No one had expected him to stick with the program. So he’d worked damn hard to prove he had what it takes to be a good example to young boys. He’d had hits and misses.
Then he was paired with Hayden Paulson.
It’d been a rocky start. The boy was painfully shy, small for his age and freakishly smart—none of those descriptions had ever been applied to Kane McKay. After the first month, Kane wondered if he and Hayden would ever find common ground. But Kane saw something special in Hayden and forged a mentorship based on friendship.
Over the course of the last two years, he’d managed to coax Hayden out of his shell. Hayden was more outgoing, more confident in his own interests, plus he was eager to try new experiences. One of Kane’s proudest moments came when the kid out-fished him on a camping trip. Spending time with the little boy with the big brain was the highlight of Kane’s week.
The bonus? Mama hung around whenever Kane showed up on their doorstep. And sometimes he lingered, chatting her up, trying like hell to charm her, while Hayden impatiently tugged at him to get a move on.
But damn. Ginger Paulson was something else. That amazingly hot body, that amazingly expressive face, those amazingly tasty lips. The woman had turned him inside out and upside down since he’d given into temptation and taken the kiss she’d offered.
How much farther would it’ve gone if he hadn’t done the right thing for once and backed off?
All the way.
Keep thinking about the hot mama and prove your indecent thoughts by showing up at the hospital with a hard-on.
Still…Ginger intrigued Kane on several levels. After she’d relocated from southern California to take over her dad’s law practice, she’d involved herself in the community, but she didn’t date. Ever. A fact he’d learned directly from her son. On occasion she whooped it up with Libby McKay and Dr. Monroe, but mostly she handled her family responsibilities and kept a low profile.
That’s where he and Ginger had boatloads in common. Wild Kane McKay, part of the infamous bad boy McKays, once the terror of four Wyoming counties with his boozing, brawling and babes, was no more. He’d foresworn the love ’em and leave ’em lifestyle after his cousin Colt had entered rehab. Since his twin brother Kade’s marriage, a matrimony epidemic had consumed most of his hell-raisin’ McKay cousins. Kane really had no one to party with anyway and surprisingly, he hadn’t missed it at all.
His late nights were few and far between unless he counted the poker games he hosted for his remaining single McKay cousins. Kane didn’t spend much time with Kade in their off-the-ranch hours.
Same went for his cousin Colt. Both men were married, with families. Sometimes Kane longed for the life they’d led at the Boars Nest. Not the nonstop partying, or the orgies, but the camaraderie they’d shared.
Everyone had grown up and moved on, it seemed.
Everyone but him.
Or so people thought.
Because he wasn’t married with two-point-five kids, the consensus, even among his own family members, was he didn’t want to grow up. But admitting his loneliness seemed f**king pathetic, so he hadn’t done a damn thing to change those misperceptions.
The truck had warmed up by the time he’d reached Sundance. January was always miserable in the cattle business and in Wyoming in general. They’d positioned their calving season for early spring. Spring snowstorms were always a threat to the health of the cows and the calves, but he’d take wet and muddy over bone-chilling cold any day.
Kane parked in the nearly empty hospital parking lot. He entered through the front doors. After shaking the snow off his hat, he stood there like a dumbass, wondering what the hell to do next.
The blowsy blonde manning the information desk looked all of seventeen. But that didn’t stop her from offering him a lewd once-over and licking her shellacked lips. “Well, hello, cowboy. You lost? Or is something broken and needin’ some fixin’?”
“Neither. A…friend of mine was brought in a little while ago.”
“Male or female friend?” the receptionist cooed.
“Female. Her family can’t get here so they sent me to get some information.”
“Sorry, I can’t give it out, no matter how cute you are. It was a wasted trip for you Mr….”
“McKay. Kane McKay.”
“McKay?” Her raccoon eyes lit up. “Any relation to that hot, awesome bull rider Chase McKay? Is he your son?”
Son? Jesus. Chase was only ten years younger than him. Even on his worst day Kane knew he didn’t look that damn old. “No, he’s my cousin.”
“Omigod I love to watch him ride. He’s like…so incredible. Sheer poetry on the back of a bull.” The girl actually stood and craned her neck, trying to look behind him. “Is Chase with you?”
“No.” Wasn’t the first time his cousin’s groupies grilled him for the elusive Chase McKay’s whereabouts. “Is there any way you can just—”
“Kane?”
He whirled around to see Libby, his cousin Quinn’s wife, hustling toward him. Unease punched him in the gut. His gaze dropped to Adam, perched on Libby’s hip. The kid didn’t appear sick—he was his same stout-bodied, chubby-cheeked, blowing-spit-bubbles, happy-baby self. “What are you doin’ here?”
“Joely—Doc Monroe—called me about Ginger.” Adam squealed and Libby shushed him. “What are you doing here?”
“Ginger called Dash and Hayden and only gave them enough information to freak them out, so I showed up to figure out what’s really goin’ on.”
“Typical Ginger behavior,” Libby sniffed. “She’s been moved from emergency into a private room.
Come on.”
Kane didn’t bother to check with the chickie behind the desk to see if he was breaking any rules by following Libby.
Halfway down the hall, Libby stopped in front of a closed door. “She’s already had her shoulder reset and they’re putting a walking cast on her calf to immobilize the sprain.”
“What the hell happened to her?”
“Doc Monroe can explain better than I can.” Libby brushed her lips across Adam’s dark head when he fussed again. “Ginger is lucky she didn’t break her damn fool neck.” She pushed open the door.
Kane followed her inside. And froze.
Ginger was sprawled on the hospital bed, damn near naked. The hospital gown left little to the imagination, exposing the deep “V” of her cle**age and stopping mid-thigh. Her right arm was tucked in a sling. Her left hand was heavily bandaged. He dragged his gaze up to Ginger’s face. Her hair was an untamed cloud of red, spread across the white pillow behind her head. Her face was perfectly beautiful, nary a scratch, but it held the too-white shade of shock and pain.