Page 3 of Shine On Oklahoma

His spine went rigid. Her familiar,sexy-as-hell voice raked his nerve endings like a red-hot dagger.Kendra.

He was sitting at The Long Branch, sipping agiant mug of foamy, icy root beer, mainly just to prove to himselfthat he could. And for the company. Jason McIntyre was manning thebar this morning, helping out because the owner, his brother Joey,was too busy with his pet project, The Twig.

Jason met Dax’s eyes over the bar. Theyoffered support, should he need it. Then he wandered to the otherend of the bar to give them space.

The place was dead, but it was early. Itscurved hardwood bar gleamed, and the tables around the room weremostly empty. The player piano was silent. Just past the curvingstaircase that led up to several guest rooms, red velvet curtainshung, graceful and heavy and soft. The dining room was on the otherside, but that half of the place wasn’t open this early in theday.

Bracing himself, Dax spun his saddle-shapedbarstool around to face her.

And there she was. He looked from her big,emerald green eyes, as innocent as springtime, to her plump, lonelylips, to the ivory silk cami that clung to her breasts and didn’tquite reach to the top of her low-slung, skin-tight jeans. She worea denim jacket over the top, unbuttoned, and high heeled bootsunder the jeans.

He knew every inch of her. He’d loved her.Planned to marry her. She’d scammed him out of a pile of money andleft him in the dust.

He forced his eyes to travel back up to herface again. Her hair wasn’t strawberry blond like her twin sisterKiley’s. It was lighter, the color of sweet lemonade, and long, andperfectly straight.

“Hello, Kendra.” He tried to make it soundcold and distant, and to hide the parts of him that wanted to lurchoff the stool, pick her up and kiss her until she quivered. “Whatbrings you back to Big Falls?”

“I miss my sister.”

Her sister. Hell. “She uh…she know you’recoming?”

“I imagine she does by now,” she said, givinga little nod. He followed her gaze and saw Jason, just sliding hisphone back into his pocket.

He knew better than to take anything Kendrasaid as the truth, though. As a general rule, if her mouth was openand sounds were coming out, she was lying.

“You came here first?” If she was really intown to see Kiley, what was she doing at The Long Branch?

“Thought I’d see if I could get a room,unload my crap, freshen up. I don’t want Kiley to feel like she hasto put me up.”

“I see.” No, he didn’t.

She lowered her thick lashes until theytouched her cheeks. “I heard about your father, Dax. I’m realsorry.”

“How?” he asked.

“How what?” Her eyes opened again, lockedonto his. “How did I hear?”

He nodded.

“Online, I guess. A friend of mine who knowsa friend of yours posted an RIP or something like that.”

“Something like that.”

She nodded. “That why you’re drinking? Last Iknew you were on the wagon.”

He said, “Yep. Drowning my sorrows in rootbeer.”

She blinked, her green eyes sliding to themug. Then she smiled and it was the first genuine expression he’dseen cross her face so far. “That’s great. I’m glad.” She slid uponto a stool beside him. Jason noticed and came right over.Kendra’s twin sister Kiley was married to Jason’s brother Rob, sotechnically, they were family.

“Hey, Kendra. What can I get you?”

“I’ll have what he’s having,” she said. “Andsome information.”

Jason and Dax exchanged a quick look thatsaid,here it comes.

“I’m dying to know what on earth youMcIntyres are up to out yonder?” She gestured left, in the generaldirection of the construction project. It was fifty yards east andtwenty yards back from the road, on Long Branch land. Another fiftyyards past that was Joe and Emily’s newly built home.

“Joey’s building a miniature of The LongBranch out there for kids,” Jason said. “Bat-wing doors and all.Inside there’ll be a ball pit, arcade, and they’ll serve ice creamand pop. Outside, mini-golf and a paintball course.”

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