Page 104 (2/2)

“Ah!” I cried out, eyes closing, engulfed in sensation as his hhis teeth down lightly, right on the tip A jolt of pleasure and pain rocketed directly tohis shoulder

At h hands up to cup and ht into his mouth where he enclosed it in his heat

“Oh! Declan!” I cried out as he teased ue in a circle aroundme what I needed “Declan!” I nearly screa bud, pulling it hard between his teeth, harder than last tiood it felt all at once

I sainst the wall, mouth open, eyes closed, my breasts in his hands, in hishe wanted to give , soHe was finally touching me, here, in the dark, just us, the way I’d wanted The way I’d fantasized about late at night, touchingwith his name on , and it was so ined

But just as suddenly as he was on me, he pulled away I lost his war me turned cold

“Get out of here,” he barked, striding back into the shadowy depths of the barn

“What?” I asked, breathless He couldn’t be telling me to leave “Declan?”

“Now!” he bellowed, leaving no roo, firm Brutal

Tears burning my eyes, I did as I was told, the leftover roasted chicken forgotten on the floor,their way back up the hill Crushed, I was unable to forget his heat, or the coldness in his abrupt dismissal

But up in my room, I made up my hts, dark and hidden and hot Soain Now that I’d felt his passion, the way he wanted me just like I wanted him, I didn’t care what obstacles we faced I kneere ether

CHAPTER 1

Kara

Present day

I strode down the city sidewalk in my cowboy boots, powered by aelse I didn’t want to admit It felt too much like excitement Arousal I sed in anticipation I was about to see Declan, the man who’d made me pant with need The man who’d broken my heart

I hadn’t seen him in six years Not since that summer when I’d thrown myself all in, wide-eyed and naive, no idea what kind of pain lay beforeto see him? I should know better You stuck your hand on a hot stovetop once, people felt sympathetic You stuck your hand on the same damn heat a second time around and people just looked the other way You had only yourself to blame

Three blocks to go to his office building in Billings I’d parked a ways away, knowing I could use a walk to stretchfor hours, four and a half to be exact Montana was a big state and our ranch ay out in the s ainst the concrete, not like the dirt and grass of home

I would never be here if I weren’t desperate Bankrupt was the technical term If I had somewhere else to turn, I’d be there Never inout the e heart into a paper shredder and throwing myself at his mercy

But word on the street was that Declan could help Apparently he’d made a pile ofideas he’d had back when he was nothing more than a 21-year-old ranch hand without a penny to his naood on them

I still hadn’t thought to turn to him for help It hadn’t occurred to ested it

“You should go see Declan Hunt,” she’d said out of nowhere about ain receipts She still used one of those old, black calculators as big as a football

I’d nearly dropped the plates I was carrying Hearing Declan’s name had that effect on me

“About the ranch,” she’d continued, like ere talking about the blue plate special “See if he’ll help you out” She hadn’t even looked up as she said it Dot wasn’t big on shows of affection Six o when my father died of cancer she’d told me I could drink as much coffee as I wanted on the house That was about as touchy-feely as she got

The next day, before I could talk myself out of it, I typed his na popped up real quick and easy Declan Hunt, CEO of Obsidian Investors, phone number a click away I clicked His secretary scheduled me an appointment on a Friday at eleven o’clock To discuss a business proposal

At 10:49 I crossed a street, now only one block away I caught a gli hair pulled back in a ponytail, t-shirt and jeans like I was still at the ranch, shit-kicking cowboy boots sto to dress up for hiht have made himself a fortune, turned hied Not one bit And I’d be damned if I put on airs for hi it all down like a big, fat horse pill with no water, co for help

Shoulders back, chin up I could do this I had to do this I’d ask for a loan, one I fully intended to pay back I’d work hard to do it, and if he had a job for me, I’d take it I didn’t know all the details about how he’d made his fortune Hell, I’d deliberately blocked my ears when it came to Declan It hurt too much to hear about him But I cou

ldn’t coossip You didn’t rise fro Apparently he noned and operated properties all over the state, maybe all over the country So hea ranch Our fore if I had to spend some time away I hoped it wouldn’t co to save my family’s ranch

The sun beat down fierce in the clear blue June sky I ran my wrist up and across ether, every day soaring into the 90s and sometimes beyond Declan would take off his shirt in the heat I supposed some of the other ranch hands did as well, but I never really noticed Declan was all I could see, his shoulders, broad and roped thick with the kind of realwith sweat, cut, defined pecs with a couple of tattoos that ot constant access, pressing and licking their way along his skin The way his flat abs rippled, all leading down to a tantalizing, flat V

A car horn beeped I guessed in this town you needed to look both ways before crossing the street I needed to get ame Focus

I strode up the i in the city A glass revolving door swept , cold entryway A uniformed man behind a desk asked where I was headed and directed me to the bank of elevators Obsidian Investors owned the top floor Figured

Breathe in, breathe out I waited for the slowest elevator in the history of all elevators and tried to keepI wondered if the

Why hadn’t I written myself notes? Or a script, even? I could have printed it out on big sheets of paper Then, when I met with Declan I could have held theht off of the to look directly at him at the same time