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“Are you sure you won’t stay for dinner before you get on the road?”
Shane looked back at Kendall one last time. “We need to get to New York. She’s been gone too long.” And he was anxious to get on with living and finding something permanent.
“Takes a brave man to uproot everything and follow a woman.”
It would take far too much time to explain their crazy situation. “We’re partners,” he said instead. It felt right to say that and mean it for the first time.
“Well, how about I have Lucinda make you up a basket. At least you can refill when you’re on the road.”
“I’d appreciate that.”
Doyle clapped him on the shoulder. “Good luck, son.”
“Thanks. I think I’m going to need it.”
Doyle’s mustache fluttered with a gusty laugh. “I think you’re right.”
Shane followed the women’s voices and paused. It struck him at the oddest times how much he was drawn to her. She was beautiful, there was no doubt about that, but he’d gone out with plenty of beautiful women. None of them reached under his breastbone and shoved his heart up into his throat like Kendall did.
Half the time he couldn’t talk around that fucking lump. The rest of the time he just wanted her mouth on his. Her skin against his mouth and that throaty hum of satisfaction she made filling the air. It had been days since he’d touched her.
And he couldn’t even explain why. Sure he was busy, but on the downtimes, he’d lost himself in woodworking until he was too blurry to see the numbers on a measuring tape. His body ached for her, and his brain was in overdrive. The endgame of New York was more like a beacon of the future now. And he didn’t know how he felt about that.
Was he just trading one life for another? Did he really want to mold himself around another person’s dream again? When he’d first learned about the Heron, he’d been hell-bent on figuring out a way to get out from under the partnership.
Now…he didn’t know what he was feeling.
When Kendall was near him, all he could think about was keeping her right there with him. That was the only thing he seemed to be able to define. He wanted Kendall.
He walked up to the women, invading Kendall’s space to see what she’d do in front of someone else. She slid herself into his body, locking into that perfect puzzle-piece snap they seemed to do unconsciously.
He looped his arm around her hip. “Almost ready to go?”
“We just need to pack up our things.”
“I’m all packed. My bags are at the main house.”
“I’m going to miss you, kiddo. You were a better stable hand than half of my staff,” Evelyn said.
Kendall lit up, her smile wide and sparkling. Even beamed at someone else, he felt the punch. He curled his fingers into her soft corduroy pants. She dropped her hand behind her and squeezed his thigh briefly before stepping forward to embrace the older woman.
“I can’t thank you enough for teaching me all about the horses. The minute I can afford one, I’ll be adding one to my roster of animals.”
Surprised, he lifted an eyebrow. “Just how many animals do you have?”
Kendall grinned up at him. “It’s quite the assortment of dogs, cats, and we even have a den of foxes that has made themselves at home. Not to mention the herons all over the marshy part of the lake.”
“Those aren’t exactly pets.”
“You tell that to Pete.” She laughed when his eyebrow spiked. “Pete’s been around so long I don’t even know how old he is. He’s the reason I named the B and B the Heron.”
“Huh.”
She turned to Evelyn. “I’ve got your e-mail, phone number, and address. We’ll keep in touch.”
“You damn well better. I don’t like to talk to most of the people around here. You, I like.”
“The feeling is entirely mutual.”
