The Hottest Ticket in Town

Well, screw him. Why the hell was she thinking about Kane now? There were plenty of years between that heartache and today and she wasn’t going to drag herself down with the memory of that pain.

But one thing she did know—as she eased the IV needle from her arm with a wince—she wasn’t going to lie around in this bed a minute longer, just waiting for Trent to waltz back in and prop her up onstage again when she wasn’t ready to go back. Tossing the tubing aside, she kicked free from the white, sterile bedding and stood on wobbly feet to search out her clothes.

Oh, damn. Laci grimaced when she realized her glittering costume was all she had in the room, but she wasn’t going to let that stop her from getting the hell out of Dodge for a while. Well, it is what it is, she thought, grabbing her costume and shimmying into it with a groan as it pinched and scratched. Bypassing her heels, she left her room, bold as you please, ignoring the concerned looks and puzzled glances from the nurses’ station, and walked right out the door.

3

KANE’S RENTED TRUCK kicked up dirt as he drove the familiar road to the Bradford ranch, breathing in the sweet smell of untamed earth and summer sun as a reluctant smile found his lips. He’d forgotten how good summer smelled in the South. There was something about the way a Kentucky summer reached into the soul and plucked a tune, even if he wasn’t open to listening. He hated Woodsville, but he had to admit, Kentucky was in his blood, even if he ran from it every single day of his life.

It was too easy to remember those wretched years as a boy, too young to avoid the beatings and too weak to prevent them, that made the breath catch in his throat and his shoulders tense. Dale Dalton was a rotten son of a bitch with a worse temper, and Kane hoped he was burning in hell for all the terror and misery he’d inflicted on his two sons. Frankly, Kane thought the old man had died too easy—a heart attack was too quick, over in a flash. Kane had been hoping for a slow, lingering cancer to eat Dale from the inside out, but no such luck. The lucky bastard had checked out with a single zap to the electrical system and it was lights out, sayonara.

The Bradford ranch came into view, an older ranch-style home with a generous wraparound porch and views of the green rolling hills and valleys carved by the river that snaked its way through Warren’s six-hundred-plus-acre property. Beech trees dotted the countryside and made for picturesque landscape, as well as created blessed shade that was much appreciated when the humidity was hard to escape.

He rolled to a stop in the driveway and walked into the house, calling for Warren or Cora as he went.

Cora, in the kitchen as always, smiled big and welcoming as she ushered him into her frail arms, hugging him as tightly as she was able. “You’ve lost too much weight,” she exclaimed as if she weren’t the one looking as if a stiff wind might knock her over. “Just look at you, you’re wasting away to nothing. You need to find a good woman who can fatten you up with some good ol’-fashioned home cooking.”

“I’m not the one wasting away,” he countered, concerned at how small and fragile Cora appeared since the last time he’d seen her two years ago. Sudden tears pricked his eyes and he blinked them back, unprepared for the emotional wallop at seeing Cora so diminished. “What’s the doc saying?”

Cora waved away his question and said, “No talk of doctors or medicine. I’ve had enough of that nonsense. I want to hear about you and Rian. How’s that fancy new business going for you? Tell me all about it while I cut up a piece of pie. Peach still your favorite?” She knew it was, the crafty old girl. He nodded and she beamed, pulling a freshly baked peach pie from the oven, where she’d probably hidden it from Warren. “Ice cream?”

“The pie is good for me,” he said, not wanting to put Cora into further motion on his account. Slaving away in the kitchen was the last place she needed to be, but he knew from experience that Cora took orders from no one, not even if it was to protect her declining health. He took a dutiful bite under her watchful eye and there was no need to fake a reaction because it was heaven on a fork. “God, Cora, this is the best damn pie I’ve ever tasted.”

She swatted him lightly on the head with a sharp “Watch your mouth,” but she smiled as she slid into the chair opposite him. “Glad you like it. Too bad Rian couldn’t come with you. I miss him just as much.”

“I know, but someone’s got to hold down the fort while I’m here,” he said regretfully, but after seeing Cora’s condition, he wondered if he ought to have Rian meet him there for when Cora and Warren returned from out of state. “Tell me about this special treatment you’re gonna have.”

Cora, her soft little hands wreathed with faint blue lines, fidgeted as she shrugged. “Warren’s got it in his head that it’s gonna make a difference, but sometimes you have to accept that when your time is up, it’s up. There’s grace in that, you know. But he wants me to go, so I will because he’s a good man and an even better husband, but I want to spend what time I have left right here on the ranch. I have my vegetable garden and the animals and that’s enough for me.”

Kane swallowed the sharp lump in his throat that clogged his airway. He’d known Cora and Warren since he was a mangy, starving fifteen-year-old looking for summer work, but they’d become his only family. If something happened to Cora...hell, he just couldn’t bear it. He understood Warren’s insistence to try anything, even if sounded crazy, if it meant Cora might pull through this medical nightmare. “Pardon my language, Miss Cora, but that’s bullshit. Don’t be giving up on a cure. If Warren thinks there’s a shot, you gotta take it because there’s no one on this planet who can make a blue-ribbon-quality peach pie like you, ma’am, and that’s the honest truth.”

It was more than the pie and Cora knew it, but it made her smile just the same and her smile was worth a million bucks in Kane’s opinion. He finished the pie like a good boy, even scraping up the crumbs, just as Warren walked in from the fields, covered in dirt and smelling like a pasture.

Kane rose respectfully and clasped the older man’s hand, relieved to find it strong as ever in spite of the fact that he was nearing eighty. “Kane, you’re looking good, boy,” Warren said, smiling. “Any trouble getting the time off?”

“No trouble, sir. Happy to help.”

Warren’s proud smile said volumes. “Good, good. It’s too bad we leave tonight. It would’ve been nice to catch up.” He stopped and sniffed the air, then spied the pie on the kitchen counter. “Peach pie! Where’d that come from?” His expression went from excited to distressed as he looked to Cora with concern. “You been in here making that pie while I was tending to the chores? Woman! Are you trying to kill yourself before we even get to Florida? The doc said you need to rest before the flight and here you are working yourself to death.”

“Oh, hush,” Cora said to her husband, shaking her head as if he was being a ninny. “Baking a pie isn’t hard, you just throw the stuff in a bowl, mix it up and toss it in the oven. A child could do it. Now stop pestering me and go show Kane what he’s supposed to be doing while we’re gone and I’ll have your slice ready for you when you get back.”

Warren looked torn between wanting to chastise her a little more and needing to do exactly what Cora said, but eventually the ticking clock won out as he grumbled, “C’mon, Kane, let’s get this done so’s we can hit the road. I don’t want to chance missing our plane.”

“Lead the way,” Kane said, casting a short wink at Cora before they headed out. The old girl was still running the roost, no matter what anyone said about her health. If anyone could beat cancer, it was Miss Cora—that much he knew. It was a small but vital comfort to his worried heart as he followed Warren out to the cattle barn.

“I know it was hard for you to drop everything and come, but I wouldn’t ask if it weren’t important,” Warren started once they were clear of the house. “She’s not doing so good and I’m not gonna sit by and watch her die without a fight.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Kane said, shifting against the pinch of guilt for staying away for too long. “I should’ve been more helpful from the start. Why didn’t you tell me that Miss Cora was so bad off?”

“Troubles are private, son. No sense in burdening others with something they can’t fix,” Warren answered with quiet pride. “Besides, you have your own life to run. How’s that going?”

“Good.”

Warren grunted, accepting the one-word answer. “You ever hear from Laci?”

“No, sir. Not since we were kids.”

“That’s too bad. She was a good girl. I seen her on the television the other day. She always did have a pretty voice to go with that pretty face. She calls now and then, but with her schedule, it’s hard to break away, being famous and all that.”

Kane grunted as if agreeing, but he didn’t want to talk about Laci or speculate about her celebrity lifestyle. Warren sensed his discomfort and obliged him by switching tracks, moving to the list of chores that needed to be done to keep the ranch moving while they were gone. It was like riding a bike and, by the time Warren was done, it was dark and time to call it an early night. After a quick supper of cold chicken and freshly baked bread, washed down with cool lemonade, everyone said their goodbyes and the Bradfords hit the road.

When he and Rian had been boys, they’d slept out in the pump house, makeshift guest quarters that couldn’t have been more perfect for two teenage boys. Kane had offered to take his old quarters, but Warren wouldn’t hear of it and instead offered up the room that’d always been Laci’s. Kane scrubbed his hand over his face with a smothered groan. The worn hardwood floor creaked under his feet and memory sprang to life, vibrant as the day it was created.

“Laci, are you sure about this?” he asked. His seventeen-year-old voice broke, his nervousness at being caught only temporarily muted by the intense, overwhelming need to feel Laci against him. The floorboards creaked and it sounded like a four-alarm fire bell, clanging like the dickens, blaring a warning for all to hear that Kane Dalton was up to no good with sweet Laci McCall! He froze, sweat beading his brow as he tensed, preparing to jump out the window if need be, but it was all quiet. In fact, if he strained hard enough, he could hear Warren snoring from behind his closed bedroom door. Kane’s heart hammered in his chest and he half feared a heart attack or something the way it was carrying on.

“Get your cute butt over here right now, Kane Dalton,” Laci whispered with a giggle. “This is a one-time, limited offer. And if you don’t take me up on it, I might just change my mind and leave you in your sorry state.”

Kane glanced down at the raging erection bulging his jeans and he swallowed in half embarrassment, half agony. “C’mon, Laci, if we get caught...”

“No one’s gonna catch us, you big scaredy-cat.” She grinned in the moonlight, more beautiful than ever, and he nearly swallowed his tongue. “Warren and Cora sleep like the dead. Nothing could wake them. Now...are you gonna just stand there looking silly or are you gonna get over here and show me a good time?”

If his cock were in charge, he’d say, Hell yes! And would be vaulting his way to that bed, but he was torn between the fear of being caught and tossed out for violating the Bradfords’ trust and giving in to his deepest, most secret desire and banging the hell out of that country cutie! But he and Rian needed this job and he couldn’t screw things up by thinking with his dick, right? Hell, who was he kidding? It was more than his dick that was talking. He’d fallen head over heels for this girl and there was no denying it, even if it was the stupidest thing he’d ever gone and done.

“Kane Dalton...don’t you hurt my feelin’s now,” she teased just as she slowly pulled her nightshirt off, revealing two of the most achingly perfect breasts he’d ever had the pleasure of staring at, and just then, he lost all ability to reason, function or otherwise think with anything other than the part of his anatomy that was sucking up all the blood in his body. “Like what you see?”

“Oh, damn, girl,” he breathed, forgetting about the squeaky floor and the possible repercussions. Within seconds, his pants were off and he was climbing onto the bed with Laci beneath him. Her blond hair was spread out on the pillow like a halo, and her nipples hardened like twin berries, ripe for the plucking. His eyes nearly crossed with crazy desire and he lost himself for a brief moment in the vision of perfection beneath him. “You’re the most beautiful girl I’ve ever known,” he murmured as she threaded her hands through his hair and drew his mouth to hers for a sweet kiss that sent rocket blasts of pleasure straight to his toes.

She broke the kiss and stared into his eyes. “And you’re mine, Kane Dalton. Always. You hear me?”

“Yes, ma’am,” he agreed, his heart approving. “I’ll always be yours.” His fervent vow was as true as any, but what the hell did a seventeen-year-old boy know of anything? Still, it didn’t stop him from solemnly promising her his soul. “Nothing’ll ever change that fact, I promise.”

“I love you, Kane...”

“I love you, Laci.”

Kane jerked himself from that memory and shook his head as if he could dislodge it, but the whisper-soft pledge remained an echo from his distant past. He sat on the edge of the bed, wondering if he was going to be able to sleep there. Just walking over the threshold had nearly caused his brain to melt with the recollection of what he and Laci had done in this room, in this bed that summer. What would sleeping there every night do to him? Hell, what was he getting so worked up about? It was a damn bed. It was natural to reminisce about your first time. Plenty of women between that memory and now, so stop dwelling.

He kicked off his shoes and undressed, climbing into the bed nude, as he always did, and prepared to fight sleep because he rarely slept well in a bed that wasn’t his own, but sooner than he’d imagined, he was out.

4

LACI HADN’T MEANT to end up in Woodsville, but her rented convertible seemed to have a destination in mind from the start because before she knew it, she was entering the town where she’d often spent summers while her daddy was out logging. The town square, quiet and still bathed in twilight, brought an easy smile to her mouth, even though it’d been a dog’s age since she’d been back. Everything about Woodsville was steeped in nostalgia—the kind that sucked you in with a powerful current that was impossible to swim against. Woodsville was as charming as a postcard on the surface, but she knew not everyone harbored sweet memories of this place.

Kane’s face appeared in her mind’s eye and she fought the immediate catch in her chest. Kane Dalton had been her everything—the light in her soul and the fire in her heart—until he’d gone off and joined the Marines, leaving her behind in a red-hot minute as if she’d meant nothing to him. He’d broken her heart in a million pieces and it was safe to say she’d never fully recovered from his abandonment. Well, some might say she’d done all right for herself but they didn’t know her private pain, the nights she spent thinking of him, wondering where he went, or if he was all right. For all she knew, he was dead, killed in a war on the other side of the world. Sometimes it was easier that way—thinking he was dead—because then she wouldn’t have the option of looking him up just to satisfy some wicked curiosity about things that didn’t matter anymore.

She made a point to never ask the Bradfords about Kane and bless their hearts, they seemed to understand and never volunteered anything, either, which was just the way she liked it. Ignorance was better than knowledge sometimes. It was right selfish of her, but she didn’t want to know if Kane was happily married off to some other woman, when that woman should’ve been her. So, yeah, she preferred to know nothing about Kane Dalton.

But as she was driving through Woodsville, the memories were too strong to deny. Her daddy had started dropping her off at the Bradford ranch, with Warren and Cora, when she was about fifteen. Sweet old couple, they were, but she’d been a terrible brat at times because she’d been mad at her daddy for dumping her off with strangers, even if they were nice enough. Still, they’d been good to her. Cora had taught her how to make the best pies in four counties. She even had the blue ribbon from the county fair to prove it. Not that she had much time to bake these days. Trent didn’t schedule much downtime. A pinch of guilt followed at the thought of her manager. She probably should’ve left a note, but then he’d have followed her and, by damn, she needed some downtime or she was going to lose her ever-loving mind and then where would they be?

She needed peace and solitude and the sound of the farm around her. No more lights in her face, people fussing about her everywhere she turned and definitely no Trent booking her for umpteen appearances until she fell over dead from pure exhaustion. I’ll call as soon as I’ve had a few days to regroup, she promised herself, if only to assuage the guilt, and it worked because after that moment, Trent completely left her mind, and for that, she was grateful.

Since she was already in Woodsville, Laci knew exactly where she wanted to go. It was way past the appropriate time to reconnect with the Bradfords and now was as good a time as any. She knew without a doubt that they would let her stay for as long as she liked and that was exactly the kind of hospitality she needed right now. Everything in life that had ever made sense could be found at the Bradford ranch.

When she rolled up to the house, she saw the truck parked out front and smiled quizzically. Warren had always been a Ford man, but this truck was a Dodge. Maybe the old guy had switched loyalties over the years. Hopefully, that was the only thing that’d changed. She climbed the stairs and, when she found the front door locked, she searched under the welcome mat for the spare key—aha! Some things don’t change—and quietly unlocked the door.

At two in the morning, she knew Warren and Cora would be dead asleep—life on the ranch was hard work—so she figured she’d surprise them in the morning. Tiptoeing to what had always been her room, she slipped inside and closed the door, grateful for a bed after hours on the road and way too little sleep. As if a switch were flipped, pure exhaustion returned and extreme fatigue pulled at her eyelids. Everything smelled like home and safety and all she wanted was to put her head on that pillow. Tomorrow, she and Cora could make biscuits and gravy—her favorite—and catch up. But until then...sleep was all she wanted.

Stripping as she went, she climbed beneath the covers and dropped off almost immediately with what she was certain was a smile on her face.

Thank you...this was bliss.

* * *

KANE’S MOUTH CLOSED over a tightly budded nipple and sucked the sweet berry, teasing the tiny ridged piece of flesh until the woman writhed and moaned, arching into his arms, offering more of herself for his touch. Her skin was like the smoothest alabaster, perfect in every way. Her breasts overflowed his hands and he squeezed the abundant flesh with a groan as he moved to the other nipple. Her breathy pants fueled his need to touch and feel every inch of her, to know what made her squirm, what made her cry out with abandon. He needed to know everything about her. He wanted to own her cries and make her body quake with each thrust. His finger slid between her slick folds, searching for that sweet heat, testing and teasing. There was something so familiar about the way she cried out, the way she clung to him, pressing herself against him so that every part of her was touching him in some way. Her body, soft and willing, created a carnal need so fierce that his hands shook as he gripped her hips and ground his swollen cock against her. Their tongues collided with urgent, desperate thrusts as they swallowed each other’s breath and created a maelstrom of lust and want between them. Good God, his heart hammered with a ferocity that he’d never experienced. He needed that slippery heat as much as he needed air to breathe. He wanted to plunge inside her, going balls deep, straight to the hilt, but as he was poised above her, ready to slide into blessed home, something—an errant sensation, a discordant moment amid total bliss—caused him to realize he wasn’t dreaming and that he was about to make love with a complete stranger.

Kane’s eyes flew open and he stiffened, ignoring the aching pulse between his legs, as he stared down at the woman beneath him, her arms still looped around his neck with drowsy desire. Her eyelids fluttered open and her mouth opened in confusion, followed by alarm. “Oh my God!” she cried, jerking her arms away from his neck and then pushing at his chest. “Get off me! What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

It was then that he realized that he was lying on top of—son of a bitch!—Laci McCall.

* * *

OH, GOOD LORD! Laci’s cheeks burned with mortification as, of all people, Kane Dalton stared down at her with sudden dawning recognition. What the hell was he doing in her old bed at the Bradford ranch? She pushed at his chest, refusing to appreciate all that solid muscle beneath her fingertips or the fact that he felt pretty good on top of her, glaring as she demanded that he get off. “I don’t know what the hell is going on, but if you don’t get yourself off me right now, I’m going to turn you from a rooster to a hen in about five seconds.”

“No need for that,” he bit out, seemingly just as thrown off-kilter by the current events as he rolled off her, taking most of the blankets with him, further exposing her naked body. She gasped and retrieved the blanket, scooting as far away from him as possible. Ten seconds ago, their tongues had been in each other’s mouths and he’d been about to...oh, goodness gracious... Yeah, you know what he was gonna do and you were about to let him!

She gathered the blankets around her tightly, even though she realized it was a lot like closing the barn door after the horses have already run out, but it gave her some sense of control in a whacked-out situation. Damn, he looked good. He was a breath of fresh air after too much time spent on a tour bus. Stop that! Kane had always been a good-looking devil, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t lead a girl straight to hell with a smile on his handsome face. “So? Explain yourself,” she said, glaring.

“Me? I was asked to take care of the ranch while the Bradfords go to Florida for a special cancer treatment for Cora. How about you? Last I heard, you haven’t been around this ranch in close to five years, too busy going off and getting famous and all that to visit. Warren and Cora might make excuses for you, but I sure as hell ain’t gonna do it. So that brings me back to my original question... What the hell are you doing here?”

Her mouth dropped open, filled with ready and hot words to defend herself, but there was something else that caught her attention and jerked her around. “Cancer? What do you mean, cancer? Nobody told me Cora was sick,” she said, genuinely concerned, forgetting for the moment that she and Kane were still naked in a room together. “How sick?”

“That’s not for me to say,” Kane answered gruffly. “If Cora wanted you to know, she would’ve found a way to tell you.”

“Don’t be a jerk. I have just as much right to know about Cora’s illness as you do. She was like family to me and you know it.”

“Do I? Do I know that? Because the way I see it, you plain disappeared and walked away from anyone who’d ever meant anything to you, including the Bradfords.”

“Shut your mouth. Don’t you dare talk to me about walking away when that’s exactly what you did when you joined the Marines, leaving me behind as if I were an old sack of potatoes,” she retorted, her fury returning in a blaze of fire. “You’ve some nerve, Kane Dalton, to talk to me like you’ve got a leg to stand on. You left me without so much as a ‘catch you later’ and I was left to deal with the fallout.”