head on his chest. His arms were wrapped around her, holding her close.
When had that happened?
By the steady rise and fall of his rib cage, he’d also fallen asleep. Poor guy was exhausted, and yet he’d come over tonight so that they could cheer each other up. Although he’d done most of the cheerleading.
Tenderness flooded her. She loved him dearly, but cuddling with him stretched the bonds of their platonic relationship.
Doing her best not to disturb him, she gently began to untangle herself from his grasp. Not so easy, as he was holding on tight. Without meaning to, she woke him. His sleepy, sexy smile stole her breath. She was marveling at the power of that smile when he lowered his head and kissed her. On the mouth. He’d never done that before.
As startled as Dani was, she liked the solid feel of his arms anchoring her close. Liked his lips brushing warmly over hers. Dear God in heaven, he could kiss. Without knowing how it happened, she melted into his hard body and kissed him back.
He tasted of chocolate and ice cream and something subtle that she recognized as uniquely him. His big palms slid up her sides, dangerously close to her suddenly tingling breasts.
Okay, this was getting out of hand. Dani stiffened and pushed him away. “Don’t, Nick.”
“Jeezus.” He released her as if she’d burned him. “What are we doing?”
She touched her lips with her fingers, noting that his gaze followed and settled on her mouth.
“I’m not sure,” she said. “All I know is that sometime during the movie we both fell asleep. And then—”
“We were making out. Wow.” Nick scrubbed his hand over his face. “Sorry about that.”
Dani should be, too. Only she wasn’t.
No wonder the women Nick dated went nuts over him. Not only was he sexy and funny with good manners, he also knew how to kiss. Fan-yourself-go-soft-inside kisses that emptied the mind of all common sense.
Dani sensed that he could also do a lot of other equally wonderful things with his mouth. Blushing furiously, she leaned forward and stacked their bowls.
She almost wished...
But no. Nick was exactly the kind of guy she’d just sworn off of, a man who moved from woman to woman and kept his heart under close guard. Besides, he was her best friend. His friendship was important to her, and she wouldn’t do anything to jeopardize it.
Nick lifted the dishes right out of her hands, then stood. “It’s late, and tomorrow will be a long day for both of us. I should go,” he said, taking the words straight from her kiss-addled brain.
Dani wanted him to leave so that she could recover from a colossal mistake. She also rose. While Nick deposited the bowls in the kitchen, she fluffed the throw pillows and repositioned them along the couch.
When he returned, he shrugged into his jacket, which only accentuated his flat belly and broad shoulders.
“I’ll, uh, talk to you later.” He grabbed hold of the doorknob as if he couldn’t get out of her apartment fast enough.
Normally when they parted he kissed her on the cheek. Now that she was tingly and hot everywhere, even the most chaste kiss would be dangerous.
Fluff came running. Why couldn’t he have fallen asleep between them and prevented what had happened? Dani scooped him up and held him to her chest like a shield, poor cat. She opened the door and stood well out of reach until Nick moved through it and strode rapidly down the hall, away from her. After shutting the door, she let Fluff down. She didn’t draw in a normal breath until she heard the elevator close behind Nick.
* * *
NICK WAS UP at the crack of dawn Monday morning, relishing the busy day ahead. After a hearty breakfast he pulled on wool socks and entered the mudroom, where he tugged on boots and donned a heavy jacket. He stepped onto the back porch, his breath puffing from his lips like smoke. It was a cloudy March morning and chilly, but not quite cold enough to snow. Instead, heavy rain was predicted. Not the best working conditions for installing an irrigation system.
As always, the sight of the rolling fields filled him with pride and made him think of his father, a man who had died way too soon. Nick Senior had taught Nick that land was the most important thing a man could own, but his actions had jeopardized everything.
Kelly Ranch had belonged to the family for generations, until Nick’s parents had fallen on hard times—thanks partly to the vagaries of Montana weather, but mostly because of his father’s lavish spending habits. Nick remembered the jewelry, fancy appliances and high-end new car his father had bought his mother. He’d been so wrapped up in keeping her in luxury that he’d neglected the ranch. Neglect that had cost them all in the worst way possible.
Before long, unable to keep up with the mortgage and credit card debt, the family had been forced to sell. Nick’s parents had moved with him and his older sister, Jamie, to the east side of Prosperity. The poor side of town.
Both his parents had soon found jobs that paid regularly and provided a much-needed steady income that helped stave off the bill collectors. But no one had liked living in the city. Nick’s parents had fought constantly, and his mother started working late. She’d taken up with a man at work, someone else’s husband. The affair had ended, but not before it destroyed both marriages and broke up two families.
Breathing in the crisp air, Nick started down the back steps. He’d always wondered what his life would have been like if his parents had managed their debt better and had held on to the ranch. Would they have stayed together? If they had, his life would have been totally different.
But playing the what-if game was an endless circle of unanswerables. Nick didn’t want to remember that time, or the bitterness that had clung to his father like a shroud afterward and until the day he’d died.
He headed across the yard toward the shed where he stored tractors and other large ranching equipment, the cold earth crunching under his boots. The only positive thing to come out of his dad’s untimely death was the insurance policy he’d left Nick. Thanks to that unexpected gift, Nick had suddenly had the funds for a down payment on the family ranch, which had just happened to be on the market. It was rundown and had come dirt-cheap, and he’d been able to put down a decent amount. Using what remained of his inheritance, he was slowly making much-needed improvements.
Unfortunately, the cost of the new irrigation would eat up the last of the money. And there was so much yet to do before Kelly Ranch finally turned a profit. Several outbuildings still required repairs, and the ranch needed a new hay baler. Nick also wanted to add more cattle to his herd. While those things would have to wait, Nick was proud of the fact that the ranch should be fully restored and profitable within in the next two years—as long as he kept his eye on his goal. He wouldn’t slip up like his father, who’d lost everything. All for a woman who’d ended up leaving him, anyway.
At least the land was back in the family, where it belonged.
From the direction of the trailers that housed his ranch crew, a rooster crowed as if in approval. Nick had three permanent ranch hands. Two were married, and their wives raised chickens.
With an eye to cutting costs, he’d commandeered two of the men to help with
