My brows pulled low and my lips drooped into a frown. “Don’t call me that,” I snapped. “I’m not a kid anymore, Raylan.”
He was only eleven years older, and I hated how it sometimes felt like he used the difference in our ages as a way to keep an unseen chasm between us. I knew he didn’t mean to hurt me, but every time he made some remark about “understanding once I was older” it felt like a slap in the face.
I wrapped my arms around myself to ward off the bone-deep chill that had absolutely nothing to do with the cool night air. “In case you haven’t noticed, I’m all grown up now.”
“Sweetheart, I’m sorry. You just...” He reached up, raking his fingers though his hair. “You caught me off guard is all. Never in a million years did I expect you to kiss me.”
My eyes began to burn as my heart plummeted to my feet. It was impossible to keep the pain out of my voice as I asked, “Is the thought of kissing me really that crazy?”
“Yes. No. Fuck! I don’t know.” Raylan began to pace, scrubbing at his face with agitation. “It’s just not something I’ve ever thought about.”
Ouch.
I hugged myself tighter and held my ground, refusing to run away, even though the voice in the back of my head was screaming at me to do that very thing.In for a penny, I thought as I squared my shoulders and looked him right in the eye. “Well, now that it’s happened... what do you think about it?”
A look of pity swept across his handsome features. “Kid—Lennix,” he said, catching himself just a second too late. “I’m flattered, really.” I could feel thebutcoming, and I had to prepare myself for whatever would follow. “But you’re soyoung. And you’re Zach’s sister.”
I lifted my chin defiantly, fighting the tremble as he drove the knife deeper into my chest.
“I could never go there.” He shook his head, and it took everything in me to keep the tears at bay. “You mean the world to me, you know that. And you know I’ll always care about you, but... I’m sorry, sweetheart. I just don’t see you that way.”
I was so wrong. There was no way I would have been able to brace for that kind of blow. With that last sentence, he knocked the wind right out of me and shattered every single dream I’d ever had of him looking at me like I wasmore.
Chapter Two
Lennix
Several Months Later
Somethinglow and rumbly vibrated right beside my ear, forcing me out of a wonderful sleep in which I’d been dreaming that Henry Cavill—dressed in those delicious leather pants he wore inThe Witcherand nothing else—was professing his undying devotion to me.
I fought against the tug of consciousness, wanting to stay in the dream world as long as possible—I hadn’t even gotten to grab Henry’s ass yet—but the sound grew louder, more insistent, and a second later, something extremely heavy and very furry plopped over my face, blocking my airways.
I let out a muffled grunt and reached up to grab the thing trying to suffocate me. “All right, all right.” I grumbled as I shoved the cantankerous cat off my face and glared at him. “Are you happy now?” Unbothered by the fact he’d clam-jammed his momma in her dream, he let out another loud purr that soundedlike a lawnmower as he climbed onto my belly and began making biscuits against my sternum.
“Damn you.” I scowled at my cat as I did my best to push to sitting without jostling him off my stomach. “It’s really hard to stay mad at you when you’re being all cute and cuddly.”
That hadn’t always been the case. When I first got Pirate, he’d been untrusting and wary of all humans. Not that I blamed him one bit. He’d been abused for years before ending up on the streets. I found him rummaging through the dumpster behind The Tap Room one day a little over a year ago, and it had taken an hour, more scratches than I could count, and a tetanus booster to get him safely into a carrier and to the vet’s office.
He’d been so skinny I could see his ribs through his dirty, matted fur, and he was covered in tics and fleas. I rushed him right over to Hardin Drake, a family friend and the local vet. After a surgery where Hardin had to reset a broken leg that had healed incorrectly, and unfortunately remove his left eye that was too damaged to repair, I brought the poor thing home with me.
I was a sucker for animals of any kind. Always had been. It was a part of growing up on a ranch.
For my eighteenth birthday, my parents had gifted me a small section of Safe Haven Ranch to call my own, and I’d known exactly what plot of land I wanted. The acreage I’d chosen had been taken out of rotation for cattle years ago because it was a pain to access and had too much rock coverage for optimal grazing. But it had been perfect for what I had in mind. The small cabin that sat on it had been abandoned for at least a decade, but I wasn’t afraid of a challenge. With a lot of TLC, some elbow grease, a bazillion splinters, and enough curse words to make a sailor stand up and applaud, I managed to make the place habitable. Now it was my cute, cozy sanctuary that was close enough to my family that I could see them wheneverI wanted, but far enough away to give me some privacy. It was also an added bonus that I didn’t have to worry about nosey neighbors.
Once the cabin was finished, I’d gotten to work on building a barn and small paddock. My little spot of Safe Haven was meant to be a sanctuary for any and all animals in need of a safe, loving home. My one-eyed cat, Pirate, was just one of several so far. And he was now happy and healthy and the most affectionate cat I’d ever met. Well, unless he was hungry. He could be a real bitch when it came to food. Then again, so could I, so I didn’t judge.
If I slept later than he deemed acceptable, he’d let me know by trying to suffocate me. He was still skittish around strangers, especially men, but he was slowly coming around. He’d finally stopped sneak-attacking Zach every time he came over. Now he just glared at him from the corner of the couch like he was plotting his murder. My brother didn’t see that as progress, but I did.
Resting against the headboard of my bed, I scratched between Pirate’s ears as I scolded, “You know, if you smother me to death, there’ll be no one else to feed you, then where will you be?”
At my use of thefword, the sound of nails skittering across the hardwood floors filled the air, and a few seconds later, my dog, Ziggy, came barreling into my room.
He’d been dumped outside Hardin’s clinic as a puppy, and we could only guess his owners didn’t want him due to a birth defect that made amputation of one of his front legs necessary. Hardin called me, knowing my love for all animals, and the moment I laid eyes on him once he was out of surgery, I knew we were meant to find each other. He became my first rescue. As soon as he had the all clear, I brought him home with me and nursed him back to health. The little guy zigged and zagged allover the place as he got used to only having three legs, hence the name.
“Fine, I’m up,” I groaned, rolling my eyes skyward. I pushed Pirate off and threw my legs over the side of the bed as my ungrateful fur babies bolted out of the room and into the kitchen to await their breakfast. Neither of them seemed to give a damn that my job running The Tap Room and the attached brewery led to a lot of late nights. There was no such thing as sleeping in as far as they were concerned.
I grabbed the fuzzy, oversized cardigan I loved to snuggle up in from the hook on my bedroom door and pulled it on over my sleep shorts and tank before padding down the hall after my animals.
