EIGHT

 

 

Reese sat at his father’s desk, staring at the numbers in the ledger his mom had left for him before she took off for a visit with her sister in Phoenix. No matter how many times Reese went over the numbers, no matter what he added, subtracted, fudged and generally tried to justify adding to the income column, the numbers wouldn’t lie.

The Cooper Ranch owed more money than it could make in the coming year. His father’s surveys, which so far hadn’t given Reese any new insights, had used up what little savings his mom had managed to squirrel away, and now their only salvation was either to sell off the remaining livestock or sell some of the remaining land.

“I don’t think we have a choice in the matter,” Reese told Hunter, who had gone over the numbers with him. “As it stands now, the money we made for the calves has already been used for supplies and past bills, and we’ve missed three loan payments to the bank.”

“One more and they’ll start sending us foreclosure notices,” Hunter said, looking solemn and forlorn. His usual happy disposition replaced by the stark gravity of the matter.

Reese pulled an open envelope out of the pile that sat on the desk next to him and handed it to Hunter. “They already have.”

Hunter took the envelope, pulled out the document inside and shook his head. “What the hell are we going to do? How did Dad let this happen? And Mom, why didn’t she say anything?”

He sat down hard on the wooden chair next to Reese, disturbing both the dogs, Clint and Duke, who had curled up in their usual spot under the desk.

“I don’t know. I think once things started to snowball, they just couldn’t keep up.”

“And you knew nothing about any of this?”

Reese slowly shook his head. “Nothing. Dad only gave me access to the books that he wanted me to see.”

In hindsight, Reese wished like hell he’d been more forceful with his dad and had insisted on seeing everything, not that he really thought it would have done much good.

“Well, why the hell didn’t you double check with the bank? Why didn’t you push him harder? You were supposed to be in charge of the ranch, not Dad. What the hell happened?”

Reese knew his brother was angry. Reese was angry as well, but he also knew that anger wouldn’t get either one of them any closer to solving the problem.

“Those studies cost a small fortune to run, more money than we had, or have, especially the private surveys. It seems there were some of those as well.”

“Why? Did he think he’d find something of value? Did he think he could turn this place into another Circle Starr?”

Chuck had found oil under his land and helium. He was making millions off of both those finds. If there was any oil or helium under the Cooper Ranch, the way the Cooper luck had been going, the government probably already owned it. Reese still didn’t have the results of the mineral rights search.

“Maybe that’s what he was hoping for. Something big, like our own oil field.” Reese shook his head. “Hell, I don’t know what he thought, but it cost us thousands of dollars to do it, and because of it, we’re dead broke.”

“Maybe if we all pool our money, we can at least make the last few payments to the bank,” Hunter said, trying to sound positive. As if they had a chance of saving the ranch. No wonder Reese’s dad had signed at that last offer Chuck had given him. He knew the inevitable was about to happen, and wanted to take care of his family.

Reese knew it must have killed him to sign those papers . . . and more than likely, it probably had.

This only made Reese more determined to try and save the land . . . and if he had to sell it, he’d be damned if he would sell it to Chuck Starr.

“I can’t ask you guys to do that. Shiloh is just now starting to make a profit from her jewelry, and Draven is saving the money he makes on riding lessons to go back to school. And any money you and Chase make off boarding horses is yours. That’s always been the case since you were teens. That’s the agreement you made with Dad. I’m not about to change that now.”

“Stop,” Hunter said. “None of those things matter if we lose the ranch. Seems to me we have two choices, pool our money to pay off what we can of the bank loans, or take that last offer that Chuck made for the entire ranch. And who knows, now that it’s all out in the open about you being his son, maybe he’ll sweeten the pot. Have you talked to him yet?”

All the siblings knew about the offer Chuck had given his parents, but none of them knew that his dad had actually signed the paperwork. Reese wasn’t sure he wanted to share that information, despite his distaste for secrets.

“No. Haven’t wanted to, but there’s that meeting that Avery and Shiloh set up on Monday. I keep going back and forth on attending.”

“Why? It might change everything.”

“Yeah, especially when the sheriff comes and carts me away for punching the fuck right in his smug face for all the harm he caused to our dad over the years. Do you even know how much I hate that I’m related to that bastard?”

Reese could barely think about it without getting so riled up he wanted to do damage to the man. He tried his best to remain calm about it, accept the news and move on, but there was just too much baggage attached to Chuck Starr . . . heavy, nasty baggage that Reese didn’t want to carry around anymore.

“I can only imagine. Although, if he and dad had come to terms instead of being at each other’s throats all these years, things might be different right now.”

“In what way?”

Hunter stood and gazed out of the small window next to the desk. It looked out over the front of their land, over one of the barns, and a couple outbuildings where they stored equipment and some of the hay. Shiloh had taken over a third outbuilding that sat just out of sight from the front window, where she’d been working all day on her jewelry, getting ready for the kite festival in Flagstaff that coming weekend.

The small window also looked over a large vegetable garden their mom always planted every spring . . . except this spring. Their dad had been so sick that he’d taken up all her spare time nursing him that she never got the seedlings into the ground. They’d all died in their egg cartons where she’d started them with seeds from the previous years.

Now, all there was out that window was dry, hard earth with some wild grass growing where a lush garden should have been.

“You and Chuck might not be enemies, and you and Mom wouldn’t be fighting. Draven was right. She’s having a hard enough time without you coming down on her as well.”

Reese turned sharply to his brother, raising his voice to make his point. “You have no idea what it means to know you’ve been lied to for your entire life, and that the man you thought was your dad, the man you thought you took after . . . had his strong chin, or his hands or any number of resemblances . . . was never your dad. All those little similarities belong to another man. A man I grew up hating. Whether Chuck Starr is a bastard or an angel, I’ll never know because my stand-in dad made up my mind for me before I could ever give Chuck a chance.”

Both dogs stood, stretched and walked over to Hunter who bent down to give each of them some pets.

Hunter looked up at Reese. “What’s stopping you now? You’ve got your chance. You can turn all that around if you wanted to.”

“No way. That boat set sail before I was even born.”

“Seems to me it’s back in port, all you have to do is hop onboard.”

“So it’s that easy?”

Hunter’s positive attitude was showing.

“I’ll even drive you over, if you need me to. Hell, I’m willing to go meet the man with you, if that will help get you there. We all are.”

“I don’t think Chase is as supportive as the rest of you.”

Reese flashed on Chase’s warning the other night at dinner. Chase may not talk much, but when he did, they all knew to take what he said to heart.

“Chase is his own man, but the rest of us think it’s the only choice we have.”

“Sounds as if you guys have made some decisions without me.”

“Look, Chuck is a rich man and he’s your father. He didn’t settle here out of chance. He must have settled here because of you. Would it be so tough to just see what the man wants, what he has to offer?”

The dogs padded over to Reese, nuzzling his knees. He knew they both missed Dad like crazy and kept waiting for him to come home. Some nights they’d sit by the front door for hours. No one could get them to leave for very long. They’d eat their dinner, play a bit, and go right back. It tore Reese apart to watch them.

“What if his offer sucks?”

“Then you can walk away knowing that at least you tried. I think you owe yourself that much . . . hell you owe our family that much. What affects you, affects all of us.”

The brothers stared at each other for a moment.

“Is this what you all want?”

“Yes.”

Hunter knew Reese couldn’t refuse them. As the oldest, he’d always looked after them, made sure they were doing well in school, no one bullied them, and always looked after their well-being. Reese couldn’t help it. He’d been wired as a caretaker since the first time Chase was bucked off a pony when he was three. Reese always felt as though his siblings needed him to be there for them, maybe now more than ever.

“Fine, I’ll confirm with Avery that I’ll meet him on Monday.”

“It’s about time you came to your senses.”

Reese gently slapped Hunter’s shoulder. “And while I’m at it, maybe I’ll ask Avery out on a real date. There’s something about her that’s gotten under my skin. It’s like I’ve known her my entire life, almost as if we were somehow meant to be together. Have you ever felt that way about a woman?”

“Yes, but I haven’t met her yet.”

Hunter’s statement took Reese by surprise. “What do you mean?”

Hunter stared down at the floor for a moment, as if he was building courage, something he’d done since he was a kid. “It’s hard to talk about without sounding like an idiot.”

Reese wondered if Hunter had experienced the same kind of dreams about a woman that Reese had. He and his brother had never spoken about this before. “Try me.”

“I’ve always had this feeling that one day I would meet my, well, for lack of a better term, my destiny. I know it sounds a little crazy, but I may have even dreamt about her.”

Reese could hardly believe what his brother was saying. “Why haven’t you mentioned this to me before?”

“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe because it’s corny, and sounds like I’m a crazy person.”

Exactly the feelings Reese had had about his dreams. He wondered if this was something he and Hunter shared, or did it run in the family like a predisposition to heart failure or kidney stones. Not that any of them had a kidney stone . . . yet.

“Not so crazy. I’ve had a few dreams myself, and if I’m not mistaken, they were about Avery. Problem is, even though I know I shouldn’t trust her, that she’s more than likely working for our enemy, and she’ll undoubtedly be moving back to Phoenix in a few weeks, I’m still attracted to her like no other woman before her. The truth of the matter is I’m probably nothing more than a cowboy fling to her, not someone she could ever be serious about.”

Hunter grinned, and his dimples pulled at his cheeks, giving him that little boy look the women seemed to love. “Whether she leaves or not is yet to be determined. Right now, that woman lights up ten shades of color whenever she’s around you. There’s a sort of twinkle in her eyes when she speaks to you, and a constant smile on her lips. If I didn’t know she was tucked inside Chuck Starr’s pocket, I’d say Ms. Templeton has the hots for my big brother.”

Reese couldn’t help but chuckle at his brother’s wrongheaded ideas, but then Hunter had always been the romantic of the family. “I never noticed.”

“Oh sure you haven’t. I saw you dancing at the Spring Fling with her the other night. I thought you said you don’t dance.”

Reese chuckled, thinking of all the things he and Avery said they didn’t do. “I don’t do a lot of things with that woman.”

Hunter raised his eyebrows. “Oh? And why not? That lone cowboy shit taken over your mind?”

“Maybe I’m just not ready to sleep with the enemy. Now get out of here and go do some work,” Reese said, playfully pushing Hunter out the door, along with the dogs. For some reason, this time they followed Hunter, instead of slipping back under the desk to wait.

Reese thought it might be a good sign, the dogs were moving on.

Perhaps it was time he moved on as well.

He pulled his cell phone out of his back pocket and called Avery. He’d confirm the meeting and get the details. And maybe he’d even ask her out on a real date.

Thing was, the way he’d been acting, he wouldn’t blame her if she said no.

 

 

AVERY’S FIRST REAL date with Reese Cooper Jr. was shaping into something special. The day had turned out to be warm and balmy, with just the right amount of wind for the Soar Into Spring Kite Festival in Flagstaff, perfect weather for Flagstaff this time of year. The altitude and the surrounding mountains kept it much cooler than Wild Cross, which was at sea level. Avery remembered many times during a visit to the Circle Starr when the temperature would be well over one hundred degrees, a temperature even as a kid had bothered her. It wasn’t uncommon for her dad to take a drive up to Flagstaff to cool down to a balmy eighty degrees on those exceptionally hot days, and even today, walking along with Reese by her side, she remembered just how much she had liked this town.

“Thanks for inviting me to this, Reese. It’s lovely,” Avery told him, taking his hand in hers as they gazed up at a sea of brightly colored kites. Avery had never seen anything so cheerfully colorful as over a hundred kites danced in the wind. Some had long tails, some were dragons with big gaping mouths, some were simply large colorful rings, while others were shaped like fish of all varieties, while one large rooster swooned on a breeze in the sky above.

It was truly a sight that Avery would never forget.

“I thought you might like it,” Reese told her as they slowly meandered along, keeping pace with the other people who had come out for the day. “And besides, my sister has a booth here showcasing her jewelry. I try to support her whenever I can.”

“Your sister makes jewelry?”

He nodded, looking especially good in his gray cowboy hat, tight dark blue T-shirt that showed off his amazing arms, cut chest and flat stomach. His jeans were low on his hips held up by a wide belt with that same large rodeo buckle he always wore. Even now the sexual tension between them snapped like electricity in a dry climate. “Has been ever since she was a kid,” he said. “Never been too keen on ranching. She can ride and rope all right, but she loves to create things more than anything else. She took over one of the smaller outbuildings on our ranch years ago with all her equipment. At first, my brothers and I all made fun of her, you know how kids can be when anything is out of the ordinary, but eventually we came around. She’s a spitfire when it comes to defending her art, and she certainly needed to be around us. We were brutal, but our parents kept us somewhat under control. My brothers sometimes still give her a rash, especially when we have to move livestock and she’s too busy filling orders or getting ready for a show to join us. She works just as hard at her art as I do on the ranch.”

“The good brother,” Avery told him, happy to know a little more about his interactions with his siblings.

She’d been an only child and had always longed for brothers and sisters, but her parents had decided one child was enough. There’d been so many times when she’d stay for dinner at a friend’s house and envy the group of siblings teasing and taunting each other around the table, only to go home to her quiet house afterwards. She would have traded ornery brothers for no siblings any day of the week.

Even as a young child, Avery had always suspected that her mom would have liked more children from the things she’d say to the other moms, but for some reason, her dad would always change the subject whenever her mom brought it up. Thinking back on it now, Avery realized that it was her dad who had been opposed to the idea, not her mom.

“Don’t say that too loud, she might hear you,” Reese teased.

“I’m sure she already knows.”

“Maybe so, but she would never admit it.”

“That’s where you’re wrong. From talking to her on the phone, I had the distinct impression she thinks the world of you.”

Which was absolutely true. Shiloh couldn’t have been more solicitous of Reese’s feelings when she and Avery were setting up the meeting with Chuck. Shiloh knew Reese wouldn’t want to go, but she also knew it was the only way for him to get past his anger, so by offering to drag him there, she was looking out for her ornery brother, who she was now certain loved his siblings, especially his sister.

“It’s a very small world, I’m sure. There’s her booth,” Reese said, pointing to the colorful collection of jewelry dangling from strings, and sitting on a brightly colored table.

When they walked up, Avery couldn’t help but notice the small crowd that had gathered around Shiloh’s booth. Everyone seemed to be trying to get Shiloh’s attention while they held up some extraordinary pieces. Avery knew she wouldn’t be getting past that booth without buying something for herself.

“Looks like she’s doing well,” Avery said, marveling over Shiloh’s obvious ability to connect with people. There must have been ten or more people gathered around the front of her booth, all vying for Shiloh’s attention.

“Glad somebody in my family is succeeding.”

“I’d say you’re doing very well…you’re with me.”

He laughed and pulled her in close as a little girl wearing a frilly dress walked by holding a giant cloud of pink cotton candy. “You’re all I need, and . . . maybe a cotton candy.”

She turned to him, grinning and nodding. “And a corn dog with lots of mustard.”

“I don’t . . .”

“ . . . eat corndogs? Neither do I,” she said and they both laughed as they approached the booth.

“You guys are far too happy,” Shiloh said, “but then so am I. It’s been a great day. Wait until I tell you.”

“It looks as if you’re doing really well,” Reese told her under his breath, not wanting to scare anyone away.

“Better than I had imagined! I just met a buyer from Jill’s Boutique. They’re all over the country. Anyway, she gave me her card, bought several items and told me to call her next week. She wants to put my jewelry in her boutiques. Do you know how amazing this is?”

Avery knew exactly the opportunity that could be for Shiloh.

“I shop in those stores. They carry beautiful high-end clothing and jewelry. Congratulations!” Avery told her, knowing full well this could be the beginning of a great run for Shiloh.

“Thanks! I’m so thrilled that she liked my work,” Shiloh said, a wide grin showing off deep dimples. She seemed genuinely pleased, and Avery was pleased for her. She could identify with that feeling when you finally get a glimpse of what you’ve been working for. When you think it’s finally going to happen. Avery had experienced that same euphoric emotion when she was first offered the position at the law firm she’d just been suspended from. Next to her first time up on a horse, it was possibly the best feeling ever.

Funny how spending a few weeks on the Circle Starr had dampened her desire to go back to her old lifestyle, a lifestyle she always thought she wanted but now second-guessed. Did she really want that grind again? Did she really want to be under someone else’s rule? She didn’t know the answer anymore.

“I can see why. Your pieces are incredible,” Avery said spotting a necklace behind a glass case she had to make her own: a large, silver, roughly crafted, circular pendant hung from a triple, black, finished-leather chain. It spoke to Avery like no other piece of jewelry she’d ever seen before. It was stunning.

“Thanks so much,” Shiloh said, looking a bit shy, as if she thought she didn’t deserve such praise.

“Can I see that one?” Avery said, pointing to the exquisite piece of art.

“Sure,” Shiloh said, then slipped it out of the case and handed it to Avery. “But please don’t feel as if you have to buy something.”

As soon as Avery touched the necklace, and struggled to fasten it around her neck, she knew she had to own it.

“Here, let me,” Reese said, as he carefully slid her hair off her back and over her shoulder. His touch sent a spark down her spine and around the necklace that hung just above her breasts. She’d worn a crisp Western-styled white blouse, jeans and her new cowgirl boots, the blouse open enough to show some skin and her lacy bra underneath. He fought with the clasp as his fingers gently danced over her bare skin. The sensations tickled every part of her, and she briefly imagined herself lying next to him, in bed, naked.

“But I do have to buy something. I don’t think I can leave without owning this necklace. It’s exactly my style, big and bold.”

Once Reese finally hooked the clasp, his hand lingered on the back of her neck for a moment, causing her to want to turn around and kiss him, but of course she couldn’t. Instead, she swung her hair off her shoulder and gazed into the mirror Shiloh has set up on a stand.

“It suits you,” Reese whispered in a low sexy voice that only Avery could hear.

“I’ll take it,” Avery told Shiloh.

“I’d like to buy it for you,” Reese said, but this time Shiloh must have heard him.

“Don’t be silly. It’s my treat,” Shiloh said, but Avery had already seen the price tag and it was a hundred and fifty dollars.

“Thank you both, but I wouldn’t think of not paying for this.”

Reese stood his ground, pulled cash out of his pocket, and handed it to his sister. “It’s done. It’s yours. Please take it.”

Avery decided not to argue. The fact that Reese had wanted to buy her something was enough.

“Okay, but the cotton candy and the corndogs are on me,” Avery said.

“How can you turn that down?” Shiloh asked, grinning over at her brother, a look of sisterly love on her face, something that Avery envied with all her heart.

“If you add a deep-fried Milky Way, you’ve got yourself a deal,” Reese said, holding out his hand.

Avery made a face over the thought of a fried candy bar. “That sounds horrible.”

“If I can eat a corndog, you can eat a fried candy bar.”

She tentatively held out her hand, but her stomach was already protesting. “Okay,” she said, “but this is going to cost you, big time.”

He took her hand in his. “I hope so,” he said with a sly little smirk.

 

 

IT HAD BEEN a long, relaxing day and now all Reese could think of was getting Avery alone somewhere. She’d picked him up at the ranch for the kite festival, so she was driving him back to the Cooper Ranch in her hot bright-red car, buzzing up the road about twenty miles over the limit with Reese loving every minute of it.

“I have to say, deep-fried chocolate anything is mighty good,” Avery said. “Who knew?”

“Well, I won’t say the same for corndogs,” Reese countered, the taste still lingering in his memory.

“Then why did you eat three of them?”

He hadn’t meant to get so carried away, but they were just too damn good. “Because they were outstanding,” Reese told her. “Especially dunked in ketchup and mayo. You’re a bad influence.”

She turned to him for a moment. “How bad?”

He caught her devilish grin that he’d come to love.

“Bad enough so that I can’t stop thinking about you.”

She reached over and slid her hand across his thigh. “And just what are you thinking?”

He reached over and ran two fingers along her cheek. “I can’t tell you while you’re driving. You might lose control.”

Her hand slipped farther up his leg and his body caught fire. “I’m already losing control.”

“Then we better get somewhere fast before you drive us off the road.”

She put both hands on the wheel and floored it. Soon they were doing ninety-five, and even Reese felt a little apprehensive about the speed. “Is this fast enough?”

“Maybe a little too fast. Can we slow it down a bit? There might be a cow in the road.”

“Then the cow better get out of my way, ’cause I’m not stopping.”

She reached out again, and this time she traced the inside of his thigh. He grabbed her hand, stopping her just when she was getting way too close to dangerous territory. And besides, she took the last turn too fast, and nearly swerved off the road.

“As much as I’m enjoying your touch, it would be much more enjoyable if we weren’t flying down the road at ninety-five.”

She slowed to eighty as the Cooper Ranch entrance came into view. “Is this better?” she said, as she stopped, signaled and turned up the dirt road towards the main ranch house.

“Much,” he told her as he reached over and slid his hand up her leg.

She abruptly stopped the car about twenty feet from the house, turned off the ignition, the lights and climbed over the console, straddling him.

“We’re going to do this here?” Reese said, as he reached for the electric lever on the side of the seat to slide it back further, giving them more room.

“Do you have a better idea?”

“At the moment, my mind is as empty as a football. All the blood has rushed to the important parts.”

She cupped his erection that strained against the zipper on his jeans. “It’s the important parts that matter at a time like this.”

“And just what time is it?” he asked in a low throaty voice, barely audible.

“Time to shut up and kiss me.”

Her lips came down hard on his, and their tongues pressed against each other as they each tried to get out of their shirts, pulling and tugging as they continued to kiss. With Avery’s help, Reese was able to tug his shirt off, tossing it into the back seat as Avery tried to unbutton her own shirt. He joined in on the struggle, but kept getting distracted by the softness of her full breasts and her silky skin. He couldn’t help himself, he had to taste her skin, had to feel the swell of each breast before he could concentrate on buttons.

They finally managed to get her blouse off and Reese slipped his hands behind her back to unclasp her pretty white lace bra, when a light lit up the porch on the main house, and crazy barking ensued.

“Shit,” Reese said. “Not now.”

And within moments, Duke and Clint came tearing up to the car, jumping up on the windows, their paws scratching at the glass.

“You own dogs?”

“They belong to the family,” Reese told her, wanting to kill whoever let them out. He rolled down the window, stuck out a hand and pointed. “Go home. Duke, go home.”

But Duke just licked his hand, then tried to jump up and lick his face.

“They seem friendly,” Avery said, giggling now, and reaching for her shirt.

“No. Don’t,” Reese pleaded. “I’ll get rid of them.”

Clint, who was the bigger of the two, actually jumped up on the window ledge and tried to make his way inside. “Down, boy,” Reese ordered.

But Clint wasn’t in the mood to take an order. Instead he somehow pushed his way inside, pushing Avery back into the dashboard, as he licked Reese’s face.

Suddenly the passenger door swung open, and Avery slid out just as Duke attacked Reese with more tongue action. Soon both dogs were on his lap and Reese did everything he could to get them off, and save himself from any misplaced paws.

Avery slipped on her blouse, then leaned into the car and grabbed Duke’s collar, trying her best to pull him out. She finally succeeded, but her misplaced leverage landed her right on her butt, with Duke licking her face to make sure she was okay.

In the next moment, Draven appeared out of nowhere, grabbing for the dogs, and pulling them off of Reese and Avery.

“I had no idea anyone was out here,” he said. “They were restless, so I let them out thinking there was some sort of critter out here that needed chasing away. Sorry about this.”

He reached over and held out a hand for Avery. She took it and pulled herself up, her blouse now somewhat buttoned.

Reese, now completely over his arousal, stepped out of the car while trying to regain his composure. “Avery Templeton, this is my youngest brother, Draven. Draven, this is Avery, the girl our dogs just attacked.”

“Hi,” Avery said, while tucking in her blouse.

“Um, sorry if the dogs interrupted anything,” Draven said, his gaze dropping to Reese’s shirtless chest.

“Don’t say another word,” Reese warned.

Draven nodded, turned on his heels and while still holding onto the dogs, headed back to the house.

“I’m really sorry about all of that. Are you okay?” Reese asked once his brother had taken the dogs back inside and closed the door.

“I’m fine. They’re sweet but powerful,” she said, dusting off her butt, a painful look on her face. “I think I may not be able to sit for a while.”

“I’m sorry. Want to come inside? Maybe take a bath? We have one of those old claw-footed tubs you can soak in.”

“As great as that sounds, I think I’d rather soak in a tub at Chuck’s place then go right to bed.” She hobbled back to the car, opened the driver’s side, then got in.

Reese walked over to her side of the car. “You don’t know how bad I feel.”

“Not as bad as I do, I’m sure.”

“You know what I mean.”

She smiled. “I’m beginning to wonder, Reese Cooper, if we’re supposed to be together. Maybe the universe is trying to tell us something.”

He thought about all the dreams he’d had about her since he was a kid. “It’s telling us to work harder at it. Nothing you really want is easy, and I really want you.”

“Then I’ll see you tomorrow at Chuck’s ranch house promptly at noon. Lunch will be served and Kaya is planning something special, I’m sure. After that, I’m all yours.”

“Was this your plan all along?”

A grin creased her lips. “I’m a lawyer. Everything is negotiable.”

“You should’ve told me that from the beginning. It would have saved us a lot of time.”

“But then we wouldn’t have had this moment, and I for one, wouldn’t have missed it for the world.”

She chuckled then drove away, leaving Reese to deal with the fact that in less than fifteen hours he would be standing face-to-face with Chuck Starr, a man who had changed his entire life.