Page 24 of September’s Cowboy Travis

“You keep things simple too,” she said. “No messy relationships. No promises anybody can complain about later.”

“That's one way to put it.”

“Is it wrong?”

I looked at her. “No.”

She nodded once. “Then maybe we're not as different as you think.”

My mind rolled that around and we sat there until the sun dropped behind the mountains, then headed inside to finish the box. Kaycee made it through another handful of papers before she pulled out a thin yellowed sheet that had been folded behind one of the older lease maps.

“What’s this?” She flattened the page on the table, running one finger along a handwritten notation near the bottom.

See 1912 instrument — boundary adjustment.

I leaned over her shoulder. “Is that the north pasture?”

“Part of it, I think.”

“What does the rest say?”

“Not enough.” She traced the notation again. “But now I know what I need Morgan to pull.”

“Does it help me?”

Kaycee looked up at me. “I don't know yet.”

A week ago, that would've irritated me. Now I knew it meant exactly what she said. She wouldn't guess just to make me feel better.

Kaycee started gathering the papers, and I helped slide everything back into the box. When she reached for her canvas bag, I caught her hand instead.

Her eyes lifted to mine.

The kiss I'd been trying not to think about all day came back fast. I pulled her toward me.

She didn’t hesitate at all.

My mouth hit hers harder than it had the night before, and her hands immediately went to my shirt. I backed her against the kitchen counter, feeling her smile for half a second before the kiss deepened.

There was no audience this time. No volunteers pretending not to watch, no rodeo crowd a few yards away. Just the two of us.

My hand slipped beneath the hem of her shirt and settled against the warm skin at her waist. She pulled me closer, and the sound she made against my mouth almost chased away what good sense I had left.

I wanted to take her upstairs, but I pulled back before I let myself act on it.

Kaycee's hands stayed fisted in my shirt. “What’s wrong?”

I kept one hand at her waist. “I don’t want to make assumptions, but if this is headed upstairs, I'm not going to want you leaving right after.”

Her expression changed, surprise replacing the heat for a second. “Who said I was planning to?”

I closed my eyes. “You're not helping.”

“I wasn't trying to.”

That got a laugh out of me. I kissed her once more, slower this time, then stepped back far enough to make sure I stayed there.

Kaycee straightened her glasses and gave me a look that said she wasn't convinced by my decision. I wasn't either but sleeping with the woman who had the power to clear my name seemed like a bad idea. I ought to know since I’d followed through on so many of them in the past.