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Keeping her busy was a good idea. Especially with the level
of work he’d be doing. He didn’t have time to make sure she wasn’t getting into
any trouble. He nodded. “I get that. It’s a good plan.”

“Well, gee, thanks. I’m glad you approve.”

He pressed a kiss to her temple. “Don’t get all snarly.
Besides, you smell like hay and sunshine. I like it.”

Her eyes softened, and he cursed himself for wanting to
please her. Such a bad fucking idea. In less than ten days the reality of their
situation was going to kill the happy peace between them. He squeezed her hand
and stood. “Thanks for being my ten-minute break.”

A little frown line settled between her eyes before she
grinned up at him. “I’ll see you for dinner?”

He smoothed his palm along the back of his neck, missing her
touch already. “Not sure. We might be pulling a long shift today to get things
back on track.”

She nodded. “Okay. I’ll find you later.” She brushed past
him, and he snagged her wrist, hauling her back up against his chest. As usual
Kendall melted into him, gentling him where he forgot to be gentle.

He opened his eyes first and caught the sweet smile on her
upturned face. Dusky lashes rested against her sun-kissed cheeks and finally
fluttered open. She made him want to be easygoing. It was an alien feeling. He
tucked a stray tendril of hair around her ear. “Get out of here. You’re distracting
the men.”

Her smile widened. “I always wanted to be a distraction.”

If she only knew.

She slipped away, her hips swaying as she bounced out the
front doors into the sunshine. He stepped out of the stall to hear a long
whistle from a half dozen men. “All right, all right. That overtime isn’t going
to happen if I don’t see a dent in at least ten stalls. Move!”

There were a few grumbles but mostly snickers as hammering,
saws, and pops of compressed air filled the room. This he understood.

KENDALL HIKED UP through bronzing fields dry with fall and
the still-blazing heat of the sun. Utah hadn’t gotten the memo that it was
mid-November. Now that she was away from Shane, she tied the sleeves of her
overshirt around her hips and let the breeze cool her shoulders.

The man was so hard to read. He was wild and rough around
the edges, and each time he touched her she splintered into pieces. She didn’t
know when she’d ever felt more out of control and happy at the same time in her
entire life. Free to do her own thing, she’d found herself working harder than
when she was at the Heron.

But the backbreaking work cleared her mind. Evelyn Marsh was
the perfect outlet for the days that tumbled in front of her. Kendall jogged
the last few yard to the old stables and smiled when her new friend waved her
into the foaling section. Evelyn was a leggy brunette who was as coltish as her
charges. She was lean and sun roughened. Crinkles at the edges of her eyes
spoke of the outdoors, but Kendall couldn’t name Evelyn’s age to save her life.

She wasn’t young, but she was virile and powerful in a way
Kendall hoped to be someday.

“Come see my new baby.”

Kendall hooked her palm around the faded wood and peered
through the bars of the wrought-iron framework over the door. “Oh, Evelyn.”

“I know. Isn’t she just the most beautiful thing you ever
did see?” Evelyn knelt in the middle of a fresh spread of hay with a softly
snuffing mama horse. The mare had a deep blue-black coat. The new baby was
shaky but matched her mama in coloring save for a snowy slash of white down its
nose. “Her name’s Hannah.”

Kendall slowly crept in and lowered herself in front of the
spindle-legged baby. Hannah took a tumble, her hooves clunking together before
she righted herself and scampered back to her mother. Kendall jammed her
fingers between her knees and watched in awe as the mother nuzzled her baby.
“They’re beautiful.”

Evelyn crawled over to the mare and stroked her head.
“Callie did an amazing job.”

“When did she give birth?”

“Just last night.”

“And the baby’s already walking around?”

“Yep. Horses don’t crawl. Hannah will be clumsy for a bit,
but she’ll be running around the paddock by tomorrow.”

Amazed, Kendall fell back onto her booted heels. “So fast.”

“As cyclical as everything is on a farm, one thing moves at
lightning speed—change.” Evelyn stood and slapped her hands on her knees to
dust off the hay. “My, don’t you have a blush in your cheeks. Somehow I don’t
think that’s from just being outside.”

“It is pretty hot.”

Evelyn hooked her arm into Kendall’s. “You’ve got sex eyes.”

“I do not.”

Evelyn laughed. “You do. And that quick response says to me
that you definitely had it or almost had it.” She grabbed her hat off the post
outside the stall. “Or you just enjoyed a little whisker burn with your visit
to the new stables.”

Kendall swiped her hand over her face with a wince. “Is it
that obvious?”

Evelyn shrugged. “Either you found yourself a randy cowboy
at the stables—which isn’t hard—or you went and saw your little boy toy.”

“I don’t have a—”

“Everyone’s buzzing about Shane Justice. I saw you two roll
in together this morning. I get the feeling that you aren’t quite
boyfriend/girlfriend, but you’re not strangers either.”

Confused, she peered up at her. “How…”

“That man watches you like you’re a steak and a hot fudge
sundae wrapped up in a silky bow.” Evelyn sighed. “I remember when Doyle used
to look at me like that.”

Dumbfounded, Kendall followed her out of the barn. “You and
Will?”

“We scratched the itch sometimes. After his wife died, he
wasn’t all fired up to do much more than lose a few random hours in the middle
of the night. It suited me until it didn’t.”

They walked in companionable silence. Was that all she and
Shane would be? Random hours that filled the time until New York? That was all
she wanted. All she was supposed to want. But after last night’s weirdness, she
didn’t know. Even if she’d hopped on his lap easily enough a few minutes ago.

She found herself wanting to share the Heron with him. Instead
of just telling him about her favorite spots, she wanted to show them to him.
She wanted to see him there on her dock and look out on the water with his warm
chest at her back.

Which was stupid. He’d probably want to sell and wash his
hands of her. There was so much she wanted to do with it, but the only steady
customers she had were fishermen. And she couldn’t turn them away, or she’d be
out of business in a month.

She’d blocked out the reality of her situation for days now.
She was so afraid the B and B would be gone and so would he. Maybe if she kept
talking it up, she could convince him to see the Heron like she did.

And just maybe he’d see the bed-and-breakfast as something
more than a moneymaker that would fetch them the highest dollar for a sale.

Evelyn’s voice gentled. “I’m not sure what’s going on in
that head of yours, but I’ll give you a piece of unsolicited advice.”

“Lay it on me.”

“Good sex can color the whole world in sparkles and fairy
dust. Wait until the sparkle fades before you own up to love and babies and
forever. Sometimes the fairy dust is just a good orgasm.”

“I must be covered in fairy dust.”

Evelyn guffawed and slapped her back. “From head to toe,
kid.”

Kendall slammed the lid on the box again. It wasn’t time to
take New York out of its box and look at it too closely yet. “I think I’m going
to enjoy my Tinker Bell status for a bit.”

“I don’t blame you. I’ve seen your boy, and he looks like
he’d be very good with the, um…fairy dust.”

Kendall’s lips twitched. “He’d kill me if he heard the
analogy.”

“I have a feeling you know your way around his growly
nature.”

For some things she did. And other ways, she wasn’t sure how
she’d ever reach him.

Kendall flexed her tight shoulders and slammed a hook into each
end of the hay bale so she could load it into the large cart. She sawed down
the sides until the straps snapped and loosened the whorls of golden straw. She
repeated the process six more times until she had a massive pile ready for the
yearlings and colts. She hopped into the little tractor and slapped it into
gear.

Day three and she was finally getting the hang of her small
chores. She hadn’t been delegated to mucking out the stalls, but she had a
feeling that had more to do with Shane’s station in the pecking order this week
than anything she was doing on Doyle’s horse farm.

She hadn’t seen Shane for more than a few minutes in the
evening before he poured himself into the shower and bed, returning at daybreak
to do it all over again. Most nights he stayed down at the barracks with the
other workers, checking in on her between whatever projects he was working on.

Keeping busy had been the deal of the day for her since the
first night. She understood that he wanted to wrap up the job as quickly as
possible, but with each day that passed, it was becoming clearer that her
fantasy was falling apart. She avoided her mother’s calls and didn’t have it in
her to talk to Bells about her situation.

She worked herself into exhaustion just so she didn’t have
to analyze whatever it was between her and Shane. Cross-country sexathon,
fling, or was it more? She couldn’t lie to herself anymore.

It was more for her.

Was she deluding herself? They’d known each other for little
more than a week, and already she felt more for him than she had any other man
in her life. Was it just fairy dust like Evelyn said, or was it that
once-in-a-lifetime connection that everyone looked for?

She dumped the feeding station into the middle of the
pasture and waved to Evelyn, who was putting Porthos through his paces. Besides
the baby foal, Porthos was her favorite horse. The ring created in the paddock
was filled with jumping fences and agility barrels. She hooked her arms over
the sun-bleached fence around the perimeter.

This was her favorite part of the day. With three days under
her belt, she still marveled at the horses’ grace and beauty. Not to mention
she had a healthy respect for the fact that most of them towered over her.

“Beautiful, aren’t they?” A man’s voice came from over her
shoulder.

Kendall smiled. “He’s going to be one helluva show horse.”

The man leaned against the post and definitely hadn’t gotten
the memo about invading a woman’s personal space. “I can show you how to ride.”

She kept her smile in place but focused her attention on
Evelyn and the barrels she raced around. “Evelyn already gave me a few
lessons.”

“Ah. She’s a damn good rider. I could take you for a ride
out to the meadow, maybe have some lunch. I’m Lon Mackie, by the way.”

“No, thanks.” She gave him a sideways glance. “You’re on
Shane’s crew, aren’t you?”

“Yes.”

“Thought so.” And she’d seen him watching her when she went
in to visit Shane during her midday break. “I’m sure Shane keeps you too busy
for a picnic.”

“Work is never more important than a pretty girl.”

Kendall arched her brow. “I’m sure another woman would be
very happy to hear that.”

“But not you?”

She jumped down from the fence. “Not me.” She peered up at
the tall man. He was still handsome, but she had a feeling he’d been truly
devastating before ten years of liquor and cigarettes had done their damage.
There were dozens of Lons in Bradley.

“I’m entitled to an hour off with the overtime I’ve been
putting in.”

“And I’m sure you can find someone to do that with.”

He leaned in again, and she took a step back. “Slim pickings
around here.”

She shielded her eyes and squinted up at him. “Oh, yeah?
That makes me want to go all the more.”

“Now, I didn’t mean it like that, Kendall. I can call you
Kendall, right?”

She ducked under the rail and glanced over her shoulder.
“It’s very sweet of you to ask, but I’m not interested.”

“I’m not good enough for you, city girl?”

She stopped and stared. “I’m sort of with someone, Mr.
Mackie.”

“
Sort of
means
you’re available. And call me Lon.”

There’d been no talk of exclusivity with Shane, and yet just
the idea of him with someone else made her stomach churn. “I…”

“Come on, what could it hurt? I know how to have fun, unlike
that uptight—” He shrugged and gave her a lopsided smile. “Let’s just say I’m a
helluva lot more fun. We could go out after my shift is over. We may be working
overtime, but I don’t have to be here all night.”

“No, thanks, really.”

“It’s not just me. You gotta be bored staying at the big
house. There’s a bunch of us that go out. You don’t have to worry about me. I’m
harmless.”

About as harmless as bees around a hive. He had his heels
dug in, and it was easier to make him think her answer was maybe. “I’ll think
about it.”

His blue eyes sparkled. “Great. That’s all I’m asking. We’ll
be at Starrla’s on Main Street.”

“All right.”

“Great. Don’t forget now.”

“I won’t.” She strode along the edges of the ring to stay
out of the way, waving to Evelyn to let her know she was in the paddock. “See
you later, Lon.”

Fielding the attentions of the men on Shane’s crew was
getting to be a full-time job. And Shane was far too busy to notice. She knew
how to walk the line between friendly and showing interest. Lon might require
her rude card if he got any more aggressive. She didn’t like to pull that out
unless it was absolutely necessary.

Evelyn patted Porthos’s neck and grinned down at her. “Lon
sniffing around?”

“Like I’m in heat, for heaven’s sake.”

“Well, as far as he’s concerned, you are. He’s persistent.
Harmless but persistent.”

Porthos snuffed at Kendall’s shoulder, nibbling on her
ponytail until she tucked it up on top of her head. “I keep telling you I’m not
food.”