The Hottest Ticket in Town

by Kimberly Van Meter

  “That’s right, and he knew there was no room in your life for those feelings because feelings like that cloud judgment. I don’t blame him none for his looking out for you—hell, in fact, I respected the man for it, because sometimes the truth is what we need even if it’s not dressed the way we want.”

  “My heart was broken,” Laci said, the reproach in her eyes almost unbearable. “How could either of you do that to me?”

  “Before you get all twisted up about that, he was right. Look around. You’ve done real good for yourself and I stand by the choice I made all those years ago.”

  “I can’t believe it,” Laci said, clearly hurt. “My own daddy? But why? I don’t understand. He always liked you.”

  He chuckled. “Honey, no man likes the man who’s screwing his daughter, no matter how he might say otherwise. But that’s okay, I didn’t take it personal. Besides, we both loved you and wanted what was best for you.”

  Her expression changed into one of indignation. “Yeah, that’s the point—a choice you made. You didn’t give me a chance to weigh in on my own future. Goddamn it, Kane, other people have been running my life for so long I can’t remember what it feels like to make my own damn decisions. I don’t even get to decide if I want toast with my eggs anymore. The decision is made for me. No toast. Too many carbs. And I like toast! No, in fact, I love toast. Doesn’t seem right to have eggs without toast.”

  “So eat some toast, girl,” Kane said, unsure of where this was going. Was she mad about her breakfast or what? “Listen, I can’t control who you let run your life. All I can say is that I made a choice for myself, not just you, and I believe, even if you don’t, that it was the right one, given the circumstances. Girl, you’re top of the charts, killing it out there with legions of fans. You’re living the dream. Why would I ever stand in the way of that?”

  Laci, frustrated, shook her head. “Don’t you get it? I didn’t ask you to be noble on my part. I just asked you to love me. Why was that so hard? You walked away before giving me the chance to be a part of that decision. You broke my heart, Kane Dalton, and it took a long time before I got over you.”

  He wanted to tell her that he’d never gotten over her, but what would that solve? Likely, the admission would only make things worse. “I did what was best,” he maintained stubbornly, and she made a small sound of irritation that shouldn’t have sounded cute but it did. “C’mere, hothead,” he said, pulling her into his arms. Even though she went, everything about her was stiff and rigid. Boy, she was mad, all right. Good thing there weren’t any sharp objects lying around. He pressed a kiss to her neck, in the spot he knew drove her crazy, murmuring against her skin, “What’s in the past should stay there, baby girl. We have right now. Let’s enjoy it while we can.”

  Laci surprised him when she pulled away and then pushed him to his back to straddle him, still angry and looking hotter than ever. “You’re a piece of work. You break my heart, abandon me without once looking back to see if I was all right and then you say, What’s in the past should stay there. Well, you’re wrong, Kane. You’re just wrong. I needed you by my side, not running off to play soldier.”

  He lifted up on his elbows. “I served my country. I didn’t run off to play,” he corrected her with a narrowed gaze. “I’m sorry you’re unable to think past your own hurt to realize that it was a blessing. We’re not meant to be together, honey. That’s the plain truth of it. It’s not my fault I saw that truth before you did.”

  She growled and then gripped a handful of his shirt to pull him straight to her mouth. She sealed her lips to his, demanding his full attention as she deepened the kiss, sweeping his mouth with her sassy tongue, and just about the moment when he was ready to shuck their clothes and pound himself into that sweet body, she released him and said, “You lied, Kane. We are meant to be together and it’s just your plain bullheaded nonsense that tells you otherwise. You can sleep in the pump house tonight and think about it.” Then she climbed off him and walked back to the house, leaving him in the dark with nothing but the fireflies and an empty Mason jar.

  Well, hell.

  So much for doing the right thing.

  13

  LACI LEFT KANE in a huff, caught between pissed off and hurt that everyone in her life, since before she even realized, was managing her life as if she were some helpless kitten who couldn’t handle a conflict on her own. Why, Daddy? The fact that her father had had a hand in pushing Kane away hurt more than a little, but what hurt worse was that Kane had been all too happy to just walk away, using her daddy’s objections to their relationship as the reason. She wasn’t a stranger to the fact that her daddy didn’t want her dating anyone seriously—hell, he’d come out and admitted it to her while they were driving to one of her earliest recordings.

  “You need to focus on what’s important, girl,” her daddy had admonished when she’d been wiping her eyes, crying over leaving the Bradford ranch and leaving Kane the summer she turned seventeen. “That boy, he ain’t nothing but a chapter in your life. You’re meant to do big things, not hang laundry and bake pies, honey.”

  “Who’s to say I can’t do all those things and sing, too?” she’d retorted, still wrung out from saying goodbye to the boy who’d stolen her heart. “I mean, Kane loves my singing. He’d never stand in my way.”

  “Trust me, honey, boys like Kane, they grow up to be men that can’t be caged. He’s never gonna be happy following you around while you shine. He’s a good kid, don’t get me wrong, and I like that he’s always seemed to treat you right, but honey, you’re too young to know what your heart really wants. Stick to what is plain in front of your face—your singing talent. Ain’t nobody that can sing like you, honey. No one. And Kane, if he loves you, will step aside and let you be who you’re meant to be.”

  “Kane will never leave me,” she assured her daddy. “That’s a fact. He’d follow me anywhere.”

  “That’s all you need, some guy hanging around distracting you,” her daddy grumbled. “No boy is worth your future. Trust me when I say that boys will lead you nowhere. They’re all looking for one thing and that has nothing to do with anything but their own selfish needs.”

  “Daddy,” she’d admonished, knowing that Kane was the sweetest, most considerate boy she’d ever known. If anything, he always sacrificed for the people around him. “You don’t know Kane like I do.”

  “I don’t have to,” he said, glowering. “I know all about boys and even more about men. The thing is, honey, you believe the best in people and that’s one of your sweetest qualities, but I’m not hamstrung by the same quality. Your future is destined to be more than making babies and sweet-potato pie for your man. Your star is so much brighter and I aim to make sure that nothing stands in your way.”

  “Kane’s not standing in my way,” she insisted. “If anything, he’s the one pushing me, just like you. He wants me to be a famous singer.”

  “Well, then, he can enjoy seeing you on television and go on his merry way.”

  “I love him, Daddy,” Laci said, annoyed and hurt that her daddy was being so disagreeable. “I truly do and nothing’s gonna change that.”

  He graced her with a short derisive look that she found insulting as he said, “You don’t know what love is, sweetheart. Not true love. You’re too young, and besides, there’s more to life than love.”

  “How can you say that when you loved Mama the way you did?”

  At the mention of his beloved wife, he scowled. “Not the same and don’t go using my past against me.”

  “You and Mama were just as young as me and Kane and I know you loved each other.”

  “Yeah, and that love didn’t get us nowhere but heartache and misery,” he said. “Sometimes I think it was a blessing your mama died when she did. Do you think she’d like to live the way we do? Living off the scraps of others? Being gypsies from one s
eason to another? I can’t do nothing about our finances, but you can. You got the talent to pull us out of this mud pit and that’s what you’re gonna do. No more distractions, girl. No more talk of boys and love. I won’t listen and I won’t let you throw away your life for something so fleeting.”

  “I can’t believe what a pigheaded mule you’re being,” Laci said, her tears starting fresh. Her daddy was her biggest champion, her hero most days, but today he was so damn mean-hearted that she almost didn’t know him. “Well, you can think what you want, but Kane will never leave my side. We love each other and nothing’s gonna change that.”

  “Girl, trust in your daddy. I would never steer you wrong. Now, stop your crying over that boy and warm up your voice. We got one shot with this big-time producer and we don’t want to disappoint him.”

  “Fine,” she’d said with a glower. Laci hadn’t wanted to sing but somehow she’d found the ability to focus. By the time they’d reached their destination, Laci could hit every high note and belt out every chord. Suffice to say, she’d aced that audition and had made her first real recording connection. Riding high on her success, she couldn’t wait to tell Kane, only to find out through the Bradfords that Kane had left the same day to join the military. Her mouth had dropped open and her heart had contracted as the words had registered. Kane had left her. Kane—the boy who’d sworn to go wherever she went—had abandoned her. Just like that.

  That was the day she’d learned the heartbreaking lesson that love wasn’t enough.

  At least it hadn’t been for Kane.

  * * *

  KANE HAD EVERY intention of sleeping in the pump house, but his feet had other plans, and before he knew it, he was heading to Laci’s bedroom all fired up and ready to say his piece.

  He pushed open the door and went straight to Laci, ignoring her fierce stare and unwelcome vibe. He didn’t care if she didn’t want him there. She was going to listen and that was that. “I was a kid faced with a choice that I never imagined happening to someone like me,” he said. “I didn’t like it but the facts were clear, you were going places and if I hung around, all I’d be was a distraction and I couldn’t have that on my conscience. I left because it was the only way I could make myself do the right thing, but don’t think for a minute that leaving didn’t leave its scars because it did.”

  “No one could ever have convinced me to leave you,” Laci said, hurt and angry. “But you caved at the first sign of trouble.”

  “That’s not how I see it. I made the right choice for both of us.”

  “Well, that’s not how I see it.”

  “Fair enough. I guess we’ll have to agree to disagree then and move on.”

  Outrage colored her voice as she exclaimed, “Move on? To what? You’re not going to just sweep this under the rug and let it be because you don’t want to talk about it. We’re going to have the conversation we should’ve had years ago and we’re going to have it right now!”

  “Like hell we are,” he countered, pulling her into his arms. “Nothing can be done about the past, babe. Best to leave it there. All that matters is the now.” And then as she opened her mouth to likely skewer him, he silenced her the only way he knew how. She stiffened against his carnal onslaught, but soon enough she softened in his arms and they were tumbling to the bed. There was something about Laci that made him insatiable, sparking an itch that was always just out of reach, which made him need more, and as she twisted in his arms, kissing, squeezing, clinging to him even as he ravaged her body with his touch, he knew a lifetime would never be enough with this woman.

  Pulling Laci to her knees, he sank into that sweet, slippery heat, losing himself between the dewy folds that promised heaven with each hard thrust. He wanted to sink so deep that they no longer recognized where each started and ended because they were one. The sound of their harsh breathing, guttural moans and slapping flesh filled the air as did the musk from their lovemaking, and Kane knew only Laci in that moment. Talk about living in the now. He would gladly live in this moment for the rest of his life if he were able. No uncomfortable reality to contend with, just the complete bliss found between the hot legs of the sexiest woman he’d ever known.

  Laci moaned, her body shaking with each thrust as he found her G-spot and hammered it hard. He knew just the way Laci liked to be taken and he thrilled at the privilege of that knowledge. Within moments, Laci gasped, clutching at the comforter, crying out his name as she came and he quickly followed with a brutal explosion of his own. He collapsed beside her, his legs hanging off the bed as his heart threatened to shatter. His spent cock still pulsed from the epic orgasm and it was a long moment before he could speak.

  But it was Laci who spoke first, her voice hoarse and throaty as she said, “That’s an unfair way to end an argument.”

  He climbed fully on the bed and gathered her in his arms, ready for sleep. “All’s fair in love and war, sweetheart.”

  She nestled against him and murmured, “That was a battle, not the war.”

  And he knew for certain, this conversation was far from over. But at least, for the moment, she wasn’t sending him back to the pump house.

  That was something, right?

  14

  THE FOLLOWING MORNING Kane and Laci rose early, and while Kane was out tending to the cattle and horses, Laci spent time in the kitchen, happy to be simply domestic. The phone rang and she picked it up without hesitation. When she heard Warren’s voice on the other end, she shocked him with an exuberant hello.

  “Warren! It’s me, Laci,” she said, smiling at Warren’s momentary confusion. “Bet you didn’t expect to hear from me on the other line, huh?”

  “Laci? What you doing, girl? Aren’t you supposed to be on tour or something?”

  “Taking a brief break to get my head on straight. The road’s a terrible place to stay for too long,” she answered, cradling the phone against her shoulder while she molded piecrust with her hands. “Kane told me all about Cora... How’s our girl doing? And why didn’t you tell me about her being sick? Jiminy, Warren, I would’ve flown in the best doctors in the world to tend to Cora if you’d just asked.”

  “I know you would, little lady, and you’re a sweet one for even suggesting it, but I take care of my own, you know that.”

  “That’s silly, you old goat. Cora’s like a grandma to me and I can’t stand the idea of her suffering none when it can be prevented with a single phone call. I’ve got the resources and nothing to spend it on. Let me help you out a bit.”

  “Listen, I appreciate the gesture, but we’re doing just fine. Keep your money and invest it. The last thing you need is to start throwing away cash like there’s no tomorrow and end up broke like those professional sports stars who don’t know their asses from a hole in the ground when it comes to spending their money. Spending it on fast cars and loose women...that’s a quick ticket to poverty.”

  She rolled her eyes. “I promise you I’m not out spending money on fast cars and loose women and I would consider it my honor and privilege to help cover Cora’s treatment costs.”

  “I said no, girl. Leave it be,” Warren said sharply, shocking Laci with his curt tone. Warren had never spoken to her that way. She blinked back sudden tears and was momentarily speechless, which was a first because she rarely ran out of words on any particular subject that she could remember. “I don’t mean to hurt your feelings, but I’ve said my piece on the subject and that’s final. It’s real good to hear from you, Laci. Feel free to make yourself at home and don’t give Kane too much grief. He’s a good man,” he said, pausing a beat to say, “Speaking of...is Kane around?”

  She found her voice to answer. “He’s in the barn. I’ll get him for you.”

  “No, no, I don’t want to bother him when he’s working. Just have him call. Here’s a number he can reach me at. I had to get one of those dang-gummed ce
ll phones because Cora’s treatment takes hours and they have to be able to reach me at a moment’s notice. Goddamn gadgets...that’s no way for a man to live his life. I miss my land and my animals. Everything okay at the ranch?”

  Laci wiped at her tears and nodded, even though Warren couldn’t see her nod her head. She spoke up, saying, “Yeah, real good. Kane and I are catching up on lost time. I can’t believe Jasper’s still around and wouldn’t you know it, he still remembers Kane? It’s the darnedest thing I ever seen.”

  “Horses are smart,” Warren said unnecessarily, which made Laci feel they were just stretching out the conversation in the hopes of smoothing out the jagged edge of the earlier conversation, but no matter how many benign topics they touched on, nothing would erase the hurt in her heart at her help being rebuffed so sharply. Her gaze drifted to the new appliances and she wondered if she’d made a huge error in judgment in buying them without their approval. She bit her lip, worried. Maybe she ought to mention it? No, she knew Warren’s reaction would be negative at this point because that’s where he seemed to live at the moment, so she kept that information to herself.

  “Cora will be real happy to know you’re at the house,” Warren said. “I just wish you’d dropped by sooner, maybe caught us before we left.”

  “I know,” she acknowledged with a guilty murmur. “But this was really unexpected. I sort of...collapsed and then ran away from my manager. It’s just a temporary thing but I needed some time to myself to think things out.”

  “Everything okay between you and Kane?” Warren asked. “Last time I checked, you weren’t even friends anymore.”

  Laci thought of how to answer that question honestly. What were she and Kane doing? Were they friends? Were they more than that? She hated the term friends with benefits and she was pretty sure Kane would hate it, too, but she didn’t know that what was happening between them was easily defined. “We’re catching up on lost time,” she finally answered, going with a variation of the truth. “But we share a common concern and that’s for Cora. Please keep us updated, okay?”