Quinn got a charge out of Kendra’s shell-shocked expression. Evidently she’d expected him to gracefully refuse. But ever since Judy had set up the board, he’d had a hunch she’d challenge him to try it. As one of Kendra’s oldest friends, she’d want to test his mettle.

Picking up on Judy’s likely intention had given him valuable time to decide whether he’d agree or not. He’d been ready to say yes, and at the last minute had chosen to take the initiative.

Judy might have paired him with Kendra, but that wasn’t guaranteed. Judy’s wry sense of humor might have caused her to suggest Deidre or maybe even herself. If he was going to do this, might as well be with Kendra. Then they’d be in it together.

She had to move from one chair to another, and he helped her with that before rounding the table and taking a seat on the other side. Her color was high, but she didn’t look scared. Now that she was over the initial shock, he read amusement in those bright eyes.

Judy instructed them to rest their fingers on the planchette.

His were larger than Kendra’s and he encroached on her space. Couldn’t help it. Didn’t care. If all he could touch were her fingertips, he’d take what he could get.

“Get your questions ready,” Judy said. “The Sacred Ouija Board is at your service.”

Kendra got the jump on him. “I have one. Sacred Ouija Board, what’s Quinn’s favorite color?”

The planchette began to scoot across the board, although Quinn swore he wasn’t doing it. “Kendra, are you making it move?”

“Nope. I have no idea what your favorite color is. I could guess red because of your motorcycle, but—” The planchette paused over the B. “Not red, then.”

The darned thing kept going and paused over the L before finishing up with a stop at the U and the E.

Kendra looked at him. “Is that right?”

“Yes. But I don’t know how it did that.”

“I read some more on it just now,” Olivia said. “It’s called the ideomotor effect. You don’t think you’re making it move, but your muscles are reacting without you telling them to. Or something like that.”

Quinn frowned. “I swear I didn’t make it spell out blue. All right. I’ll ask it something I don’t know. What’s Kendra’s—”

“Hang on,” Judy said. “You have to address it correctly. Say Sacred Ouija Board first and then ask your question.”

He glanced at Kendra and smiled. “Do I get points for this?”

“I don’t know about Kendra,” Deidre said, “but you’re getting a boatload of points from me.”

Kendra’s eyes sparkled with mischief. “Depends on your question.”

“Then I better make it a good one.” He cleared his throat. “Sacred Ouija Board, what’s Kendra’s favorite gemstone?”

“Be still my heart,” Christine said. “The man’s contemplating a jewelry purchase.”

The planchette remained stationary.

“Kendra,” Judy used the sing-song tone of a parent scolding a child. “What are you doing?”

“Trying to make it spell rhinestone but it won’t.”

He grinned. “I’m shocked that you’d try to mislead the Sacred Ouija Board.”

“Not mislead. Outwit. I figure if I concentrate hard enough on my answer, it’ll just do it.”

“But it never does,” Deidre said. “Because it’s coming from your conscious mind not your subconscious. Repeat your question, Quinn. Kendra, let the planchette work.”

She blew out a breath. “Okay.”

Quinn asked again and this time the planchette quickly spelled OPAL. Not a common choice. “Why opal?”

“It’s my birthstone, for one thing.”

“And that’s for…”

“October. I love fire opals, especially. At first they might look sort of plain, just milky white, but when they catch the light, they flash with brilliant color.”

“I never noticed that.” This Ouija board deal had its uses. He could find out all sorts of things about her. “Sacred Ouija Board, what’s Kendra’s—”

“Wait,” Judy said. “It’s Kendra’s turn.”

“Oh. Sorry. Got carried away.”

Kendra stared into space for a moment. “All right, I have one. Sacred Ouija Board, what’s Quinn’s favorite place?”

Quinn deliberately kept his touch light as a feather. He had no idea how he’d answer that. He loved the Lazy S, so likely that would be what came up. But he’d found some awesome spots in his travels on the Harley, too, like that cabin hideaway in the Cascades, his favorite beach near Anacortes, the fire pit here on Wild Creek Ranch…

The planchette spelled W-I-T-H-K-M and stopped.

Kendra frowned. “That’s not a place, unless it’s an acronym, or there’s some Native American site near your ranch where you—”

“It’s a place,” Quinn said quietly.

Deidre came over and rested her hand on Kendra’s shoulder. “It sure is, sweetie. Put a break between the H and the K.”

“With KM?” Her eyes widened and she clapped a hand over her mouth as a collective sigh went up from the group.

He didn’t know what to do. He hadn’t intended to reveal so much, and especially not in front of so many people. Her question had been innocent enough. She might have been curious to find out if he loved his ranch as much as she loved hers. Evidently not.

“Hey, it’s getting late,” Judy said. “I don’t know about you guys, but tomorrow’s a busy Friday for me. I need to call it a night.”

“Same here.” Deidre started gathering up dessert plates and coffee mugs. “I’m showing a house first thing in the morning.”

“And I need to be at the bank early,” Jo said. “Staff meeting.”

Quinn snapped out of his daze and got up so he could gather dishes and mugs.

Kendra whipped into action, too. “I’ll get a box for the favors. The tags look fabulous, Quinn.” She didn’t look at him as she said it.

“Thanks. It was fun.”

Judy packed up the Ouija board in a box that was more tape than cardboard.

Quinn paused, a stack of plates in one hand and his fingers looped through the handles of three mugs. “How old is that board, anyway?”

“I gave it to Kendra for her fourteenth birthday, so that makes it older than any of the sweet young things who are here tonight.”

“I’m glad you got it out.” Mandy wrapped an arm around Judy’s shoulders and gave her a sideways hug. “I can’t wait to tell Zane that the Sacred Ouija Board said we’re going to be pregnant soon.”

Jo laughed. “Can I be there and take a video? Please?”

“Sure!”

Faith glanced up from the box where she and Kendra were carefully stacking the seed bags. “I can’t wait to tell Cody that our wedding night needs to be spectacular.”

“If I know that boy,” Kendra said, “and I do, he’s planning to pull out all the stops.”

Quinn wasn’t sure what pulling out all the stops meant to Kendra and he wished he had that info. The women were leaving him alone with her, quite likely because they believed something significant would happen tonight. He wanted them to be right.

But he couldn’t get a fix on her current emotional state. The message from the Ouija board might have freaked her out. It had surprised him, too, but he hadn’t been shocked.

If Olivia’s Internet research was valid and working with the board had pulled something out of his subconscious, he’d better listen up. His subconscious was telling him that Kendra was a significant part of his life, whether he was ready to admit that or not.

In record time, the dishwasher was running and the kitchen was spotless. Kendra had put away the box of favors and the surface of the massive dining table that had been the center of all the activity was now a gleaming slab of hardwood with not even a cake crumb to mar its perfection.

The guests didn’t waste much time making tracks for home, either. They said goodbye to him as if assuming he wouldn’t be leaving. He didn’t want to, but he wasn’t in charge of that decision.

The last person out the door was Jo, who hugged Kendra and said something that Quinn couldn’t hear.

But Kendra’s reply was clear as a bell. “Don’t worry. I won’t.” She closed the door and turned to him.

“Won’t what?”

“She told me not to be an idiot.” She shoved her hands in the front pockets of her jeans.

“Meaning?”

Her breathing quickened. “Don’t let something wonderful pass me by.”

His spirits lifted. “That sounds like good advice.” Maybe, just maybe—

“Oh, it is, but…” She paused to take a shaky breath. “We need to get something straight.”

“Okay.” He’d agree to any terms she laid out.

“I’m not looking for a husband.”

He nodded. “Understood.”

“I’m not looking for a live-in boyfriend, either.”

“Since I already have a place to live, that would be difficult for me to manage, anyway.”

“I know that, but when the Ouija board—”

“Even if that thing’s accurate and my favorite place is with you, that doesn’t mean I require your presence to be happy. Apples are my favorite food, but I don’t eat them with every—”

“Apples? You’re kidding.”

He shrugged. “What can I say? I grew up in Washington.” He stepped closer. “If you’re worried that I’ll become a pest, don’t be. Not my style.”

“I know that, too.” She hesitated, her gaze uncertain. “But maybe it’s premature to...”

“What?”

She spoke quickly, clearly nervous. “You have a life in Spokane and I have mine here. Just because we enjoy each other’s company doesn’t mean we have to see each other all the time or change our situation.” She swallowed. “Right?”

“Right. We can just visit.” It made sense. It wasn’t the warm and fuzzy solution where two people settled under the same roof, but that move was easier for twenty-somethings who hadn’t built a life yet.

Her chest heaved. “Exactly. But we’d have to test it and see, I guess.”

“Got any ideas about how we could begin testing it?” He moved within a foot of her, near enough that he was in range of her warmth and her womanly scent. His nostrils flared.

“I suppose that’s obvious.”

“Is it?” He’d managed to keep his desire in check until now, but he couldn’t guarantee how much longer that would work for him. If she wanted to hold off until tomorrow night, he’d have to head for the cabin immediately and take a cold shower.

“I mean, we don’t even know if we’re…sexually compatible.”

“True.” His groin tightened. “And I think there’s only one way to—”

“Then let’s do this.” She held out her hand. It was shaking.

He captured that quivering hand and brought it to his lips. “I’d be happier about that invitation if you didn’t look as if you were marching off to have a tooth pulled.”

Her gaze lifted to his and a pulse beat rapidly in the hollow of her throat. “It’s been a long time.”

“I know.” And getting longer by the second. He nibbled on her fingers. “But we’ll take it easy. You can direct the—”

“Dear God, that would be worse.”

“It would?”

“Earlier tonight, when everyone was here and you gave me that hot look, I was ready to jump your bones, but now they’re all gone and the moment of truth has arrived…I’m…just kiss me, okay?”

“That I can do.” He drew her gently into his arms and cradled her cheek in one hand while he held her tight with the other. She gripped the front of his shirt with both hands. She was trembling as he lowered his head and settled his mouth over hers.

Resisting the urge to hurry, he took his time. He traced the seam of her lips with the tip of his tongue and coaxed his way in as she slowly relaxed. Gradually her body molded with his and her mouth offered the warm welcome she’d given him earlier tonight.

Loosening her grip on his shirt, she slid her hands around his neck and cupped the back of his head. Taking that as a good sign, he deepened the kiss.

And she caught fire. With a low moan, she pressed her fingertips into his scalp. When she began sucking on his tongue, he knew it was time to move the party.

Scooping her up in his arms, he started toward the hallway.

She broke away from his kiss. “Do you know where you’re going?”

“Yes, ma’am. I’m taking you to bed.”