Page 25 of The Backup Bride Proposal

“No.”

“What would you consider your permanent home, then?”

“Texas.”

“Do your parents live there?”

“No. They live in Arizona now, though I was raised inDallas. The ranch is close to there. But I’ve only ever felt really at home on the ranch.”

“The ranch where your grandpa lives?”

“Yeah. That’s home. Always has been, always will be.”

She leaned back, took her beer in hand. “I’d like to see you on that ranch.”

He’d like to see her on the ranch. In tight jeans and a T-shirt, wind blowing through her beautiful hair. Just the visual of it…His lips curved. “I could make that happen.”

“Oh, sure. You just head on down to Texas in the middle of filming a movie.”

“We get breaks, Mae. We don’t work seven days a week.”

“Well, anyway, that’d be interesting. Do you have horses?”

He nodded. “Yeah, it’s primarily a horse ranch. We do have some cattle. Also have chickens. Some goats, too.”

“Nuh-uh. Really?”

“Really.”

“And your grandpa takes care of all of them himself?”

“No. He has help. It takes more than one person to run a ranch.”

“That’s good. I can’t imagine someone at his age trying to wrangle all those animals by himself.”

Kane smirked. “You haven’t met my grandpa. He’s probably in better shape than I am. He’ll go to his grave training horses.”

“If that’s what he loves to do, then that’s the way to go, right?”

He liked that she understood. “Yup.”

They each had another beer, and then Mae insisted on paying the bill, which Kane thought was ridiculous because after all, he made a ridiculous salary. But he also understood fairness, so he stepped back and she paid. They took a walk again and it was even nicer now that it was dark.

“Thanks for taking me to this place. Food was great.”

“My company was even better,” she said.

He didn’t disagree. “Yeah, it’s nice having you around. You’re like…like…”

She was waiting for him to say something, he knew. The problem was, every time he looked at her, stared into the depths of her liquid brown eyes, he had a tendency to lose himself.

“I know,” she said, shooting a crooked grin at him. “Men are dumbstruck with awe over me.”

“Hell yes we are.” He stopped, then moved in closer, unable to help himself. He slid his hand around the side of her neck, nearly trembling at the feel of her skin against his palm.

He waited for her to pull away, to shove him away, actually. She didn’t. Instead, she tilted her head back and her glossy lips parted in invitation.

Unable to resist her delicious mouth, he put his lips to hers.

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