Million Dollar Cowboy (Cupid, Texas #5)(32)

"Oh yeah," he said thickly, his eyelids half-closed. "Whenever I'm around you all I can think about is kissing you."

"Wh . . . wh . . . wh . . . ?" she stammered, gulped, let go of his arm, stepped back.

He allowed his arm to drop heavily against his side, his gaze never leaving hers. "Does that scare you?"

Hell yes!

"Kaia."

"Yes?"

He crooked a finger, grinned. "C'mere."

She shook her head, but her feet, oh damn those feet, flew to him. She breathed. "Ridge."

"You're the only one who came to see if I was okay," he said.

"It's not that they don't care. People just don't know how to take you."

"But you do," he said.

"I have an advantage."

"What's that?"

"The power of the Braterminator. If I hadn't followed you and Archer around for half my life I wouldn't understand you the way I do." 

"How do you know? Maybe I've changed."

"You haven't."

"You sound pretty confident."

"I am." She fell into his eyes, like Alice in Wonderland falling down the rabbit hole.

It was true. She understood him more than he knew. Understood that he viewed the world as a contest that he could win if he just worked hard enough and gathered all the trappings of success-a house, a plane, expensive sunglasses. He was eager and responsible and goal-oriented, persistent, organized, and passionate about his work.

On the flip side he could be a hard taskmaster, as much to himself as anyone else. He put work ahead of people. He was climbing, climbing, climbing, grasping for the ultimate brass ring that only he could define.

But Kaia knew something he did not. Once he reached that brass ring it would turn to dust in his hand. No achievement, no high-flying goal could ever sate the hole in him. Until he understood that, he would always be on the treadmill, working harder and harder for the elusive self-worth that would forever be out of his reach.

It broke her heart.

She understood because she too had been a workaholic, until the accident and what had happened afterward. It had changed her irrevocably and shifted her misaligned priorities.

Yes, she still wanted to get her doctorate in veterinarian medicine. It was her top goal. But what had changed was her motivation. Before the accident, she'd wanted to be a vet not just because she loved animals, but because the career was how she saw herself earning respectability.

Now?

Her only motive was to lead a better life. Becoming a vet would help her do that, but in the meantime, she could support herself doing what she loved most, taking care of animals, whether she had her degree or not.

That was the bottom line. Loving wherever she happened to be on the path. Not wistful for the past or dreaming of the future, but accepting, loving, and embracing the present moment.

And right now she was standing in the dark in front of an airplane with the man she'd had a crush on since she was a kid, and he was looking at her like she was something special.

As if he wanted her as much as she wanted him.

"I shouldn't have come back. I'm ruining Archer and Casey's wedding. First this." He gestured at his black eye. "And tonight, getting in a fight with my dad. Everyone would have been better off if I'd stayed away."

"Not true," Kaia said. "We're all glad you're home."

"Not Duke."

"Yes he is. He's just too ornery to admit it. Look at it this way. He picked a fight with you. He must be feeling something if he bothered to pick a fight."

"You're such an optimist." Ridge chuckled, but it was a hollow, unhappy sound.

"You came home. It was a big step. Pat yourself on the back for that. No matter what bumps you hit in the road, you made the effort. You showed up. That's good enough."

"Doesn't feel good enough."

"Feelings change and shift. They're not permanent."

"Ride 'em out, huh?" He gave her a half smile. That smile, combined with the black eye, made him look totally roguish.

"Something along those lines."

He was so close she could feel his radiating body heat. Sweat beaded between her breasts, trickled down her cleavage, turning her bare skin damp and salty. Her heart dashed at an alarming pace.

Yep, she was blistering, sweltering, stewing.

And he? Cucumbers weren't as cool as this guy. He didn't appear the slightest bit ruffled or disturbed. In fact, that cocky grin widened, as if he were fully in control. Which he was, because her legs were bobbing and her lungs couldn't seem to pull in enough of the clear night air.