“I’m worried all the same. You make it sound like you’re waiting on a cancer diagnosis.”

His smile was weak and he didn’t meet her eyes, and that only made her fret more. It was crazy how attached she’d grown to this man since last summer, and then in earnest, just this past week. Not dependent, for a change—not attached out of survival, as she’d become with way too many guys. Rather, emotionally tied up.

It was a strange space to be in with a man, caught in the no-man’s-land between friends and lovers. Serious lovers. If it weren’t for the baby, all she’d need was some minuscule sign that this could be real, and she’d be head over heels for him at the snap of his fingers. In it deep and fast and reckless, as she hadn’t been since she’d been fifteen, and mixed up with her very first love. She hadn’t fallen for James this way, nor any of the other men between her first love and Casey. Those in-between guys . . . she’d needed them too badly to fall.

Real, giddy love required surrender and trust and a touch of wonder, and such things were luxuries she hadn’t been able to afford during her toughest years. Now, though . . .

Even amid the recent drama and the upheaval of new motherhood, even unsure how she’d make ends meet or where she’d live, her heart felt treacherously ready to tumble for this man.

They’d both spaced out, and the sound of the front door opening made Abilene jump. Miah appeared shortly. He looked tired and annoyed. Footsteps followed and his dad stalked through the den, heading toward the office with his phone in his hand, looking too cross for chitchat.

“No luck?” Casey asked Miah.

He shook his head. “Nothing. Jason chased him, but the guy was armed.”

Abilene’s hand flew to her lips.

“Jason’s fine—they were sky shots, he thinks, but he quit following all the same. Said he heard a vehicle start up down the road and take off due west, but that’s about it.”

“A dark pickup, no doubt,” Casey said.

“Got my money on it.” Miah sank into the rocker, tilting his head back and sighing his exasperation. “Man, this pisses me off. Got a whole bunkhouse full of spooked hands now, thinking we’ve got a poacher or a thief or a pervert on the loose.”

“Well, you might.”

“What about the security cameras?” Abilene asked.

“Dad’s checking them now, and there’s deputies on the way, to get Denny and Jason’s statements, and cruisers headed downtown, to look for the truck. I’m not holding my breath, though.”

Casey swore softly.

“Maybe it’s personal,” Abilene said. “Somebody who has a beef with one of your employees, maybe?”

“Personally, I bet it’s a burglar. A bold one. If this asshole’s spying on any of the girls, or stalking somebody, why would they be taking pictures of the stables?”

Abilene nodded, feeling a little calmed by that. Burglary was impersonal, at least.

Miah thumped the arms of the rocker with his fists, looking like a man who’d be too keyed up to sleep tonight. “I’m gonna go see if my dad’s found anything on the security tapes.”

Casey watched him go, looking agitated, then stood himself. “I’ll be back. I want to see what the tapes might have to show.”

She nodded. “I’ll probably get ready for bed.” Mercy was already out cold.

“Yeah, you might as well. I think we can safely let our guards down, if only for the night.”

She hesitated, unsure if she needed to tell Casey he was welcome to join her, or if it was implied by now. She imagined it was the latter—the condoms he’d bought at the drugstore with her weren’t exactly subtle, as signals went.

“You can, um . . . you can join me, if you want,” she said. “When you’re done down here.”

He nodded once, gaze skimming her body in a thoughtless, restless way. “I will. Right after I make sure Miah gets a stiff drink.”

“Good idea.” She held Mercy to her chest and stood. “See you if I’m not asleep.”

Casey stepped close, rested a hand on the baby’s back, and leaned in to kiss Abilene. On the lips, not the cheek. She watched him disappear down the hall with a broad grin overtaking those same lips, and the smell of him lingering about her.

Mine, she thought, with a bolt of ferocity she’d forgotten she could feel for anyone other than Mercy. That man was too many things—reliable and mysterious and goofy and a little dangerous; cute one minute, then handsome, then so sexy it made her pulse spike. Loyal and wild, and just a touch sketchy.

A hundred mismatched things, she thought.

And mine. If only in my dreams.

Chapter 17

Upstairs, Abilene laid the dozing baby in her crib, changed into her pajama bottoms and a tee, and settled under the covers, waiting. Perhaps twenty minutes later she heard steps, then water running in the bathroom. She’d left the door ajar, and Casey slipped inside. Finding her awake, his expression changed from pensive to soft in a breath. He smiled faintly and came to sit on the edge of the bed.

“Anything?” she asked.

“Not a lot. It was the same guy Miah chased, though. He recognized his build and his jacket, from the tape. At least that narrows it down to one confirmed white male creeper, and not a whole team of them. After last year’s casino drama, this town needs another criminal conspiracy like it needs a drought.”

“You get a drink into Miah?”

He shook his head. “He went out to talk with the deputies and his workers.”

“Should we be worried? For tonight, I mean?”

“I don’t think so. Guy’s a coward, and those shots were probably designed to scare Jason off, not to actually hit him.”

“That’s something, I suppose.”

“I’m with Miah—a burglar seems like the most obvious explanation.”

“And not a very good burglar,” Abilene wagered. “He’s been caught twice now.”

“Say the word and we’ll get you and Mercy out of here.”

She considered it. “To where?”

“My place, maybe.”

His place . . . There was an appeal to that, a dangerous one. He’d begun feeling like more than a friend and boss these past few days, more than a lover, even. Her growing attachment made it unwise, and beyond that, she didn’t want to uproot the baby any more than necessary, or give James any reason to doubt the stability of his daughter’s situation.

“Let’s wait and see what the Sheriff’s Department has to say. Maybe they’ll catch the guy. I’d hate to put us both through the trouble if it gets resolved.”

He nodded. “Whatever you’re comfortable with. You gonna be able to sleep tonight?”

With Casey beside her? “Yeah, I think so. If you’re sticking around.”

Another nod, and something in his expression shifted. It was more than glassy-eyed lust. Something fiercer, and every sweet thing he’d said to her in the car echoed in her memory, warming her through. I’ve never been for anybody what I’ve been for you two. And no man had ever been for Abilene quite what Casey was becoming.

No doubt she’d wanted this man, each and every time their bodies came together, but tonight felt different. Like a change in the atmosphere.

A change in me, she knew. She felt more for him than she’d felt for a man in years and years, and she hoped he’d feel it right back in the way she welcomed him inside her tonight.

She shivered at the thought, excited. It was chased by a little pang of residual guilt—a by-product of her upbringing—but then, as always, that pang transformed, charging her as Casey joined her under the blanket.

He studied her face and throat. “What do you need tonight?” he whispered. “Comfort, or distraction, or . . . ?”

“Both.” She drew him close by the collar, and in a breath he was up to speed, exactly the man she needed. His hands were warm on her ribs, and his eyes closed as he brought his mouth to hers. He felt restless and hungry, and in no time his hands were urging her, directing her. He sat up, cross-legged, drawing her onto his lap, hugging her legs around his waist.