“Just wait until you see what I plan for dinner,” she said, smiling.
“I’m afraid I’ll probably be late for dinner tonight,” he said, taking a drink of the freshly squeezed orange juice by his plate. “My brothers and I are going to help T.J. put up a boundary fence between his place and another ranch today.”
“Is he having problems with his neighbor?” she asked, sounding genuinely interested.
Telling her about the woman’s stallion and the cost to T.J.’s breeding program, he gave her an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry, but I won’t be able to help you practice playing poker today, either.”
“Don’t worry about that,” she said, placing her soft hand on his forearm. “I realize how important it is to stop the neighbor’s horse from visiting your brother’s mares. I’ll just plan to have dinner ready a couple of hours later than usual.”
Lane took hold of her hand and scooted his chair back so he could pull her over to sit on his lap. “I promise I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
She kissed him and he thought he might go up in a puff of smoke at the need the simple caress created within him. “While you’re helping your brother, I’m going to call the shipping company and find out where my things are. They should have been here at the end of last week. If I can run them down, I’m going to spend the day putting everything away.”
“So you’re that sure you’re going to win the big game?” he teased.
Grinning, she nodded. “I’m going to knock your socks off.”
“You accomplished that last night, babe.” He kissed her, then set her on her feet and rose from his chair. “I think I’d better get going.”
“But you haven’t finished breakfast,” she said, looking at the uneaten food on his plate.
“As delicious as I know those eggs would be, what I’d really like to have isn’t on the menu,” he said, going over to the cabinet to get a travel mug to fill with coffee.
“I could make you something different,” she said, looking a bit uncertain.
Walking back over to her, he set the mug on the table and took her in his arms. “What I want for breakfast involves you and me, upstairs with our clothes off,” he said, kissing her soundly. When he raised his head, he gazed down into her passion-glazed emerald eyes. “But I have work to do, and I can’t afford to get distracted. I’ll see you this evening, Taylor.”
Forcing himself to put one boot in front of the other, he grabbed his hat from the peg beside the door and walked out of the house without looking back. He had to. Otherwise, he would have carried her upstairs and spent the entire day making love to the woman who was quickly becoming as important to him as his next breath.
His heart hammered hard against his rib cage as he climbed into his truck and started the engine. Now he definitely knew he needed some time away from Taylor in order to do a little self-analysis and figure out what the hell he was going to do about the feelings he’d discovered.
* * *
Taylor alternated between outright fury and fear as she waited for Lane to return home. By the time she saw his headlights cut through the darkness as his truck came down the road leading to the house, she was surprised she hadn’t worn a trench in the hardwood floor from her pacing. Deciding not to wait until he came into the house, she unlocked the back door, marched out onto the porch and down the steps.
“We have a problem,” she said when he opened the driver’s door. As angry as she was, relief flowed through her at the sight of him. Now that Lane was home, she felt safer and more secure than she had the entire day.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, getting out of the truck.
“It’s Roy Lee,” she said, unable to keep from shuddering. Just saying the man’s name gave her a case of the creeps.
“Are you all right?” Lane demanded, placing his hands on her shoulders.
His concern was touching, but at the moment she needed to tell him what had happened. “We have to fire Roy Lee Wilks,” she stated flatly.
“Why?” Lane’s eyes narrowed, making him look dangerous. “What’s he done this time?”
“He stole all of the things I shipped from California.” Every time she thought of what the cowboy had done, a fresh wave of anger burned through her. “When I called the shipping company, I was told that they had delivered the containers last week and Roy Lee was the one who signed for them.”
“What did he do with them?” Lane asked, propping his fists on his hips and turning to stare hard at the bunkhouse.