The Cowboy's Homecoming. Donna Alward

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СКАЧАТЬ 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 looked her friend straight in the eye. “Maybe we can finish this conversation in the car? Away from public consumption?”

      At Lacey’s nod, they got inside the little sedan. Kailey turned in the passenger seat and faced her friend. She had to be honest here, even if Rylan was Lacey’s baby brother.

      “Okay,” she continued. “When I woke up, he’d taken his things and checked out. His truck was gone...it was like he had never been there.”

      Now Lacey frowned, a wrinkle forming between her perfectly groomed eyebrows. “He ran?”

      “Like he couldn’t get away fast enough. And he hadn’t left enough cash with the room key, so I had to pay the difference.”

      It had been the singularly most humiliating moment of her life. If he’d hung around, she might have been able to avoid going to the office and seeing Lyle Tucker behind the desk. The small smirk on his face had only added insult to injury as far as Kailey was concerned. It was enough to turn her off romance for a good long while.

      “Oh, ouch,” Lacey said, frowning. “Hey, I love Ry. He’s my brother. But that was pretty crappy behavior.”

      “Yeah, it was.” Kailey sighed. “And I know I should get over myself and just...I don’t know, put it behind me. Not let it get to me.”

      Lacey looked far too hopeful for Kailey’s liking. “Could it be you still care for him?”

      There was a very real chance of that, but Kailey would never admit to it. “I barely know him,” she replied. “And I’m very aware of how that makes me sound considering what we shared.” And what they hadn’t shared. Her shoulders slumped. “I made a mistake, that’s all. And I’m trying, really I am. We were chatting about the stock and stuff and doing fine until he insisted on paying the bill.” She sent Lacey a sheepish half smile. “I’m afraid it set me off, since he stiffed the motel, you know?”

      “Maybe if you just talk to him—”

      Kailey cut her off before she could finish the sentence. “No way. What’s done is done. It’ll be fine. I just need to put on my big-girl panties.”

      Lacey laughed. “Well, if it makes you feel any better, Duke is Quinn’s best man. You won’t be paired up for the day or anything.”

      It didn’t. Because that was just for the ceremony, and maybe a few pictures. The rest of the night Duke and Carrie would be pasted together. And Kailey, the maid of honor, would be the old maid of the group.

      Ugh.

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