Free Kade: Armed and Dangerous by Cheyenne McCray

back to the plane and gestured toward the house. “Why
     don’t you show me something else?”
    “Want to talk about it?” His voice was calm. Grounding.
    She almost wished she could tell him, but the pain was too great for her to get the
     words out.
    She shook her head and started walking through the windbreak.
    “No.”
    When she glanced at him, his eyes were dark, concerned. “All right.”
    Gradually, her tense muscles relaxed as he took her on a tour of the ranch. The farther
     she got from the plane, the better she felt. He showed her Sadie’s greenhouse and
     garden, then the henhouse and corrals. Kelsey laughed when she saw Trent’s family
     of potbellied pigs, and at the antics of Sadie’s baby Alpine goats.
    When it was dusk, they strolled back toward the house. Kade came up short and studied
     her. “Enjoying your stay?”
    “Very much.” She smiled and nodded. “It’s wonderful here.”
    “Have dinner with me one night.” His voice was low and husky, sending shivers down
     her spine. “We’ll head into town to a nice little restaurant I know. Just you and
     me.”
    A fluttering sensation gathered in her belly and she struggled to calm it. She took
     a deep breath of clean evening air and said, “I—I don’t know.”
    They stood in front of the house, just outside the porch. Light poured through the
     windows and teased the gold in Kade’s chestnut hair. An overwhelming urge came over
     her to run her fingers within that thick hair, to press close against his hard body
     and kiss him like the world was on fire. Like there was no tomorrow, only today. Only
     the two of them.
    Kade trailed his finger down her arm and she gasped at the sensual contact. “It’s
     just dinner, Kelsey.”
    She stepped back, away from his disturbing touch. “I’ll think about it.” She forced
     herself to turn from him, and hurried into the house.
    Even as she left him outside, she wondered why she couldn’t just let go and spend
     some time with this man.
    What’s wrong with me?
    Why don’t I just go for it?
    And the answer came to her as clear as day.
    She didn’t want to lose her heart, and with Kade, that was something that would be
     only too easy to do.
    Kelsey tucked her glasses into their case, then rubbed the bridge of her nose. Her
     temples throbbed from spending the afternoon transcribing notes from her interview
     with Chuck. Since her deadline was a couple of weeks off, she had time yet to start
     writing the feature.
    She closed her eyes and relaxed in the study’s leather chair. Against her will, her
     thoughts wandered to yesterday evening, when Kade had suggested they go to dinner.
     Alone.
    No matter how much she tried to tell herself it would be a mistake, she couldn’t help
     wonder what it would be like to be with him. That one kiss she’d shared with Kade
     had unraveled her more than any amount of intimacy she’d ever shared with Davis.
    With Davis it hadn’t been making love, it had just been sex, and she’d never enjoyed
     it. He’d called her a cold fish. Told her she was terrible in bed. She’d never known
     what to do, and with him it was over before it started. No foreplay. No cuddling.
     Just Davis relieving his needs.
    She’d thought that was all there was to sex until Theresa and her friend Calinda had
     started in on the topic one day at lunch. Kelsey started wondering if she’d been missing
     something. Perhaps Davis had been not only a sorry excuse for a husband, but a poor
     sexual partner as well.
    Why did she believe it would be any different with Kade?
    Well, let’s see. The way he’d kissed her, as though he wanted to taste her everywhere.
     The way he touched her, and how careful and protective he was with her. The way that
     he looked at her, like she was the only woman on earth. The way he made her feel,
     like a fire burned deep within her soul—an ache, a need that only he could fill...
    And she could imagine him filling her in every possible