She’d tried to lock the memory of that searing kiss into one of her mental boxes. But it kept creeping into her thoughts. The taste of him clung to her lips; and it was as if the feel of his lean, hard body had been branded into her flesh.
“It never happened.” That was what she’d told him. But it had. He had kissed her. Fool that she was, she’d kissed him back. And for that one fleeting moment, she’d felt a heady sense of freedom. Not that it could be allowed to matter. They were broken people, she and Jake. Any relationship between them would be doomed from the first moment.
Forget it, she told herself. Forget it and move on. But something told her it wasn’t going to be that easy.
“Kira?” She felt a tug at her sleeve. Paige stood looking up at her. She was dressed, but her hair was uncombed, her shirt was buttoned wrong and her shoelaces were untied.
“Here, sweetie.” Kira dropped to a crouch in front of her. “Let’s get you tidied up a little. Have you had breakfast?”
“Uh-huh. I had eggs and toast in the kitchen, in my jammies. Then I got dressed.”
“All by yourself, I see.” Kira rebuttoned the shirt.
“Uh-huh. Mister Jake said I could help him today.”
This would have been before this recent decision, Kira reminded herself. “Mister Jake’s busy with the horses,” she told the little girl. “You could get in the way and get hurt. We’ll find something else for you to do.”
Paige’s lower lip jutted in a pout. “But I want to help Mister Jake. He said I could.”
“And I’m saying no, Paige.” Somebody had to be the bad guy. “Let’s go inside and braid your hair. Then you can watch Sesame Street. After that, you can sit on the fence and watch the students choose their horses. Okay?”
“No!” Paige stomped her small foot. “I don’t want to watch stupid Sesame Street. I want to go help Mister Jake!” Eyes flooding with tears, she turned and stormed into the house, letting the screen door slam shut behind her.
Kira sighed. Times like this reminded her that Paige was her mother’s daughter. Wendy had been an adorable child, loved by everyone. But she could be a little hellion when she didn’t get her way. Paige was cast from the same mold. For now, she would give the little girl some time to come around. Maybe they could plan some fun tonight, like a moonlight hike, while Jake was off visiting Dusty.
Paige’s wanting to be with Jake was easy enough to explain. When the students were here, they took so much of Kira’s time that Paige was often left to entertain herself or hang out in the kitchen with Consuelo. With Dusty gone, she must have been extra lonesome. That was probably why she’d latched onto Jake.
The other possibility—that at some level she’d recognized her father—was too far-fetched to believe. She’d been a baby when he left for that second deployment, and little more than a toddler when he’d come home for Wendy’s funeral. All she had to remember him by was the wedding photo. And now, Jake—leaner, scruffier, bearded and graying—looked nothing like the happy young groom shown in the picture. Only his dark eyes were the same.
Give the child some extra TLC, and she’d be fine, Kira told herself. It was just going to take a little time.
* * *
The students had spent most of the day with the horses they’d chosen—leading them around the yard and partway along the canyon trail, brushing them down in their stalls and leaving them for the night with hay and clean water. The pride on those young faces as they paraded “their” horses around the ranch was something Jake wouldn’t soon forget. Each of them had worked hard and earned the right to have a special, chosen animal for the rest of the program.
This horse therapy thing of Kira’s was beginning to make sense.
His thoughts lingered on Kira as he drove her Outback down the highway. She’d kept her distance most of the day—no need to wonder why. But he’d caught her watching him from the porch. Was she having the same thoughts he’d been having all day? With Kira, you never could tell.
Kissing her had kicked his pulse over the moon. Her response had burned all the way to the soles of his feet. Damn it, beneath that calm, controlled surface, there was a warm, passionate, sexy woman! He wouldn’t mind seeing more of that woman, maybe getting to know her under cozier conditions. But who was he kidding? Kira’s words had made her position clear.
“This didn’t happen! It never happened!”
And he couldn’t expect it to happen again.
Kira had given him directions to the hospital where Dusty was staying. As he drove into Tucson, he watched the street signs and found the place easily. But he couldn’t help wondering why the old man had asked for him—unless he just wanted some fresh company.
Dusty, wearing a hospital gown and a tangle of monitor lines, was sitting up in bed, watching a basketball game on TV. As Jake walked into the room, he used the remote to switch it off. “Thanks for showing up,” he said. “I’m getting cabin fever in this place.”
“Kira alread
y warned me not to try and smuggle you out of here.” Jake took a seat next to the bed.
“Damn, I was about to talk you into that.” Dusty looked rested, but the old fire was lacking in his voice. “How’s Kira doing, anyway?”
“Fine. You know Kira. She’s got a handle on everything. The question is, how are you?”
“I’ll be fine, once they let me out of this place. The doctor says it’ll be day after tomorrow, if I promise to behave myself.” Dusty winked. “He doesn’t know me very well, does he?”