After Cord was on the road, he heard his cell phone beeping and he saw he’d missed a call from AJ. Damn. They’d been playing phone tag for a couple of days. The day after Dag died she’d gone to Billings with Jenn to get her mother moved into the assisted living facility. She wouldn’t be back until after he and Ky returned.Yeah, he knew it was over. He knew he shouldn’t call her back. He should just let it go. He should just let her go. But the idea of not seeing her again? Not talking to her?Not laughing with her? Not touching her? That was just another reason why his reunion with Ky would be so bittersweet.He hit redial anyway and left her another message. Cell service through Wyoming was spotty at best so he knew chances were slim they’d actually connect. Why did everything in life have to be so goddamn hard?Why don’t you just buck up and tell her how you feel?Right. So she could walk away from him?Maybe she’d stay.Nah. The die was cast. The ball was in play. There was no way

Cord kissed her until she was dizzy. Until she was sopping wet with need.He whispered, “Again,” and picked her up, carrying her to the rocking chair in the corner. He straddled her legs across the arms of the chair and sank inside her. “Always so ready for me, baby doll.”“You know how to touch me to make me that way.”“You’re so damn sexy I never know where I wanna touch you first.” He lifted her breasts to his mouth level. “How about I suck these while you’re ridin’ me, cowgirl? I wanna feel your nipples throbbin’ on my tongue when you come.”This go round was slower, a solid, steady rocking of the chair and a longer climb to pleasure. In the aftermath, Cord kissed her like he couldn’t bear to have their lips be apart.They didn’t talk. They returned to bed and touched and kissed and made love until they were exhausted.Sleepy, AJ shivered beneath the covers.“You’re always cold.” Cord rummaged in the dresser alongside the bed. “Here’s a T-shirt.”She slipped it on. Pathetic, but s

A gust of wind rattled the chimes on the porch, breaking the lingering silence.Cord smiled and let the sage-scented breeze soothe his troubled mind. He could do this. He had to do this. “A map, huh? I can work with that.”******Four weeks later…AJ was dragging butt after a long day of classes. She waited for the elevator, clenching and unclenching her fists. Her hands hurt. Had she given everyone in the free world a massage this week?The apartment she shared with Keely was dead quiet. AJ let out a sigh of relief. As much as she loved her roommate, she needed some down time. Keely was a whirlwind of activity. When she wasn’t studying or working she had to be out doing things and she demanded AJ come along for the ride.It hadn’t taken long for AJ to get back into the swing of school. Between the three extra classes and finishing an extra work-study course in four days, she was still on track to graduate right before Christmas.Not that she had a clue what she’d do once she received

PrologueSkylar Ellison hated being naked in public.Not that she was positioned on a bridge waving her hoo-hoos and va-jay-jay at passersby, but damn, wearing just her birthday suit made her oh-so conscious of the flaws in that aging suit. The paper covering the patient’s exam table crinkled beneath her sweaty thighs. A cold breeze from the air duct wafted across her bare butt exactly where the itsy bitsy cloth gown gapped.That wasn’t as bad as having her lower half completely exposed, her knees spread wide, her feet in metal stirrups as she stared at the “Hang In There, Baby” poster plastered to the ceiling.Skylar dreaded pelvic exams, pap smears, shots, and teeth cleanings—anything resembling a medical procedure. So far she’d been poked, prodded and they’d taken a sample of damn near every bodily fluid imaginable; blood, urine, saliva, a throat culture, earwax, toe-jam—not so much the last two, but it’d sure seemed like it.She’d been cooling her heels in this sterile room for th

Her lips curled in a cat-like smile. “Too bad you weren’t this honest the other night. I know just the place. Let’s go.”Ten minutes later, Kade lowered the menu. “I hate to break it to you, Skylar, but this ain’t a vegetarian restaurant.”“I know. It’s the most expensive restaurant in town. And since you said any place, I figured you owed me the very best.”“Bit of a hard ass, ain’t ya?”She shrugged. “What’re you having?”“Eggplant parmesan.”“Really?”“Yeah. Why?”“I figured you’d order the porterhouse.”“I don’t eat beef twenty-four/seven. I eat lots of other things.” He’d sure like to nibble on her. Scrape his teeth down to the base of her neck where her throat curved into her shoulder. Flick his tongue across the pulse point beating beneath her jaw. Sniff back up to see if she dabbed perfume behind her sweet little ears or if it was just the natural scent of her skin that smelled so heavenly.“You’re gawking at me, McKay.”Kade glanced up at her eyes. “Sorry.”Skylar folded her