your knee okay?” she asked.
His knee had been steadily healing, and yes, it was up to sex if that was what she was wondering. He gave her a quick nod. “The wrist is fine, too.”
“So you’re a hundred percent now.”
“Maybe a little more.”
Her chest rose and fell beneath him. He propped himself on his elbows and brushed back her hair, needing to see her face, needing to know that she was 100 percent on board. She languidly reached up to wrap her arms around his neck and pull his mouth down to hers.
And he was lost.
When he’d imagined making love to Taylor, he’d thought it would be more desperate, more of a get-it-done-before-we-come-to-our-senses experience. He’d been wrong. Instead they embarked on a long, slow exploration. Clothing was swept aside, sweet spots found. And when he finally pushed inside her, he wanted the ride to go on forever.
Life didn’t work that way, nor did sex.
Especially sex with a woman who’d brought him to the brink so many times before he’d slid into her. Taylor came before he did—just barely—and as she arched into him, her breath catching, holding, he lost control, thrusting deeply one last time.
Then he laid his head onto her shoulder and exhaled deeply as she stroked his damp hair, and wondered to himself if life could possibly get better than this.
* * *
“YOU SHOULD HAVE purloined the bigger bed.” Cole lay on his back with Taylor draped over the top of him, because there simply wasn’t enough room for the two of them to lie side by side on the twin mattress.
“I wanted the bigger one, but my delivery guy messed up.”
He snorted. “You wanted the whole house.”
“That, too.” She smiled against his chest and stretched, loving the feel of his hair-roughened body against her skin. “But now that Jancey’s here, maybe it’s best that I never got my wish.” She shifted so that she could see his face. “I don’t know how you worked for that Miranda person for more than a heartbeat without hurting her.”
“Wasn’t easy,” Cole said. “But Jancey needed to finish school. Also, and this might be hard to believe, but she wasn’t that bad until her husband died. Then she changed. It was as if suddenly she could do whatever she wanted without fear of repercussions.”
“Repercussions? Like divorce?”
“Possibly, although my uncle thought she was perfect until the day he died. Lucky for him, I guess. He never saw her emotionally torture his son, my cousin Jordan.”
“I guess we can be glad for that.” She half turned in her seat. “What are you going to do?”
“Persevere. Raise hay. Let Jancey live with me until she goes to college.”
“What about the ranch?”
She felt his muscles tighten beneath her. Hot-button topic. “I’ll work that out as I go.”
He brought his hand up to stroke her hair, but his body was still tense.
“How do you guys handle the business end of things? The purchases for the ranch, that kind of stuff?”
“All larger purchases require two signatures.”
“Payroll?”
“Set up through the bank. Automatic after Miranda plugs in the numbers.” He looked down at her, his hand stilling with his fingers still grazing her temple. “Why?”
“Just looking for ways to take the bitch down.”
He smiled a little. “I like the way you think.”
“Do you go over the monthly statements?”
“I do, but I can’t say I go over them all that closely. I just look at the amounts, see if anything seems out of whack. So far, no.”
“Maybe I can go over them.” She smiled suddenly. “Better yet, let my friend Carolyn do it.”
“Carolyn is…”
“A kick-ass accountant. If she can’t do it, then surely she’ll know a forensic accountant.”
“Who will no doubt charge as much as a lawyer.”
“Mmm.” She settled her cheek back against his chest.
“My accountant does keep a close eye on the books. I trust him.”
“That’s not the point,” she said, shifting again to meet his gaze. “The point is to send a message to Miranda that you’re no longer letting her control everything. And, damn, what if she’s been playing fast and loose with the funds?”
“My wildest dream come true…but I don’t think she is.” Taylor’s shoulders slumped a little. “However, I like your idea. How much would your friend charge for an audit?”
“She’ll give you family rates, I’m sure.”
He took hold of her shoulders and pulled her higher onto his chest, so that he could reach her lips, give her a long, slow kiss. “Let’s discuss business later.”
She nipped his lower lip, then kissed the spot. “About this…”
“Biting?”
“Uh…no.”
He understood her meaning. “Live for the day, Taylor. Not everything needs to be planned out. Let’s just…go with this. For a while. Then we can make a plan.”
“I’m only going to be here for so long,” she pointed out.
“Which is a great reason to enjoy each other while we can.”
TAYLOR WOKE AS Cole shifted in her narrow bed, and she lifted her head off his chest.
“My legs are numb,” he said as he first bent then straightened the leg she wasn’t lying on.
“Max is on the chair,” she murmured.
“It’s not the two-ton cat. It’s the narrow bed.”
“Hmm.” Taylor stretched out a little more. “Whose fault is that?”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah. I’m fixing the problem later today.”
Taylor lifted her head again. “What about Jancey?”
“Jancey is an adult.” Taylor lifted an eyebrow. By mutual agreement, they were keeping their relationship on the down low. Fewer complications that way. “And she’s going to a job interview at ten.” He smiled down at her, then gently eased her aside and swung his legs out of bed. He sat for a moment before getting to his feet and searching the floor for his jeans. He stilled as something bumped against the old floorboards, and in the semidarkness Taylor saw him shake his head.
“Just a bunny.”
“One would hope.”
He pulled on his jeans, then reached for his shirt draped over the chair where Max slept. He tugged a sleeve out from under the cat, who rolled over onto his back. Taylor sat up, pulling the sheets up to her chin as a guard against the crisp night air. Tiny as her bed was, she always missed him when he made the short trip across the driveway in the early-morning hours, keeping up appearances for his sister, who was probably well aware of what was going on.
Aware and probably doing the “la-la-la, I can’t hear you” thing.
Even if she was, she seemed to be okay with Taylor, who was teaching her to cook in the evenings. They’d had only a couple of sessions, but the lessons had gone well. Cole stayed far away from the kitchen, and Jancey