Kade: Armed and Dangerous (6 page)

“Your ex sounds like a stupid ass.” He thought about punching the shit out of a man
he didn’t even know. “You’re perfect.” He put his hand on her upper arm and looked
into her sensual brown eyes. “Personally, I wouldn’t want you any other way.”

“Thanks.” She shrugged away from his touch. “I’m not sure any man could truly love
a woman as she is. I heard more than enough lies from Davis to convince me of that.”
Her expression darkened. “Not to mention all the lies my father told my mother.”

Kade caught her hand, bringing her eyes back to him. “I’m not lying, and I’m not your
ex or your father.” He squeezed her fingers. “They both sound like bastards.”

Kelsey looked startled, then laughed. “That’s them, all right.” He dropped her hand
before she could pull away, and they walked through Sadie’s apple and peach orchard
toward the barn. The air was completely still, a prelude to a monsoon storm. Thunderheads
had built up all around the valley and it smelled of rain.

Her gaze drifted around the orchard, barn, and cattle pens. “How long have you lived
here?”

“I grew up in this house.” He sidestepped a watering hose and sprinkler head hidden
in the grass and made sure Kelsey didn’t stumble over them.

“When I graduated high school,” he continued, “I moved to Tucson to attend the University
of Arizona for four years, then went into FLETC, the Federal Law Enforcement Training
Center, in Artesia, New Mexico. Once I was officially an agent, I was stationed along
the Texas border.”

Kelsey ducked under the branch of an apple tree. “How did you end up back on the ranch?”

“When Trent’s mother died five years ago, I felt he needed his grandparents,” he said.
“So I managed to get a transfer here and we moved in with Mom and Chuck for what I
thought would be temporary.”

She glanced up at him and he met her gaze. “I’d have already built my own house on
a stretch of property I own if Trent hadn’t needed his grandparents so much. I just
couldn’t separate them with him being so young.”

“I didn’t mean to pry.” Pink flushed her cheeks. “About your wife and—”

He squeezed her shoulder. “You didn’t.”

“Dad Dad Dad Dad.” Trent charged toward them. “Come see. Come on, come on.” He grabbed
Kade’s hand.

Trent led the way, pulling his dad toward the barn. “Wait till you see.” When they
entered the dusty barn, Kelsey sneezed and Trent said, “Bless you. Come on now and
see.”

He pulled Kade around the saddles and tack to a cardboard box in one corner as he
continued his endless but endearing chatter. “Look, Barny had kittens. Lots of kittens.
It took me a long time to find her, but I did, and I counted five kittens, and one
is orange like her and two are black and I think one is calico, and the other is white.”

“Adorable babies.” Kelsey crouched next to the box, then sneezed. “The mama cat is
beautiful.” Her eyes watered and she sneezed again.

“Cute kittens.” Kade stroked one of the rat-like things as the mama cat kept her narrowed
gold-green eyes on him. “I think Kelsey is allergic to cats or the barn, so maybe
we’d better scram.”

“I’m—” She sneezed. “Fine. Really—” Sneeze. “I am.” Sneeze.

With a laugh, Kade grabbed her hand and pulled her up. “Come on, Sneezy.”

Trent looked at his dad. “Kelsey’s like Aunt Dara. She always sneezes when she comes
out to the barn, too. Come on. I wanna tell Grandma and Grandpa about the kittens.”
The boy charged out the door and headed back to the house.

“I don’t think I’ve”—Kelsey sneezed—“ever sneezed so many times in my life.” Sneeze.

“Let’s get you some allergy meds.” Kade nodded toward the house. “And I think I smell
Mom’s tacos. They’re the best in the West. Hell, the best anywhere.”

They headed back to the house and sure enough, tacos it was for dinner. It amazed
Kade how comfortable Kelsey was with his family. After dinner, she insisted on helping
clean up, and he joined her in washing and drying the dishes.

“I’m going to sleep like a baby.” She put her hand over her mouth and stifled a deep
yawn. Trent was tucked in bed, and Sadie and Chuck had retired for the night. “Those
allergy tablets made me a little drowsy.”

“I’ll call it a night, too.” Kade kicked off his boots at the front door, next to
Trent’s. “Back to work tomorrow.”

Kade checked her out as she walked ahead of him. Definitely one sexy ass.

She stopped before the door of the guest room, looking at him with those sensual brown
eyes that made him burn. “There is a lock on this door, isn’t there?”

He slid his hands into his front pockets and studied her face, remembering how soft
she’d felt in his arms the night before. How delicious her lips had tasted. His voice
was husky as he replied, “You’ll be glad to know that I have the only key.”

“Kade.” She narrowed her gaze and gave him a mock frown.

He moved closer to her. “The door locks from the inside.” A strand of her honeyed
hair fell forward, and he brushed it behind her ear. Just the slightest touch of his
fingers against her skin made him want her even more. “You have one hell of an effect
on my self-control,” he whispered, his lips nearing hers.

“Dad.” Trent’s voice shattered the quiet, and Kelsey jumped. The boy peeked around
the corner of his room. “I can’t sleep. Will you read me a story?”

Kade stepped back and nodded to his son. “Sure, kiddo.”

“Good night, Trent.” Kelsey smiled at Trent. She turned to Kade and blushed.

He made his words low enough that he was sure only Kelsey could hear. “Sweet dreams,
darlin’.”

“Ah, right.” She backed up and closed the door in his face. He heard the lock click
and he grinned.

Emotions raged within Kelsey, holding her on the edge of sleep. She couldn’t stop
thinking of last night when Kade had kissed her. His earthy, enticing smell. Her fingers
against his muscled chest, and his lips burning hers... so sensual. Everything about
him was sensual.

Kelsey’s eyelids fluttered.

Kade’s arms, holding her to him... the hammer of his heartbeat against her chest...
wanting him, so much. Such warmth. Fire, burning her skin wherever his lips trailed.
Her breasts aching beneath his slow and deliberate touch. Kade’s mouth on her nipples,
his tongue swirling across one and then the other. His naked body pressed against
hers, his arousal melting her resolve.

She surrendered, losing herself-—

Kelsey woke with a start, her heart pounding an uneven rhythm. She took a deep breath
and blinked away the sensual dream and stared up at the ceiling. Moonlight and shadows
flickered and danced across the white textured surface.

Lose myself.
That was exactly what would happen if she surrendered to any man, and exactly why
she couldn’t allow it to happen with Kade.

And yet, she wanted more of him.

Damn. Even her dreams betrayed her.

Kade’s words whispered through her mind. I’m not lying, and I’m not your ex or your
father.

“I can’t believe I slept so late,” Kelsey told Sadie as she sat at the breakfast table
in the copper and verdigris-green kitchen. The aroma of baked bread and cinnamon met
her nose, and her stomach growled. “It must have been those allergy pills.”

“You probably needed the sleep.” Sadie handed Kelsey a glass of orange juice. “Nothing
like country air to give you a good night’s rest.”

“Thanks.” Kelsey took a long drink, then set the glass on the table. “Must be true.
I don’t think I’ve ever felt so relaxed. Where are Kade and Trent?”

“Kade left early for work.” Sadie grabbed a set of oven mitts, opened the oven door,
then pulled a shallow pan out of the oven.

A strange wave of disappointment flowed through Kelsey. Why should she care that Kade
left before she could see him? She didn’t need an adolescent obsession and she refused
to think about him another second. Not one.

“Trent’s feeding the pigs.” Sadie set a pan on the stove and nodded toward the window.
Kelsey looked out to see the sunshine warming a rose bed and willow branches dancing
in a breeze.

Sadie blew a strand of chestnut hair out of her face as she wrapped up a square of
cooled coffee cake and added it to a growing stack. “Would you like some Polish coffee
cake?”

“I’ve never heard of Polish coffee cake, but it looks wonderful.”

Kelsey’s mouth watered as she breathed in the aroma. “It smells heavenly.”

Sadie handed her a plate with a thick slice. As soon as Kelsey tasted it, she realized
it was more than heavenly. Thin yeast bread with anise seeds baked in, then a cinnamon,
sugar, and butter topping crumbled on top, and another topping drizzled over that.

“It’s to die for.” Kelsey sighed around a mouthful of the treat. “I’m going to gain
ten pounds just from the smell of your cooking.”

Laughing, Sadie whisked off her apron. “I wouldn’t worry about pounds around here.
Lots of walking. Good for the body—and the mind and soul. What’re your plans for today?”

Kelsey swallowed a delicious bite before answering. “I’d like to start with interviewing
you.”

The woman plopped a wide-brimmed hat on her dark curls. “Let me know when you’re ready.
I’ll be in the garden.” She grabbed a metal bucket from the counter. “I’m dumping
these scraps in the compost heap. Nothing goes to waste here, so don’t throw away
any leftovers.”

“No danger of a crumb of this going to the compost.” Kelsey smiled and rubbed her
stomach. “Only problem is, it’ll be going to my waist.”

“You’ll see how much exercise you get, just hanging around this place.” Sadie laughed
and headed out the back door with the scrap bucket.

Kelsey couldn’t help like Sadie, not to mention Chuck and Trent. What a wonderful
family Kade had.

Her heart gave a twinge. A family... she’d had a family, too, before her parents and
sister were taken away. And if Davis loved anyone besides himself she could have had
her own family. If he’d been the person she’d thought he was.

A son like Trent, energetic and bright. They might have built a tree house, played
soccer, and every Christmas made construction-paper rings for the trees. He would
have hugged her each night, after a bedtime story.
Mommy, I love you...

Enough. It was better that they hadn’t had children. The divorce would have been an
even greater nightmare, and no son of Davis’s could have grown up healthy.

Kelsey decided to start with a shower and in the bathroom she discovered Kade’s apple-scented
shampoo. She smiled. No wonder he smelled of apples.

While she washed her body her mind went places she hadn’t intended, imagining what
it would be like to have Kade soaping her, touching her.

With a groan, Kelsey sagged against the wet tile behind her while warm water sprayed
on her chest. Fantasizing about Kade was the wrong direction to take. If she let herself
go, how would she manage to keep her hands off him during her stay at the ranch?

After showering, then dressing in jeans and a blouse, Kelsey headed to the den. The
country air certainly did relax her, as if there was no hurry in the world to get
to work. That’s probably what Theresa had in mind when she’d agreed to giving Kelsey
the assignment.

Kelsey sank into a swivel chair in front of a rolltop desk. She slid on her glasses
and skimmed the latest news headlines on the Internet. The only sound in the room
was the ticking of the wagon wheel-shaped clock, and the click-clack of her laptop
keys.

Outside, chickens clucked and Rain Bird sprinklers went ch- ch-ch-ch. A wave of memories
washed over Kelsey. The lazy sound of the sprinklers took her back to her childhood,
when she and her sister, Naya, would run, in their panties, through the water sprays
from sprinklers in their backyard. Kelsey could smell fresh-cut grass and feel water
splashing her legs.

She rubbed the scar on her thigh as she stared out the window. How she missed Naya,
and her mother. If only...

Kelsey jerked her attention away from things that couldn’t be changed and downloaded
her e-mail. She wanted to turn off the computer as soon as she saw the hundred-plus
e-mails that had accumulated in the two days since she’d last checked.

Several were responses to her recent feature on the former California governor, a
couple were from friends, three from her editor, and the rest were spam. She deleted
all the unsolicited mail and responded to the others.

After she finished her replies, Kelsey leaned back in the swivel chair and closed
her eyes. Her thoughts turned to Kade. His was a powerful presence, yet he was so
gentle with her. Definitely a man she could lose her heart to, and it would make it
all the harder when it was time for her to head home.

***

“They’re not suffering, Kade,” Don Mitchell said. “Just a bit of dehydration, and
we’ve been making sure they’re getting plenty of water.”

Kade nodded and wiped sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand. The merciless
sun cooked the desert as agents rounded up a group of thirty-three undocumented aliens
at the Ford Ranch, at the foot of the Mule Mountains. Men, women, and children made
up the miserable group, but they were too beaten by the heat to do more than crouch
in the dust and wait to be processed.

Ford had reported the group when they stopped at his ranch for water. The rancher
was a good man, and had allowed the UDAs to drink from his irrigation hose.

The stench of sweat and body odor was almost unbearable, and the heat only intensified
the smell. It was obvious they’d been on a long and difficult journey, not uncommon
for illegals trying to cross the U.S. border. Kade was not usually called in on a
routine process, but one of the UDAs had claimed to have information on a key smuggler
Kade was after.

In Spanish, Kade questioned Juan Dominguez, who’d insisted he knew the smuggler.

“Gordo,” Juan said. He continued rattling in Spanglish, the border version of Spanish
and English. The coyotes had left the UDAs to die, and Juan was angry. Gordo was the
name the coyotes had called the smuggler. Juan gave Kade a description that matched
what Kade knew of the man.