One Taste

by Cari Quinn

  Doyle wandered to the tack boxes he’d built out of leftover pine and materials. He’d built ten to be shared between the twenty stalls.

  It felt like his stamp was finally on something lasting. He’d crafted buildings for use. Office buildings and houses were built to someone else’s specifications. He’d made them look exactly like what the blueprints had called for. Nothing of him remained besides a solid structure.

  And for a long time that was enough. But he wanted more. He wanted to leave a mark. Had it taken losing Larry to realize that? He’d been adopted into his name, into his business, into his family, but Shane had never really made anything that was just him. Not until he’d toyed with his furniture business on the side.

  Not until now, when he’d had the urge to leave something of himself behind. Ever since he’d started this job, things had felt just a little bit off. He and Kendall were out of sync, and he wasn’t quite sure how to get them back on track. And if he was going to have a sleepless night, at least it would include something that soothed him. Woodworking had always soothed him. Now he had Kendall to add to that list.

  The fact that it was a painfully short list was starting to bother him.

  Doyle returned to stand in front of him. “You can be sure that I’ll be the envy of every horseman in the area. I have you to thank for that.”

  “You had the perfect setup. All I did was finalize the work.”

  “You did much more than that, but we won’t get all mushy about it.” Doyle handed him an envelope.

  Shane tucked it into his back pocket without looking at the amount. He held out his hand. “It’s been a pleasure.”

  Doyle shook it. “If you ever need anything, you have but to ask.”

  Shane smiled. “I’ll remember that, sir.”

  “Are you sure you won’t stay for dinner before you get on the road?”

  Shane looked back at Kendall one last time. “We need to get to New York. She’s been gone too long.” And he was anxious to get on with living and finding something permanent.

  “Takes a brave man to uproot everything and follow a woman.”

  It would take far too much time to explain their crazy situation. “We’re partners,” he said instead. It felt right to say that and mean it for the first time.

  “Well, how about I have Lucinda make you up a basket. At least you can refill when you’re on the road.”

  “I’d appreciate that.”

  Doyle clapped him on the shoulder. “Good luck, son.”

  “Thanks. I think I’m going to need it.”

  Doyle’s mustache fluttered with a gusty laugh. “I think you’re right.”

  Shane followed the women’s voices and paused. It struck him at the oddest times how much he was drawn to her. She was beautiful, there was no doubt about that, but he’d gone out with plenty of beautiful women. None of them reached under his breastbone and shoved his heart up into his throat like Kendall did.

  Half the time he couldn’t talk around that fucking lump. The rest of the time he just wanted her mouth on his. Her skin against his mouth and that throaty hum of satisfaction she made filling the air. It had been days since he’d touched her.

  And he couldn’t even explain why. Sure he was busy, but on the downtimes, he’d lost himself in woodworking until he was too blurry to see the numbers on a measuring tape. His body ached for her, and his brain was in overdrive. The endgame of New York was more like a beacon of the future now. And he didn’t know how he felt about that.

  Was he just trading one life for another? Did he really want to mold himself around another person’s dream again? When he’d first learned about the Heron, he’d been hell-bent on figuring out a way to get out from under the partnership.

  Now…he didn’t know what he was feeling.

  When Kendall was near him, all he could think about was keeping her right there with him. That was the only thing he seemed to be able to define. He wanted Kendall.

  He walked up to the women, invading Kendall’s space to see what she’d do in front of someone else. She slid herself into his body, locking into that perfect puzzle-piece snap they seemed to do unconsciously.

  He looped his arm around her hip. “Almost ready to go?”

  “We just need to pack up our things.”

  “I’m all packed. My bags are at the main house.”

  “I’m going to miss you, kiddo. You were a better stable hand than half of my staff,” Evelyn said.

  Kendall lit up, her smile wide and sparkling. Even beamed at someone else, he felt the punch. He curled his fingers into her soft corduroy pants. She dropped her hand behind her and squeezed his thigh briefly before stepping forward to embrace the older woman.

  “I can’t thank you enough for teaching me all about the horses. The minute I can afford one, I’ll be adding one to my roster of animals.”

  Surprised, he lifted an eyebrow. “Just how many animals do you have?”

  Kendall grinned up at him. “It’s quite the assortment of dogs, cats, and we even have a den of foxes that has made themselves at home. Not to mention the herons all over the marshy part of the lake.”

  “Those aren’t exactly pets.”

  “You tell that to Pete.” She laughed when his eyebrow spiked. “Pete’s been around so long I don’t even know how old he is. He’s the reason I named the B and B the Heron.”

  “Huh.”

  She turned to Evelyn. “I’ve got your e-mail, phone number, and address. We’ll keep in touch.”

  “You damn well better. I don’t like to talk to most of the people around here. You, I like.”

  “The feeling is entirely mutual.”

  Kendall slid her hand into his, and they walked companionably into the waning sunshine. It might feel like it was a mild fall day, but in reality, November was creeping away, and the days were much shorter. She leaned into him, stopping to look out on the fields.

  “I’m going to miss this place.”

  Shane drew her in front of him. The air was crisp and fresh, and the sweet scent of hay and sawdust eased him. “I will too.” He rubbed his chin over the top of her head. “Got a view like this in New York?”

  She sighed. “It’s not so gold. The Adirondacks are alive with all sorts of autumnal colors. Where I am tends to bring in the purples and deep reds to add to the cool colors of the evergreens. And the mountains are right in my backyard.”

  He settled his hand on her shoulder and rubbed light circles along her nape. “Sounds beautiful.”

  “It really is.”

  Before he could question her more about Winchester Falls, she turned and grabbed his hand, drawing him forward. “I think we should find a shady spot a few miles away so I can get reacquainted with the truck.”

  “The truck, huh?”

  “Of course, the truck.” She grinned over her shoulder and took off in a loping sprint. He let her get ahead, enjoying her athletic grace before he jogged after her. The trill of her happy laugh filled the air as the sun set on the horizon.

  Shane loaded the last of their bags in the truck bed and a box of sandwiches and drinks in the small compartment behind their seat. Kendall had stayed at the house more than he did, so her good-byes took longer as she enveloped half a dozen women into individual hugs.

  Christ, she hadn’t hugged him as much as these near strangers were getting.

  Actually, in a span of time, he was almost the same level of stranger as these people were. He and Kendall had been at the Doyle Ranch for five days.

  Fuck.

  He tightened his grip on the frame of the truck bed with impatience. He was too tired to be thinking about this shit. His muscles felt like overcooked spaghetti, and his head was in the clouds. If he were smart, he’d take Doyle up on the good night’s rest, but the thought of staying another night had him itchy. And he could tell Kendall wanted to get on the road just as much.

  She finally backed up with a swipe at her cheeks. Now he felt like shit. She’d been a good sport about
everything. Not complaining, being flexible to whatever they’d needed on the trip. He just wanted to move forward.

  To get started on whatever waited for them in Winchester Falls.

  Kendall looked up at him with starred eyelashes and a watery smile. He opened her door for her and tugged on the messy braid she perpetually wore. She patted his chest. “Ready to get on the road, Oscar?”

  “Very.”

  She stepped up on the running board and brushed her chest against his; then her mouth hovered near his for a moment before she climbed inside. He closed his eyes. He missed having her near him like that. Even if it had been a banishment of his own making.

  He shut the door and waved to everyone, then climbed in himself. They were quiet on the rutted road that led to the smooth asphalt on the edge of the property. She had her phone out again, taking one last picture of the landscape before the main road.

  She looked over her shoulder, eyes still a little watery, but excitement gleamed under the sad. “Where to next?”

  “Looks like Colorado is in our future.”

  She dug into her trusty knapsack and hauled out a huge notebook with tabs and thick pages.

  “Do I want to know?”

  “Well, since we’re now not able to make the stops we were before—thank you, muffler of destruction on the highway—I figured it would be a good idea to keep a notebook of what I want to see someday.” She smoothed out the pages as she turned them. She looked up at him. “What? I had a lot of time to myself at the main house and a ten-year-old to entertain.”

  He frowned. “I didn’t know you were doing that.”

  She shrugged. “It wasn’t a big deal.” The Red Rock Canyon and a snow-filled scene with a luxurious lodge flashed by with each page she flipped.

  He flexed his fingers on the steering wheel as he pictured her cutting and pasting a notebook of somedays. Why did that bug him? It wasn’t his job to give her all those someday trips.

  But dammit, part of him wanted to do a leisurely trip to some mountain resort. He wanted to lay her out on an over-the-top expensive bed with the Colorado Rockies as a backdrop and watch her dark eyes go blind for him. He wanted to feel her clasping arms and legs and warmth surround him.

  But all he had was this truck and an uncertain future in Winchester Falls to give her. It didn’t seem like much in the grand scheme of things.

  “Where would you go first?”

  He looked at her sharply. “Me?”

  “Yes, you, Oscar. We’ve been talking about what I’d do, where I’d like to see, but not about you.”

  “I’ve been a lot of places, Sunshine.”

  “So there’s nowhere else you want to go?”

  “I still haven’t been to England, Ireland, or Scotland.”

  “How come?”

  “Not much surfing to do there.”

  She laughed and tucked herself into her comfortable corner. He’d see her in the corner of the cab of his truck forever because of this trip. “I’m trying to picture you in a wet suit.”

  “Kain and I haven’t had much time to do the surfing trips we used to do, but when we were in college, we went everywhere. Australia and Hawaii had the best surf besides California.”

  “I think I’ll have to add Hawaii to my notebook here.”

  “I don’t think I’ve ever been anywhere that was so lush and perfect at the same time.”

  She pressed her notebook against her chest and folded her arms over it, her eyes bright and interested. “You went because of Kain?”

  “His family’s from there, and he had to make the yearly trek home to see his mother. I tagged along a few times.”

  “I can’t imagine just jumping on a plane and going to paradise.”

  He’d been able to do a lot of things thanks to Larry. And yet Larry had left Kendall alone with her mother. He still couldn’t reconcile that man with the father who had been so generous with his time and love, not to mention his money. That part just never made sense.

  “It sounds like you have your own paradise at the Heron.”

  The wistful smile faded a little, and she sat straight in her seat again. “Oh, you know how that goes. When you’re surrounded by the same thing day in and day out, you want to see something different.”

  “Tell me about the Heron.”

  “I told you about it.”

  “We’ve got hours to kill, and the moratorium on the subject is off.”

  “Who says?”

  He laughed. “I say.”

  She unclipped her belt and slid across the seat, her hand sliding up his thigh. “I don’t see why you should be the one to get the final say.”

  “What are you doing?”

  Kendall brushed her chest against his arm, her breath a hot distraction along his neck just behind his ear. “Reality is boring.”

  Everything inside him wanted to let her distract him, but he was finally starting to see that she really didn’t want to talk about home. And he needed to know why. “It’s our reality, Kendall. It will be anything but boring.”

  She stopped, her dark eyes going wide. “What?”

  “You keep talking about Winchester Falls like it’s the end of everything.”

  “Isn’t it?” Her gaze darted away, and she shrank back to her side of the truck.

  “It doesn’t have to be. Tell me about the Heron.”

  She looked down at her belt as she fastened it, then at some speck on her pants. Anything but him. “The Heron has meant everything to me for so long. And now you’re going to be there.”

  “And that’s a bad thing?”

  “No.” She stared out the window. “It’s terrifying.”

  Signs for the highway started to appear. He turned onto a lane that probably led to a house. But instead of continuing along the dirt road, he pulled off under the wide boughs of an oak and shut off the engine. He unclasped his belt and did the same with hers, then made sure they were facing each other. Tipping her chin up, he met her troubled gaze. “Why?”

  “It matters too much.”

  He mattered too much? His gut tightened, and the air around them charged. So much had happened between them so fast. But maybe this was the way it was supposed to happen. More and more he was convinced that starting over would be good for both of them.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Kendall leaned forward, cupping his face. She wanted him to want to be with her so much. And she could see a flicker of hope in his eyes. The embers of gold in the center of his hazel eyes was so beautiful. She’d be happy to see them every morning of her life and let them be the last thing she saw before she went to sleep.

  And that was terrifying.

  She’d never let herself rely on a man, but she wanted to do that with him. But the niggling fear that he’d leave burned just under her skin. It was a mix of excitement that was never far away when she was with this man and trepidation and she wasn’t sure which part to listen to.

  “The Heron is mine.”

  His eyebrow lifted, and she smiled as she smoothed her thumbs along the sharp angles of his cheekbones and into the softness of his light beard. “You might own it with me now, but it’s always been mine.”

  “And your mother’s.”

  She shrugged. “She loves it almost as much as I do, but if she moved away tomorrow, she’d be excited for another adventure.”

  “You seem to have a lot of your mom in you. You were certainly gung ho for this adventure.”

  Kendall laughed. “I was, wasn’t I?” She pressed a kiss on his lips, sighing as they firmed and he tried to take over the kiss. Shane was the most controlled man she’d ever met, but the moment they got within each other’s airspace, all bets were off. And one of the most addicting things about him was just how much he wanted her.

  She was so afraid she’d shrivel up without that fire.

  That was one more thing that frightened her. Needing him was almost worse than the thought of losing him. Because neither was in her control. She slid her
palm up to the top of his head and held on as the kiss spun out and the world tilted.

  He ripped his mouth from hers. “You’re trying to distract me, Sunshine.”

  She brought her thumb up to trace his lower lip. So soft where the rest of him was hard. “Sorry.”

  He nipped the pad. “No, you’re not.”

  She looked up. “Maybe not. I’ve just missed touching you.” She pulled his hand from her waist and slid it up her rib cage to her breast. “Really missed touching you.”

  He groaned and squeezed, lifting its weight, his thumb finding the center with a deft swipe. “We’re talking.”

  She nodded and fastened her mouth on his. He held on tighter, his fingers twisting in the back of her shirt as he pushed it up. Twilight winked from the horizon, and full dark was just minutes away.

  “Fast,” she whispered against his mouth. “Just to take the edge off. Then we can talk all you want.”

  He bent her back, his mouth racing down her throat to her breast. He tugged her V-neck shirt aside and flipped the cup of her bra down enough to get his mouth on her nipple. She arched against him, and a storm erupted in the cab of the truck.

  A flurry of clothes and zippers were pushed aside. He tore at her shirt until it was up and over her head. She cradled the back of his head as he sucked one nipple, then the other through her bra. Within the space of a shuddering breath, he had the straps down and the clasp undone.

  He lifted her and scooted his legs under her. His boots hit her door, and his head bumped his window as she straddled him.

  “I love bench seats.” She cupped his cheeks. “Never buy a truck that doesn’t have one.”

  “Agreed.” Too light, too soft, and too hesitantly, he touched her belly.

  She could see the tremble of his hands and the way he clenched his fists. She sat back on his thighs, opening her zipper wider. She rose over him, tucked his hand into her pants, into her panties until the rough tips of his fingers found her heat.

  His eyes blazed, and his jaw went rigid with the control he sought. But she didn’t want his control tonight. She wanted to watch him fly apart, wanted to see just how far she could push him.