Page 19 of Shine On Oklahoma

“So you just told me that, because…what, youfigured if I knew you had the track, I’d try to con you out ofit?”

“I don’t have the track. I’ll never have thetrack. I don’t want it. So while my father didn’t disinherit me,I’m disinheriting myself. Same result.”

“Why didn’t you just tell me that?”

He shrugged. “I wanted to see if you’d stickaround. And I didn’t want to wonder if your reason for staying wasto try to convince me to keep it.”

She sighed, lowered her head, then brought itup again as if something new had occurred to her. “So then you…wantme to? Stick around?”

“Is that not obvious?”

“No. I figured you were just spying on me forRob.” She shrugged a shoulder. “And I wouldn’t blame you if youwere. Payback’s a bitch.”

“Iamspying on you for Rob. He wantsto know why you really came home and whether your father knowsabout the baby.”

“I came for family,” she said softly. “Andthat’s the absolute truth. And no, Jack doesn’t know about thebaby, but I’m going to tell him the next time I have the chance totalk to him.”

“Have the chance to talk to him? That’s afunny way to put it. Where is Jack, these days?”

She shook her head. “He doesn’t generallygive me his itinerary, Dax. I don’t know where he is.”

“Well, now I know why you’re here and whatyour father knows. Mission accomplished. I am no longer spying onyou for Rob.” Now he was only spying for himself, he thought with apang of guilt. Impulsively, he moved closer to her, reached outvery slowly, and brushed a wisp of hair off her face, tucking itbehind her ear. It was a knee-jerk apology. He felt bad leading heron, even though he was pretty sure she was doing the same tohim.

And he was a little bit afraid he was onlypretending to be leading her on, trying to fool himself intobelieving that. And failing.

She met his eyes, blinked. “You’re way tooeasy on me.”

“I can’t seem to help myself.” He leanedcloser. Leaned wasn’t the right word. He was pulled, like she waswearing magnets under her skin and he was made of metal. She tippedher chin up just the tiniest bit, just enough to tell him yes, sohe kissed her. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled hertight to him, and he kissed her.

Everything he’d ever felt for her cameflooding back in a rush that suffused him from his head to his toeswith warm, red glitter, dusted in cinnamon. It had been there allalong. He’d just bagged it up and hoisted it into the attic, out ofsight. But then,bam! One kiss. Glitter avalanche.

It scared him, but his fear was hopelesslyburied.

Her lips were soft, and her mouth was wet andshe tasted like jalapenos. He kissed her deeper. Her hands were onhis shoulders, but they didn’t twine around his neck the way theyused to. She kept moving them down over his arms, then back up andover to his chest, as if she couldn’t make up her mind whether topush him away or pull him closer.

Eventually, he lifted his head. “I’m going torefuse the inheritance. I want you to know that.”

“I know,” she said, a little bitbreathlessly, and then, “But doesn’t that mean it’ll go to theSRA?”

Like a bucket of ice water, those words. Hestepped back a little, blinking at her. “Since when do you know somuch about Aurora Springs horseracing, Kendra?”

Her eyes flared, just the tiniest bit. Justenough to make his stomach knot up. She walked away from him,picking up the empty shopping bags all over the floor.

“Since I started dating the only son of atrack owner almost two years ago.” She shrugged and looked himsquare in the eye. “I was a grifter, Dax. That’s what we do.”

“Were?”

She swung away from him angrily, paced hardto the window and leaned on the sill. “I haven’t gamed anyonesince…since you.”

That was a bombshell. If it was true.

But it couldn’t be true.

“So then what do you do? You’ve obviously gotmoney. That Vette—”

“Same thing I always did, just legally now. Ido online promotion for little one-and-two woman operations. Thereare lots of online entrepreneurs these days.”

He was gaping. He shouldn’t be gaping.

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