"Guess it was my cowboy hat." He laughed at Lauren's turn of phrase, realizing she'd never left her country roots behind. He guessed you could take the gal out of the country but not the country out of the gal. He was glad for a lot of reasons.

Lauren joined his laughter. "She latched on to Ruby's red one pretty quick."

"I do believe I'd better buy Hannah one of her own."

"I'll do that. We'll go shopping in Old Town."

"I'd like to surprise her." He realized in that moment how much he wanted to make Lauren's daughter happy because that'd make him happy, too. It was a new sensation, wanting to please a child, and it felt good.

"Really?"

"How often do I get to do something nice for a little girl?"

She chuckled as she smiled at him. "Stick with me, kid, and you can do it all the time."

He returned her smile, but for some reason he felt more sad than glad inside. Maybe he felt a little jealous, too. She had an adorable daughter. He had, well-herds of cattle and buffalo. Horses. Dogs. Cats. He'd been satisfied that his life was full enough till now. For some reason, he suddenly felt emptiness in his heart. And he didn't like it one bit.

"That's partly the reason I brought Hannah back to Wildcat Bluff."

"Why?"

"I didn't know how it'd work out, but I thought I'd give her a chance to be around friends, guys and gals, who'd help bring her out of her sh.e.l.l."

"Looks like your idea already started working fine."

"She adores Ruby. Now you."

"And she'll love Hedy once she has the chance to spend time with her." He set his tea to one side and leaned his elbows on top of the table. "You did the right thing bringing Hannah home."

"Thanks. I'm already encouraged by her response to this new environment." She set aside her gla.s.s, too. "I hate to ask this of you, but do you think you could spend a little time with her and maybe even show her a little about riding a horse?"

"Why would you hate to ask that of me?"

"Hannah can be a handful, and I know you're busy."

He clasped Lauren's wrist and felt the pulse beat strong, picking up speed as they stayed connected with that single touch. "I'd like nothing better than to spend time with you and Hannah."

"I'd like that. I know Hannah will, too."

"Good."

She pulled her hand away and quickly stood up. "Now I've taken up enough of your time. At the rate I'm going, you'll think I'm a clinging vine."

He simply sat there watching her, knowing she was feeling too dependent, maybe even cornered, and she wasn't used to it. He understood because he'd been on his own a long time, too. "It's okay to lean on others sometimes."

She walked over to the spring and cupped the water with one hand as it flowed out of the basin. "I'm starting over here. And there's just so much to do."

He got up, walked over to her, put his arms around her small waist, and felt her lean back against his chest just like the good old days. "You're not starting over. You're picking up where you left off."

"Good point."

"Bet you're tired." He stroked across her flat stomach, feeling her muscles respond to his touch. He kissed the top of her head, drawing in the flowery scent of her shampoo. She felt soft and strong and right in his arms. He squeezed, drawing her against him as he grew hot and hard. He wanted her in his bed right this moment. And yet she was a mother and a widow still mourning the loss of her great love. How could he presume to take the place of the perfect man in her life?

She twisted around in his arms and stroked his face with a hand still wet with springwater. "How could I be tired? You energize me. All the ideas and love and friendship that I've experienced this day have me stoked with excitement and hope and expectations."

He grinned, feeling his own energy and expectations rise with her words. When she tickled his dimples with her fingertip, he chuckled because she'd done the very same thing years ago.

"How many hearts have you slayed with your cute dimples?"

"They're not cute."

"Right. Manly dimples."

He laughed, remembering how they'd said those same words so long ago. "You're the only one who ever said they were cute."

She chuckled as she twined her arms around his shoulders and pulled him closer.

He splayed his hands across her back as he fitted her against the length of him, getting hotter and harder by the moment. "Tell me what you need." He heard the huskiness in his voice as his mind turned toward his king-size bed where he could satisfy both their needs.

"A horse. Barn. Equipment."

He appreciated her practicality, but he wanted her to want more. "That's all?"

"Not enough?"

"What about me?"

"Do you want to be on my list of needs?"

"What do you think?"

"Maybe it's time for your reward."

And that was it for him. He was burning up with his need for her. He clasped her with both hands and held her close so she knew in no uncertain terms how much he wanted to be on her to-do list.

When she pushed her fingers into his hair, drawing his head down, he didn't wait for a second invitation. He quickly covered her mouth, nibbling and licking across her plump, soft lips till she moaned and tugged at his hair for more. He delved into her mouth, tasting her sweetness with just the hint of tea, and groaned as he felt their heat catch fire.

He quickly picked her up and carried her to a chaise lounge where he gently set her down. When she held out her arms, he sat down and she tugged him on top of her. She felt so right, all soft and warm with the perfect amount of curves. How had he ever thought anyone could take her place?

When he eased over so they were lying on their sides facing each other, she lifted his T-shirt and ran her soft palms over the hard contours of his chest. He felt heat blaze almost out of control in the wake of her touch as she stroked down to the edge of his jeans. He groaned, knowing she couldn't go any farther or he'd lose complete control. But he could pleasure her-and give himself pleasure at the same time.

With one hand, he captured her wrists and raised her hands above her head so she was spread before him like the finest of feasts. He stroked her b.r.e.a.s.t.s through her T-shirt. She was bigger, more fully rounded, than she had been when she was younger. He thought motherhood and a little weight gain had simply added to her allure. He gently squeezed and was rewarded with a soft moan, so he raised her shirt and saw pink tips beneath a sheer white bra.

If he'd been hot before, now he was on fire with a l.u.s.t that had obviously lingered, gathering steam, for too many long years. He kissed each taut, rosy tip to a hard peak, savoring her sweet taste and the rasp of silken fabric with each stroke of his tongue. When she moaned again, he continued downward across the smoothness of her bare flesh, teasing and tormenting till he reached her delectable belly b.u.t.ton. He hesitated there, wondering how far she wanted him to go or if it was wise to tempt fate when everything had gone so well so far today. And yet, how could he resist the pa.s.sion that was urging him to stoke the flames into fire at the very heart of her?

He wasn't one to question his actions for long, not when he could feel Lauren's heat and smell her sweet scent. When she thrust her hips up toward him, he had the only answer he needed for action.

He quickly undid the b.u.t.ton of her jeans and zipped down to expose more of her tantalizing skin. Now nothing could stop him from giving her what she so obviously wanted, and what he craved, too. He stroked across her silky flesh with long fingers to the very core of her. He felt liquid heat, as if she were on fire from the inside out.

He swallowed hard to control his urgent need to possess her in every possible way. Yet this was about her, so he couldn't let his own desire run amuck and chance sending her spiraling away from him. He must be tender when he wanted to be tough. He must be sensitive to her when he wanted to think only about himself. He must remember love when he wanted unbridled l.u.s.t. Because this was Lauren, the first-and he was beginning to think the only-love of his life.

She moved restlessly against his hand, as if urging him to delve deeper and harder while he drove her senses into overload so that he could bring her to full and final completion.

"Kent, I need you," she whispered in a husky voice.

"I'm here." He didn't have the wit to say more, not with his mind lost in her lusciousness while his body ached to drive into her hot depths so that they became one in ecstasy.

He captured her mouth and thrust his tongue inside even as he thrust deep with his fingers below, t.i.tillating her sensitive flesh, reveling in her hot satin core, giving her everything he could give until she shuddered and moaned as she reached her own pinnacle of pleasure. And he drank in her pleasure as if it were his own.

He gave her a final kiss before he raised his head and looked at her flushed face in the soft light. She looked even more beautiful, if that were possible, as she rode her wave of pa.s.sion. And still he wanted, needed so much more from her. He took a deep breath to control his own growing urgency as he slid his palm back up her smooth stomach, treasuring the feel of her bare flesh as he started to zip up her jeans.

On a ragged breath, she stilled his hand with her own long fingers. "What about you?"

"Not tonight." He hated to say those words, but they were necessary. He glanced up at the house where Ruby and Hannah were probably asleep. Even so, he didn't want to put Lauren in an even more awkward position, particularly on her first day back. No matter what he wanted or needed, he could wait for the perfect moment. He quickly b.u.t.toned the waistband of her jeans, and then gently slipped her T-shirt back in place, noticing that his hands trembled with barely leashed desire.

She pressed a soft kiss to his lips. "What about your reward?"

"That was my reward, but I'll take a rain check for more." He smiled at her, wondering how she could think touching her wasn't a reward for him. After so long a time, she had quickly transported him back to those heady days when they'd made wishes on falling stars in the back of his pickup. He couldn't see the stars right now, but he knew they were there. And he wished on a falling star for Lauren's love again.

He quickly stood up, knowing he had to leave while his good intentions held sway. He held out his hand, she clasped his fingers, and he helped her to her feet. He didn't touch her except to respond to an irresistible urge to tuck a strand of honey-blond hair behind her ear.

"Stay here. I'll find my own way out." He sounded gruff and knew it, but he was on the far edge of control.

"That wouldn't be very polite of me."

"If I stay here a minute longer, I won't be able to leave." He took a few steps away, then turned back. "I'll call you tomorrow."

And he took off down the redbrick path as if he could outrun the fire that blazed inside him.

Chapter 17.

Lauren jumped to her feet, feeling a sudden loss much like the one she'd felt when her parents had taken her from Wildcat Bluff to Connecticut. In just a short time, Kent had made her feel so much that she'd thought lost or no longer relevant in her life. Maybe nothing with him was perfect or even in the cards, but she couldn't live with herself if she didn't reach out to him. She couldn't help but wonder if their feelings had lain dormant all these years just waiting for them to get back together.

She ran to catch up to him because he was covering ground with his long legs as if he was outrunning a fire. She grasped his elbow and tugged to stop him. Not that she had the physical strength to make him do anything he didn't want to do, so he had to be willing to respond to her. He turned to look at her, and she experienced the heat of his gaze like a live spark that could set her on fire. As she held on to him, she felt his muscles contract under her fingertips, as if he were exerting great control over his response to her.

"Just a minute." She forced the words out of a dry throat, suddenly feeling as if her brain had taken a hiatus. She didn't know quite how to reach him, not when he appeared h.e.l.l-bent on getting away. But she didn't want them to part with so little settled between them.

He placed a strong hand over her fingers and gently moved her hand away from his arm. "Lauren, I've got work tomorrow and you've got a daughter to see about." He spoke in a low, urgent, husky tone, as if forcing himself to say words that he didn't want to get past his lips. "We can pick up where we left off later."

She had no intention of taking no for an answer. She stood on tiptoe, wrapped her arms around his broad shoulders, and planted a kiss on his warm lips as she pressed against his hard chest.

"You're ruining my good intentions," he murmured as he cradled the back of her head with one hand. He wrapped a strong arm around her waist and hauled her abruptly against the long length of his body. He returned her kiss-hot, hard, hungry-and took them well past the point where they'd been before as he nipped and licked and tasted her as if she was the most delicious of candies.

She couldn't get enough of him either as she thrust deep into his mouth, warring as to who could get closer faster while their heat mingled, growing hotter as if they were swimming in legendary Tabasco sauce or paint-stripping chili. When he clasped her hips in both hands and pulled her against his hardness, she shivered from the chill that came from extraordinary heat.

A moment later, Kent's phone loudly played Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire." He dropped his hands and stepped back from her, breathing hard. "I've got to take this. Fire-rescue."

She nodded, understanding even if she didn't want critical work to destroy their time together. She slowed her breath as she tried to put her raging hormones in a box and nail shut the lid. She took a few steps toward the house to give him a little privacy.

"How bad?" Kent asked with urgency in his voice. "You mean that old barn on the McGuire place?"

Lauren shamelessly listened to his end of the conversation, but she couldn't have done much else since his voice was getting louder by the moment.

"Okay. I got you. I'm at Ruby's, so I'm close. I'll check out the situation and let you know what rigs we may need."

Lauren moved back to Kent, suddenly feeling alarmed at his words. "Fire?"

"You heard?"

She nodded, not even trying to pretend that she hadn't heard him.

"That was Hedy. Somebody drove by the old McGuire place and thought they saw a reddish glow."

"Folks aren't living there anymore, are they?"

"Right. The old farmhouse is long gone. If it's anything, it's got to be the barn. It's just down from here on Cougar Lane. I'll run over there and check it out."

"I'm coming with you."

He shook his head in denial. "There's no need. It's probably nothing, but-"

"Let's get going." She pulled her phone out of her pocket. "I'll let Ruby know. The McGuire place is too close for comfort."

"You've already helped more than anybody'd expect today."

"I'm not about to let all that high school training go to waste." She tried for a light tone, but her effort fell flat. "Besides, you may need a second pair of hands."

"True enough. But as soon as we see what's what, I'm bringing you right back here. I can call in volunteers."

She didn't say it, but she had no intention of being shoved to one side, not when she could help, and not when Hannah might be in danger. Instead, she headed around the side of the house and hit speed dial for Ruby.

"Lauren?" Ruby quickly answered her phone. "Is everything okay?"

"Not exactly. Kent got a call about a possible fire at the old McGuire farm. I'm going to tag along while he takes a look and see if I can help."

"That's not far away. I don't like it." Ruby said with unease in her voice.

"That's another reason I want to go and see for myself. Maybe it's nothing to worry about, but if the wind comes up and whips fire this way-"

"We'll be in real trouble," Ruby finished for her.