LITMIR.BIZ

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ranch in the family. Surely she could suck up her personal feelings for a few months. Couldn’t she? She’d gotten pretty good at hiding her feelings over the years. She’d had to when she’d taken a bigger role at the ranch and had become the boss of a largely male workforce.

      “Consider it behind us,” she replied, pushing away her salad. She really wished Lacey would get a move on. Not that she was in the mood for more wedding details, but it would get her away from Rylan.

      Rylan, whose gaze she could feel glued to the side of her face. When she couldn’t stand it anymore, she sighed.

      “What?”

      “Thank you,” he said simply.

      She looked at him and felt her animosity threaten to abandon her. He didn’t look cocky or insincere in any way. In fact, his eyes were completely earnest and his lips open just a little, so she could get the full effect of their bowed shape. The bottom one was just a little fuller than the top, and she remembered them being surprisingly soft and...capable.

      He was as attractive as ever, but she’d learned her lesson and learned it well. Rylan Duggan was trouble, and trouble was the last thing she needed.

      “You’re welcome.”

      Lacey was finally finishing up her salad and Kailey figured she might escape without having to speak to him again, but once more Rylan picked up a new thread of conversation.

      “I could use some advice,” he said, pushing away his plate. All that was left on it were the four toothpicks that had held his sandwich together, and the little dish that had contained his ketchup.

      “Advice about what?” she asked. She hoped to God it wasn’t anything personal. An apology was one thing. But they hadn’t made that many amends yet.

      “On the stock situation at Crooked Valley.”

      That made her sit back. “Oh?”

      He kept his voice low. “Quinn and I have been talking. He’s doing okay, but really, Quinn’s a cattle man. The little stock we’ve sent to competition has been handled by Randy. And I know Brandt stock. It’s top-notch. I wanted to run some ideas past you.”

      Nothing he might have said would have surprised her more. On one hand, it was nice to know he respected her knowledge and opinion.

      On the other hand, it made her wonder if the apology had really been meant to soften her up into giving him free advice.

      Well, either way, it wouldn’t hurt to state the obvious. “What Crooked Valley needs is some new breeding stock. A new stud, a couple of mares. But mostly a good stud that you can make some money off of breeding fees. That’ll help pad your program so you can grow it.”

      “That’s what I thought.” He frowned.

      “And Quinn probably knows that, too, but truth of the matter is Crooked Valley can’t afford to outlay that much money right now. It’s risky, even if the money was in the account. Am I right?”

      He nodded. “Yes. According to Duke, our grandfather thought it would be fun to breed some rodeo stock. But it was more of a side thing than a focus, and it’s never paid its way or lived up to its potential.”

      “I know Quinn and Duke have talked about selling it off.” Kailey made herself smile. What she’d said about potential was absolutely correct. There were a few mares in the stables that she’d love to get her hands on, breed them with Big Boy. If the Duggans did decide to call this side of the operation quits, she hoped she could get first dibs on some of the unrealized potential in the barn before it went to auction.

      “I don’t think we’re at that point yet.”

      Did he realize he’d said we? He was a temporary addition to the Crooked Valley operation, wasn’t he? Or perhaps he used the concept as cavalierly as he used his women.

      And maybe she hadn’t quite accepted his apology. She bit down on her lip. It wasn’t like her to be this nasty, even in her thoughts. She didn’t like it. She didn’t like anything that Rylan Duggan made her feel.

      Quinn coughed, interrupting their conversation. “Sorry to break this up,” he said. “But, Ry, I’ve got to get back.”

      “No problem,” Kailey replied. “It wasn’t anything important.”

      Rylan got up and reached back in his hip pocket for his wallet. She watched as the muscles in his shoulders and back shifted beneath his shirt, remembering what those very muscles looked like without the covering of cotton. He took out some bills and threw them on the table. “Lunch is on me, ladies. Enjoy the rest of your afternoon.”

      Kailey’s face flamed. He was smiling his charming smile and smoothing everything over, wasn’t he? And it would be so easy to fall for that again.

      Instead, she reached inside her purse, took out a twenty and dropped it on the table before picking up one of his bills and handing it back to him.

      “I can pay my own way,” she said quietly, and without looking back, headed for the exit.

      Kailey strode to Lacey’s car, anxious to get going and away from Rylan but trying to look more purposeful than actually running away. That was what he did, not her.

      Her breath hitched a little, surprising her, and she gulped, trying to shut down the flood of emotion. She wasn’t acting like herself. The Kailey she knew was able to let things roll off her like water off a duck’s back. She took things in stride, put them in perspective.

      That she couldn’t in this one particular instance bugged the hell out of her.

      “Hey, wait up!” Lacey’s quick steps sounded behind her and Kailey, almost to the car, slowed.

      Lacey was slightly out of breath. “Did someone light your tail on fire or what? And what was that whole deal with the bill, anyway?”

      “I’m sorry.” Kailey looked at Lacey and wanted to confide, yet held back. This was Rylan’s sister. Blood did run thicker than water, or so she’d heard. “I shouldn’t let it get to me so much.”

      “You really don’t like Ry, do you?” Lacey put her handbag over her shoulder and studied Kailey.

      It was probably the opposite—that she’d liked him too much. “It’s not that...” Her voice trailed off, unsure of how to explain.

      Over Lacey’s shoulder, she saw Quinn and Rylan hop into Quinn’s truck and pull away from the curb.

      She sighed. “How much do you know about Valentine’s Day?” Kailey asked her friend.

      Lacey grinned. “I know that as I was leaving with Quinn, you were leaving with Rylan.”

      That’s right. There’d been another, more successful, romance budding back in February. One that had ended with a far better result. “You went home with Quinn, and I had a romantic night at the Shady Pines Motel. With your brother.”

      Lacey blushed a little. “I know, I know,” she said, flapping her hand as Kailey lifted an eyebrow. “I asked.”

      “I won’t go into the gory details.” Kailey would spare Lacey that trauma. No one wanted to think of their brother that way! “But here’s the thing. I met Rylan at Christmas when he spent the holiday with your family. He’s a good-looking guy, Lace. Charming, too. I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t been interested. I’d been seeing someone off and on, but that had gone south in a big way. So when he was back less than two months later, and we were both at that Valentine’s Day dance...”

      “One thing led to another.”

      “It certainly did. It wasn’t something I’m in the habit of doing, either. I was more interested than I probably let on.” She gulped. It had sort of been...revenge sex. It just hadn’t been with someone random. She’d chosen. She’d chosen Ry.

      “He didn’t return the sentiment?”

      Kailey

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