Entangled Hearts (15 page)

“Thanks.”

As he drove back to R&K Record's offices, Lucas was sure of one thing: There was no denying that the attraction between the two of them was real and very potent. Every time they were together, the air crackled with unrequited lust. No matter how much Chynna tried to resist it, they were going to become lovers. There was no doubt in his mind.

Chapter 11

S
taying away from Kenya was
damn near impossible, given she was a guest in his family's house, but Noah had tried his best to honor her wishes after he'd behaved so terribly toward her a couple of days ago. He'd made sure Jonas showed her the ropes on the ranch. At times, he would catch her outside hauling hay, cleaning stalls and trying her best to rope in the steers, but he kept his distance. Even at dinner, he acknowledged her presence and was polite when spoken to, but nothing more.

He knew his parents and Rylee had to be wondering what was going on between them, which is why it was no surprise when Rylee confronted him two days after the incident.

“Okay, what gives?” his little sister asked him at the check-in desk at the lodge as new guests were arriving.

“What do you mean?” Noah asked, even though he knew
exactly
what she was referring to. He left the desk to go to the back of the house, where they would not be heard.

“What's going on between you and Ch-I mean Kenya,” Rylee whispered as they walked into the management office. “And don't say ‘nothing' because I know better.”

“I don't want to discuss this with you.”

“Is that so?” Rylee said, following behind him and shutting his door. “Well, I disagree. The two of you have been so damn polite to each other, I want to scream. Tell me what happened.”

Noah's eyes darkened when he turned to his sister. “This is none of your affair, Rylee. Stay out of this.”

“Affair?” Rylee noticed his choice of words. “Is that what's going on? Did you have a lover's spat?”

“Of course not!” Noah responded. “How could you think that?”

“C'mon, Noah, I'm not a little kid anymore,” Rylee said. “And I can see with my own two eyes that there's something between you and Kenya.”

“You're wrong.”

“And you're fooling yourself, big brother. You've got a beautiful woman who's obviously interested in you. What would be so wrong with spending time with her and enjoying life? Haven't you suffered enough?”

“Don't start, Rylee.”

“I know Maya wouldn't have wanted you to be celibate and live like a monk.”

“Rylee Hart!” He stared at her in disbelief. He couldn't believe his little sister's audacity.

Rylee smiled coquettishly. “What? Do you think I live like one?”

Noah covered his hands with his ears. “I don't want to hear this.”

“That what? Your little sister has a sex life?” Rylee asked with her hands on her hips. “Well, I do. And I'm not afraid to say it. Perhaps you shouldn't be afraid of one either.”

“I'm not afraid.”

“Bullshit!” Rylee said. “And I'm telling you that you need to do something about it.”

“Like what?”

“Well, we have our thirty-fifth anniversary party this weekend. You should invite Kenya as your date.”

“I don't think that's a good idea.” Plus, he suspected she would say no. Why would she choose to spend her time with a man who'd behaved so boorishly? If Maya could see him now, she'd be embarrassed at the way he'd treated another woman. But he hadn't a clue as to how to make it up to Kenya.
What could I say? That I'd lost my mind temporarily?

“Why not invite her?”

He decided to be honest. If nothing else, it would get Rylee off his back. “Kenya and I had a disagreement, so I doubt she would want to spend time with me of her own free will.”

“Well, you won't know that unless you ask her.”

“You want me to put myself out there? What if she says no?”

“I have a feeling you might be surprised by her answer if an apology is offered with the invitation. But you'll never know if you don't try.”

Seconds later, she'd walked off, leaving Noah to his own thoughts.
Is Rylee right? Could Kenya forgive me and agree to attend the party with me?

He was torn. He wanted to make amends, and the truth of the matter was he did want to get to know Kenya better, but he couldn't remember the last time he'd asked a woman out. It had to have been in his teens, before he'd seen Maya blossom and he realized she was the woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with.

But she was gone. He was still here. Somehow, he had to find a way to move on with his life. Kenya had been right when she'd called him out on it. Perhaps that's why he'd gotten so upset? Regardless, he needed to make things right with Kenya, whether she agreed to be his date to the party. He wouldn't want her to leave the ranch remembering him as the guy who'd treated her so miserably.

Noah smiled inwardly. Somehow Kenya having a good opinion of him was extremely important. In a short time, she had broken through the barrier he'd had up. The question was, would he finally allow her to enter?

Chynna was brushing the baby colt that Rylee had delivered earlier that morning. She'd been awed by the sight of seeing the colt being born. She'd never seen anything in her life like it and doubted she ever would again. Being on the ranch had opened her eyes to so many new experiences. She'd found she was capable of a lot more than she'd thought.
Who would have figured I could haul hay, clean up a stall or milk a cow for that matter?

Milking the cow had been a hilarious experience as the cow had kicked over the bucket and the milk in the pail had splashed all over her. Then there was helping the ranch crew and the entire Hart family prepare for their big thirty-fifth celebration.
She'd hung streamers and lights, moved furniture and generally pitched in where needed. When Madelyn had asked for her help in the kitchen, initially Chynna had been reluctant. She'd never cooked a day in her life, but she'd been in the kitchen with Madelyn, rolling out dough for pies and, of course, getting it all wrong.

But at least she would have all the memories of her experiences here once she went back to the real world and picked up her life as the infamous pop star Chynna James. She knew her time on the ranch would have to come to an end soon. Kenya couldn't and wouldn't live her life indefinitely, though Chynna suspected she was enjoying her time with a certain handsome music mogul. Chynna just wished there would've been time to see what would develop between her and Noah.

He was a hard man to figure out. On the one hand, he was a dedicated rancher and family man, but on the other, he was a tortured soul, living under the shadow of his dead wife's memory. Despite how strong he appeared on the outside, he couldn't seem to let her go.

She'd tried to reach out to Noah, and her efforts had her ending up in his bed, but not in the way she imagined. For a moment, he'd lost himself and wanted to forget his wife and had used Chynna as an outlet. Chynna had forgiven him after it had happened because she could see he was so tortured. She would have talked with him about the incident sooner, but he'd seemed so intent on not forgiving himself, that she'd let it go and kept her distance.

Of course, the reason she'd done that hadn't been merely for his benefit. Her reaction to him had scared her. He'd been tortured, but what was her excuse for giving into him so freely? When he'd first kissed her, it had been out of anger, but then it had changed. There had been passion lying underneath the surface and she'd succumbed. She'd let him touch her, suckle her. She hadn't been able to shake the memory of his lips on her breasts and how it had made her feel. Her insides had liquefied, and if his mother hadn't called out his name, she was sure she would've allowed him to make love to her. And it would have been wrong because it wouldn't have been for the right reasons. At least not for him, and he would have regretted the encounter and despised her. Thankfully, fate had intervened.

But it still didn't change the fact that Chynna still wanted Noah Hart. But did he want her? Really want her and not as a substitute or warm body that could help him forget his dead wife?

“Kenya, do you have a moment?”

The object of her desire, looking tan, sexy, and wearing a pair of Wranglers, was standing in the doorway to the stall.

“Yes?”

Noah stared at his feet and shifted uncomfortably.

“What is it?”

“I was hoping we could take a ride, maybe have some lunch?” Noah asked uneasily. “So we could talk.”

Chynna put down the brush she'd been using. To talk was all she'd wanted to do the last couple of days. She hadn't wanted this distance between them, not when she sensed she was close to breaking through the barrier he'd erected around his heart. “A ride sounds good.”

Thirty minutes later, after they'd saddled up the horses with a blanket and a small picnic basket, Noah took them on a short ride past the lake, where they had airboat rides for the guests, to a small pond that featured a dazzling water fountain. Once they'd dismounted and Noah had tied up his Arabian and her palomino, he pulled out the blanket and untied the picnic basket from his horse's saddle.

“C'mon.” He grabbed her hand again and her heart turned over. She didn't know why she felt like a schoolgirl around him, but she did. She accepted the hand he offered and walked with him toward the pond's edge. It was a quiet, secluded area on the ranch property that their guests knew nothing about. It was a setting made for lovers, and Chynna relished the opportunity to spend time alone with Noah, but they were also about to have their first
serious
talk.

Once he'd found an advantageous spot, he put down the picnic basket. Then he shook out the blanket, spread it on the grass and lowered himself to the ground. He held out his hand so he could help Chynna down onto the soft blanket that felt like chenille or maybe cashmere.

“This outing is quite unexpected,” Chynna replied, watching him carefully. She felt a lurch of excitement, but reined it in.

“I know,” Noah said quietly, looking down to pick at imaginary lint on the blanket. “I just figured we needed some alone time to talk.”

“Okay ...” Chynna paused several beats before saying, “Well, we're here, so ...”

Noah looked up at her again and this time, he looked her dead in the eye. “Listen, I'm sorry about what happened the other day in my bedroom. I was a real jerk. I shouldn't have behaved like that, and I'm sorry if I hurt you.”

“You didn't hurt me, Noah.”

Noah smiled and leaned over to tuck a tendril of hair that had escaped out of her cowboy hat behind her ear. “Are you sure about that? Because if I did, I would never forgive myself.”

Chynna swallowed hard. “I'm sure.”

An audible sigh of relief escaped those full lips of his. “I'm glad because I ...” He paused as if searching for the right words. “It was hard listening to what you had to say, but I think you had a point.”

“You do?” Chynna was hopeful.

Noah nodded. “I've been stuck reliving the past for such a long time, I couldn't see the forest for the trees, but you've opened my eyes and made me see. You weren't afraid to stand up to me and call me out.”

Chynna shrugged. “I hope I didn't offend you.” It had been easy to stand up to Noah, but why was it so difficult in her everyday life?

“You didn't. And your outspokenness is one of the things I like about you, amongst other things. So basically, what I'm saying is, I like you Kenya. I like you a lot, and if you're willing, I would like another chance with you. You know, a fresh start.”

Chynna knew what he meant, but she needed him to spell it out so there would be no misunderstandings. “A fresh start for what?”

Noah grinned and Chynna's heart skipped a beat. “For you and me, to figure out what's going on between us,” he admitted honestly. “Because despite my boorish behavior that day, you and I both know that we've been circling each other for over a week. I'm hopelessly attracted to you, Kenya, and I guess what I'm saying very badly is that I'm tired of trying to fight it.”

His compelling eyes riveted her to the spot but didn't prevent her from saying, “I'm attracted to you too, Noah Hart.”

Noah reached for the picnic basket, fished out two flutes and passed them to her. “Hold these.” He opened the bottle of sparkling cider he'd brought. He popped the cork on the cider and it nearly gushed over, but he caught it just in time to grab a flute and pour some in.

When they both had two full flutes, he toasted, “To a fresh start.”

An undeniable magnetism was building between them, sending shivers of delight coursing through Chynna. “To a fresh start,” she responded.

After they'd pigged out on hard salami, Brie, crackers, fruits and miniature dessert, they spread out on the blanket and Noah took Rylee's advice and asked Chynna to the anniversary party. “So will you come with me as my date to the Golden Oaks Ranch's thirty-fifth
anniversary party this coming Saturday night?”

Chynna smiled at Noah. “I would love to.”