Rescue Me

by Jaci Burton

  -229-

  Jaci Burton

  Brady stopped in front of him as he passed the side of the barn. He looked Kyle in the eyes, disappointment clearly showing in his blue-green gaze.

  "Coward," was all Brady said to him as he continued past Kyle toward the corral.

  Brady was wrong. Letting Sabrina leave took every ounce of bravery he had. Ignoring the emptiness in his chest where his heart used to be, Kyle threw himself into working the Rocking M.

  He avoided his brother and sister for the next week, hoping he wouldn't have to face them after Sabrina's departure. It was hard enough walking through the empty house at night, feeling Sabrina's presence but knowing she wouldn't be there to welcome him, hold him, love him. After the first night she was gone he avoided his bed like the plague.

  Kyle knew it was going to be bad when she left, but he hadn't expected this despair, the empty feeling and utter loneliness. Before, his work had always kept him busy, kept his mind off feeling alone.

  So he worked from before dawn to after sunset, driving himself until he was completely exhausted. Because he didn't want to face Brady and Jenna, or sleep in his bed alone, he decided to work on the outer acreage of the property so he'd have to spend nights in the one room cabin on the outskirts of their land.

  But at night, when he lay down on the small bed in complete exhaustion, sleep wouldn't come. Images of flowing blonde hair and innocent amber eyes haunted him. He could still smell her, that fresh peach scent that was so much a part of her. It was embedded in his senses and he couldn't make it go away. Neither could he rid himself of the feel of her silky skin against his work-roughened hands.

  Even when Amanda had done her worst to him, left him for Dent, took a third of the ranch with her, it hadn't hurt this much. Hell it hadn't hurt at all. And she had been his wife.

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  Rescue Me

  Sabrina had been--well, what exactly had she been to him? They never had a formal relationship, and yet she had gotten under his skin and became so much a part of him even he didn't realize how much until after she was gone.

  And all his thoughts of how noble he was being by letting her go were a crock of shit. He loved her desperately, missed her painfully, and wanted her back with a need so fierce it threatened to drive him insane.

  "You going to hide out here forever?"

  Kyle whipped around to see Jenna standing before him. He'd been focusing on repairing the torn fence and hadn't heard her drive up.

  "What are you doing here?"

  She stood, hands on hips, giving him "the look". "I've come to bring you home, where you belong."

  He shook his head. "I'm busy here."

  She looked at the fence and back at him, her left brow lifting in disbelief. "You are not. There's nothing wrong with the fence and you know it. You're hiding."

  "I'm not hiding," he lied. "I told you, I've been neglecting this section for too long and before we move the herd up here in the fall I need to make sure the fence is secure."

  "You're missing Sabrina and you don't want to admit it."

  He turned away then, not wanting his sister to see the pain in his eyes. "No, I'm not missing Sabrina. She's gone and that's that."

  "Not quite."

  He sighed, not wanting to go down this road again. "Look, Jenn, I appreciate your matchmaking efforts, but it's too little too late. Sabrina and I had nothing together, so it's time to give it up."

  "I never took you for a coward, Kyle Morgan."

  He stood then, walking over to her. "I am not a coward."

  She stared straight faced at him. "Then you're a liar."

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  Jaci Burton

  He sighed heavily. She was baiting him. "I'm too busy for this, Jenn."

  He started to walk away but she stepped in front of him.

  "Kyle, how do you feel about Sabrina?"

  He wanted to ignore the question, wanted to go back to work and work until his brain was too tired to think about anything at all, least of all Sabrina. But as he looked at the face of his sister, for a second it was his own mother standing there. He wondered how she would feel about the way he was acting.

  "Tell me, Kyle," she said as she placed her hands on his arms. "Tell me the truth."

  He couldn't ignore her any longer, any more than he could ignore the gut-wrenching pain in his heart. "I love Sabrina."

  Jenna's eyes welled with tears at his admission. "I know that." She stepped into his arms and he held her close, thanking God that at least one of the Morgan's had the gift of common sense. She stepped back and looked at him. "So tell me what happened between the two of you."

  Kyle dropped his head. "I really screwed up. I let my pride and anger take control, and I know better. Especially considering what she went through with her ex-husband. God, Jenn," he said as he leaned against the truck and pulled both hands through his hair. "It was bad."

  "So I gathered. How bad?"

  "Really bad," he said, thoroughly ashamed at the way he'd treated Sabrina. "I told her I'd be glad when she was gone so she'd stop interfering in my life."

  Jenna took a deep breath. "Kyle, sometimes your stupidity amazes me."

  He laughed at her insult. "Sometimes it amazes me too." "

  "So, what about Sabrina?"

  "I want her back."

  Jenna cocked her head and raised her eyebrows in question. "Why?"

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  Rescue Me

  Why did it take him so long to realize the answer? It was so simple.

  "Because I love her and want to marry her."

  Then she gave him a loving smile that shot straight through Kyle's heart. When she smiled like that she reminded him of their mother.

  "Good reason. So what are you going to do about getting her back?"

  Kyle hugged his sister. "I have no idea. First I have to find her, then I'll figure out how to convince her to come back to me."

  K K K

  Two weeks and nothing. Sabrina flipped through another pile of listings, yet not a single ranch for sale appealed to her.

  She needed to find something soon, because housing Petunia in their temporary apartment was irritating the landlord to the point no matter how much more rent she paid him, she'd soon find herself a fairly wealthy homeless person.

  "Nothing?" Her attorney Pamela Morris opened the door ahead of her secretary, who was bearing tea for both of them.

  Sabrina shook her head as Louise poured the tea. "Nothing," she replied as she thanked Louise.

  "Are you sure you're not being too picky?" Pam was not only her attorney, but also one of Sabrina's few friends in Dallas, most everyone she knew having sided with Mark during the divorce. Pam had steadfastly stood by her despite Mark's threats to ruin her practice.

  Sabrina remembered Pam laughing in Mark's face outside the courtroom and daring him to try. That day she'd earned Sabrina's loyalty for life.

  "Of course I'm not too picky," she said as she discarded the current pile along with the other rejects. "They're just not what I'm looking for."

  "They're just not the Rocking M, you mean," Pam said with a wise smile.

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  Jaci Burton

  "I don't know what you mean," Sabrina lied. "Surely you're not suggesting that I'm comparing every property against the Morgan's ranch?"

  Pam leaned back in her leather chair, twining her hands together on the desk. "That's exactly what I'm suggesting."

  "Well that's ridiculous," Sabrina said as she fiddled with her shoe, looked through her purse for a mint, and straightened the magazines on the table next to her. "I most certainly am not. Why the Rocking M was an average ranch at best, and I can afford much more than that."

  "Uh huh. You're a terrible liar, Sabrina," Pam said with a grin.

  That was the problem with having friends. They knew you too well.

  "Okay, so maybe I haven't adjusted to having left yet. But I'm getting there." That was also a lie. There wasn't a moment since she'd dri
ven away from the Rocking M she hadn't thought about the ranch, about Brady and Jenna, Luke and baby Matthew.

  She also thought about Kyle, but not that often. No more than twenty-five hours a day. When she went to bed at night, she remembered the feel of his strong body pulling her against him. When she woke up, she remembered sharing breakfast with him, working along side him every day. Remembered his looks, his touch, the way he smelled, and the funny way his hair spiked up in twenty different directions when he first got out of bed. Most of all she remembered the way he kissed her, the way he loved her.

  She remembered the way she loved him. And her heart broke every single time a picture of him entered her mind.

  "Why don't you just go back there?"

  "I can't, and you know very well why."

  "Because you're afraid."

  Sabrina shook her head. "Because of many reasons that I don't want to go over again, Pam. My mind is made up."

  "Your friend Jenna was right, you know. He does deserve to know."

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  Rescue Me

  Sabrina had filled Pam in on the details, including the surprise she felt when she learned she was pregnant, and how Mark had told her she'd be unable to conceive. Pam's eyes lit up first in fury, then in delight as she pondered ways they could squeeze more money out of Sabrina's ex-husband as recompense for having lied about her inability to get pregnant. But Sabrina wanted no more contact with Mark. That part of her life was over and forgotten.

  "By the way, I ran into Mark at the club the other day," Pam said in an offhand way that clued Sabrina in to the fact there were more than just pleasantries exchanged.

  "And?"

  Pam pondered her well-manicured nails, and pulled her chin-length blonde hair behind her ears. "Oh, nothing. I just casually mentioned that I had recently seen you and you were doing quite well."

  "And?" Sabrina had played this game before with Pam. She knew there was more.

  "Oh, not much really. I just may have mentioned that you positively glowed, and pregnancy was definitely agreeing with you."

  Sabrina laughed out loud. Leave it to Pam to dig the knife into Mark whenever and wherever she could. "I take it he was surprised to hear that?"

  Pam leaned forward, her blue eyes sharp and glinting with delight.

  "He positively paled. Sputtered and mumbled, it was pathetic really," she said without an ounce of remorse. "Frankly, I was afraid I was going to have to call one of the club attendants to carry him off, he looked so weak."

  "You are so bad," Sabrina said, but she had to admit a certain sense of satisfaction at Mark finding out about her pregnancy. "And thank you," she added.

  "Oh, you're welcome. Truly, it was my pleasure."

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  Jaci Burton

  Sabrina didn't doubt that in the least. "So what do you have for me to look at today?" Another round of reviews of ranch properties for sale. The search was getting tedious, and Sabrina knew she was going to have to settle on one and fairly soon. Otherwise she'd be too far along in her pregnancy to start up an operation and would have to wait until after the baby was born. And that she didn't want to do.

  "There are a few interesting ones," Pam said as she handed several papers across the desk to Sabrina. Then she sat back sipping her tea, smiling like a child with a secret she couldn't wait to spill.

  "What?" Sabrina asked suspiciously. She knew that look. Pam had something she was dying to tell her. Probably more gossip about Mark.

  "Nothing. Just read the listings."

  She perused the properties. The first couple were in Texas, and too close to Dallas for Sabrina's comfort. She didn't want to locate that close to Mark. Two were in Oklahoma, one a fairly sizeable and quite profitable operation, the other somewhat smaller but in a prosperous area. Both definitely had potential and she informed Pam she'd be interested in those.

  "Read the last one before I start making calls," Pam said, the grin never leaving her face.

  Sabrina shook her head at her friend and glanced down at the paper in front of her. Her jaw dropped.

  There, staring back at her from the page, was Kyle, standing in front of the entrance to the Rocking M. A paragraph in bold letters proclaimed Rancher For Sale. Not Ranch For Sale, but Rancher. Sabrina looked up at Pam, unable to hide the shock on her face.

  "Is this some kind of joke?" Sabrina felt chilled despite the comfortable temperature in the room.

  "No," she said. "Read it."

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  Rescue Me

  She lowered her eyes again to the page, wanting to run her fingers over the picture of the man she loved. Instead she read the advertisement underneath it.

  Ranch in Dreamwater, Oklahoma. Thirty-Five Hundred plus acres capable of sustaining hundreds of head of cattle and horses. Large ranch house with multiple work buildings and corrals. Incredibly secluded and very romantic, hot, spring-fed lake.

  Currently owned and run by one incredibly stupid man with too much pride and not enough common sense to hold on to the best thing that ever walked into his life. Needs immediate rescue by beautiful blonde with eyes the color of warm whiskey and hair like spun gold.

  Potential investor must go by the name Sabrina Daniels. Said investor needed here urgently. Owner willing to subject himself to many humiliations in order to get the woman he loves to come back to him.

  She read it over and over until her eyes blurred so that she could no longer read the passage again. She looked up at Pam as she wiped the tears with the back of her hand. "He loves me," she said in a giddy, hiccupping voice.

  "Undoubtedly," Pam said dryly. "He'd have to in order to make a complete ass of himself like that."

  Sabrina read the listing again. And again. And again. He loved her.

  He wanted her back.

  "Well?"

  She finally tore her eyes away from the picture of Kyle's face and looked up at Pam. "Well what?"

  "What are you waiting for? Grab that feisty little pig of yours and hightail it back to the Rocking M, where you belong."

  -237-

  Jaci Burton

  Chapter Sixteen

  "I'm here to rescue you."

  Kyle's heart stuttered at the familiar and oh-so-welcome voice. He craned his neck from under the pickup to see trim ankles and the pink painted toenails he'd grown to know and love so well. But this time alongside the two-footed woman of his dreams, four pink hoofed feet stood next to her, and a discernable snort was heard next to the sultry voice.

  He slid out from under the truck, squinting in the bright hot sun.

  Once again, a vision blinded him. He grabbed his T-shirt and wiped his hands and face, then stood, ready to face the angel standing before him.

  She looked so different today than the first day he'd met her. Before she was perfectly coiffed, dressed in silk and heeled sandals. Today she wore jean shorts and a basic T-shirt, plain sandals, little makeup and her hair piled high in a ponytail. And she looked more beautiful to him today than she ever had before.

  "Care to run that by me again?" Kyle ached to grab her and pull her to him. He wanted to feel her body, her life force pulsing against him, and kiss her until their lips were raw.

  "I said I'm here to rescue you," she repeated, a smile lifting the corners of her mouth despite her attempts to give him her most serious look.

  Petunia added her two cents worth with a resounding snort at Kyle's feet. He bent down and scooped up the bundle, kissing her soundly on

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  Rescue Me

  her big pink snout. "Petunia, I've missed you so. Thank God you've come back to me."

  Sabrina giggled. "I see I have a rival for your affections."

  "Oh no you don't," he said as he stepped toward her, cradling Petunia under his arms like a football. "I want to kiss you, I need to touch you, but damn if I'm not covered in Dreamwater dirt and blasted motor oil."

  "I could care less," Sabrina answered as she moved to his free side, twining her arm around his wais
t. "Kiss me before I die."

  That was all the permission he needed. He placed Petunia on the ground, then grabbed Sabrina to him and pressed his mouth hard against hers, pouring all the regret, apology and longing he had into that one kiss. Her lips parted and welcomed him, her soft mouth kissing him back with as much passion and fervor as he had within him.

  "Are you two going to get a room or will there be a spectacle occurring right in our front yard? And if so, can you hang on a few minutes while I sell tickets? We could use the extra cash."

  Sabrina tore her mouth from Kyle's and peered over his shoulder at Brady standing against the front steps, arms crossed in front of him and leaning casually against the banister. "Hi Brady," she said with a grin, no longer embarrassed to be caught in the arms of the Rocking M's senior partner. Kyle turned also, his arm remaining around Sabrina's waist.

  "Hi yourself," he said, that devilish smile making her feel more at home than she ever had before. "And welcome back. Or should I say, welcome home."

  "Thanks. It's good to be back." This was home. It had been since the first day she stepped foot on the ranch.

  "It's about time you got back here. I've had about enough of Kyle moping about, dragging his feet, head down, like a lost puppy without you. It was pathetic," Brady said with a wink.

  "Hey," Kyle interrupted. "I wasn't that bad."

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  Jaci Burton

  "Yes you were." Jenna opened the front door and came down the stairs. "Actually you were worse. You should have seen him Sabrina. He's completely lost without you. Can't function, can't work the computer, can hardly even ride a horse any more." Throwing her arms around Sabrina, she hugged her tightly. "Welcome home, my sister."

  Sabrina had to suck in her emotions, otherwise she'd be a blubbering mess of tears. "Thank you," she said in a shaky voice to Jenna. "I missed you."

  "Same here. Now please forgive my brother and tell him you love him so we can get back to normal around here. I've got to relieve Luke and take care of Matthew so he can help Brady tend to the horses before the rain hits." She squeezed Sabrina's hand. "We'll talk later."

  After Jenna left, Sabrina turned to Brady. He was leaning against the truck, the grin plastered to his face as if it were permanent. Her gaze shifted to Kyle, whose impatient stare should have clued Brady in immediately.