Chapter Two

I need a cold shower.

James MacLachlan hoped no one could read his thoughts, because his libido hadn’t sat up with this much attention in a long time. Impossible as it seemed, Reese had grown more beautiful over the years. The same long blond waves flowed around curves that had developed in a most impressive way. Her blue eyes still tipped up at the corners when she smiled, but this time she’d looked at him with a woman’s confidence, not the shy glances of the girl she’d been in high school. And it turned his blood to molten fire.

Maybe I won’t be an idiot this time.

Reese opened the side door of her 1970s-era VW camper van, complete with blue velvet upholstery on a back fold-out bench seat, glittery throw pillows, and enough girly stuff to give a guy hives. “Did you buy it like this?” He motioned to the assortment of sparkly things.

“No, it was a mess when I bought it. I’ve done this over the years. I travel a lot for freelance jobs and collect things as I go.”

“You live in a van?” he asked and then clamped his fool mouth shut. Her lilting laugh eased his worry that he’d offended her.

“No, but it’s perfect for long road trips.”

“You don’t stay in one place for long?” She certainly hadn’t stayed in Cypress Creek long enough for him to make things right in high school.

“I always come back around to the places that mean the most.”

“Took you long enough.” Shit. I said that out loud. The music of her laughter made it worth it. He’d have to remember to make her laugh every chance he got.

“I suppose I’ll find my permanent home someday. Until then, I’m a wanderer.” She turned to put away her camera bag.

With windblown blond curls, a black concert T-shirt, denim shorts, and sequin-covered pink shoes, she was the prettiest wanderer he’d ever seen. His fingers tingled and he rubbed them on his jeans to keep himself from touching her.

The side door slammed, and she walked to the front of her van. “I only stay in Petunia for short stints while traveling because I’m a big fan of showers, especially in the July heat. Although…”

The way she cocked her hip and tapped her kissable lips made him sway forward and forget what they were talking about.

“My apartment building was recently sold, and I haven’t found a new place yet, so if you don’t count me bunking with my friend Lila in Austin, I guess I technically do live temporarily in my van.” She patted the flat front end of the vehicle like one might do to a favorite pet.

“Maybe you’ll take me for a ride? I mean a drive.” Damn, get control of your mouth.

“Anytime.” She bit her bottom lip and looked at her feet while backing toward the driver’s door. “I’m going to check into my room, and I’ll see you in about an hour.”

“Sounds good.” There was a touch of the shy girl he remembered.

James watched her drive down Main Street and disappear past the limestone courthouse. He knew how to tame wild horses, but this woman…

Wild and free was just the way he liked her, and he couldn’t wait to find out what this new version of Reese Turner was all about. But before catching up, he needed to finish his errands then show her he was taking good care of her grandparents’ homestead. It had been ages since he’d thought this hard about impressing a woman, but this was his second shot. A chance to show her he’d become a better man.

He waved his usual greetings on the short walk to the vet’s office, where he received a you-are-in-the-doghouse glare from his old hound. “Hey, Sampson, ready to go?”

Sampson turned his back and ignored him.

The veterinarian shook his head and chuckled at the animal’s snub. “Guess you have your answer. After his flea bath and exam, I realized he was due for a shot.”

He knelt beside his dog and rubbed his head. “Sorry, old boy. I wouldn’t have left you if I’d known you were getting a shot.”

“He’s healthy and good to go until next year.”

“Thanks, Victor. Did Sally have the baby?”

“Not yet, but she’s so ready. She says kiddo number six will be our last.”

A cold shiver shot through James. “Give her my best.” He couldn’t imagine the worry and stress of having a wife pregnant six times, or even once, and never planned to go through the experience.

He knew the pain that could devastate a family when a pregnancy went wrong.

Sampson followed a step behind on the way to the truck, dragging out every second of sympathy, then pretended he needed help getting into the cab.

James scooped up the old dog and laid him on the passenger seat. “You only got one shot.” The dog’s response came out as a cross between a whimper and a growl that made him laugh. “I get it. I don’t like shots, either. But you sure smell better after that bath.”

After a stop at the lumber yard, they drove farther into the Hill Country. The tightly clustered neighborhoods of town gave way to ranches and grazing animals. A winery with stretching rows of grapevines curved along one side of the highway, ending at the banks of Cypress Creek—the river where he grew up swimming, fishing, and planning his future.

His companion hung his head out the window, ears flopping in the wind.

James put in a Foo Fighters CD and tried to rein in his impulse to pick up right where they’d left off. Reese had fascinated him even when they were children, but when her family moved in with her grandmother and she started going to Cypress Creek High, she’d caught his attention in a more mature way. Kissing her at a school dance had led to a make-out session in his truck, where her touches had tugged at something deep inside him. Unfamiliar emotions had scared the shit out of him, but he’d still promised they’d spend the whole summer together.

A summer that never happened. Not when he’d screwed things up only two months later.

James shifted in the driver’s seat, blew out a breath, and kneaded the tight muscles along the back of his neck. When Reese mentioned his attention roaming during their brief time together, he hadn’t missed the pain in her eyes.

I was a jerk, and I hurt her.

A knot of old regret landed with a thud in his belly. Just when he’d decided to make things right, her family had moved away. That didn’t mean he’d stopped wanting her or had forgotten her.

He shook his head and scratched Sampson’s back. He’d been an inexperienced kid and hadn’t known how to navigate his feelings. Now, keeping relationships casual was practically his middle name. Especially after his fiasco of an engagement with Polly. That gold-digging woman had wormed her way into his life and fed lies to his family. His jaw clenched tight. She’d played him for a fool, cementing his plan to avoid marriage.

Sampson pulled his head in the window, eyed him sideways, and barked once.

“You forgive me, old fella?” His companion put a paw on his arm, and he rubbed his dog’s head then turned up the radio and sang slightly off-key to a favorite song.

After taking Sampson home and giving him a treat, he headed over to Turner Cottage. While he worked on the roof, he couldn’t stop thinking about Reese and how much of a dumbass he’d been. His own foolishness had cost him memories they could’ve made together. She was one of those women whose inner beauty matched her outer. The way she’d always treated people. The way she’d talked so sweetly to the toddler in the diner. The way her plump, pink mouth pursed and teased him.

She was a grown woman, no longer an innocent teen. Maybe he could have one night with her. But after thinking of her for years, would one be enough?

When he hammered the final nail into place, the rattle of her VW came around the curve of the long gravel drive. She stopped before she reached the cottage and got out. Sun glinted off the glass lens as her camera twisted this way and that, capturing her surroundings. Her golden hair caught in the breeze then drifted down around her shoulders. Sensations more intense than he’d felt in high school slammed him with need…and a strong desire to get to know the woman she’d become.

No, one night with Reese would not be enough.