Friday.”

  “Actually the facility would be a more ideal situation for your father, but I and his physical therapist are very pleased with his progress so far,” Lisha said, walking the other woman over to the waiting area to take seats in front of the glass windows.

&n
bsp; “That’s what I figured and I assumed I could talk him into it even if Kael couldn’t,” Kelli said. “So you will be starting back tomorrow?”

  “Yup.”

  “Good,” she said. “I’m going to get going now. I have to stop by Kael’s house and see how all the renovations are going.”

  “It really is a nice house,” Lisha said. “I can’t imagine it being torn down. He did a good job.”

  Kelli crossed her legs and leaned back to eye Lisha. “Oh, you sound like you’ve been in the house,” she said, with a teasing lilt to her voice.

  Lisha shrugged. “Just once,” she said.

  Kelli nodded. “When was that?” she asked with a big toothy grin.

  Lisha shifted in her seat. “Why?”

  Kelli reached forward and patted Lisha’s hand. “I was just curious because Kael is so secretive about the house,” she explained.

  “I only saw the living room with the big fireplace, but it’s really nice. He should be proud,” Lisha said.

  Kelli stood. “I don’t want to hold you up, but we should do lunch or go shopping or something. I don’t have many friends in town since I moved when I got married.”

  Lisha nodded “I would like that.”

  “Lisha.”

  She turned at the sound of his voice. One of the X-ray techs from the hospital was standing a distance away holding a large envelope with films. “I better get back to work,” she said.

  “But we’re okay?” Kelli asked.

  “Yeah, we’re fine,” she said like there was never a worry in the world.

  “Good.”

  With one final wave Lisha turned and walked over to the tech. “Hey, George. Are those the films I asked for?”

  He nodded.

  “Yes, what do I owe you, Mr. Lifesaver?” she asked, glancing up at him as she double-checked the name on the film.

  “Dinner would be cool.”

  Lisha looked up at him and playfully pouted. “How about a sandwich in the cafeteria?” she said. “I might even spot you a soda too.”

  George laughed even though she knew he was serious with his request. But she had sworn off dating in her workplace any longer.

  “Too bad,” he said, smiling and revealing two deep dimples in his cheeks.

  Cute, but compared to the rugged good looks of Mr. Outdoorsman Kael Strong, the poor man could not compete.

  But why is Kael my bar? So what if I kissed him on two different occasions yesterday? So what? I’m still as single as the day is long. He isn’t my man and never will be. And if I only meet men at work and I cut that off, I will never fall in love.

  “Lisha,” he said. “Lisha.”

  She looked away from some random potted plant she was staring at. “Huh?” she asked, still distracted with her thoughts.

  “I said maybe I’ll visit your dad’s church Sunday and we can grab something to eat afterward,” George said.

  “You go to church?” she asked.

  “I’m a deacon at my church,” he told her.

  She tilted her head to the side and eyed the man. Really eyed him. Not Kael, but not bad. “Let me seriously think about it,” she said, reaching out to touch his wrist lightly.

  Absolutely no spark at all.

  “Okay.” He reached in the pocket of his uniform pants and pulled out a pen and pad. “Here’s my number.”

  Accepting it, she focused on looking down at his handwriting as he turned and walked away.

  Kael closed the door to the corral and removed his Stetson long enough to wipe the sweat from his hair and his brow with the cloth he kept in his back pocket. It was the end of August and fall was officially a month away but the temperatures were still in the nineties some days even if the nights were chillier.

  Taking a deep sip of the ice water in his thermos, Kael checked his watch. He had just another twenty minutes left of his lunch break and he always spent that time working on his ranch. Jim worked every other day and so he really planned on making sure the cattle had plenty of water and minerals, were grazing well and were taking advantage of the cooling shade offered by the trees in their corrals. He checked them all to make sure none showed signs of overheating, like breathing through their mouths and slobbering.

  Pouring the last of the water over his head, causing his hair to thin and curl, Kael grabbed the reins of his horse and decided to walk back to his truck and trailer. He missed his father being there with him to help with the animals and the repair of the house. Logan Strong had a way of making the time go fast and right now Kael was feeling pretty damn lonely every time he visited the ranch and the house of his dreams.

  Leading the horse to the trough, he removed his girths and sponged him down as the horse drank from the clean water that Kael cooled with small amounts of ice chips. He wanted to make sure the animal did not overheat either.

  “Well, hello there, Kael.”

  Looking over his shoulder, he had to guard his face from showing his disappointment at Kelli’s friend Bea standing there holding a picnic basket. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail and all the makeup she wore made her pretty face sweat. And it was clear that she wore no bra under her tank top and maybe even no panties under her cut-off jeans.

  “Hi, Bea. Can I help you with something?” he asked kindly, before turning back to finish sponging the horse.

  “I’m sure there is plenty you can help me with . . . but I’m here to help you,” she said.

  “Oh, yeah?” he asked, wringing out the sponge and using the hose to rinse his hands.

  “Your sister told me you come here every day during your lunch break to work your ranch and I thought, ‘Well, Bea, what can I do to help a hardworking man through the day?’ and after I got rid of my first idea,” she said with a laugh, “I decided food was the second thing a man needed.”

  Kael watched as she turned and walked back toward the house with the sway of her hips going as far and as left as the pendulum of a clock.

  Back and forth. Back and forth. Back and forth.

  He shifted his eyes up before he became hypnotized.

  Bea paused and looked back to bend her finger at him to follow.

  Leaving the horse with his reins loosely tied to the base of a tree, Kael then made his way over to the porch where she waited patiently by the door. His steps faltered at the thought of having her in the same living room where he’d been with Lisha, and it didn’t sit well with him at all.

  “Actually, Bea, I don’t have much time left before I have to get back to work,” he said truthfully.

  She pouted and then set the basket down on the porch before bending over to root around in it. He was given quite a view of the lush cheeks of her buttocks.

  Kael was a man. A man with clear vision and a healthy libido. A man who hadn’t enjoyed the sexual appetite of a woman since his father’s accident over a month ago. He’d be a liar to say it wasn’t a helluva sight . . . and a temptation.

  His dick definitely kicked up a little as she continued her wiggles and giggles.

  Bea pulled out a sandwich wrapped in wax paper and came down the stairs to stand before him and open it. “I made a pot roast last night and I thought it would make a good sandwich for you today, Kael,” she said, lifting the sandwich halfway up to his mouth as she kept her eyes trained on him. “Don’t you want to eat it?”

  He paused.

  Bea was offering it up like the church plate on Sundays. All the teasing and innuendos? She was just begging him to give it to her.

  And that’s why Kael wasn’t interested. Still, he opened his mouth and took a healthy bite.

  She raised her thumb to lick the tip and then wiped gravy from the corner of his mouth. “Ain’t it so good, honey?” she asked him.

  Kael focused on the taste of something burnt in his mouth. He started to make a face but forced himself to keep chewing and swallowing. With a stiff smile he swallowed down the last of it and just prayed it didn’t give him the trots later. “It is so something,” he said. �
�You have something to drink in the basket of yours?”

  “Oh, I know how to take care of a man, sugar,” she said, turning to head back to her basket.

  Kael gathered up all of the saliva in his mouth to spit, hoping the taste of the food went with it. It didn’t. He was distinctively thinking Bea needed to spend more time in the kitchen and out of the bedroom if she was going to brag on her cooking skills.

  He accepted the bottle she handed him, fighting the urge to gargle with it. “I appreciate this, but I really have to get back to work,” he said, looking apologetic even as he made his way back to his truck.

  “Kael, take it with you,” she called behind him.

  He turned just as she ran in her wedge heels, and his mouth opened as she went toppling forward. Kael dashed out and caught her in his arms. “You okay?” he asked.

  She nodded as he helped her to her feet. She leaned in to him, pressing her breasts against his chest. “Thank you. I’m so embarrassed,” she said.

  Stepping back from her as his dick responded to the feel of her breasts, he spotted the sandwich that flew out of her hand. Good riddance.

  “Let me help you to your car,” he said, steering her in the direction of her green Nova that did nothing but remind him of Lisha.

  “Thanks, suga,” she said, still leaning against him.

  He was glad to finally open her car door.

  “I didn’t have time to deliver for lunch, but maybe dinner at my house? Well, dinner and dessert,” she said, licking her glossy lips.

  Kael rushed to the porch and grabbed her basket. He opened the passenger door and set it on the seat before shutting the door soundly. “I appreciate the offer, but I’m so busy with work and the ranch and . . .”

  She came around the car and stepped in his path to his truck, pulling a pen from her cleavage.

  Kael swallowed hard.

  “Well, when you get tired of playing with cattle, you come and play with me,” she said, grabbing his hand and writing her number in his palm before she lowered her head and kissed it.