by side every day. They had no secrets. If Alva was going to entertain a visitor, Dane would have known about it and vice versa.
The car came to a halt in front of Dane’s brick rancher, about a hundred feet from where the men stood outside the door of the utility shed. A woman emerged from the automobile and made straight for the house, the sun haloing her short, flaxen hair.
“Woo-whee!”
Alva whispered under his breath, although at this distance there was no chance the woman could have heard him.
“Cute little thing, ain’t she?”
Cute was an accurate description. But little? Dane nearly chuckled. Her body was as curvaceous as a country road, seeming to invite a man to meander along the soft hills and valleys. And she was tall. With yards of tanned, shapely legs that tapered into sexy ankles.
Suddenly the August air became so hot he thought it just might scorch his lungs…if he could remember to pull a lungful of the stuff into his chest, that was.
“I’ll take your stunned silence as a yes.”
Alva laughed softly and gave Dane another poke with his elbow, breaking what could only have been described as some kind of strange, mesmerizing spell.
“She’s most likely selling something,” he grumbled. Dane did his best to hide the embarrassment he was feeling at being the butt of Alva’s humor. “Probably wants me to buy a set of encyclopedias, or some magazine subscriptions, or life insurance.”
“Well, boy,” Alva advised, “you’d best go take care of the matter. I’m off to find a cool shower and some clean clothes.”
His father-in-law’s comment made Dane suddenly aware of the dirt on his jeans, the dust coating his hot skin. Why something so trivial should rear up to bother him now seemed unfathomable. He’d worked hard today. Just as he did every day. Sweat and grime came with the territory of running a cattle business. There wasn’t much a man could do about that.
The woman was on his porch now, her hand raising to knock on the front door. Dane took a step toward the house.
“I’ll see you in a…” His words petered out when he saw that Alva had already disappeared around the shed to take the path that led to his cedar-shingled bungalow just over the rise.
Long strides had him across the grassy patch standing between him and the front porch in no time flat. Shifting his hat back from his forehead a fraction, he called, “Can I help you?”
She spun on the narrow heel of her skimpy little sandal. “Hi,” she said.
Her smile flashed bright as the summer sun, a direct contradiction to the steely clouds gathering overhead. Dane was struck with the oddest notion that he knew this woman.
“I’m looking for…”
The rest of her sentence trailed as she took a step toward him, recognition seeming to light her big blue eyes.
“Dane? Dane Buchanan?”
His heart jackhammered, and he wanted nothing more than to blame the long hours of hard work, or the heat from the summer day, but he’d be lying to himself if he did.
“You don’t remember me, do you?”
Her voice had a lilting quality that started his memories churning—magnificent memories that he’d locked away in a vault years ago.
The pale pink lacquer on her long nails stood out against the royal blue of her blouse when her palm spread-eagled against her chest. “It’s me. Lacy.”
Lacy Rivers. His mouth seemed to draw into a smile of its own volition.
The years had changed her. She had filled out in all the right places. Cut off that glorious hair of hers. She looked polished. Businesslike. With a sexy edge that would drive a man wild. Much more sophisticated than the brash young woman in his memory.
The brash, fresh-as-a-spring-breeze girl who had nearly unraveled his well-laid plans all those years ago.
The thought thundered through his brain, crushing the warm, fuzzy memories, shocking the smile right off his lips.
“Lacy Rivers,” she continued. “Please don’t say you’ve completely forgotten me.”
He took the steps slowly, doing what he could to gather his wits as he went.
All he was able to say was, “How could I forget?” He took off his hat with one hand and reached the other out to her. She took it in both of hers, and he couldn’t decide if the sweat that prickled his forehead was from the oppressive heat and humidity…or the searing intensity of her skin against his.
Dane hoped like hell it was due to the soaring temperatures.
Her nails lightly grazed the outside of his wrist and the inside of his callused palm at the same time, and something deep inside him had him wondering how the hard length of them would feel on other parts of his body; his bare back, shoulders, arms and neck.
The notion so surprised him that he choked, jerking his hand out of her grip. He coughed once, and in an attempt to cover the awkwardness of the moment, he cuffed his fist against his chest.
“You okay?” Worry clouded her gorgeous sky-blue eyes.
“Fine, fine,” he said, taking a step back in retreat. He felt an overwhelming need to put a little distance between them. So he could think. Try to make sense of these strange thoughts invading his mind.
“It’s hot out here, and I’m feeling dry. I need something to drink.” A stiff shot of whiskey was what he needed to steady this odd shock that had walloped him but good. He opened the screen door and inserted the key into the dead bolt. “Can I get you something? I’ve got lemonade. Iced tea. Beer—”
“A beer would be great.” She pulled back on the screen door, taking the weight of it off his shoulder.
He twisted to face her, and she was so…close. The blue of her eyes was dazzling. The tip of her nose was appealing. The bow of her top lip was calling his name…luring him….
He swallowed. “Actually, it may be hot out here, but it’ll be worse inside. I don’t leave the air-conditioning turned on when I’m gone through the day. It’ll take a few minutes for the house to cool off.”
“Oh.” She nodded. “In that case—” she took a backward step “—I’ll wait here in the shade of the porch.”
“Make yourself comfortable. I’ll be right back.”
He shoved open the door and, heaving a huge sigh, made his way through the living room and into the kitchen. He plunked his hat down onto the counter and turned on the water spigot. After he worked the soap into plenty of suds, he rinsed his hands and forearms. He splashed cool water onto his face and neck, and then took a moment to simply stand in the quiet.
All that could be heard was an intermittent splat as droplets of water fell from his chin and nose. He inhaled deeply. Exhaled slowly. But the chaos of his thoughts couldn’t be held at bay for long, and curiosity had him shoving himself away from the sink.
