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“You’re different now,” she said.
“You’re right.” He gazed down at her, and her next statement stalled in her throat. She wanted to say it, though.
“You have me now.”
He grinned and leaned closer. “That I do, and I’m really happy about that.”
She was too, and she said, “Let’s say grace, and then I need to fix my hearing aid.”
“Which one?”
“This one.” She touched her right ear again.
He didn’t start to pray. Instead, he pressed his cheek to her left one and whispered in her ear that could still hear, “Will you dance with me at the concert tonight?” in the throatiest, sexiest voice she’d ever heard a man use.
“Absolutely,” she said, the word almost a gasp of air.
Finally satisfied, he nodded and started to pray. Maddy then went down the hall to get a new battery for her hearing aid, and she looked at herself in the mirror. Her cheeks held a flush, and she looked…happy.
Joy flowed over her, and she couldn’t wait to stand in the circle of Kyle’s arms later that night, all that pressing blackness around them. She told herself, “Don’t fall too fast,” because they still had a lot of unknowns in front of them. Would she return to teaching in the fall? Would their relationship even last the summer? Would he become a mega-star, or would history repeat itself?
She’d spoken to her mother that week, expressing all of her worries and fears, and Momma had said something that stuck in Maddy’s mind.
Don’t make decisions based on things that haven’t happened yet. Live right now and enjoy it.
That was exactly what Maddy wanted to do and was going to do. After that…she’d see what happened and figure out what to do then.
ChapterSeventeen
Energy flowed through Kyle like lightning. The band rocked their set. He laughed with the members and his brothers who’d come to help with the concert that night. He kept looking up to the bleachers, where Maddy sat, her face bent over her phone. The stadium lights made it impossible for her to be in even an ounce of darkness, and Kyle smiled to himself as she waited for him.
Finally, Todd nodded to her and said, “Go. We’re done here.”
“Yeah?” He glanced around. “Where’s Laura?”
“She was in the fields all day with McMahon, and that horse still hasn’t had her foal.” He shook his head, and he looked utterly exhausted. Kyle had texted with Todd all week, day and night, and his brother always answered quickly. “I’m headed out there after this.”
“Then you should go.”
He closed the cupboard and gave Kyle a glare. “We’re done here.”
Kyle didn’t stay to argue any longer. He fell into step with Todd. “You won’t be home for a while?”
“Probably not,” Todd said. “If Laura’s not in the stable—and she will be—I’ll stop by her house to make sure she doesn’t come out on the farm tomorrow.”
His fiancé was the vet here at the Texas Longhorn Ranch, and both Laura and Todd worked a lot of hours. Kyle liked Laura a whole lot, and more importantly, he liked how happy Todd was with her. He hadn’t noticed that his brother was particularly unhappy before Laura had come along, but there was definitely a marked difference in him now.
Kyle wondered if the others could see a change in him. He didn’t pay the thoughts much attention, because Maddy wore a flirty sundress in a light blue that made her eyes pop and her pink-painted lips call to his male hormones. “Aren’t you a pretty thing?” he teased as he dropped onto the bench beside her. His back ached, and a groan slipped out of his mouth.
“The concert was great.” She slipped her arm through his. “You sound tired.”
“It’s been a very long day.” He stifled a yawn, but it fought against him—and won. He let it out, and Maddy leaned her head against his arm.
“Do you want to skip dessert at my house?” she asked.
“I was thinking maybe we could change the venue,” he murmured. He’d asked her to dance with him during the concert, but the country-rock band he’d booked didn’t really play music where he could sweep a woman into his arms and hold her close. He hadn’t had time anyway.
It was a nice thought, and Kyle could see himself dancing with her in the kitchen at his house.
