He’d never forget their first meeting. From the moment she’d taken the plane seat next to him, he’d been enamored. That first conversation had revealed intelligence and humor in a beguiling mix. When they’d landed at the airport an hour away from Black Hills, he’d offered to share a ride. From that moment on, whenever he’d been in town, he’d spent as much time at her place as Blackstone Manor, until she’d stopped answering his phone calls months later. When he’d come home for his grandfather’s funeral, she’d been nowhere to be found. The little house they’d spent so many enjoyable hours in had been sealed up tight.
He didn’t want to, was shocked that he couldn’t stop, but he’d hungered for her since that very first plane ride together. Time and distance hadn’t changed that, much to his disgust. Nothing about his obsession made sense. They lived in two different worlds. They had two very different personalities and approaches to life. Still, he wasn’t ready to let her go.
She’d been as wild as he’d expected, but she’d also led him to more genuine fun than he’d had his entire adult life. Quiet nights at home with a movie, cooking for two and sleeping in—oddities in his workaholic routine. No woman had interested him in any way beyond the physical. KC had interested him in every way.
She still did.
“Excuse me, guys.”
Leaving his brothers staring after him, he made his way around tables to cross the room. They’d been in their corner for an hour while KC tended bar, and she hadn’t looked directly at him a single time. Every second without that connection had itched below his skin until he couldn’t even concentrate on the conversation. He’d deliberately kept their relationship out of the local headlines, but Jacob was desperate enough to risk a little limelight right now.
Oh, boy. His attitude made him very afraid he might step into stalker mode now that the possibility of seeing her around was very, very real. Some days, thoughts of KC had made him feel as if he was losing his mind.
He braced himself for her special brand of sarcasm. Something that had been noticeably lacking this morning.
“Jake. What brings you in tonight?”
You. Jacob ground his teeth together. Not because the shortening of his name bothered him, but because hearing it said in KC Gatlin’s husky voice reminded him of evenings being soothed by her presence after an upsetting day with his mom. Reminded him of long nights between the sheets.
Far too distant memories.
“Do I need a reason? Can’t I just enjoy the opportunity to watch a beautiful woman work the crowd?”
For the better part of a year, such a simple comment would have had her eyes sparkling, those full, naturally red lips tilting into a luscious smile, her mouth ready and willing to talk back. But not tonight.
“You never came to watch me before,” she said, then dropped her gaze to the bar and started scrubbing, leaving him bereft once more. So she wasn’t gonna make this easy.
He settled on a bar stool, watching that compact body displayed to advantage in a tight T-shirt and jeans. She acknowledged the move with a quick flick of her lashes, then studiously avoided looking at him again.
Just the way she’d ignored his phone calls. For seven months. He should have moved on by now, but his obsession had only grown. Now this successful, accomplished businessman found himself hunting the woman he craved in the local honky-tonk, because, well...because the cravings had become unbearable.
It no longer mattered that he couldn’t figure out how she would fit into his life plan without wreaking havoc on it. She was the woman he shouldn’t want, but the one woman he couldn’t forget.
So he sucked up the little pride he had left and leaned closer. “You never did say where you’d been, KC.”
She paused, then dropped the towel and met his gaze head-on. One of the things that had long enticed him was the very moment those turbulent hazel eyes turned his way, letting him see the woman inside and her mood, based on the dominant color of the day. Blue for calm and sunny. Green for sultry and sexy. Brown for angry or sad.
On tonight’s menu: swirling milk chocolate. Wonder what he’d done to piss her off.
He’d never had a clue. They’d hooked up every time he’d come home to see his mother or take care of some business for his grandfather, until he’d found himself making up excuses just to return to Black Hills so he could see her. Watch her face while he talked with her. Sleep wrapped around her sweet-scented body. Hell, he’d even flown her out to Philadelphia once when he’d had to cancel his trip to Black Hills because of business.
Man, that had been a weekend to remember.
But the blank look on her face told him she wasn’t into reminiscing. How much of a glutton for punishment was he willing to be?
“Come on, KC. Even as a friend, don’t I deserve an answer?”
“I thought silence was my answer.”
Burn. “Right.”
For just a moment, the blankness slipped, revealing a flash of emotion that he couldn’t interpret before it disappeared. But it revealed one important clue: indifference wasn’t the problem.
So what was she hiding?
The KC he’d known had been all on the outside, open with her emotions and actions. This closed-off version made him curious...and angry.
What had stripped away her joy, her spontaneity? Whatever it was, her attitude seemed to be reserved solely for him. He’d been watching her flirt and smile with other customers for an hour. The minute he’d appeared in front of her—shutdown.
Funny thing was, her spontaneity was one of the main things that drew him—and the one thing that had always kept him distant. Just thinking about living with uncertainty brought the barriers up. Other people found that kind of living by the seat of your pants exciting. He had enough of the unexpected in his life dealing with his twin; he didn’t need more on a permanent basis. Luke’s need for speed was as far from Jacob’s scheduled existence as one could be from the other. Not to mention that his high-risk career as a race-car driver worried Jacob a lot.
So again he had to ask: Why was he sitting here instead of celebrating his freedom from his own version of risk?
“Was it because of this mystery man? Did you move to be with him?” Though the thought of her finding someone else hurt, maybe it was for the best. He needed something to break this incredible, horrible addiction.
She leaned closer, bracing against the bar. With her petite frame, the edge hit her higher than her waist, which gave him a really good view of her breasts in her tight Lola’s T-shirt.
He was only human. Of course he looked.
Wait, was he seeing things? Because she seemed curvier than he remembered.
“Jacob,” she said, drawing his gaze upward to her expectant face. Luckily she didn’t call him on where he’d been looking. “Look, let’s not do this here, okay? Another time, maybe.”
“Why?” And why was he continuing to push this? “Is he here?”
“No, Jacob, that’s not it.”
The sudden sound of a phone ringing didn’t register at first. After all, the bar was full of music, laughter and talking from the Friday-evening crowd. But the ringtone was persistent, and gained volume until he couldn’t miss it. KC pulled out her phone and took one look at the display before answering.
She turned away, taking a few steps down the bar while she talked. He would have thought she’d completely dismissed him, except for the quick glances she kept shooting his way. After a few words he couldn’t hear, she disconnected. Then she simply walked away.
His body mourned. His sensibilities raged. What did he have to do to get a simple explanation?