Tank drove straight home, dropped Echo back at the kennel and then he slept for ten solid hours, went for a run and showered. After his vigorous bout of sex with Sally Jean, he couldn’t stop thinking about riding his bike. Just as he was heading toward the garage, his cell phone rang, and he answered, “Jordan, man I just got back in town.”

“Perfect. Do you think you could come by and meet the Doc today, like now?”

“Sure, I was just going for a ride on my bike so that’s perfect timing. What’s the address?”

He drove straight there and parked the bike in the parking lot. Then spied a coffee shop across the street. Man, he could go for some iced coffee. He’d missed that in Reddick. He dashed across the busy street and went inside, stood in line and ordered.

He held the door for a beautiful woman and turned to watch her walk away, her smile for him flirtatious. When he turned back around, he ran right into something soft. The collision caused the top of his cup to pop off and the distinct sound of his cold drink splattering just outside the entrance.

When he focused, he saw that he had spilled his whole iced coffee down the front of her.

There was a gasp and face contortions and a murmur, “Cold. Very cold.”

“Oh, my God,” he said, “I’m so sorry. I didn’t see you.”

She had her head down, her voice annoyed and beautiful, like liquid gold, the kind that could do car commercials and voice sexy anime characters. “That’s because you were ogling some sexy woman’s ass. You should watch where you’re going, Casanova.” She said “Casanova” like she knew what it was like to be with a guy who had a wandering eye and had kicked the bum to the curb.

She looked up then, and his breath caught in his throat at her eyes. This woman had the voice and eyes market cornered. They were a striking green with streaks of brown, almond-shaped and thickly lashed. Her long dark hair was pulled into a severe, tight ponytail and she wore no makeup, not a stitch of it, not even lip gloss.

She had a light scattering of freckles across her cheeks and nose. Their implied innocence was so at odds with her knowing eyes and sultry voice. But then, she was a study in contradictions when it came to his reaction to her.

They were standing close to one another. He felt himself lean closer, breathing in her scent. Something that he’d never done in his life. She was dressed like an accountant, non-descript blouse a tan color, tight brown pants and a pair of serviceable shoes. This close he noticed how smooth and soft-looking her skin was. Then there were those freckles. They were cute, and she wasn’t the cute type. She was no-nonsense and wore her confidence as easily as she did those chunky shoes.

She was so not his type. Not even close to the fluff that was Becca or the curvy Sally Jean. She wasn’t really beautiful, but there was something exotic and unique about her that made men look. But part of that, he suspected, was the way she carried herself. She was tall, a touch over five foot nine, with small breasts and a long, slender body—and legs that went on forever and ever.

She pulled the soggy blouse away from her skin with a sucking sound and his breath caught for a second time. Unfuckingbelievable.

Lace bra.

He couldn’t help staring. She was wearing a lace bra beneath her wet shirt. The delicate lace outlined against the tan silk was unmistakable.

Lace.

So feminine compared to her Plain Jane look.

“Ugh, just great. Thanks, you big lug.” She pivoted on her practical heel and started away.

Wow, he was transfixed by the way she moved, with the long-legged stride of a runway model, yet the grace and power of an athlete. He couldn’t take his eyes off her.

A hand came down on his arm, and the woman who he’d held the door for and had caused the collision slipped her card into his charcoal gray motorcycle pant’s pocket.

But as soon as she moved away, he searched the street for the green-eyed woman, but she was gone.

He was irritated and suddenly that itch started up again. Restlessly, he went back inside and got another coffee, this time careful when he left. He crossed the street and walked up to the Old Town Pet Clinic. Opening the door, he saw Jordan handing off a puppy to a blonde woman with a smile.

Jordan turned and saw him. “Hey, come on back. The Doc is in the bathroom. Be right out.”

They waited, shooting the breeze about getting together for hoops when the door opened.

“I swear, men are so pathetic. This huge Neanderthal doused me with his iced coffee. If he could keep it in his pants, I wouldn’t have to go through the morning wearing a soggy blouse and look like I was in a wet T-shirt contest.” She was dabbing at the mess he’d made of her shirt with a paper towel. “And, I had to miss my morning dose of caffeine. This is silk, too. It’s probably ru—”

She looked up and froze. He couldn’t get enough of looking at that face. But he never dated her type. Ever. The marrying kind, the girlfriend kind, the fall-in-love-and-lose-your-shit kind. No one would control him. Besides she seemed tight-assed, straight-laced as if she had a white picket fence up her ass.

“Dr. Alyssa St. James, meet my brother, Petty Officer and Navy SEAL dog handler, Thorn Hunt.”

Shifting his iced coffee, he offered her his hand. “Uh, that would be Neanderthal to you. But my friends call me, Big Lug and all the women I seduce…they call me, Casanova, but usually in a less deep and more breathy voice.”

Her eyes narrowed, then that mouth curved up. Oh, look out, major babe earthquake. “Okay, so your brother has a sense of humor,” she said with a laugh and a devastating smile as the world shifted under his feet.

He. Was. Not. Going. There.

* * *

Wes couldn’t face his family and realized that he wasn’t going to be able to function well in Reddick. He just hit the highway and started back home to San Diego. He apologized profusely to his sister, unsettled with leaving things the way they were with his mother, but after learning what Kia had done, he was heartsick.

All this time. Ten years. She’d owned Sweetwater and from what he could tell from afar she had done a bang-up job with it. His hands gripped the wheel as he drove. My God, she had preserved it, expanded on it. She had kept his legacy alive. Why wouldn’t she tell him about that?

All the junk that he thought he’d worked through came rushing back. He was more mentally tough than this, he told himself. But when he tried to sift through it all, what stood out was Kia. It was the first person he thought of when he woke up and the last when he fell asleep.

For the next few days, he reverted back to his college days and running himself ragged. He didn’t want to think so he lifted, ran, swam. When he wasn’t doing those things, he would stand in his crappy apartment in anguish, his past overwhelming him, the memories of her breaking him down.

When Tank showed up on his doorstep and took one look at him, he swore. “What happened?”

Wes told him and Tank said, “I can’t believe you left without hearing her out. That’s low, Cowboy. She doesn’t deserve that.”

“How do you know?”

“Because she left to go to DC on her own so she could spare us the decision to throw our careers away and help her. She single-handedly saved her own ass in an ingenious way. She’s a babe, funny, quirky and works hard. Look what she did for that reunion. It was a success because of her. But you go ahead and act like a fool. If you can’t see that, then you don’t deserve her.”

Days later, Tank’s words tying him up in knots, he was ready to climb the walls, he headed out to the gym, and when he got home and picked up his mail, there was a large manila envelope that had an attorney’s office return address. When he saw the Corpus Christi location, his gut clenched. He went inside, sat down on the bed and tore it open. Feeling as if he’d just taken a blow to the midsection, Cowboy bolted to his feet, warmth flooded him, gratitude and a sense of closure. It was the deed transfer of Sweetwater to him and a check for the proceeds of the ranch over the ten-year period she’d owned it for just shy of a million dollars. He sat back down on the bed, dragging his hand down his unshaven face, his throat cramped up, his eyes smarting. Unable to see, he gouged at his eyes, guilt slicing through him. He deserved this. God, but he deserved this. He’d been such a bastard to her.

A white envelope dropped out of the paperwork. His name written in a flowing script was the only thing on the envelope.

He broke the seal and read it twice. When he got to the part about his dad, everything went dead still for Cowboy—the sounds, his hands, his heart—and it felt as if every drop of blood had drained from his head. He slipped to his knees, a soft sob escaped his lips. Tears dropped onto the page. He hadn’t taken his own life. Losing his shit for several minutes, Cowboy felt as if a heavy weight lifted from him. She laid everything out for him, her reasons for her actions, the original reason and the real reason she hadn’t told him. Red Sweeny had shattered everything he’d valued and Kia, his beautiful Kia had preserved it all. He was infused with so much admiration for her, for her integrity, for her steadfast belief, for her determination. She had saved everything, and he’d never even known it. His second chance with her was in tatters because of his actions. But now it felt like she was everything.

Everyfuckingthing.

Feeling like a thrice cursed bastard, he rose. His cell phone rang, and he pulled it out of his back pocket. The display showed Erin was calling.

When he answered, no one said anything, then he could hear crying, sniffling. “Erin?” But he already knew what must be wrong.

“Wes, you need to come home. Can you?”

“Yes. I know about Dad. I just found out.” His voice broke and for a few minutes neither of them could speak.

“It’s like a nightmare. All this time and we believed he did this to himself. It changed me, changed you, just about killed Mom. How could he do such a thing?” She sniffled. “We just had a visit from Uncle Jerry. He said that Red Sweeny was arrested for Dad’s death. He murdered Dad then staged the suicide. Kia Silverbrook has been investigating his death all this time. She was finally able to find the evidence. He’s also being charged with assault and battery for his attack on her. Mom is inconsolable. I need you here.”

Shock rendered him speechless. His dad had been murdered. Everything he’d thought, believed for ten years had been a lie. Kia had suspected, and she’d followed through. “I’m on my way.” Cowboy inhaled unevenly, his voice thick.

After he ended the call, a debilitating weakness rushed through him. Cowboy braced his elbows on his thighs and hunched over, pressing the heels of his hands against his eyes. He had to go home.

It was after two in the morning when he got off the plane in Corpus Christi. The first seat he’d been able to get was on the red-eye. Erin met him, took one look at him and wrapped her arms around him. They reached the house by two-thirty, his niece and nephew were with Brew’s parents. They had been alarmed and upset by their grandmother’s grief.

He went up to her room as soon as he walked through the door. She was sitting in a chair by the window, and she turned dull, grief-stricken eyes toward the door. There was a small spark when she saw him. “Wes,” she sobbed as she rose, and he engulfed her in his arms.

“I’m here, Mom. I’ve got you. We’ll get through this. I promise.”

She buried her face in his shoulder and nodded as she clutched him to her, sobbing.

He helped her downstairs, broke the news about the ranch, and Kia’s part in it. How she had preserved their birthright by her own toil. “It’s ours again, lock, stock and barrel,” he said. He showed them the check and there was a stunned silence in the room, then his mom and sister burst into tears. As his brother-in-law consoled Erin, he held his mom tight.

After that, he got her to lay down and held her hand until she fell asleep. He let her talk about his dad openly now without the anger that always made him shut down.

He’d done his dad a terrible disservice, but he wasn’t going to beat himself up over it. He hadn’t known and his reaction had been his reaction, but it was no longer valid, how he felt was, but not that anymore. He asked for his mom’s forgiveness, silently prayed for his dad’s and he let go of the past, let it flow out of him like poison. Kia had healed him. He was no longer that coward’s son…he never had been and he shed the weight of that.

“That girl is a treasure,” his mom whispered. “A gem.”

“She is.”

“Invite her over for supper, Wes. We all want to thank her.”

“I will, Mom. Tomorrow when I see her.”

After leaving her room, he went downstairs. Erin pushed him down in a chair and set a plate in his hands. “After the word spread, we had more food than we know what to do with. So please eat.”

She studied him. “You okay?”

His throat feeling tight and raw, Cowboy answered, his voice gruff. “Yeah, I’m okay.”

Erin stared at him for a moment longer, then said, “You’re in love with her, aren’t you?”

Without looking at his sister, he nodded. “Yeah, if I haven’t blown it.”

He was so numb with exhaustion that he couldn’t regiment his mind and bits and pieces of thoughts kept surfacing, like flotsam churned up by the tide. He had been so wrong. And so damned blind. What Tank had said had been true; he should have heard her out instead of letting the old baggage influence him.

If he was lucky—damned lucky—maybe she wouldn’t turn and walk away.

The next morning when he woke up, he showered and changed. As soon as businesses opened, he went in and had a conversation with Uncle Jerry. He was just as heartbroken as they were, just as praiseworthy of Kia. After that he went over to the bank and deposited the money into an account. It was just about the time she fed the horses when he turned onto her drive and passed under The Gray Havens’ sign, a moving truck passed him on the road.

She was moving? He felt a little panicky that he could have missed her. It was a good thing he got here when he did.

He saw a horse trailer and her car filled with boxes. Quicksand let out what he could only describe as a loud, joyous whinny. “In a minute boy,” he murmured as he went up on the porch. He knocked, but no one answered.

He couldn’t have missed her because her Jeep was still here and all three horses were in the corral, so she couldn’t be out riding.

He heard barking and the tinkle of laughter around back. He hurried around the house then came to a full stop.

She was watering the plants, and BFA, the cat that had saved her life was batting at the flowers and lapping at the water as it came out of the can. Kia was throwing a ball for Triton and laughing deeply at the antics of the cat. Then before his unbelieving eyes, she picked him up and held him aloft, and she kissed him on his head. He nuzzled against her chin, then wiggled to get down. There was only so much he could take, Cowboy suspected.

Jesus. She was beautiful.

She turned her head and the laughter faded from her face. There were mottled bruises on both cheeks with a shiner of a black eye. The marks on her slender throat and arm were still there and if he could go back in time, he would have taken that damn shot and put that miserable monster down.

She stood on the top stair of the arch filled with blooming honeysuckle, framed in pink and red blossoms.

“So this is where you have your secret fairy garden?” He stopped at the bottom of the stairs.

“I’m going to miss it.” She took a step down.

“You’re moving?”

“Yeah, three horses, one dog and one ornery cat.” BFA yowled. “Okay, a reformed ornery cat.” He yowled again. “All right, I did get carried away—semi-reformed.”

Cowboy chuckled. His heart turning over. He wanted the whole lot of them.

“What is happening to Gray Havens?” He hated to think that someone else would live here.

“I sold it to Melody, the horse trainer from the reunion. She needed to expand, and her husband and daughter will love it here. I’m going to be one of the principle patrons of The Gray Havens Horse Rescue.”

“That’s perfect.” He loved the idea that someone who had benefited from Kia’s influence would be own this place.

“What about The Back Forty?”

“I’ve made Sally Jean my manager. I can come back here when needed to make sure everything is running smoothly. We already have everything worked out.”

“So, that only leaves you and your menagerie. Where exactly are you going with three horses, one dog and one semi-reformed ornery cat?” He took a step up, his heart in his throat.

“San Diego,” she said, taking another step down.

“You were in the city?” He moved up one more step.

“Only briefly to buy this beautiful place just outside of the city, near the ocean. It has this beautiful red barn and a quaint, gorgeous, remodeled farmhouse.”

“You didn’t come to see me. I deserved that.”

“I wanted to see you, but…” She bit her lip.

“I read your letter, and I can only say, I’m so damn sorry for reacting instead of realizing that you would never do anything to deliberately hurt me. I understand you wanted to wait for the evidence, understand why you tried to protect me from the truth before you had a chance to figure everything out. Can you…forgive me, Kia?”

“Oh, God, Wes. I love you so much I can’t breathe.” He rushed up the rest of the steps to her. All he could do was look at her. She was so beautiful. She’d knocked him senseless the first time he’d seen her, and he’d never really recovered—the wild color of her hair, the delicate arch of her brows, the shape of her face, the clear, sun-shot gray of her eyes. Her mouth. God, what she’d done to him with her mouth.

“I…I hoped…” she started, her voice trailing off breathlessly. Her cheeks were flushed. “You have perfect timing.”

“I wanted to thank you for what you did for my family,” his voice broke and she wrapped her arms around him and he reveled in the comfort her touch brought him. “Can you forgive me?”

Her face went many shades of soft and tender. “Yes, I can. I did it for you, Wes. I couldn’t bear for you to lose something so important to you. I’m so sorry about your dad. He was more a father to me in the two years I knew him than all my foster fathers put together. I’ll never forget him.”

Then it occurred to him. “You nominated him, didn’t you?”

She nodded and buried her face against his throat. “Yes, every year. He showed me all his buckles. I was so proud. I loved him, you know.”

“And you had to go through all the grief alone. Aw, Kia, darlin’, I love you.”

Her head came up so fast, she clipped him on the chin. He laughed softly, feeling so free. “Ow. What did you just say?”

He cupped her face in his hands. “I love you, Kia Silverbrook.” Then there was nothing else to say, not right now when all he wanted, all he needed was to touch her, to slide his tongue in her mouth and taste her, to fill himself up with her.

Their lips met, hers parted, and a hundred emotions flooded through him. He’d expected pleasure, electrifying pleasure—but he also got relief, bone deep. This was home, being with Kia, their bodies touching. She came up on tiptoe, her mouth on his, her arms going around his neck, and he slid his hand down her back.

Then farther.

He tried not to devour her, but she was already there, and he was drowning in the love he felt—on the edge of desperation pulling him under, the heat of her skin, in the all-consuming soft wetness of her mouth.

This was going to be more than he could ever imagine as the future with her stretched out. She was fierce and independent, and she would handle him and his deployments in stride. He was so in love with her. How had he ever thought he could live without this?

It looked like he was damned lucky. There was nowhere to take her now that her house had been packed up. But, he was sure if there was a bed in there, he wouldn’t have made it anyway. She was soft and wet and his pants were half off, not when her hand was between his legs and he could hardly breathe for what she was doing to him.

“Kia,” he whispered, rocking against her, then lifted her in his arms and pressed her back against the arch. “Wrap your legs around me.”

She did, helping him out, helping herself, and then he was pushing up inside her—and everything slowed down, way down.

It was so incredible, the sensations so intensely sweet, the rush of emotion overwhelming.

This woman had shown him so much in the ten years that he’d been gone. She had preserved his family’s legacy, searched for his dad’s killer, believed in his dad, her determination was off the charts. She was a storm and she’d taken him by storm—took him deep.

He swore softly. She felt so amazingly good. He nuzzled her neck, thrusting into her, and felt himself die a little from the pleasure—and the pain of letting her down. He would make sure he never did that again.

With his arms supporting her, he had one hand wrapped around a fistful of vines, holding them against the arch, and the other threaded through her hair, flowers crushed in his fingers. The whole thing was amazing, the heat, the smell, the softness. Kia, taking him again and again. The powerful need for her slaked each time he slid into her, even as the thirst deepened. It would be a lifetime of thirst.

All she had to do was exist to make him crazy.

But she did more, sealing her mouth over his and sucking on his tongue and just flat-out filling his whole body with the sensation of love, the feeling of home from the top of his head on down. Everything. Consuming him. It was all sex and love and heat and Kia.

He moved one arm down to her butt, holding her tighter, lifting her, pushing deeper—and then he came, that first rush of the sweet power of release, and he was helpless against it. He didn’t have the strength. He didn’t have the will. Later would be soon enough to have control.

Oh, God. It was soul-wrenching, a melting orgasm that started at the back of his skull and the base of his groin and just flowed out of him, taking him deep inside himself, deep inside her. It was a timeless sensation, and it lasted forever, and all the while she kissed him, holding him, her mouth so hot and sweet.

“Kia…” he groaned, pushing himself deeper, his body shuddering. He’d needed her for so long—he’d been a fool to wait so long. The past was over and there was only the future to plan, the present to live.

The wait was over and she was his. Now and forever.