by Jaci Burton
But he had a woman already, or at least she thought so. And besides, she had to keep reminding herself that involvement with Kyle Morgan was not in her grand plan. He wasn't even interested in her.
"What are you thinking about?" Kyle's deep voice penetrated the haze surrounding her mind. She realized she was wandering aimlessly down the aisle, and hadn't once checked the grocery list to see if anything in that aisle was on the list.
She stopped pushing the cart and turned to him, hoping her face didn't betray her thoughts. "Um...nothing. Sorry, my mind was wandering." To you, your hands, how they'd feel on me. Wondering how your mouth would taste on mine, where you'd kiss and touch me if I gave myself to you.
"Wandering where?" He raised his eyebrows in curiosity.
"Why do you want to know?"
Awareness flickered in his sparkling green eyes. "Something about the expression on your face. You looked, I don't know, pained, but also happy. I can't explain it, I just found it...intriguing. I'd like to know what you were thinking about."
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Oh God, he knew. Warmth spread over her face as she thought about having to tell Kyle exactly what she had been thinking. Not a chance.
"My future," she lied. "I was thinking about what I was going to do when I left the Rocking M."
"I see." From the disbelieving look and slight smile showing at the corners of his mouth, she knew he didn't believe her explanation. "Come to any conclusions about that?"
Great. Now she'd have to make up a pack of lies. And she was a terrible liar.
"Not yet."
"Can't wait to leave though, can you?" Kyle still held a sleeping Petunia in his arms. She was certain the pig was snoring. He shot her a teasing grin.
"Oh yes, I can wait," she answered without thinking. "I'm not ready to leave you."
She didn't mean to say it that way. The way it sounded, so personal, like it was Kyle she didn't want to leave. She meant to say the ranch. She didn't want to leave the ranch. Oh damn. She sucked at lying.
The smile died on his face, and his expression grew serious. The heat in his eyes ignited the flame she had fired up earlier with thoughts of him. Something passed between them, a spark completely elemental and powerful. Kyle took a step toward her, closing the short distance between them.
Words were unnecessary and she couldn't have spoken them had she tried. An awareness of him unlike anything she ever experienced before settled over her. Her senses went into overdrive, heightening everything around her, making her more cognizant of everything male about him.
Surprisingly, the fact they were in the middle of aisle twelve at the grocery store didn't even seem to matter.
She inhaled his scent, so powerful and masculine. Her heart rammed against her chest as he rested his hand on her neck. She could feel her
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own pulse beating erratically against the palm of his hand. He leaned his head toward her, his mouth a mere inch away.
He was going to kiss her. God almighty, right here in the middle of the grocery store, he was going to kiss her. And she never wanted anything more in her entire life.
"Well isn't this a cozy little scene?"
His eyes lingered on hers for the briefest of seconds, and she swore regret reflected in them. They turned at the same time to see a very tall, thin man in dark jeans and a gray shirt.
She'd been around enough moneymen to know this one was loaded.
He looked expensive, from his handmade, snakeskin Justin cowboy boots to his top of the line Stetson hat, both of which she had seen her ex-husband wear. Several diamond rings, all worth a fortune, adorned his long, slender fingers. The man wore enough silver and gold around his neck and wrists to add fifteen pounds to his lanky frame.
But what really bothered Sabrina was the look this stranger gave Kyle. Dislike was too light a word to use for the expression on the man's face. It was more like hatred.
She turned to Kyle and immediately knew who the man was before he could say a word. He handed Petunia to her and turned to face his nemesis.
"Jackson Dent. Out slumming in the grocery stores today? Thought you had people to handle the menial tasks like this."
Dent smirked. "Nah, just taking the little woman out for a little shopping today and I needed a pack of cigarettes. It's the least I can do for the light of my life." He looked behind Kyle and Sabrina, and suddenly broke out into a huge smile. "There you are, darlin'. Was wondering where you'd wandered off to."
A dynamic looking woman with shoulder-length, dark hair strolled past Kyle and Sabrina. She was very attractive and wore enough jewelry to ring bells like a Salvation Army volunteer at Christmas. And she
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reeked of expensive perfume. Sabrina wrinkled her nose and coughed at the overpowering scent. She heard Kyle's quiet chuckle.
The woman sidled next to Dent, kissing him on the cheek and smiling. "Just wandering around, honey." She turned and looked at Sabrina, disdain apparent in her eyes as she checked Sabrina out from head to toe. A smirk formed on her mouth as if to say Sabrina wasn't worth the visual tour. Then she turned to Kyle. Something flashed in the woman's dark eyes, but Sabrina couldn't quite pinpoint the emotion.
Anger? Jealousy? The woman's smirk died, and a straight line formed on her full, blood-red painted lips.
"Kyle," the woman said flatly.
"Amanda." No emotion sprung from Kyle's lips as he answered the woman in a monotone voice, barely acknowledging her presence.
Amanda Morgan Dent. Kyle's former wife, and Jackson Dent's current one. Sabrina sensed trouble brewing.
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Chapter Six
"Well, well, well. Isn't this interesting?"
Sabrina didn't find it interesting at all, and wished she and Kyle were anywhere else but here right now. Dent's comments only fueled Kyle's anger, which she could feel growing as he stood rigid next to her.
"Kyle, darling, it's been so long since I've seen you," Amanda said as she dramatically flipped her hair away from her face. "Of course you know I've been so busy these days, what with chairing the charity gala at the country club, and all the tennis I'm playing now. And of course Jackson keeps me busy in other ways too," she said as she winked at her husband.
Ouch. Sabrina bet that one hurt.
She turned and watched for Kyle's response. He merely arched an eyebrow. "Really. Can't imagine he'd even be interested. It's not like you really have that much to offer." With a yawn, he added, "And I'd know. It was all I could do to stay awake during most of it."
Yes! A big zinger in Amanda's direction. Sabrina secretly cheered Kyle on, her dislike for his ex-wife growing by the minute.
Undaunted, Amanda had a comeback ready. "Oh come on now, Kyle, I know better than that. I'll bet you're real lonely these days without me."
He threw his head back and laughed. "Actually, I'm not lonely at all now that you're gone, Amanda. Your departure was like spring cleaning at the ranch. I only wish I had booted your butt off the Rocking M a lot sooner."
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It was all Sabrina could do not to jump up and down and cheer out loud for Kyle. He really let Amanda have it, but good. Instead she smiled pleasantly and didn't say a word.
"Well!" Amanda appeared at a loss for words. "So what are you looking for in this little hovel today?"
Kyle crossed his arms and smiled. "Well, it isn't aspirin because the previous cause of all my headaches married someone else."
Sabrina couldn't help it. The laugh just fell out of her mouth before she could do anything to stop it.
"You low-life, snake-in-the-grass bastard." Amanda shot her response at Kyle as she lunged at him.
Jackson wrapped his arms around his seething wife and glared at Kyle. "Don't fret, honey, he's just jealous that I have the prize of Dreamwater and he doesn't." Ignoring Kyle's snort, Dent continued.
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"Besides, it won't be long before he and all the Morgans get what they deserve. I'm gonna break them down and cast them out. Then the Rocking M will become Dent property, like I always said it would."
"Over my dead body, Dent," Kyle said as he crossed his arms, prepared for battle.
Sabrina hoped he was as good with the shots to Dent as he'd been with Amanda.
Dent laughed. "Won't matter to me one way or the other whether you're dead or alive. Either way, I aim to take the ranch out from under you, Morgan. Get ready for it."
"You'll never take the Rocking M away from my family, Dent. I'll sell it outright to someone else before I ever let you get your hands on our property."
"Well see, Morgan, won't we?" Turning toward Sabrina, Dent smiled, his crooked teeth gleaming in the harsh light of the grocery store. "You lined yourself up with the wrong man, honey. You're about to lose everything you invested on this piss-poor ranch manager here," Dent
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said as he pointed to Kyle. "Should have put your money with a winner, like me. I'd have shown you how to run a ranch the right way."
Sabrina's back stiffened. How Kyle could avoid knocking the man on his ass was beyond her. "No, Mr. Dent, I put my money exactly where I wanted it. Kyle's a smart rancher, with a good operation and a bright future." She sniffed and raised her chin. "It's doubtful you have anything to teach me that I'd be interested in learning. I have everything I need right here."
Dent laughed and tipped his hat to Sabrina. "Some women just don't ever learn." Turning to Amanda he said, "Let's go, honey, I feel like buying you something pretty and expensive today. Something you never got while married to poor, broke Kyle Morgan." Amanda threw a smirk at Kyle, ignored Sabrina completely and walked away with her husband.
The tension was palpable. Kyle stood in the center of the aisle watching Jackson and Amanda Dent retreat. Sabrina put the now-awake Petunia down on the floor.
"I'm so sorry," she said as she laid her hand on his arm. His forearm was stiff as a board, tension emanating from his body. "What an evil man."
Kyle stared straight ahead, refusing to meet her eyes. "Let's go," he said tersely. Sabrina followed him as they checked out and headed toward the truck.
The ride home was conducted in almost complete silence, except for Petunia's occasional snorting. Sabrina sat the pig on her lap, stroking her ears and rubbing her back. Petunia finally settled in and took another nap, apparently unbothered by the tension in the truck.
"Are you okay?" she asked, finally unable to bear the silence.
"I'm fine."
"You are not. And it's understandable that you'd be upset after that altercation with Dent and his wife. The man's pure evil, and Amanda
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is...well, she's..." Sabrina was unable to finish the sentence, not wanting to be rude considering Kyle used to be married to her.
"A raving bitch from hell?" he finished for her.
She laughed. "That certainly works."
The corners of Kyle's mouth lifted in a slight grin. "I have more I could say about her, if you'd like to hear it. How sensitive are your ears?"
"Go right ahead and vent. I'd agree with whatever you have to say about her." She could feel the tension melt away as Kyle visibly relaxed his shoulders and leaned back in the seat of the truck.
"She's not worth the breath. If nothing else, the exchange was fun,"
he said with a grin.
"I'll say. You really let her have it."
"Too much?" he asked as he glanced at her with curiosity.
Sabrina shook her head. "Not enough, in my opinion. She deserved much worse."
"Her own fault. She cast her lot with Dent, and it will ruin her some day. But she'll get what she deserves, married to that arrogant bastard."
"Does he really want to take your ranch?"
Kyle nodded. "He's wanted it for years, but even more so after my parents died. He showed up at their funeral and made remarks about me not being able to keep the ranch up and offering to buy it."
"That's terrible." She couldn't imagine someone being so insensitive as to mention a business deal during a time of incredible grief.
"Not surprising though. That's pretty much the way Dent has always operated. Any way he wants to, thinking money forgives all sins."
"Like someone else I know," she added. Just like Mark. Money could buy all kinds of things, in his opinion. Loyalty, business, forgiveness, and love.
Kyle glanced over at her. "Your ex-husband?"
She nodded. "Only worse."
"Why did you marry him, then?"
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"Because I was young, eighteen years old. I had never been allowed to even talk to a man by myself, let alone date one." At Kyle's shocked expression, Sabrina smiled. "My mother kept a very tight rein on me. She didn't want her meal ticket to end up pregnant or running off with a boyfriend."
"Kind of overprotective?"
"Not in a loving kind of way. More like protecting her asset." Love hadn't entered the picture when Sabrina's mother was involved. Sabrina had been a marketing tool, a way to make money, and that was all.
"So tell me about your ex."
Sabrina stared ahead at the road, visual images of the past ten years sailing across her eyes. "I met him at the Miss Dallas contest, like I mentioned before. I was floored because mother actually introduced me to a man, and then left so I could speak to him alone. That had never happened before--she guarded me so fiercely."
"And you liked him?"
She nodded. "What wasn't there to like? At least on the surface. He was good-looking, educated, charming and he showed an interest in me.
For someone who had been sheltered her whole life, I was in heaven. Fell head over heels for him in the first five minutes."
"And then?"
"We dated for six months, married in an incredibly elaborate ceremony, reception at the country club and all. After the honeymoon, I moved into his mansion. Then the whole Pygmalion thing started."
"Huh?" Kyle glanced at her, a look of confusion on his face.
"Pygmalion? My Fair Lady? You know, turning the sow's ear into a silk purse?"
"Oh. Okay, gotcha." He smiled. "He thought you needed polishing, did he?"
Sabrina looked down at the sleeping pig in her lap. "He thought I needed everything. Nothing I did or said satisfied him."
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Kyle's smile faded. "It must have been hard for you."
"It was. Well not at first. I was so in love and wanted to please him I'd have done anything he asked. And I worked very hard. I went to college, learned about running a large household, took tennis and golf lessons at the country club and was taught how to dress the way he liked.
Everything."
"But that wasn't good enough for him?"
"No, it wasn't. Nothing I ever did was. He always seemed displeased with me, no matter how hard I tried. And when he was unhappy he made sure I knew about it."
"Sabrina, did he abuse you?" Kyle asked, his voice low and soft as he glanced over at her, a concerned look on his face.
She bent her head, busying her hands by petting the sleeping pig.
"No. Not physically. His abuse was verbal. Belittling, making me feel worthless no matter what I did. Very subtle, but there nonetheless. And I guess I was weak, because I let him."
Kyle laid his hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry."
"It's okay." She looked up at him and smiled. "It wasn't that bad. I got a college education out of it, and I learned how to play a decent game of tennis and a really lousy game of golf."
Kyle laughed. "I play neither, so I guess I won't get to find out."
"Good. I hate both of them. I'd rather ride a horse any day of the week than play tennis or golf."
"You'll get plenty of that at the Rocking M. Enough to make your butt sore." His eyes gleamed mischievously as he
glanced at her. "But then you already know that, don't you?"
It embarrassed her to be reminded of her first day riding, and what Kyle had done for her. "I guess we never talked about that night, did we?"
He turned his eyes back on the road and shrugged nonchalantly.
"Nothing to discuss, really."
"But I never thanked you for what you did."
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His voice deepened, seducing her with its low and husky tones.
"Believe me, Sabrina, the pleasure was all mine."
She felt a jolt of female awareness all the way to her toes, melting her like frozen butter in the hot sun.
Well, she'd brought it up, hadn't she? Kyle was obviously never going to mention it, but she couldn't leave it alone. His voice slid into her senses, making her want things she'd never wanted before. Maybe it was just the word, the way he said it. Pleasure.
She didn't speak of it again, or much of anything else, on the remainder of the ride back to the ranch. Kyle was thankfully silent also, apparently lost in his own thoughts and content not to pursue the conversation about massaging her sore muscles.
It was mid-afternoon by the time they got back. No one was in sight as Kyle pulled the truck around the back of the house and let her out with the groceries, then went to park the truck and find Brady. Sabrina took Petunia and headed into the kitchen. Jenna sat at the table peeling potatoes, and smiled as Sabrina entered.
"How did the trip go today?"
"Well it was interesting to say the least," Sabrina replied as she put the groceries away. She wondered if it would be appropriate to tell Jenna about the episode with Jackson Dent, or if Kyle wouldn't even want to bring it up.
Jenna looked down at Petunia and grinned at Sabrina. "I guess so. I take it you got a pig?"
"Yeah, isn't she adorable? Her name is Petunia and I bought her at the vet's office from some farmer who wanted to trade her for supplies."
Jenna bent down and scratched Petunia's ears, and was rewarded with a happy snort. "She's very cute. Bet Kyle was thrilled," she said, rolling her eyes.