What the hell should be do about McKenna?
When he first kissed her, he insisted his reaction had been a fluke. But it happened again last night, and his reaction today had about knocked him on his ass. She walked out of the dressing room in that flowy skirt and blouse and his body forgot they didn’t get along. All he wanted to do was explore those curves she’d been hiding. Talk about making no sense.
Chance, the horse his grandfather gave him his first Christmas after moving here, glanced up from grazing, noticed Zane, and headed over. When was the last time he’d gone riding? Longer than he could remember. In his younger days, whenever the world closed in on him, he’d saddle Chance, and they’d ride the ranch until the feeling disappeared.
The horse stopped in front of Zane, poked at his arm, then bobbed his head and snorted. “Sorry I forgot about the treat. Next time.” He scratched the horse’s neck. “Be thankful you’re a gelding and you don’t have to worry about females, Chance, because there’s no way to understand ’em.”
He preferred the way he and McKenna had been, arguing about business and pretty much everything else. That he could handle, but this sexual electricity? That scared him more than a marriage-minded mama.
As if thinking about McKenna called her, gravel crunched under tires. He turned and recognized her burnt orange compact car heading down the drive. He shook his head. That blasted color wasn’t any better on a vehicle than a TU shirt.
A minute later, when she got out of her car and strolled toward him, she looked as pretty as she had in the store.
He grinned. “The boots are much better.”
“Not that there was anything wrong with the way I was dressed or wore my hair before, but I realize you and Grace could have a point. It might be slightly helpful to the business and my interactions with clients if I tried to fit in more with the folks around town.”
“Woman, could you put more qualifiers in that sentence?”
A smile played on her lips and her chin rose in defiance. “I’m sure I could if I worked at it.” Chance moved to McKenna, poking her hand with his nose. She awkwardly patted him. “What’re you doing out here? Why aren’t you in the office?”
He shook his head. “Again, with the why am I here. You have got to find a new conversation starter.”
“I’ll work on it.”
“I needed time to clear my head. I love being outdoors. Ginny says even as a baby. When I was fussy, if my mother put me in the stroller, I calmed down the minute we got on the porch. But there’s something special about this place. I sort things out better here. The best way is to climb on a horse and ride the ranch.”
“Does walking around LA help when you’re home?”
Home. Odd that LA hadn’t felt that way since he returned to Wishing.
Maybe because he hated the city. The noise. The pollution. The crowds. Hell, the short walk from his closet-sized studio apartment to work set his teeth on edge. “If I can get to the beach, it helps, but it’s not like being on the Lucky Stars.”
“You sound like you miss it.”
“I do. Texas never gets out of person’s blood.” For the first time he realized how much. When he graduated and landed a job after his first interview, he’d been relieved to be done with the process and accepted the offer. Once working in California, he became entrenched in the industry and never thought about whether he liked living there. When he and Cody started Big Stake Games, they hadn’t researched other locations.
But back in Texas, he’d examined his life some. He’d never done that on a visit before. Maybe because this trip had felt different the moment he stepped into town. He’d been drawn to the land and the town the way he hadn’t been in years. Did all the changes have anything to do with his feeling he was the odd man out with his friends as if they’d moved on to a new phase in life, while he stood still.
“Ginny said you visit often,” McKenna asked, pulling him back to their conversation.
He nodded, thinking how his grandmother’s health was another matter weighing on him. She appeared more fragile now than at Ty’s wedding. Damn hip problems. She seemed better since surgery, but how long would it last? She was nearing the age when folks started falling. Seemed like if that happened, they often went downhill fast.
“Ginny’s an amazing woman.”
“I don’t know where I’d be without her.” But more often the thought that his time with her was ticking away hammered at him. “I worry about her living out here alone since she’s getting older. I wish she’d move into town.”
“You should talk to her about it.”
He chuckled. “If I did, I know how it would go. About as well as riding a horse with a slipping saddle.” Unable to stand the competing thoughts bouncing around in his head vying for attention, Zane said, “Speaking of riding, that’s what I need to do. Want to come?”
“I don’t ride.”
He stared at McKenna. “You work on aranchthat offers western weddings where the couple and often the wedding party arrive on horseback and you don’t ride? Tell me you at least know how to care for a horse.”
“What’s there to it other than making sure they have food and water?”
“What do they get fed?”
