know what to say to that, so he figured he’d talk about the horse. He suspected the two of them would do that a lot if they ended up together, and that was fine with him. “I was lucky. I could afford the best vets, the best tests to find out what was wrong. You would have done the same thing.”
“I know. You’re right.” She smiled and she seemed okay now, the hoarseness gone from her voice. “We ran up one heck of a vet bill trying to figure it out. But then we had to give up and work around it.”
A single tear escaped her eye, flowing in a slow, crooked line down her cheek. “He suffered. I feel so bad.”
“You couldn’t know.”
“It’s just—if a horse is hurting, he’s supposed to limp. It should show in his gait. Flash never showed it.”
“He just powered through it. He never stopped trying, and he wouldn’t admit to weakness.” He reached up and wiped the tear away with the pad of his thumb. “He was a lot like you. You were hurt, and you just powered through it.”
“I did it all wrong.”
“You did your best, and it was damn good. You took care of your sister, and you built yourself a future.”
“Which came crumbling down when your brother fired me.”
“It didn’t fall down. It just changed.” He reached up and stroked her jawline and she turned her head, rubbing her cheek on his hand like a cat. He cupped it, loving the feel of her warm skin against his palm, and watched her close her eyes. She might be tough, she might be hard as nails when she needed to be, but there was a sweetness at the core of her that he wanted to cherish. Sarah would always take care of herself, but he’d be there for her when things went wrong. Always.
“You know you have a future on the ranch if you want it,” he said.
She pulled away and shook her head. “I can’t, Lane. I just—can’t.” A shadow crossed her face and he knew there was still something holding her back. “But whatever I do from here, wherever I go, you’re part of it.” A tear welled up in the corner of one eye and she swiped it away. “I guess I always knew it. Dangit, remember that first day you came to the office? I knew you could see right through me. At first I thought it was a sex thing, but it was more.” She bit her lip. “A lot more.”
She bent down and brushed his lips with hers. It felt so good he tried to rise, but that pain shot through his head again and he couldn’t. But she bent again, and this time it was more than a brush. She kissed him with all the passion and power he’d sensed was hiding behind the mask. When she finally drew away, her face was flushed.
“I love you, princess,” he said.
“Don’t call me that.” She said it reflexively, but this time she said it with a smile. “I’m not like that. I’m not precious and prim and spoiled like a princess. I’m real, and I could kick your butt if I wanted to.”
“I know that. I always did,” he said. “I’m just glad you figured it out too.”
Chapter 40
Sarah watched Lane muscle a wheelbarrow full of hay bales into the shed that housed some of his older mares. As far as she could tell he never got rid of a horse once he’d bought it, no matter how difficult, elderly, or infirm the animal was.
She straightened her new straw hat, which was already smushed and dirty from hard work. It was time to stop focusing on horse crap and start straightening out a few things. She and Lane had spent about a quarter of their time in the barn, a quarter in town, and a generous, heavenly half in the loft of the Love Nest.
But neither one had wanted to bring up the future.
“We need to talk,” she said.
“I hate it when you threaten me,” he said, turning away from the mare. “That’s just mean.”
“Lane, I’m serious.”
He turned back to the mare. “That’s even worse.”
She tugged on his shirtsleeve and he turned to face her. After all the time they’d spent together over the past week, she should have been used to him—but the light of his smile still made her take a step back.
And then a step forward.
This was where they both belonged. Standing in the