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CARA WAS FALLING IN LOVE. Or major like. One of the two, and it was both exhilarating and terrifying. Sobering, too, because Roman was currently talking to Lane in the living room of the ranch house, and she’d heard him mention that he’d scheduled the flight to take him back late that afternoon.
This was news to Cara.
Mia and Ruby were out with Rex riding the ponies again.
Knox had taken off, back to his rodeo circuit.
Evie always made herself scarce, as she spent every spare minute with Carson, helping at his ranch.
Lane would be heading back to college after New Year’s.
Cara’s plane trip to Los Angeles was in the morning, and she just kind of assumed Roman might stay until then. But they hadn’t exactly discussed it yet. Maybe because Cara didn’t want to know. Now that she knew, she didn’t like knowing.
“You taking that private jet again?” Lane asked.
Roman chuckled. “No . . . that was a one-time thing. I might have money, but not God-money.”
Lane laughed at this. “Good. Because God-money is kind of scary, don’t you think? It’s like you have more power than should be allowed.”
“Agreed,” Roman said.
Cara rose from the kitchen table where she’d been pecking away at her laptop, catching up on emails and going over her schedule at the restaurant . . . seeing when she could maybe take a couple of days off. Not that Roman had invited her back to Wyoming, but maybe if things between them didn’t fizzle, it would be a possibility.
Their casual touches had become more frequent, and Roman had held her hand again. Last night, in fact, when they’d watched three episodes in a row of Frontier Town. Cara had been hooked, but when midnight rolled around, she knew she had to get some sleep. Especially when she knew Roman was an early riser no matter what time he went to bed.
He’d walked her to her bedroom door, which was charming. She’d kind of hoped for a little good night kiss, but there’d been nothing. No leaning. Just a smile good night. But Cara had seen the interest in Roman’s eyes, even though she knew he was holding back. Because they lived in different states? Because of his daughter? Because of his broken heart from a broken marriage?
She didn’t know, and things were about to become even more complicated once Roman and Mia got on that plane back to Wyoming.
“So what made you decide on majoring in financial planning?” Roman was asking Lane as Cara walked into the living room.
“Numbers fascinate me,” he said. “Besides, I’ve been able to help this ranch with a stronger accounting model for Holt to follow.”
“Impressive,” Roman said.
Cara knew a little more about this from Holt. “Lane’s being modest,” she said.
Roman turned to see her, and she loved that his smile was instant. “Why’s that?” He scooted over on the couch, where he was sitting in the middle, across from Lane in an armchair.
So Cara sat by Roman, sort of close, but with some space, too.
“The ranch had been in the red for a couple of years, and Lane took over the accounting last summer. Holt told me the ranch is now in the black.”
“That’s fantastic,” Roman said.
Lane’s face flushed, but he nodded in acknowledgment. “It was only rearranging some priorities and cutting out the things that had become obsolete. Holt took on out-of-state customers and raised service rates to market value.”
Roman lifted a hand to knuckle bump Lane across the space. “Impressive, man, really impressive.”
Lane smiled. “Thanks.”
Cara couldn’t wait any longer to bring up Roman’s flight. “So you’re leaving today?”
He snapped his gaze to her.
Lane stood abruptly from his chair. “I’ll catch up with y’all later. I gotta take care of some stuff in the barn.” He headed out the front door, leaving the two of them alone.
“Yeah . . . about that . . .” Roman said, his eyes on her. “I’d just booked it on my phone when Lane came into the room.”
