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cheekbone and jaw.” Taking a deep breath, she said, “If my father hadn’t heard my screams as he walked past our house here on the ranch, I believe Tom would have finished me off. As it was, my father busted down the door, saw Tom hunkered over me and he stopped him. I have no memory of any of it, Kyle. I was bleeding and unconscious. My father, even at fifty-seven, beat the hell out of Tom. He left him lying in an unconscious pile in the middle of the kitchen, called 911 and then tended to me.”

      “Jesus,” Kyle rasped, passing his hand over his face. “Why, Anna? Why the hell didn’t you get a hold of me? I’d have come home. I’d have been there for you.”

      She shook her head. “I read the emails you sent your parents. You were happy doing what you were doing, Kyle. I wasn’t on your radar.”

      “The hell you weren’t.” He wanted to cry, the lump in his throat so large that he kept swallowing it back down, afraid to let it rip out of him.

      She studied him. “How was I to know?”

      “I didn’t even know you were married.” He cursed and shook his head. “I know you said Tom was jealous and you couldn’t risk emailing me.” His brows gathered and he held her hand tightly between his. “I should have known something happened to you, Anna. Because you stopped emailing me six months after I left at twenty-two.”

      “I’d met Tom at that time. When I mentioned you one time, he got angry. I knew never to bring up your name again. I couldn’t email you like I’d done in the past. It wasn’t until years later that I realized the depth of his jealousy toward you.”

      “I always asked my mom about you. She never said anything about you being married.”

      “Because I asked her not to talk about my private life with you, Kyle. Don’t you see? I couldn’t go there. I had to try and move on.” Anna touched her heart, and said in a low voice, “I loved you, Kyle. I never stopped loving you. But your job... The life you chose...”

      “I’m one selfish bastard.”

      “No. You were a young man full of fire, passion and adventure. You had to leave and explore the world.”

      “Dammit!” Kyle released her hand and stood up, slowly pacing. “I wished to hell I could do this over again.” He halted, looking squarely at her. “I had heaven in my hands with you, Anna, and I walked away.”

      “We can’t go back, Kyle. All we have is right now.”

      He studied her, searching her sad green eyes. His chest felt alive with angry snakes writhing within. “I’ve made so many mistakes with you, Anna.”

      “Stop it. You had to go, Kyle. If you hadn’t, you’d have wondered the rest of your life what you had missed. You’d have never been happy. Always wondering what you let slip through your hands.”

      He stood there, absorbing her wisdom, absorbing her. “I love you, Anna. I need to know if we can make this work. I don’t want to walk away from you this time.” A well of emotion, so many regrets, rose in him as she sat very still, her hands in her lap, so beautiful, so alone in so many ways. She’d lost her parents last year. And now her foreman. She had no one. Nothing. And what could he offer her? More heartache and pain.

      She had to be weighing everything. Was her love of him strong enough to transcend their obstacles? Never had he wanted her more. But the price was steep for Anna, and Kyle wasn’t sure about the future.

      “I will take whatever you can give me,” Anna whispered brokenly, opening her hands. “Something is better than nothing with you, Kyle. I’ll take whatever you can give me... Your time... I know you’re always training, always away, but those few times when you could come home...?” Her voice grew hoarse. “Spend them here, with me.”

      “Don’t say that,” he growled. Kyle walked over and drew her up and into his arms. He held her so damned tightly he felt the air whoosh out of her lungs. She sobbed. Once. Anna buried her head against his chest, clinging to him so tightly, not an inch of space existed between them.

      Kyle kissed her hair, kissed her cheek and pulled back just enough to absorb her softened face, the joy in her eyes that he lived to see once again. His heart soared with the knowledge Anna would take him back into her life. Of all people, he didn’t deserve this second chance. But, God, he was grateful her generous heart and soul would allow him to return to her. He inhaled the lingering touch of oranges in her hair, the fragrant skin along the curve of her neck.

      “I love you, Anna.... I need you...always,” Kyle said thickly, kissing her cheek, her closed lids, her brow. “I’m going to make this work between us. I promise, you aren’t going to be handed seconds anymore. You’re going to come first in my life, like you should have all along.” His voice cracked. Kyle crushed her against him, tears squeezing from beneath his tightly shut eyes as he held the willowy woman who had a far braver heart than he’d ever had.

      * * *

      ANNA AWOKE SLOWLY, as if some beautiful gossamer dream that she’d had all her life had just come true. She was naked, in Kyle’s arms, his soft snore near her head, his arm protectively wrapped around her, keeping her close. Drowsily, she opened her eyes, realizing daylight was creeping around the edges of the gold drapes. She didn’t want to move.

      Her body was sore, but she smiled softly, luxuriating in the knowledge that they’d made love at least three times last night, unable to get their fill of each other. Kyle was a tender, considerate lover. She had felt cherished. Worshipped. There wasn’t an inch of her skin that he hadn’t kissed and explored.

      Her eyes grew cloudy as she breathed in and out with his shallow breaths, their bodies locked against one another. Even in sleep, she could feel Kyle’s erection beginning to grow, pressing against her soft belly.

      She understood he would be gone soon, and not sure of when he would return. And yet Kyle had repeatedly told her last night that he’d work things out. He wasn’t going to leave her again. The dark hair of his chest tickled her nose and cheek. Savoring the male scent of him, she dragged it into her lungs, always wanting to remember this night with him. He’d loved her until she nearly fainted from the intense, powerful orgasms he’d given her. He knew her body so well. Equally important, Kyle had held her as if she were a priceless gift that could shatter. Never had she felt more loved than last night.

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