Travis (8 page)

He
just wanted one more chance.

When
she licked her lips, he lost what little control he’d brought with him. He was
as gentle as he could possibly be considering his body was aflame with
something distinctly foreign to him. Lust was a familiar emotion that he had a fond
relationship with, but this was something more than that. Sure, when her lips
touched his, his entire body stood up and took notice. His muscles tightened,
the hair on his scalp tingled strangely, and his stomach did that odd clenching
thing that it had done the first time she kissed him. The same as it had when
Travis...

No,
he wasn’t going there. He wanted to be here with her. Kylie.
Only her
.
There was no room in his life for even the consideration of what Travis was
trying to tempt him with. Gage didn’t have it in him to let Travis string him
along for however long it appeased him. Unlike Travis, Gage would end up
getting hurt. He wasn’t nearly as emotionally adrift as Travis, and quite
frankly, he wanted something more. Something everlasting.

Gage
forced himself to pay attention to the sweet, soft mouth pressed against his,
the firm, curvy body now moving closer as Kylie gave in to him as much as he
was giving in to her. This was inevitable. Ever since their first kiss, he’d
known there was something more with this woman.

Gage
tilted her head back slightly, changing the angle of the kiss, delving into her
mouth until she was damn near climbing him again. He was doing everything he
could not to push her up against the nearest wall and reach for the slick
warmth he knew he would find between her legs.

“Kylie,”
he breathed against her mouth, his tongue licking her lower lip, his fingers
still threaded through her silken hair. “I can’t stop this.” He didn’t want to
stop it, although he knew he should, but he’d proven how weak she made him once
before, and it was quickly happening again.

“I
need you to go,” she said, sounding sad. There wasn’t a trace of anger in her
voice and Gage was somewhat surprised, but the tone also tore his heart apart.

She
was stronger than he was, and if he cared for her the way he was convinced he
did, Gage knew it was best if he walked away.

He
nodded his head, knowing she was right. He needed to go. Unfortunately, he
didn’t think she was just asking him to leave for the night. Kylie was telling
him to leave and never come back. He wanted to beg her to change her mind. Beg
her to take the job because he’d never find anyone who would be able to do as good
of a job as she would do. It was his grandmother’s house and he cherished it,
but that was just an excuse; an excuse to keep her in his life for just a
little while so he could prove to her that he wasn’t an asshole that went
around hurting people.

It
wouldn’t matter, he knew. She wasn’t going to listen and quite frankly, it was
his own fucking fault.

Without
another word, Gage grabbed his hat from the floor where it had fallen earlier
and walked back out the way he had originally come in. He didn’t look back
because he wasn’t sure he would be able to keep going if he did.

And
the last thing he wanted was for Kylie to see that his heart was breaking, the
way his chest heaved as he swallowed the painful lump in his throat was proof.

♂♀

Two
months later… June

“Fucking
hell, Travis. Shit! I told you, he’ll be back today. That’s what Gage said when
I talked to him this morning,” Kaleb exclaimed, clearly frustrated.

Well,
it was gratifying to know he was back to his old self, getting his brothers
riled up with minimal effort. Yes, he was enjoying the hell out of it at the
moment too. Travis had perfected the art of being a royal pain in the fucking
ass, but in his defense, they expected it from him.

He
was just trying to be consistent.

Hell,
Kaleb should be praising him as it was. Sitting in the small construction office
of Walker Demolition with his brother, Travis had managed to bottle the question
for the last hour. Never mind that it was the second time he’d asked since
Kaleb walked in the door.

Ok,
so yes, he was being a dick. Getting Kaleb pissed off by pestering him about
Gage’s whereabouts was too easy. And a little amusing. Which only helped to take
Travis’ mind off of some of his questions. Like why no one had heard anything
from Gage. Not since the man passed out at the club, sleeping off a bender on
the couch in Travis’ rented apartment.

Since
he walked out the door after Gage began to stir in the early morning hours,
Travis hadn’t seen or heard from him. Not that he expected to because he was
pretty sure Gage didn’t remember a thing. And he was almost certain he didn’t
realize it was Travis’ apartment he was passed out in. It wasn’t like Travis
had any personal items there that would give him away. He liked his anonymity,
and since the apartment was little more than a recreation room when he was in
town, he didn’t feel the need to clutter it up with personal shit.

Despite
Kaleb’s steadfast denial, Travis was pretty sure he kept in touch with Gage
regularly. Ever since the mishap at Kaleb’s when Gage showed up with Travis’
wife in tow, Kaleb was keeping his distance from Gage, but he knew he wasn’t
shunning him entirely. Not that Travis had shared any information with his
brother, but loyalty was loyalty. As it should be.

Over
the course of two months, Travis had managed to retain some of his sanity.
After the first time he drove by Kylie’s house on a stakeout mission to see
whether Gage was there or not, he hadn’t been back. Of course, his stupid ass
still wanted to go see how she was doing, but somehow he’d manage to argue
himself out of that epic mistake waiting to happen.

Finding
Gage at her house would’ve been the worst thing that could’ve happened, but
much to his surprise, he had found no evidence to support Gage was staying with
her. He’d been a happy mother fucker after that little revelation.

Didn’t
mean he wasn’t interested in going back, but Travis had focused on getting his
life back to normal. There was no sense in throwing any additional chaos into
Kylie’s perfect life. Gage had seemed to handle that splendidly, and Travis saw
where that got him.

Missing.
That’s where.

Not
that Travis expected her to embrace Gage with open arms, but if he knew
anything at all, it was how painfully difficult it was to let a woman like Kylie
slip out of his hands. He didn’t think Gage was immune to her sweet charm
either, even if he’d pulled the most dumbass move anyone could possibly come up
with.

Travis
had gone rounds with his own conscience ever since, wondering whether Kylie
would even give Gage the time of day after that incident. Surely not, but then
again, Travis had never expected her to waltz back into his world one day and blow
his resolve clear to hell and back.

Now
that he knew exactly where she lived, it had been even more difficult to
refrain from going to see her. She was a temptation he was pretty sure he
wouldn’t be able to walk away from the second time, and Kylie Prescott deserved
so much better than him. And that was the only valid reason he was keeping his
distance.

He
was having a hard enough time keeping his attention from straying places it
shouldn’t in the first damn place. If his reaction to her after seeing her for
less than five minutes was any indication, Travis knew that showing up on her
doorstep would only make things worse for him.

And
her.

“What
time?” he asked Kaleb, doing his best to piss him off even more because he
didn’t have anything better to do.

“Not
doing it today, Trav. You can take your pissy attitude somewhere else. I’ve got
work to do.” Kaleb didn’t bother looking up from his computer, and Travis knew
he wouldn’t get anything more out of his brother.

Mission
accomplished.

Truthfully,
he was so fucking frustrated with the entire situation that irritating the shit
out of his brothers, and anyone else who stepped in his way, had become his
sole focus. He’d much rather turn his aggravation on Gage, but again, the man
was MIA.

Travis
still wasn’t entirely sure what prompted Gage to react the way he did. Hell,
they had shared a couple of kisses. Granted, they would’ve shared much, much
more had they ever had the opportunity in the form of just a little more
privacy. And since the timing was never right, Gage couldn’t pretend to be the
scorned lover.

Standing,
he decided he would go check to see what other sort of trouble he could get
mixed up with. He hadn’t been by the resort yet today, so maybe he’d start
there. They’d come a long way in recent months. Much farther than Travis
expected anyway. He figured his contractors were well aware of his temper and
considering he was riding their ass day in and day out, he had expected some
serious progress. Just not this much.

They
would be thrilled to see him.

Grabbing
his hard hat off of the small table in the miniscule kitchen area, Travis took
off out the door. He could’ve sworn he heard Kaleb sigh in relief as he stepped
out into the oppressive, Texas heat. The thought made him smile.

Travis
rounded the front of his truck and was just about to climb in when he noticed
an unfamiliar truck pulling down the dirt driveway that led to the construction
office. Glancing down at his watch, he checked the time and tried to remember
if he was expecting anyone. He didn’t think he had any meetings, so he waited
for the stranger to park.

The
windows were tinted and the bright, morning sun was reflecting off of the glass
so he couldn’t see who was in the four door red Chevy pickup. He knew it wasn’t
one of his contractors because one, their trucks didn’t look that clean and shiny
– or new – and two, they wouldn’t bring that fancy shit on the property. Hell,
Sawyer was even keeping his prized possessions locked up these days thanks to
all of the construction going on around them.

The
driver’s door finally opened, and Travis watched as a woman got out. Long,
golden brown hair was all he could see because she was facing away from him,
but he knew at once who the silky hair belonged to. His body had a strange
reaction to the sight of her, and he was tempted to jump in his truck like he
never even noticed her. He realized it was too late for that when Kylie turned
and faced him, their eyes connecting over the hood of her shiny red truck.

So
maybe there was a tiny amount of hope that swelled up from one of the dark,
dusty corners in his chest, but when Kylie didn’t greet him with either a smile
or words, he forced himself to think rationally. Why in the world would she have
come to see him? Whatever it was, he knew it wouldn’t be good. As she
approached, Travis tried to find words but came up bone fucking dry. He didn’t
even know how to greet her.

Tucking
his hands into the pockets of his jeans, his attempt at appearing cool and
collected, Travis watched intently as she opened the passenger door and leaned
in to grab something. Without contemplating the results of his actions, Travis
let his eyes linger on her stunning ass encased in a pair of tight denim shorts
as she leaned into the truck, her toned thigh muscles stretching beautifully.

Ok,
shit. Now something else was stretching.
Fuck.

He
must’ve been admiring the view for a little too long because when he looked up,
Kylie was glancing back at him over her shoulder and she didn’t look happy
about being visually molested.

But
hell, it made him feel better.

“Hey,”
he said, finally finding his voice.

“Hey.”
Kylie shut the door with a little more force than was necessary and then closed
some of the distance between them.

Just
like the first day he laid eyes on her almost eleven years ago, the woman stole
his breath right out of his lungs without a please or thank you. Not only was
she stunningly gorgeous, remarkably little had changed about her appearance
over the last decade. Her eyes were still a sparkling baby blue, her hair still
long and silky, her lithe body still just as curvy and sexy as hell in those
faded blue jean shorts and… boots.

Awww,
fucking hell.

 She
was country from head to toe and, truthfully, it wouldn’t matter what she was
wearing, she still managed to give him a damned hard on just by breathing.

“I
brought you these,” Kylie said, interrupting his perusal of her sinfully tempting
body. Her sweet voice and sexy country drawl brought back an influx of
memories, and all of them a reminder of exactly how stupid he was.

How
the hell had he ever walked away from her all those years ago? Looks aside,
Kylie had been sweet and innocent, and so damned good to him, his heart still hurt
with the memories that flooded his brain.

Travis
glanced down at her hands, noticing for the first time the manila envelope she
was holding out to him.

“What’s
this?” He couldn’t imagine what she could possibly have for him.

There
was a brief pause as she glanced down and then back up while he reached out to take
the proffered envelope. “Divorce papers,” she said sternly and Travis’ eyes
flew up to meet hers.

He
didn’t move to open the envelope, but he managed to keep his fingers clasped on
the edge, fighting the urge to squeeze.

“This
should be relatively simple,” she explained without an ounce of emotion. “I
found a lawyer, and he’s reasonable when it comes to uncontested divorces. The
only thing you need to do is sign. After you read them, of course. If you have
objections to anything, let me know. It’s cut and dried. No property, no
children...”

Travis
watched her mouth move, his heart pounding unusually hard in his chest, but he barely
heard a word she was saying.

He’d
never considered this day actually coming, and he didn’t know why. Not that he
expected them to be married forever, but in reality, Travis had never
envisioned himself divorced. Then again, he never pictured he’d have the balls to
walk away from this woman either. He’d been a coward, pure and simple, and he’d
regretted his decision for so many years. But as each day passed and the pain
eased marginally, he knew it was too late.

Nodding
his understanding, he looked back into her eyes, noticing the sweet innocence
he had once seen was no longer there. In its place, there was a void of some
sort. As though she had steeled herself for heartache and didn’t expect
anything else.

“My
phone number is on the last page, so if you want to call me when you’ve signed
them, I’ll come back and pick them up.”

Travis
couldn’t speak. There was a lump in his throat the size of a fucking beach ball
and he could barely swallow around it, much less talk.

“Well,
I guess I’ll be seeing you,” Kylie said quickly and turned to head back to her
truck.

Before
she could get too far, Travis reached out and grabbed her arm as gently as he
possibly could, his body working on instinct. When she turned to look at him,
staring up at him with wide eyes, he couldn’t do anything more than peer into a
sea of brilliant blue. He was searching for something, but he wasn’t sure what.
Something to tell him that, for the last ten years, she had thought about him
as much as he thought about her.

Nothing.
Travis saw absolutely no emotion in her eyes. It was almost like she was a
passerby and was shocked that he had stopped her in the first place.

Another
nod and he let her go, his fingers gripping the envelope tighter, barely
refraining from crushing it in his hand. He watched as Kylie rushed back to her
gleaming fire engine red truck, never blinking until she disappeared inside and
then he watched until the tail lights faded down the dirt road.

Divorce
papers.

Of
all the places Travis thought he would be in life, this certainly wasn’t one of
them. Now the question was what he was supposed to do next.

♀♂

Kylie
could hardly see the road through the blur of tears clouding her vision. She’d
been lucky to contain them until she got inside of the truck and away from
Travis’ discerning gaze.

No
matter how tempted she was to pull off to the side of the road and vent her frustration
to the universe, she thought better of it. She just needed to get out of this
town and she’d be fine. Back to life as she knew it. It wasn’t like she hadn’t
made it through the last ten years without the man she just walked away from.