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“Yeah?”

“Companies are buying up land cheap and putting together
resorts and spas in nice remote spots like this.”

“I’m not looking to sell it on the cheap. I’d like to know
what the land is worth at the very least.”

“I’ll set it up.”

Kain stood beside him and looked over the crowd of people.
Kendall’s laugh drew their attention. Shane’s shoulders instantly tensed as two
men drew Kendall and her friend into the small group of people dancing.

“Are you sure you want to sell at all, Shane? It looks like
you have a good life out here.”

He’d been so focused on getting the repairs done to make the
Heron profitable, but the last week with Kendall had been more about living in
the present than chasing a future. And anything he’d envisioned included the
Heron lately.

“I was actually hoping to come here and see that you were
miserable so I could convince you to sell and come back to California.” Kain
nudged him. “You look surly, but I think that’s more for the hot dress she’s
wearing and the dude who’s trying to dance with her.”

Kendall was swaying her hips in time to the music, and
Brandon was consistently offbeat. She raised her arms, and her skirt lifted
another fraction of an inch.

“Don’t kill him. I don’t want to spend New Year’s in jail.”

“A well-placed rock tied around his waist, and I could lose
him in the middle of the lake. It’s supposed to be cold tomorrow night. I’m
sure that last bit will freeze over.”

Kain laughed and slapped him on the back. “As I said, you
look happy.”

He had a steady bit of cash coming in from his furniture,
but instead of putting it back into the business, he kept buying lumber for
repairs on the Heron. He always had enough for the next project under Avery,
but he wasn’t getting ahead.

Did he really want to keep hoping they’d become solvent?

Kendall clapped and laughed, her head tipping back in pure
enjoyment.

For her, he was pretty sure he’d be willing to take that
chance.

“Well, go get her.”

Without a backward glance, Shane plowed through the crowd.
The entire room parted, but he had a feeling it had more to do with Kain
bringing up the rear than his determined face.

He stood before Kendall, his chest heaving and the dozen
people shifting to make room for him.

Kendall reached up and played with the open button of his
shirt. “I thought you didn’t dance.”

The next song was slower. Dashboard Confessional’s haunting
acoustic harmonies and the whispery voice of the lead singer salted the room.
He hooked his arm around her waist, dragging her into him. “I don’t.”

“I’m not ready to leave the dance floor.”

“I didn’t say we were leaving.”

She settled her hands against his shoulders and slid her
knee between his as they swayed. “You were very rude to Brandon.”

“He’ll get over it.”

She peered around him. “Should I worry about Kain?”

“Should I worry about Bells?”

“Yes.”

Shane let out a quick bark of laughter. “Nice.”

“Her signature song is ‘Barracuda.’ Does that say anything?”

“You’re lying.”

“Maybe.”

He skimmed his palm along the barely-there fabric at her
back. From across the room it was dangerous enough, but up close, he saw just
how transparent it was. There was some sort of slip thing beneath it, but a man
had to be paying attention to see it.

“I was tempted to tie a boulder to Brandon and toss him in
the lake.”

“What?” She laughed up at him. “Why?”

“Because he was looking at you like you were the most appetizing
thing in the entire room.”

“And that’s bad?”

“Hell no. You’re the most beautiful woman in the room.
Period.”

Her eyes widened. “Oh.”

Pretty words didn’t come easy to him, but he wanted to find
them for her. Loving her was one of the easiest and hardest things he’d ever
done.

“Hey, you guys,” Bells yelled from the corner of the room.
She was standing on a chair, her hand on Kain’s shoulder. Kain was grinning up
at her. “It’s countdown time!”

“Uh-oh.”

Shane looked down at her. “What?”

“I hope Kain’s ready for Bells. I have a feeling she’s going
to plant one on him.”

“Yeah?” He grinned. It would serve Kain right if Bells shook
him up. Kain was far too used to getting whatever he wanted. “I think he can
handle it. Besides, I’m only interested in planting one on you.”

“Is that right?”

Chants of twenty, nineteen, eighteen blurred in his mind as
he lowered his mouth to hers. He couldn’t wait until the final countdown to
one. Her usual apple flavor was missing. In its place was the heady scent of
flowers that matched her petal-soft lips. He’d meant to keep the kiss easy and
gentle, but when her arms wound around his neck and she slipped her fingers
through his hair, he lost himself in her.

She tasted of sweet wine and Kendall. He bent her back with
the force of the kiss, and he didn’t give a good goddamn about the whooping
crowd. He lifted her off her feet, slanting his mouth along hers.

The room erupted into laughter, the crank of cheap New
Year’s toys, and paper trumpets. He set her down, and she backed her way
through the people, only eyes for him. She led him upstairs.

There were people on the stairs taking advantage of the
shadows. He and Kendall wove around them and up to the second floor. She took a
right and then a left down a skinny hallway that led to a tiny room.

He frowned. “Is this your room?” It was a closet. Not an
exaggeration. The room couldn’t be formally named a bedroom.

“I gave up my bedroom for B and B space. I only crash here.
It’s going to be a bit of a tight fit, but we’re used to tight fits, aren’t we,
Oscar?”

Instead of focusing on what her room lacked, he zeroed in on
the long, skinny mattress. She scooted back on the bed. Her shoulder glittered
in the dim light of her bedside lamp. The large keyhole cutout between her
breasts showed curves unencumbered by a bra.

He nosed the material aside, sliding his knee between her
legs as he pressed her into the bed. Groaning against her tight little nipple,
he twirled his tongue around the tip.

Her nails scraped along his scalp as she shifted under him
until the zipper of his dress pants met with her panties. He tugged the
stretchy material of her skirt up, anxious to touch her. For the last week he’d
contented himself with kisses, determined to see if there was more than just
sex between them.

At this point he wasn’t sure if the passion fed the love or
the love fed the passion. All he knew was that he was tired of questioning it.

She reached between them and unhooked a tiny clasp, and the
dress fell open enough for him to get full access to her breast. He brushed his
chin along the fullest part of her breast, staring up at her as he blew on her
nipple.

Kendall bowed up under him. He used the movement to slip
under her panties and tease his knuckles along her swollen center.

“God, Sunshine.”

She dragged his mouth up to hers, cupping his face in both
her hands with just the slightest space between their mouths. “I love you,
Oscar. I needed to say it. I know it’s still so complicated, and we’re not sure
what’s going to happen, but I needed you to know that it’s not just about the
Heron anymore.”

Humbled and at a loss for words, he opened his mouth, but
she closed her lips over his.

He held on to her. The words were still lodged in his chest,
but knowing he wasn’t the only one hopelessly tangled increased his aggressive
nature. He pushed the stretchy dress up her body and over her head, leaving her
with just shoes and panties on in the middle of her postage stamp-sized bed.

He gathered her hands together; anchoring her wrists between
his long fingers, he drew them up and over her head. With his other hand he
tucked a knuckle under the hood of her pussy.

Eyes locked with hers, he stroked her relentlessly as he
held her down. She was restless under his touch; gasps and moans were lost
against the skin of her arm as she turned her face to muffle the sounds of her
pleasure.

He scraped his teeth over the fullness of her breasts that
were plumped up in that position. With one finger, then another, he opened her
wider.

His name was a whimper, a whisper, a plea as he brought her
to the edge, then backed off. His own pleasure was behind glass, throbbing just
on the other side—waiting to erupt.

He leaned up. The buttons of his dress shirt dragged against
her skin as he transferred his mouth to hers and pumped his fingers inside her.
She screamed into his mouth. Her fingers shook under his grip. He could feel
the maddening thrum of her heart against his chest and under his palm at her
wrist.

Jerking his buckle open, he released the strap of his belt
and unzipped. She rolled her hips, seeking him. He had to get inside her,
needed to feel her close around him and let the world make sense again.

He needed to show her how much she meant to him, the only
way he knew how.

Cheek to cheek, he panted against her ear as he finally slid
into her. Where he belonged. The tumblers shot together to unlock his grieving
heart and give it the chance to love again.

“Mine. Always,” he whispered in her ear.

He let her hands go, and she surrounded him—a full-body
clasp that felt more like home than anything he’d ever experienced.

And he trusted her to be everything he needed as he found
his release inside her body.

* * * *

Kendall glided her calf along the inside of his thigh. He
was still wearing his dress pants, shirt, and shoes. She, however, was naked,
save her heels. And she felt glorious.

For the first time the clawing worry about the Heron faded
into the background. She was lying beside the man she loved. The same man she’d
actually told, and he hadn’t run like his ass was on fire.

No, he’d loved her until her eyes were crossed. He’d
whispered that she was his, and he was stretched out underneath her, as relaxed
as any sated man should be.

Everything was perfect for one moment.

And she had a whole new year ahead of her to see just what
kind of amazing future they might have together.

She inched up until she could bury her mouth against his
neck. She could taste the salt of his skin; the soft bristles of his beard
teased her lips. His cedar-chip scent was even more pronounced.

“I have to go back downstairs, you know.”

He grunted.

She smiled into his neck. “Everyone is going to know I went
upstairs to get laid.”

“Good, then maybe that Brandon kid will stop fucking
flirting with you.”

She propped herself up on her elbow. “Why does it bother
you? I don’t want anyone except you. Isn’t that enough?”

Shane slid his hand down her back and cupped her ass. “I’ll
try to curb my murderous thoughts.”

“You trust me, right?”

He brushed the side of his thumb along a lock of hair that
escaped her pins. “You have too much integrity to cheat.”

The little ripple of warmth that always came when he got
jealous glowed hotter. “Then why do you get upset?”

“Because I’m a guy, and I know what kind of thoughts they’re
having. And I don’t like it.”

She shook her head. It didn’t make sense to her, but as long
as he didn’t do something stupid, there wasn’t much she could do about it. She
shimmied her way down the bed and picked up her dress. “I’m just going to
freshen up.”

In the bathroom she repaired her makeup and gave up on
trying to control her hair. Instead, she left it down her back. Shane liked it
down, and right now she was feeling good enough to give him whatever he wanted.

She returned to her room, and he was looking over her DVD
collection.

“So that
Supernatural
crack was true.”

“Yep, I love the boys. You’re a little like Bobby, except
your beard is hotter.”

He frowned down at her. “I’m not that grouchy.”

“If you say so.”

He lifted her dress onto her shoulder only to have it drop
down her arm again. “It’s made to slip off the shoulder.”

He dropped a kiss on the exposed skin. “Come on, then,
before Lily comes up here and bangs on the door.” He shook his head.

“What?”

“I feel like when I was seventeen and snuck my girlfriend
past my dad to stay overnight.”

Delighted, she went on her tiptoes and kissed his scowling
mouth. “I think I like that you’re feeling a little guilty.”

He hooked his arm around her neck and led her out into the
hallway. The party was still going full swing downstairs. As soon as she got to
the bottom of the landing, Bells dragged her around the corner and out onto the
porch.

Shane waved at her and wandered off. Probably to find Kain.

“What the heck, Bells?”

“You leave me down here with that…that…that man while you go
upstairs for a booty call?”

Startled at the wide-eyed panic in her friend’s eyes, she
clutched her hands. “What happened?”

“He kissed me. That’s what happened.”

“Well, it is New Year’s. Lots of kissing happens. Even
between strangers.”

“I intended on kissing him. That’s not the problem. I was on
the chair and was going to plant a good kiss on him. You know, my second-date
kiss?”

Kendall swallowed a laugh. Her friend was obviously gearing
up for a story. “Impressive. The second-date kiss doesn’t come out all that
often these days.”

“I know. But he’s friggin’ gorgeous, and I thought, hey, why
not? I should bring out my A-game.”

“So you think he’s attractive.”

“Did you fall on your head upstairs?” She lowered her voice
to a whisper. “Did he fuck you into the headboard one too many times?”

Kendall felt the blush flame her face. “No.”

“No, he didn’t fuck you into the headboard?”