Page 49 of Lawbreaker

“Well, if I were guessing, I’d say that he was fighting a losing battle,” he said softly. “Just like I was, all those years ago.”

She smiled and brushed her fingers against his cheek. “They’ve been good years.”

“The best of my life,” he said softly.

“And mine,” she agreed.

Odalie glanced at her parents and smiled. “They’re like two halves of a whole,” she remarked. “We’ve envied them all our lives. It seems that so many marriages end in divorce these days.”

“They do,” Tony agreed.

She sighed as they moved lazily to the music. “Despite all the hard work, I’d rather live on a ranch than any place on earth. I love it here.”

“It’s quite a place,” he agreed. He chuckled. “Does your dad really put all his guests to work?”

“If they show up during roundup in the spring and fall, yes,” she said. She chuckled. “It happened to a congressman who stopped by to chat, and even a doctor who wanted dad to sponsor a benefit for the hospital.”

“Good grief!”

“Well, word does get around, you know,” she said with a laugh. “So now, it’s pretty much confined to relatives and friends who don’t protest too much.”

He grinned. “It’s hard work. But it’s fun, too.”

“I’ve always thought so.”

He looked down at her with a faint smile. “When I first saw you, in New York, I couldn’t picture you in anything that wasn’t couture. Certainly not in jeans, throwing calves.”

“Appearances can be deceptive,” she pointed out.

“Damned right.”

She closed her eyes and let her senses fill with Tony’s closeness. The cologne he wore, the warm strength of his body, the feel of his big hand holding hers, all combined to wrap her in a cocoon of sensation. She never wanted the music to end.

He was feeling something similar and grinding his teeth. All those reasons why this was a bad idea swarmed around his mind like flies around honey. His hand contracted on hers.

“I’m not getting involved with you,” he said flatly, out of the blue.

“Suits me,” she said with feigned laziness. “I’m not getting involved with you, either.”

“Okay,” he murmured on a deep breath. “Just so you know.”

“Right back at you, big man,” she murmured.

He tuned in to the soft music that was playing and put tomorrow out of his mind. She smelled of flowers, and she felt like sweet heaven in his arms. At the moment, that was all that mattered.

Sunday was spent recuperating from Saturday. Monday, Tony directed Ben to pick up his and Odalie’s suitcases, and they headed out to the airfield in a ranch pickup driven by John.

“Skeet season starts in two weeks,” John told his sister as Ben started loading up the plane. “You’ll miss it. Again.”

She grimaced. “I haven’t put in any practice this past year,” she sighed. “Too much work on my voice. Maybe when I get some free time.” She went on tiptoe and kissed his cheek. “You go shooting for me. Win some medals.”

“I haven’t won any yet,” he lamented. “Tanner might go, though. But he said it’s not as much fun as it was when you and he went on the circuit together.”

“That was years ago,” she sighed. “I don’t really have the fire for it anymore. And Tanner’s not likely to leave Stasia alone so much, with the baby coming. Practice becomes obsessive.” She hugged him. “Take care of yourself.”

“You do the same.”

She climbed aboard the plane.