by Sheila Kell
“May I have this dance?”
It took Kelly a moment to realize the words had been spoken to her. Turning, she saw Trent standing with his hand outstretched to her. Glancing nervously at Mike for a moment, not wanting to offend his son’s memory, she shook her head at Trent. It wouldn’t do to show her desire for this man while she’d agreed to marry another. It was too soon.
“Go on, Kelly,” Mike said loud enough for her to hear over the music that had started playing.
The twang of the guitar sounded, and the male singer began a song of unrequited love. How appropriate.
“It’ll be good for the baby,” Mike added.
She couldn’t see how that would be the case, but with Mike’s blessing, she stood and met Trent. With his hand resting on the small of her back and sending erotic tingling sensations throughout her body, she didn’t know how she’d handle the dance. Had she paid more attention to the music and noticed it was a two-step before, she’d definitely have said no. The last thing she needed was his hands on her, burning memories into her skin.
“Do you know how to two-step?” she asked Trent, hopeful he didn’t so she could gracefully back out of the dance.
Smiling, he held out his arms for her to step into for proper positioning. “I wouldn’t have asked if I didn’t.”
Taking the leap—so to speak—she slid one hand in his and put her other hand on his shoulder as he guided her closer. Too close for public as far as she was concerned. But, she didn’t say anything.
They stepped off in time with the music. Trent winked, and longing shot to her core. “Relax, Kelly. It’s just a dance.”
Just a dance? Was he out of his ever-loving mind? Intimacy would be a more appropriate term. Then it hit her, he didn’t see it that way, just like he didn’t always want her like she wanted him. Her dinner turned in her stomach.
“Are you going to see your parents soon?” he asked as he slid her along the dance floor with his steps.
“Are you going to show me your back soon?” she countered then immediately felt contrite when his expression fell into what appeared to be pain and hurt. What the hell was wrong with her snapping at him like that over something so serious? It’d been his question about her parents, but still… he hadn’t deserved that. If he’d wanted to talk to her about it, then he would’ve. She had to remember that Jamie still existed in his heart. That woman had known… had seen… had been there with him. “I’m sorry.”
His gaze left her face and moved over her shoulder. “Don’t be.”
No. Enough of his hiding. She wanted their full relationship back, and then some. “You used to share everything with me.” He turned her in time with the music. “At least I thought you did. But you didn’t with being hurt.” Sighing, she continued, “I wanted to be there for you.” Not Jamie, she wanted to say aloud. “But I understand you fell in love and had someone else to share with.”
Trent stopped them on the dance floor, and another couple bumped into them, pushing her closer to him and her belly bounced off his. After he gave the couple a nasty glare, they moved around her and Trent.
“What are you talking about?” he demanded, his hand tightening on hers. The gentleness of the touch had disappeared. She didn’t think he meant to hurt her, but she’d definitely struck a nerve.
Oh shit. Another thing he hadn’t wanted to share with her. His being in love with someone else. When had things gone so off-kilter for them? When Jamie had come along. That’s when. She couldn’t begrudge Trent falling in love; she only wished it’d been with her. Realizing they were garnering too much attention standing as they were, she said, “Trent, we need to move or get off the dance floor.”
As if just realizing where they were, Trent began to two-step with her again, scooting her backward into the small throng. “Now, what are you talking about?” he said as if they hadn’t just created a small traffic jam on the dance floor.
“You—” She swallowed hard past the lump in her throat. Confronting this had to happen, even though she hadn’t expected it to be in the middle of a bunch of strangers. “You fell in love with the nurse, Jamie, and took her with you.” She paused. “I’m so sorry for your loss.”
Kelly counted the steps before Trent spoke—they were in double digits—because she didn’t know what else to say at this point. What follow up was there to that type of statement? She figured asking if he could find himself falling in love with her also in poor taste, so she bit her tongue to keep quiet until he was ready to speak.
His Adam’s apple bobbed before he spoke. “I wasn’t in love with Jamie.”
Needing to focus on keeping her feet moving, elation washed through Kelly’s system. “Oh,” was all she could muster even though she wanted to dance a jig. That meant Trent’s heart was free. Maybe she could make it hers one day. Just maybe.
“What gave you such an idea?” He guided her in a turn.
“Oh,” she said again, almost unsure how to phrase the words even though they’d been on her mind for months now. “Well, you took her with you when you wouldn’t share with anyone else. I just assumed….”
“Kelly,” he said, looking deeply in her eyes and somehow avoiding a collision from a possibly drunken patron, “I had a lot of shit to deal with and Jamie was dying. It wasn’t planned. There was no love. We just took off together to lick our wounds.” Glancing back up at the dance floor, then back to her, he said, “I thought of you every day.”
Her heart expanded in her chest, and she thought it’d burst from joy. “But—”
“I couldn’t offload those problems on you. I still can’t—”
“Yes you can,” she rushed out before he could finish speaking.
Laughing, he lifted her hand and twirled her like a ballerina on the last notes of the song. “Maybe one day,” she heard him say softly.
Back at the table, she’d forgotten Mike and what he might think, and guilt slipped through her at how close she’d allowed Trent to hold her. However, the man’s smile confused her. Maybe he didn’t notice and his happiness was because she was there with his granddaughter.
Before she had time to figure it out, AJ stood. “Teach me how, Kelly?”
Shocked, she imagined the surprise brightened her face. “You want me to teach you to two-step?”
Nodding and grinning, AJ said, “Yep.”
With a laugh, she accepted his hand and wished she’d worn boots to protect her feet. Megan had told her once that AJ, while graceful in what he did for a living, had two left feet on the dance floor.
As AJ tortured her feet learning to two-step, all Kelly kept thinking of was that Trent’s heart wasn’t taken.
I still have a chance.
TIME TO PONY up. Odd expression, but Trent had heard Mike use it and he liked it. After Kelly’s almost plea for him to share while they’d danced, he decided it was time to start. She couldn’t run from him here, so if his back disgusted her, he could work to help her deal with it. Or, he could live his life with a broken heart and spirit if she, of all people, turned him away.
As a friend, she’d never do that to him. She’d stand by him no matter what. But, as a lover, she might not want to be near him, and that had his mind in a tailspin. If it grossed her out too much to touch him, to be with him, that would crush him.
Part of him still couldn’t believe he’d never noticed he felt so deeply for her until this obstacle stood in their paths. Of course, there was still the “in love” thing. That was secondary to this because if she couldn’t overcome his grotesqueness, then he wouldn’t have his heart ripped to shreds.
And what of Mike? Trent shouldn’t worry about the man, but when Kelly had been teaching AJ to dance—no, how to injure her feet—Mike had slid down close to him and confided that Kelly liked Trent much closer than as a friend.
When Matt scoffed, it became apparent he’d been eavesdropping as their voices had risen to normal levels. Even the music in the background hadn’t hampered his hearing. Damn former SEAL.<
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Mike didn’t know it, but Trent loved Kelly and could love her enough for a lifetime. And if they married, surely he’d fall in love with her along the way and then she’d be happy. How did he convince her of that, though? A woman’s mind was tough enough to figure out; add in a pregnancy and he was more than stumped.
Jolted out of his thoughts, he bounced around in the back seat of the truck, he, Matt, AJ, and Kelly had taken to scope out the land. He yelled at Matt, “Slow the fuck down! Kelly’s pregnant, remember?” Looking over at her, sitting beside him, with her death grip on the oh-shit handle, his gut clenched for her safety.
Slowing, Matt said, “Sorry, Kelly, that hole was deeper than I thought.”
“It’s okay,” she said, seemingly unbothered by the jostling of the truck.
They continued along the road made from years of vehicles using the route, amidst some of the most beautiful scenery he’d experienced. The snow-capped mountains, lakes, and forests were brilliant enough to take his breath away.
To their right, a buck—at least a ten-point—stepped from the thin woods with a doe and two fawns behind it. Ignoring them driving by, the adult deer made tracks in the slushy mud left over from the last snow while the fawns played around, jumping at each other, one sliding until it regained its balance.
Passing a few of the ranch hands—which Em had been checking out for them with some assistance from Devon who was splitting his focus—the men tipped their cowboy hats at them as they drove by the few cattle they’d been wrangling.
It’d been intriguing to learn how much work went into this ranch. Mike had said it was small compared to so many others. The horse breeding was Mike’s pride and joy, and Kelly seemed to favor it also. Mike had been shrinking his cattle herd the past couple of years, which might be why Brian thought they needed to bring in more business. He sighed. They’d never know.
“What are those caves?” AJ pointed up to the right.
“Nothing,” Kelly answered. “We played there as kids pretending to find hidden pirate treasure or Big Foot.” She laughed, and he loved the sound and the idea of her childhood playing in such a place.
Trent turned to her. “And did you?”
“Find Big Foot? No. But we always found something cool in the caves.” She pouted then laughed. “No pirate treasure, though.”
“Do you think these were mines back in the day?” Matt asked her.
Shrugging, she bit her lip in thought. “I couldn’t tell you. I’m sure Mike would know.”
They’d been riding for a couple of hours, and with the lay of the land, they could be out several more and still not see it all. Trent touched Matt on the shoulder. “I think we’ve seen more than enough. We can turn around.”
“Looks like Devon was right. Except for this—at two hours away—there’s nothing close to the house for any threats to hide behind unless they get close enough to the outbuildings. Someone should see them before then,” AJ informed them.
“I wonder if anyone would even follow me,” Kelly said.
With brows knitted together in a low V, Trent looked at her. “What do you mean?”
“Well, if they think I knew something—something that was in the paperwork—and hadn’t wanted me to tell Mike, then it’s too late as far as they know. I mean, they don’t know that I didn’t read anything.”
“That’s assuming it was something in the paperwork that was the problem,” Trent countered, even though he’d bet his life that was the case.
“Oh, you know it was as well as I do. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have taken such care to steal it.”
Trent sighed, knowing they’d never get anything by her. From what he’d learned, AJ had the same problem with Megan. “We figured that it has to do with the ranch, if that was what Brian’s business was in B-More. We just don’t know what his business happened to be.”
“He didn’t tell Mike?” Kelly asked.
Shaking his head, Trent responded, “No.”
“Oh, I was convinced Mike would have the answers.” Disappointment laced her voice, and it struck him how vulnerable she must be in all of this. But, you’d never know it with the strength she exuded. Knowing someone might be trying to kill him would definitely fuck up his equilibrium on sanity. It already had with her being a possible target.
A ting, ting, ting sounded—metal ricocheting and piercing metal—and Matt yelled, “Get down!” while gunning the engine.
Fuck! Someone had shot at them.
Heart pounding with adrenaline, he slid over, grabbed Kelly around the waist, and pulled her down on the seat, as far as her belly would allow, then covered her. “Get us the fuck out of here!” he bellowed. They had to get Kelly to safety.
“Like you have to fucking tell me to do that,” Matt yelled back.
The truck swerved, and Trent held on tight. This time he didn’t complain about the bumpiness of their ride. If it got to be too much, Kelly would say something. She’d never allow her baby to be hurt. Yet, that was what he’d just done—given someone an opportunity to hurt her or the baby.
Expecting a threat this far away from the house hadn’t occurred to them. With it being more than two hours away, he’d like to say it was an opportunity shooting, but since it happened on Platt land, the incident took it to a whole new level. Kelly might not have been the target, but he wouldn’t wait around to find out any different.
“Are you okay?” he whispered in her ear.
“I need to pee,” she replied, and he bit back a smile. With this pregnancy, she always needed to pee.
“Can you wait?” He hoped she could because they weren’t planning to stop right then so she could drop her drawers and squat.
She sighed. “Yes, if I must.”
Despite the situation at hand, a laugh burst out at the way she’d said her resigned words.
“Keep it up, Trent McKenzie,” she said, “and I’ll show you crazy pregnant lady.”
“Bring it on, sweetheart.” He smiled and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. “Bring it on.”
“You can probably sit up now,” AJ said. “We’re a good way away, and no one followed us.”
Leaning back in his seat, Trent nodded, then reached for Kelly before she scooted away. Taking her hand in his, he laced his fingers in hers and set it in the narrow space between them thinking only of not being able to be parted from her yet. Her touch and nearness were necessary. “Thanks,” he said to his brothers. “Did you see anything?”
AJ shook his head. “Nope. They were in the tree line, and I didn’t want to shoot without a target just in case there were innocents or wildlife nearby.”
Nodding, Trent agreed with that. He’d have done the same even though the bastards could’ve hit Kelly. “I’m pretty sure Mike won’t be happy about his truck.”
“I’m just glad he didn’t put us on horses like he’d wanted,” Matt added with the mood lightening at pushing the topic off the shooting itself in a silent agreement to wait until Kelly wasn’t with them.
Trent raised their joined hands and kissed the back of hers. “We have Kelly to thank for that. If she hadn’t wanted to go with us, we might’ve been on horseback. Although, we also might not have been this far away.”
“What do you think they were doing there? Seems an odd place to wait just in case someone came along?” Kelly asked, bringing them back to the hot topic.
He needed to give her something, to make her feel safe enough. “Oh, I don’t think they were waiting in case someone came along. I think they were prepared in case someone came along.” Trent squeezed her hand. “I think it’s time someone spoke with our oil guy and made sure no one is testing the soil here without Mike’s knowledge.”
IT’D TAKEN THE remainder of the afternoon for Trent’s heart to stop pounding with worry over Kelly’s safety. The men had agreed that while it could possibly be connected, none believed the man who’d shot at them waited on the off-chance that Kelly traveled two hours away from the ranch. It hadn’t mattered.
Kelly had been in danger, and there’d been nothing he could do about it but rely on his brothers to get her safely away.
Devon, thank the fuck, made himself available to check into the buyers and ex-employees for them. Trent just prayed nothing else happened with Rylee that would take his focus away. It could be a serious problem in the future since Rylee had joined HIS as a team member. From what he’d learned from Matt and AJ, Devon’s level-headedness flew out the window at signs of trouble with her even though everyone—including Devon—knew she could hold her own. He’d have to get his head on straight, like Jesse had with Kate, and trust his woman to do her job so he could do his.
Then again, Trent had a feeling he’d be the same if the roles were reversed. Whether she could hold her own or not, he didn’t want Kelly in a dangerous situation without him protecting her. Call it caveman, or whatever, it was what it was. He didn’t see himself changing so he’d give Devon leeway for a while.
He owed Kelly an explanation of what had happened after the explosion that had put him into a tailspin, but there hadn’t been a good time to speak with her about it. He’d finally share, but fully admitted he was still a bit chickenshit in many ways about discussing his back. Shutting her out at the onset had been born out of his desire to just die instead of live, and he hadn’t been able to face her. He’d failed miserably. Sure, he’d saved Amber, but he hadn’t saved Les. Then, when he’d realized that no matter his wish that he had survived, it had turned into his not wanting her to turn away in disgust at his disfigurement. He’d never wanted to lose Kelly. That should have told him something a long time ago.
With his weapon beside the T-shirt on the nightstand, he slid under the sheet and pulled it and the heavy blankets up his chest. Clasping his hands behind his head, he stared up at the ceiling but didn’t really see it. Emptiness filled him, and he felt alone without Kelly by his side. Many times he’d held her at night, generally after a bad breakup or sad news from home, but none had meant the same as when he’d made love to her. While it’d been brief, it was something he knew he wanted—no, needed—to do again. Being inside her had been what he expected heaven to be like. Holding her all night had him feeling complete… satisfied, and as if he’d found his way home.
