This Kiss by Teresa Southwick

Author:Teresa Southwick
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2001-09-25T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seven

On the last night of the championships, Dev waited at the far end of the main corral for intermission to end. The crowd had thinned since there were only three events left: chute dogging, pole bending and bull riding. But since he was a pickup man, he still had a job to do and was waiting for the signal that they were ready to start.

As he stood there, Mitch Rafferty walked by with his arm around Taylor Stevens’s waist. Just a few minutes before, in front of God and all the spectators, they had declared what just about everyone in Destiny was making side bets on: they were crazy in love.

Taylor was branching out in a new direction with her dude ranch. Since returning to Destiny, Mitch was working with a development company to bring prosperity to the area. Dev envied them and couldn’t help thinking about Hannah. The last time he’d had a Hart to heart talk with her, he’d realized that her childhood memories were not good ones. She’d gone away and made something of herself and was well on her way to a successful life and career in another state. He’d known she was ambitious, but he’d learned how deep it went and why nothing could compel her to stay.

“Penny for ’em.”

Dev knew the voice belonged to Grady O’Connor. He glanced to his right where his friend had stopped. “Hey, Sheriff. Penny for what?”

“Your thoughts. You’re looking pretty grim. Must be thinking about a woman.”

“Remind me not to plan the crime of the century here in Destiny. Considering your sleuthing skills, I wouldn’t have a snowball’s chance in hell of pulling it off.”

“Then let me impress you some more. Would the lady perp happen to be Hannah Morgan?”

“Cuff me and run me in,” Dev confirmed.

“What’s with you and the pretty doc?”

“Not a blessed thing.”

“But not because you’re not interested,” the lawman guessed.

“Doesn’t matter. She’s going back to California.”

At least now he knew why she was so determined to achieve financial security. For the second time in as many minutes, Dev remembered that day in the medical trailer when she’d told him about breaking her arm and the resulting fallout. He almost smiled at his in-poor-taste play on words. But nothing about the situation was funny.

Grady rested his forearms on the top rail of the fence. “Maybe you could change her mind about leaving.”

“Not a chance.”

And how pathetic was that? The first woman who’d interested him in longer than he cared to remember, and she only had eyes for a career. Even if he could let himself compromise his hopes and dreams, Destiny, Texas, would never offer her enough. It didn’t do any good to wish things were different. He’d wished as hard as he could that Corie wouldn’t walk away from him and Ben. And he’d learned an important lesson. If wishes were horses, beggars would ride.

Grady nudged his hat up with a knuckle. “So you are interested.”

“Did I say I was interested?”

“No. But more important is what you didn’t say.

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