The Re-Enlisted Groom

“Some things you just can’t forget, eh, baby?”

His mocking tone startled her, awakened her, and she knew in an instant he was throwing their past in her face. She focused on his eyes and found shaded indifference, a callous man without sympathy for how the past seven years had treated her.

She wrenched free and stepped back, furious with herself and him. “Yeah, but what we do about it is another,” she snapped, embarrassed she was so spineless when he touched her. “That’s all we had, Kyle.” She leaned a bit closer, her voice low with hot anger. “A little wild sex. Nothing more.” The lie rolled too easily off her lips. “At least I was smart enough to see that passion wasn’t enough for a lifetime.” She started past him.

He caught her, swiftly pressing her up against the wall and covering her mouth with his. He kissed her and kissed her, his tongue plunging between her lips, his hands diving beneath her shirt and molding her bare breasts. His hat tumbled to the ground as she growled against his mouth, teetering on surrender.

This is so good, she thought. He pushed his knee between her thighs, and she instinctively bore down on him, her fingers sinking into his hair and grabbing fistfuls, holding him as she paid him back touch for touch.

Suddenly he jerked back, staring. His lungs worked violently.

Her breath brushed his lips.

He arched a brow. “Not enough, Max?” The malevolence in his dark eyes was enough to make her see the moment for what it was. A humiliation. A payback.

She shifted past him, ignoring the feel of his eyes on her back as she headed out of the barn.

Kyle remained motionless, grinding his teeth, his gaze on her as she negotiated her way around tack and hay bales. He resented the hell out of it since he couldn’t even manage to move without snapping in half. And he was ashamed of himself for what he’d just done. But he’d never had much control around Maxie and knew the instant he’d seen her in the barn, he should have made an about-face and flown right out of there.

He stared at the dirt floor, rubbing the back of his neck. That was one hell of a reunion, he thought. But ending their relationship years ago was her choice, not his. She’d made the decision for them, excluding him completely and running like a coward. She never gave him the courtesy of having his say in the matter. The humiliation and agony of that day flooded through him again, and he clenched his fist over and over, wishing he’d never laid eyes on her again. He didn’t trust her. And the tightness crowding his jeans told him he shouldn’t trust himself around her, either. Nor could he board here for the next two weeks. No way. Seeing Maxie for ten minutes was enough to make him consider subcontracting out this flight obligation. That’s if he could have afforded it.

He had to make other arrangements. That was all there was to it Maybe the park service had something else, and he decided he would go check.

Raking his fingers through his hair, he grabbed up his seabag and strode to the entrance, but stopped abruptly when he saw her cross the yard to a horse trailer hitched behind a black Range Rover. She’s tucked her shirt in, he thought as she released the trailer door, lowering it to the ground, then disappeared inside, coming out seconds later leading a chestnut mare by the bridle. Her moves were confident as she led the animal into the paddock and out of his sight. Kyle tried not to crane his neck for a better look and stormed to his chopper. How could he hunger for a glimpse of her and curse the urge at the same time?

Outside, the wind howled around her Range Rover, and Maxie keyed the engine, letting the vehicle warm up. Closing her eyes, she pressed her forehead to the cold steering wheel and warned herself not to cry.

This was the worst, she thought. The absolute worst. That kiss—no—that mauling in the barn warned her not to give Kyle an inch. She smacked the steering wheel, angry with him for taunting her like that and herself for falling for him like a starry-eyed schoolgirl. Being weak-kneed around a man hadn’t happened to her...in seven years.

Oh, why did he have to show up now? Her priorities had been screwed up for years, and now that she’d gotten them in order, she didn’t want him coming in and fouling everything up. She was happy, for crying out loud. And for whatever reason Kyle was here, other than being a part of the standby rescue team for the park service, was meaningless. He no longer rated a priority in her life. She told herself that over and over, forcing herself to recall the look in his eyes after he’d kissed her, as if disgusted that the desire they’d once shared was stronger than ever. He was a bitter, angry man, and seeing him again only served to bring back the guilty pain. Just being within five feet of him was proof enough that her decision all those years ago had been the correct one. And she wasn’t letting him back into her life.

She threw the truck into gear and drove off.

Maybe he wouldn’t be needed. Maybe enough of the crew was well enough to work. Maybe the storm predictions were wrong, and he would just disappear again. Yeah, right, a voice pestered. And maybe everything would fall apart just when you got the glue to stick.

Maxie drove, blinking back the tears she refused to shed for him.

Please go away, she prayed as his helicopter passed overhead. Because it was only going to get worse. Worse when he discovered that not only did she leave him at the altar, but he had a six-year-old daughter with a woman he loathed.

Two

In the rescue station, Kyle stared at the men and women relaxing in the worn leather sofas and chairs arranged around a couple of coffee tables.

“Okay, so what are you guys not telling me?” he said after another crew member refused to trade sleeping arrangements with him. He was willing to sleep anywhere if it meant he didn’t have to look at Maxie before coffee. Unfortunately no one was cooperating.

“Parrish is a lousy cook,” a man finally admitted, sinking back into the body-molding leather chair.

“You know this for a fact?” The idea that half of these men knew Maxie’s cooking soured his mood even further.

A few exchanged knowing glances. “Reputations have a way of escalating.”

“So don’t eat at her place.”

“I could say the same to you, Hayden,” his temporary boss, Jackson Temple, said on a laugh as he passed the cluster of personnel.

Kyle made a frustrated sound. “Look, I’ll make switching worth it.” He reached into his back pocket for his wallet.

Hoots and whistles sounded seconds later. Kyle didn’t have the sense to be embarrassed. Seeing Maxie on a regular basis was too unpleasant to even consider.

“Watch out, folks, he’s desperate,” someone said.

A black-haired man frowned curiously. “How much we talking here, Hayden?”

“A hundred?” Good Lord, he sounded pathetic, Kyle thought.

“Food mean that much to you, flyboy?” came from another team member.

“No,” he muttered, fisting cash. His sanity did.

“Then why?”

Jackson Temple cleared his throat, then nodded slightly at the doors.

The conversation died a quick, painful death as Kyle looked up, his gaze colliding with a pair of green eyes so aloof he couldn’t begin to speculate on what she was thinking. He only knew that she’d heard. Everything.

Then she crossed to the office and murmured smugly, “Bet the back seat of that chopper’s looking real good right now,” as she passed him.

Kyle closed his eyes briefly, feeling like a heel. He didn’t know if it was the smirk on her face she tried to pass off as a smile or the way she brushed aside the discussion he was a jackass for even starting with people he’d just met, but these were her friends. He didn’t want to embarrass her. What went on between them had nothing to do with the life she’d made for herself here.

Kyle jammed his cash into his pocket and waved off a crewman who looked guilty enough to concede. He looked up as she shut the office door, closing Jackson in with her. Through the glass, she met his gaze, her expression unreadable. It was hard to believe she was the same woman who’d turned to liquid heat in his arms a couple hours ago, and just the memory, the taste of her still on his lips, made his body tighten. Then she closed the blinds, shutting him out. Nothing new there, he thought, moving to a soda machine and dropping change into the slot, nearly knocking the thing over when he punched his selection. He had to get out of this somehow, he thought, pulling the tab and tipping it to his lips. He drained the soda, trying not to look at the office door, to the room where she was hiding from him. Again.

Inside the office, Maxie paced, not even bothering to take off her parka. On the way over, she’d radioed Jackson and without revealing why, she’d told him she didn’t want Kyle at her place. Jackson wasn’t cooperating.

“I thought you were my friend, Jackson. Move him to a hotel.”

The team chief chuckled, his chair creaking as he leaned back and watched her eat the carpet with her strides. “You’ve had boarders before, Parrish, what’s the deal?” She paused and leveled him a dark look, and the older man cringed dramatically, throwing his hands up. “Okay, okay, I won’t pry. Not that you’d ever give details.”

“You made the assignment.” She slapped her hands down on the desk and loomed. “Change it.”

“I can’t. There was no other choice.” He waved to the charts.

“There has to be.” Maxie already recognized the danger of being in the same state with Kyle, let alone seeing him every day, all day until his contract with the rescue team was finished.

“Not for a chopper. Fuel is too expensive to have him land anywhere else. Your ranch is the best place to set one down. Close. Low wind, lots of unobstructed area. You know that.” Her expression pleaded for a little understanding, and Jackson frowned. “I’ve never seen you like this, Maxine. He’s got you scared.”

She blinked, straightening. Scared? Of Kyle? She peeled off her jacket and tossed it aside before she plopped onto the sofa. Bracing her boots on the scarred table, she folded her arms over her middle and stared at nothing. She was not afraid of him. Just of him touching her. Her mind went blank when he did. And she couldn’t afford a single incoherent thought, for her daughter’s sake. Mimi depended on her mom keeping it together.

For the ride over here, for the time it took to feed and water the horses and mules on loan here, she’d done nothing but brood and stomp around, having herself a real nice pity party. She was glad Mimi was at her grandma’s for the next couple of days or she would be deflecting questions instead of old feelings. Mimi had a talent for seeing to the center of a problem and pestering till she had the entire truth. Or telling Maxie what she believed to be the truth, whether her mother wanted to hear it or not. It was one of the things Maxie liked best about her daughter, her candidness.