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“Oh, he did. Kind of. He likes to hold me down, so I don’t
tend to do too much in the way of head banging.”

Bells’s blue eyes widened. “He likes to what?”

Kendall smirked. “You were telling a story?”

“You can’t distract me with good sex stories right now. My
brain is pudding.”

“Sounds like you have a good kiss story. So why are you so
mad at him?”

“I was getting to it.”

She didn’t mean to laugh at her friend, but Bells was a
little melodramatic sometimes. “Please, go on.”

“Anyway, there I was ready to do damage, and he lifts me right
off the chair and kisses me. Not just any kiss. The perfect kiss. The kind with
just the right amount of tongue and lips and heat. A kiss to friggin’ end all
kisses.”

“Sounds like my kind of kiss.”

“No, that’s not the kind of kiss I want from a man who just
puts me down like it didn’t matter one bit. Like he kisses every woman like
that.”

Kendall winced. “I’m sorry, Bells.”

Her best friend sagged against the door leading to the
porch. “I’ve kissed a lot of guys. Some have been almost there. Some I’ve even
thought knew how to kiss perfectly. But Kain leaves them all in the dust.”

“So what are you going to do about it?”

“Ignore him.”

“Belinda Grayson.”

“Hey, he’s going to get on his fancy jet and head back to
California. I don’t need bicoastal grief in my life.”

Kendall hugged her. “I’m sorry you had to find the killer
kiss in someone who’s not amazing enough to figure out it was magic.”

Bells shrugged and pulled back. “The only thing that sucks
is I can’t kiss anyone for a long time. They’re all going to pale in comparison
until I put it out of my mind.”

Bells was a serial dater. She didn’t often let it go beyond
a few steamy kisses, and she was a fountain of information about dating, but
she was rarely without male companionship.

“I feel like I should say I’m sorry again. He’s a friend of
mine.”

“I won’t hold it against you. Especially if you give me
details on the part about Shane holding you down.”

“What more do you need?”

“I’m usually too much of a control freak to let a guy hold
me down. I don’t know if that turns me on or if I’d freak out and deck the
guy.”

“I went with turned on. Triple time.”

Bells groaned. “You are a bad woman. Very bad, and I’m very
proud of you. But I gotta get out of here and shower off all the humanity that
manhandled me at New Year’s.”

“Happy New Year, Bells.”

“Ditto, Ken.”

After walking Bells to the door, she searched out her
mother. Lily was in a small circle of friends, so she just stopped in and
kissed her cheek and wished the group a Happy New Year.

She showed people out and collected keys from a few who were
well beyond the sober status. Luckily everyone found a ride home with friends
and neighbors.

When the final guest was tucked upstairs and Lily had gone
to find her bed, she changed into jeans and a sweater before she headed to the
workshop.

Expecting to find the guys sitting around one of Shane’s
tables, she was surprised to see the room was empty. She heard dull thuds and
followed the sounds to the back of the barn. Shane held the heavy canvas bag as
Kain pummeled it with vicious, bare-knuckled jabs.

Kain’s shirt was off, and sweat beaded on his skin,
sparkling under the bright three-quarter moon. His chest was smooth, and a
tribal tattoo covered one pec. She couldn’t catch the details in the dark, but
it was large, black, and detailed.

“Everything okay here?”

Shane turned around, holding the bag with his back. “Kain’s
had a rough week. Figured bloodying his knuckles would help a little bit.”

“Is it working?”

Kain increased his blows. “If you see Shane without a bruise
or fat lip by morning, it worked.”

“Is frustration part of this equation?” she asked sweetly.

Shane stumbled forward at the one-two combo. “Do you still
have an open room at the main house?”

“That’s what I came over to tell you. Kain can stay in the
Navy Room when he goes down for the count.”

“Thanks, babe.”

She frowned at Kain one last time and waved. Tired didn’t
even cover it. She was ready to pull her blankets up to her chin and blink out.

* * * *

The next morning was pure chaos. The Simmons family was
heading out, as were the older couple who had shown up midweek. Kain was gone
before she’d gotten up. His room was barely disturbed, but there was a
depression in the pillow to let her know he’d at least attempted sleep.

Not to mention an envelope with far too much money in it
inside her drop box at the main desk. Triple her nightly stay rate along with a
note telling her if she was going to be stubborn about the money, to send the
rest to charity.

She wasn’t quite as prideful as Shane and happily added it
to the receipts. The next few weeks would be light. People were recovering from
the holidays and didn’t have the extra money to stay at a B and B.

It was well after two by the time all the cars finally left.
She and her mother sagged to the kitchen table.

“Were there bribes on that Web site? How on earth did we get
so many people in here at the last minute?”

“That’s a very good question.” Kendall stood and pulled out
her laptop. She’d brought it down from her room days ago to check the site, but
their guests kept her so busy she hadn’t been able to actually open the stupid
thing.

“What’s the story with Kain and Bells?”

Kendall slid a glance at her mother. “Evidently he kissed
the stuffing out of her, and instead of enjoying the moment, Bells got pissed
off.”

“I would have enjoyed it.”

“Mom!”

“I’m not dead, Kendall. He’s hot.”

“Were you hanging out with Micah and Abby?”

Her mother chuckled. “Those girls reminded me of you and
Bells when you were younger.”

“We didn’t have that kind of eye candy.”

“No, but you both would chatter about rock stars and actors
with the same exuberance. Besides, you don’t need to do the big sighs. You have
your very own man now.”

Kendall shifted restlessly in her chair and focused on the
computer booting up. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“I’ve noticed this thing going on between you and Shane. So
has everyone else. And if I hadn’t known about it before, that kiss on New
Year’s set the entire town on fire.”

“Oh, for God’s sakes. Don’t people have other things to talk
about?”

“Not really.”

“It’s complicated.”

“I’m sure some of it isn’t.”

Kendall’s eyes widened. “Are you serious with this?”

Lily shrugged. “I’m here to talk if you need to.”

Relieved that her mother didn’t seem to have anything else to
add, she brought up the site. The entire top of the site was transformed into a
winter landscape that would do a Hallmark card proud. The angle of the picture
invited a visitor into the Web site, and the gallery showed all the new things
Shane had added as well as updated photos that were a helluva lot more high
quality than she’d been able to take with her camera.

The rest of the information lay untouched, but the few
changes were perfect. He really had come in and taken over in tiny ways. Not
enough for her or her mother to take notice, but on the whole he’d done nothing
but improve the Heron.

He’d also added links to travel sites that now had them
listed on their registries. That must have been how the Simmonses had found
them.

“Can I check my e-mail?”

Kendall nodded at her mother’s request and stood. “I’m going
to go find Shane.”

“Okay. I’m going to run a couple loads of laundry and relax.
We’ve got time before we have to pull all the rooms apart.”

Kendall went out the back door and across the lawn before
she noticed his truck was gone. Instead of returning inside, she brewed a mug
of coffee from his Keurig, touched to see her flavored coffees in his stack of
K-Cups, and brought it out to sit on the Adirondack chair.

She curled into an oversize blanket from the small chest
he’d built next to the pergola. The lake was too large to fully ice over, but
this part of the inlet was good for fishing. Petey, ever the opportunist,
swooped in and perched at the end of the dock. His blue and silvery feathers
ruffled a few times before he folded his massive wings against his back.

She wasn’t sure how long she was out there when she heard
booted footfalls.

Shane crouched next to her. “Nice to see you actually
sitting for a change.” He leaned in, and it felt natural to lose herself in his
sweet kiss. “At least the flavored crap you like tastes good this way.”

Chuckling, she held out her empty mug. “It would taste even
better with a refill.”

“Only because I want a cup too.”

She looked over her shoulder at his truly excellent
backside, then cuddled back into her blanket. He returned a few minutes later
and scooped her out of the chair. “Hey! I was all comfy.”

He sat back down with her on his lap, and she situated
herself, noticing the chair was indeed a little bigger than the average
Adirondack chair. Not quite big enough for two, but he must have had this in
mind when building it.

The warm glow she’d been riding since last night grew.

He set her mug in her hands, and both of them sat quietly.
She didn’t realize she’d been looking for this all her life.

Kendall dragged the two winterized loungers in next to the
swing and her favorite chair to tarp against the wind coming off the lake. The
forecast called for a hammer of a nor’easter, and she didn’t want them damaged
in the icy mix that was headed their way.

She heard the
pop
of tires over gravel and snapped her last bungee cord around the chairs,
securing them to the pergola. The truck wasn’t one she recognized. Shane was
out of town delivering the huge koa dining set he’d finally finished and
wouldn’t be back until morning.

“Hello?”

“Hi.” Kendall jogged to the end of the dock. “Can I help
you?”

The man held out his hand. Kind brown eyes smiled down at
her. “I’m Andrew Clark. A Shane Justice asked me to come out and survey the
land for an appraisal.”

The shock of his statement had her hand falling limply from
his grasp. The wind picked up, slapping a gust along her back. “Of course. I
didn’t know you were coming.”

“I actually wasn’t due to come until next week, but I was in
the area and hoped to get it out of the way if that was okay with you.”

“Sure.” It felt like she was talking through half-frozen
molasses. “Let me grab my jacket.” She walked woodenly to the main house. She
and Shane had been getting along so well. The last week had been a dream—loving
Shane through the night, both of them working on individual projects during the
day.

She’d even updated one of the bathrooms thanks to Kain’s
generous tip. There had been no more talk of selling the Heron.

“Kendall?” Her mother rushed forward. “What’s wrong?”

“I…I can’t talk about it. I have to go outside and take the
appraiser around the property.”

“Appraiser? What for?”

“Evidently Shane’s still interested in selling.”

Lily shook her head firmly. “No. He’s worked too hard on
everything to just sell it.
We’ve
worked too hard to sell it now.”

The numbness coated her chest and flowed out until all she
could think about was how cold she was. “I was wrong.” How could she have been
so clueless? She’d thought they were working toward building a life at the
Heron.

She’d told him she loved him.

But he hadn’t said it back, had he? He’d taken her in that
rough, possessive way that had been a part of Shane since they met. But he’d never
said the words.

Kendall took her Carhartt jacket off the peg and pulled on
her snow boots, gloves, and hat without thinking about matching. Just getting
warm. She forced on a smile and met Mr. Clark at the end of the driveway.

“Are you appraising the house as well?”

“No, just the land for now. Mr. Justice wanted to see what
the land was worth.”

“The property is worth
more than this entire operation, so you’re damn right I want to sell. I will be
selling.”

The memory of Shane’s words slapped at her.

“Right. Well, let’s go see the property line.”

“I have the town plans, but I need to make sure there are no
issues. I’ll take some soil and water samples for a few tests and walk the
property line.”

She nodded.

“You don’t need to come along if you have things to do.”

“No, that’s fine. I’d like to go with you.” She needed to
walk the paths and see for herself just what the Heron was worth. Since
obviously that was the only thing Shane really cared about.

She’d know every detail.

* * * *

Later that night, with her hands around her third cup of
tea, she stared out at the icicles forming off the eaves. The ice storm had
come in with a vengeance, encrusting the steps, the drive, the
dock—everything—in a hard shell of ice.

There was nothing to do but sit and wait for it to stop.

Mr. Clark had told her he would get back to them in a few
days with the information.

A few days to know what her heart was worth.

“Honey, come sit down.”

“I think I’m just going to go up and try to get some sleep.”

“You don’t know what Shane’s thinking. Wait until tomorrow
to think the worst of things.”

Wait until tomorrow? Her brain hadn’t stopped whirling since
the appraiser had shown up. “We have options. Maybe if we sell this place, we
can move out to Utah. It really was the most beautiful place I’d ever seen
besides Bradley.”

“Kendall…”

She turned to her mother and set her mug down. “We could
start over. Find a new place. Hell, the prices outside New York are amazingly
different. We could probably buy a bigger place for half the money in Utah.”