Jaimi tensed when she saw Dane racing up the ramp into the bouncy house. He'd left his jacket outside, and was wearing jeans, heavy socks, and a heavy sweatshirt that made his shoulders and arms look incredibly muscular.

Dammit.

She did not want to be noticing him! She pulled back from the netting she'd been using to spy through (What? Spying on a guy? Her? Never.) and turned toward her daughter. "Are you getting hungry? We should go get dinner, huh? We really need to check into the hotel. Don't you want to see our room?"

"Nope!" In a blanket rejection of every escape route Jaimi could conceive of, Emily leaped backward, landing butt first on the green fabric. "Come on, Mom! Jump!"

Jump.

Yeah, she'd like to jump.

Like out of the bouncy house, into a snowbank, and run for her life.

Or, conversely, she'd like to jump right into Dane's arms for another one of those incredible, soul-melting kisses. Yes, she knew she'd done a fantastic job rejecting him with her one-two hit of not taking his oh-so-tempting outstretched hand, which had so not been easy, and then basically threatening his family (God, had she really done that?), but the truth was that she'd come on hard and fast in her rejection of him because she had liked that kiss and being in his arms so damn much.

Like so damn much.

And when she'd seen the way he'd leapt off the fence literally the instant that Emily had called for help, her heart had done all sorts of funny things. She'd even imagined for a moment how lucky Emily would be to have a dad like that, one who was so attuned to her that one little shout for help would instantly break through a kiss-induced-haze. She was pretty sure she'd just lost a few points on the good-mom-scale after being so entranced by the kiss that she hadn't even heard Emily's demand for attention until after Dane had already vaulted heroically to the ground.

Granted, she had a highly-tuned-mom-radar, and she was sure she'd instantly recognized the demand as one that didn't involve blood, danger, or serious bodily harm, but still. It would have been good if she'd at least heard it, right? But she hadn't. Because she had been absolutely consumed by the kiss with Dane.

She'd been kissed plenty of times in her life, but none of them had ever affected her like Dane's. His kiss had been deeply sensual, incredibly tender, and utterly captivating. Every intention she'd had to keep him at a distance had vanished the moment that he bent his head and kissed her. And now, despite her best efforts to reclaim her status as an independent, man-hating, solitary, completely happy with herself, single mom, she could not keep from adding "completely melted over a certain sheriff" to her list of attributes.

The cauldron of heated masculinity and kindness drew her attention as he jogged effortlessly through the maze toward the main part of the bouncy house, where she and Emily were. She grimaced as she watched him approach.

How on earth could she maintain the illusion that she wasn't hopelessly drawn to him whenever his lips were anywhere near hers? And what about when he was jumping around next to her, and most likely bumping into her as they fought for balance in that space that was built for small children with no sense of personal space, not two adults who knew what each other's tongues tasted like? Seriously. She was incredibly well disciplined, but some things were beyond even her capacity.

Despite her neurotic single-mom-need to make up for the lack of a traditional family by overindulging her daughter's every whim and desire, it was time to abort the bouncy house. "Okay, Em. Five minutes and then we go, okay?"

"Okay!" Emily stood up and bent her knees, clenching her fists by her side. "Ready, Mom! Jump!"

Determined to be completely immersed in playtime with her daughter so that she would have an excuse not to notice Dane (as if!) when he got there, Jaimi jumped forward, landing just in front of her daughter. Her landing sent Emily shooting into the air, amid shrieks of laughter. Despite her kiss-induced angst, Jaimi couldn't help but laugh as her daughter tumbled.

Just as she started to relax and forgot to be super stressed and anxiety-ridden, Dane appeared at the entrance to the maze. She had no time to freak out before he leapt out beside her, landing so hard that she shot into the air. She shrieked as she tried to catch her balance, waving her arms like a freaking lunatic as Emily burst into hysterical laughter. Failing utterly to maintain any sense of decorum, she landed right on her butt and tumbled into the netting.

"Yes! That was a great one, Dane!" Emily jumped and landed beside her, upending Jaimi into a somersault that left her wedged in the crevice between the netting and the floor. "Go Mom!"

Dane appeared beside her and held out his hand, grinning. "Come on, sweetheart. Let's give this kid a ride."

There was literally no way for her to extricate herself without Dane's help, so Jaimi took his hand. Sparks flew, naturally, because it would have been way too convenient to no longer be attracted to him, but the moment he had her on her feet, instead of sweeping her up into another soul-melting kiss, he jumped, shooting both her and Emily into the air.

Emily's gales of laughter were so jubilant, that Jaimi couldn't help but burst out laughing. Oh, hell. Who had time to be miserable? Life was too short.

"Let's get Dane," Emily yelled. "On three!" She grabbed Jaimi's hand, and they both turned on Dane, who was faking terror and stumbling backwards. "Now, Mom!"

They both jumped, and their landing popped Dane off his feet, launching him sideways into the wall. He was back up almost instantly, a huge grin lighting up his face, making him look so appealing that Jaimi wanted to run away screaming, and simultaneously grab his shoulders, body slam him to the bouncy house floor, and pin him there with her breasts in his face.

Or just get a third kiss. Either of the latter two options worked for her.

Due to Emily's sex-neutralizing-presence, however, she went with option number four, and bounced Dane off his feet just as he was regaining them. Emily was shrieking with laughter, and when Dane went after her and bounced her off her feet, Jaimi couldn't help but laugh along with them.

Within moments, the bouncy house became a shrieking festival of laughter, klutziness, and ruthless assaults. Dane was hilarious, making both of them laugh so hard that she gave up trying to keep her shields up. There was no way for her to be upset when her daughter was so happy, and Dane was the cause of that.

For now, she was just going to laugh, and enjoy the most fun she'd had in a very, very long time.

* * *

"If you'd asked me an hour ago if I was in good shape, I'd have said hell, yeah." Dane groaned as he stretched out on his back in the bouncy house, his quads burning. "Apparently, the correct answer is actually that I'm a middle-aged couch potato, going on elderly."

Jaimi was stretched out beside him, breathing hard. "I was pretty sure I was way out of shape, and now I'm convinced," she said with a laugh. "But that was hilarious!"

"Come on, you guys!" Emily pounced between them, making both of them groan. "You can't stop!!"

Dane grinned. "No chance, kiddo. You outlasted us both." He couldn’t remember the last time he'd had so much damn fun. He'd come into the bouncy house ready to confront Jaimi, but when he'd walked in and seen them jumping, and heard their laughter, all he'd wanted was to join in.

And it had been the best hour of his life…but as he lay there, catching his breath, his good mood began to fade as reality set in. He still had to deal with the secrets Jaimi was hiding—

"Dane!" Emily crawled over to him and leaned over his face, staring down at him. Her face was about six inches from his, her bright blue eyes glistening with amusement.

He grinned up at her. How many times had he seen that same look on Chase's face when they were kids? That look that he was up to no damn good and was damn pleased about it—

Chase. Emily's eyes reminded him of Chase's… Holy fuck.

Shock ripped through him.

He looked at Emily again, at those blue eyes of hers and he knew. Son of a bitch. She had the Stockton eyes. What the bloody hell? Had Jaimi slept with one of the Stocktons? Was Emily the daughter of one of them? Anguish ripped through him, a violent, brutal anguish. Did Jaimi belong to one of the Stocktons?

Suddenly unable to breathe, he scrambled to his feet, stumbling backward. He would never touch Jaimi if one of the Stocktons had a claim on her. Never. Ever. He'd never cross that line, but son of a bitch. She was the one he'd been looking for…and she belonged to one of them?

Jaimi sat up, propping herself on her elbows. "Dane? Are you all right?"

He shook his head. No. He had to be wrong. He looked at Emily again, at those big blue eyes…and there was no way to lie to himself. She had Stockton eyes. How had he not noticed before? How in the bloody hell had he not realized it the first second he'd looked at her?

He looked at Jaimi, frowning at him. A thousand questions were spinning in his head. A thousand fucking questions. He didn't even know where to start… He thought of the names on that photograph. She'd listed all the brothers. Why all of them? Why not just the one who'd fathered her daughter?

She'd had Chase's photo.

Chase's.

Chase was Emily's dad? Jesus. Chase had a wife and a kid now. Did Jaimi know that? How long ago had it happened? "How old are you, Emily?"

"Six and three quarters."

Six years. Before Mira and J.J. But still…

Jaimi sat up. "What's wrong?"

He looked at her. "I recognize her eyes."

Jaimi gazed at him blankly. "Whose eyes?"

"Emily's."

Jaimi still looked confused. "What do you mean?"

He stared at her, suddenly equally confused. How would she not know what Chase's eyes looked like? "She has the Stockton eyes. Like Chase." Like Chase. A sudden burst of anger and resentment rushed through him, shocking him. Hell. He wanted to track Chase down and punch the bastard's lights out. Yeah, granted, he'd done that plenty of times as kids, but that had been for fun, not for real. Right now, he felt like he hated the guy. Chase had slept with Jaimi. He had a kid with her. Son of a bitch.

Shock filled her face. "What?"

"What?" Emily grabbed his arm. "My eyes are like Chase's? Really? His are blue, too?" She spun around. "Mom! Did you hear that! I have the same eyes as Chase! He'll believe us, now, won't he?"

Jaimi didn't take her gaze off him, but he could see the terror in her eyes.

He didn't know what to say.

She didn't respond.

Only Emily talked, rattling on excitedly, talking about family and the ranch and becoming a barrel racer, while Dane stood there, feeling like his world was falling away from him.