Never had Kenzie witnessed such a private reunion, and she hated herself more than a little for hiding in the shadows and watching such an intimate moment.
The other horses calmed down as Ty continued to talk, their faces turned toward him, ears perked and eyes alert.
It was only their silence that allowed Kenzie to hear his next statement.
“You and I both know that if it wasn’t for Kenzie, you wouldn’t be here right now. It changes things between us, me and her. Before? It was fun. I think it might have even been headed somewhere. I don’t know. But now? I owe her a debt I can never repay. Ioweher. And we can’t ever go back to what we had before. Hell,noneof us can go back to what we had before. At least you lived—” Ty’s voice broke, and he fought to regain control. “She saved you when I couldn’t.” He let go of the walker and placed his other hand on Gizmo’s chin, lifting his head so they were face to face. “Her money did for you what I couldn’t—got you the best of everything. I wouldn’t ever have been able to afford the Galbreath Center. She’s done right by us, so I have to set my pride aside and find a way to thank her.” He closed his eyes. “I wish I could reset the clock on this whole thing, but there’s no such thing as a do-over. Not for you. Not for me. Not for her. And definitely not for meandher.”
The floor fell out from under Kenzie. He thought there could have been more between them? That maybe, just maybe, they could have been something?
The words changed everything. And nothing. He resented the financial debt that he’d incurred, and she resented that money could create issues where none need exist. But she understood why he saw it as something he could never set right between them. It was debt she’d accrued based on a single promise—a promise she’d made when she’d thought she might lose Ty. The raw feelings she had for him meant she’d given her word without thinking, and she’d followed through on her promise because that was just who she was.
It would have been so much simpler if she hadn’t fallen for him, if she’d remained detached instead of letting the walls between them crumble, the same walls she’d worked so hard to create when they’d first met. But she hadn’t. She’d opened the door to him and begun to fall for the one man from whom she’d sworn she’d never expect more than fun and respect.
Hidden in the shadows, she watched Ty with Gizmo. Her heart ached as if it had been pierced. She swallowed the sound of distress that choked her. There had to be a way out, a way that everyone could get what they wanted, what theyneeded, and no one had to get hurt.
There just had to be.
8
TYFOUGHTTOcontrol his emotions. If he got stressed out, Gizmo would pick up on it. But seeing his horse like this, stiff and hurting, divided him. One half wanted to rage against the injustices heaped upon each of them, him and Gizmo. The other half wanted to fold into himself and crumple to the floor until someone came along and picked up the pieces. He’d never been a man to give up when hardship reared its head. But this was more than your average hardship. This particular experience was better described as having been TKO’ed by Hardship and beaten up by his posse members, Pain, Misery and Hopelessness.
A small sound caught his attention, a noise a horse wouldn’t make. He grabbed his walker and, legs trembling with exhaustion, faced the direction of the sound. Narrowing his eyes, he stared into the sliver of dense shadow between the end of the tack room and the tall base of the haystack. At first he saw nothing, but, as his eyes adjusted to the limited light, he realized someone was standing there.
“I know you’re hiding back there. Come on out.” His tone was intentionally gentle but left no room for either discussion or dissention.
The shadowy figure shifted, stopped and then stepped into the light.
He’d expected a guest, someone who’d been caught in the barn when Eli and Cade had kicked him out of the Mule. What he got was his worst nightmare and deepest desire all rolled into one.
Mackenzie Malone.
“What the hell are you doing here?” he demanded, the soothing cadence of his earlier words lost to immediate temper.
“I was out here checking on Gizmo when you showed up. I tried to leave, but I couldn’t get the door at the end of the alleyway to open. The latch stuck. It left me either confronting you or trying to wait you out. I chose the latter.” She shoved her hair off her face on a huff. “How did you figure out I was here anyway?”
“You need to learn to keep quiet if you don’t want to be discovered skulking about.”
“I wasn’t skulking.”
“Fine. Let’s call it what it is—sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong.” He snatched his walker up and did his best to make tracks for the barn door, hollering for Cade and Eli as he went. When his brothers failed to appear, Ty quietly cursed them.Freaking brothers. They know she’s out here.
Working to keep his breathing level, he forced one foot in front of the other in as fast a retreat as he could muster. Even his best efforts couldn’t stop his temper from spilling out of his mouth. “’Fess up. How are they getting you to do their dirty work, watching over me? You obviously don’t need the money, and we clearly don’t have it to spare, so that’s not it. What did they promise you?”
“Can’t I simply do something because it’s right?”
He hated the way her voice seemed smaller, swallowed by the empty space above them. “You and I don’t have that kind of relationship.”
“We’ve never had anything that remotelyresemblesa relationship, Ty.” Kenzie moved toward him, her hips swinging as they always did when she was walking off a good mad...or building up to one. “You always made it perfectly clear we were friends with benefits. Never anything more. I accepted thatwithout comment and without fussing. So don’t you go throwing attitude at me, acting as if I’ve somehow wronged you by doingexactlywhat you asked me to do. I used my own discretion in saving Gizmo’s life. And my judgment calls kept him from being put down and guaranteed he’d recover. I gave him a chance at life. The least you could do is offer up, oh, I don’t know, a thank-you. But you won’t, will you? Or is it that you can’t, Ty? Which one is true?” She closed in on him. “Both, I’d wager. Why? Because it’s so clear that you’re pissed at the world, angry about the hand that’s been dealt you. It’s inhibited your ability to do anything more than feel sorry for yourself.”
She’d closed the distance between them and was leaning into his face as she threw out that last word. Fury raced through his veins, chased by guilt at the way he’d lashed out at her and the knowledge she was right. The hell he’d admit it, though.
She smirked, her eyes never leaving his as she goaded him further. “Surely the ever-argumentative Tyson Covington hassomethingto say.”
Ty didn’t think, didn’t consider the consequences. He just gripped the back of her neck and pulled her into him. Their mouths came together without apology, without compromise, without softness. This, this primal thing that always hung between them, proved bigger than words and defied any tenderness his wounded heart might crave. He needed passion, needed to know he had survived, needed to feel something—anything—other than the ever-present pain.
He owned the kiss, sure of himself in this one thing. She responded to his wordless directions, sighed into his mouth and gave herself over to the driving force of his desire. Still, she didn’t let him dominate her but made him work for it, made him chase the particular tilt of her chin, the touch and retreat of her tongue, the nibble of her teeth on his lips.
Her chest brushed against his.