Honestly, she expected to be driving away with the papers signed which would’ve at least given her some closure. He hadn’t signed them though. He didn’t even look at them. Instead, Travis had looked at her like he was lost, and for a few ridiculous moments Kylie wanted to find him again. But, that wasn’t possible. Their lives had gone in two entirely different directions and based on what she knew of Travis Walker today, he was not the man she had fallen in love with back then.

Not to mention, she wasn’t the same woman.

Far from it.

Ever since Gage Matthews walked into her life, tripping her up, Kylie made sure to lose the naïve, over the moon dreams she’d carried with her since she was younger. More specifically, since Travis broke her heart.

There was no happily ever after for her. Not with Travis. Not with Gage. Of course, she was either stupid or naïve – possibly both – to believe that she could get what she needed from either of them, but it didn’t stop her heart from jumping up and down, flailing around as though she needed to be seen.

To top off her overflowing plate of foolishness, Kylie had given in to her curiosity and hunted the internet for information on Travis. What she unearthed had undoubtedly helped to keep her from falling apart. It was the reason she was spurred into motion, rushing out to find a lawyer so she could get the divorce proceedings underway.

 Finding out that the man you married all those years ago was working toward owning and operating one of the biggest fetish related resorts in the state was certainly a wakeup call. Right there in Coyote Ridge. Where everything had come full circle for her.

Not only was she stunned by what she read regarding the nature of the resort his company was building, but Kylie had also realized right then that Travis had done well for himself over the years. Knowing the day was going to come when he delivered divorce papers to her, just to protect himself and his newfound wealth, she decided to beat him to the punch.

It wouldn’t hurt nearly as much if she were the one taking steps to sever all ties to him. At least that’s what she told herself. A mantra she kept on repeat in her head until she couldn’t stand to be around herself any more. But now, today, the ache had returned. The look on Travis’ face wrecked her, even if she knew he’d merely been reflecting his surprise.

By the time the tears finally stopped rolling down her face, Kylie was on her way out of the small town of Coyote Ridge and heading back toward the toll road that would lead her home. It wouldn’t take her long from that point. Glancing down at the gas gauge, she realized she needed to stop, or she was going to be wishing on a star to get her home. Based on her recent luck, she knew exactly how that would play out – and she was too tired to hoof it anywhere.

A few minutes later, Kylie pulled into the Gas ‘n Go where she and Gage had stopped during her first trip there. Taking a deep breath, she willed her hands to stop shaking as she wiped the wet streaks from her cheeks. There was no reason to be crying now. It was said and done, and the only thing she had to wait for was Travis’ call. It seemed like she’d been waiting a lifetime for that.

Climbing out of the truck, she moved around to the pump. With hurried movements, she slid her credit card through the reader and managed to hit all of the appropriate buttons before turning to shove the nozzle into the gas tank. Going through the motions, she filled her tank, took her receipt and climbed back in.

With her hand on the key sticking out of the ignition, Kylie glanced out the window. Her breath caught. At first she thought she was hallucinating, but there was no way she’d be able to conjure up a man that devastatingly handsome in her mind.

Travis.

He was walking into the store, his gaze locked with hers as though he could sense she was looking at him. Which she was. He wasn’t coming to talk to her, which was good. Really good. There was no way she could face him right now. Flipping the key over, Kylie listened to the engine roar to life, and a few deep breaths later, with the radio blaring her favorite song by Miranda Lambert, Kylie did her best to clear her mind of Travis Walker.

And Gage Matthews.

Damn it was going to be a long drive.

▪▫▪▫▪▫

A little less than an hour later, Kylie was pulling into her driveway, glancing up at her modest little house – her pride and joy – and for the first time, she realized how empty and lonely her house actually felt. Since the very first day she walked through it with her Realtor, she’d fallen in love and then spent months restoring it with her own two hands, pouring all of her heart and soul into it. But for some reason as she parked in the shallow driveway, she felt like something was missing.

Shaking off the feeling, Kylie made her way inside, dropping her purse on the table just inside the kitchen. Maybe she should get a cat. At least then she’d have someone to greet her when she came home. Never had she even considered that she was just lonely. Not until recently. Not until Gage walked out of her house. And not until today.

As it turned out, severing the final ties with Travis was harder than she thought. Another explanation as to why she’d put it off for so long.

Inhaling the fresh scent of lemon oil and wood, Kylie was ready to get on with her day. Before she made it two steps, a loud knock on the front door nearly sent her into hysterics. Turning abruptly, her hand covering her heart to keep the jolted organ from jumping clean out of her chest, she stared through the glass pane in the front door.

And then her heartbeat ceased.

“Kylie, open the door.”

It was as though her body wasn’t hers and she couldn’t understand what she was supposed to do, other than stare at the huge cowboy that stood just a few feet away on her front porch.

“Come on, open the door,” he told her and she managed to move one step closer.

When she could reach the handle, Kylie took a deep breath and removed the only protective barrier between her and the man she didn’t think she’d ever see again. At least not this soon anyway.

“Can we go somewhere and talk?” Travis asked without preamble.

Kylie couldn’t even find the words to respond. Seeing him on her front porch, his cowboy hat tipped down over his eyes, throwing his handsome face in shadow, mixed with his impressive size had her on the verge of drooling if she even attempted to open her mouth.

What was wrong with her?

Shaking her head back and forth to clear the fog that had filled all of the space between her ears, she balled her hands into fists, willing the shaking to stop.

“Then maybe we can talk out here?”

He must’ve assumed she was telling him no, but Kylie was more comfortable with the latter anyway. At least they’d be on her turf.

“Ok,” she squeaked, irritated with the sound of her voice. Clearing her throat, she nodded and opened the screen door as he took a step back.

“You still drive like a bat out of hell, you know that?” he said as he leaned against the post, crossing one ankle over the other, his arms across his chest.

The pose was meant to be casual. Instead, it was just disturbingly sexy.

The man was intimidating. Being this close to him, Kylie felt every ounce of his presence right down to the core of her. Travis stood at six-foot-five-inches, which was almost a foot taller than her, and intimidating in its own right, but it was the breadth of his chest and the power she could see in his muscled thighs that gave her pause. Confident, arrogant, whole-heartedly sure of himself… Travis Walker was dangerous. To her sanity.

Crap. Her body was still reacting to him as though she were nineteen and stupid.

“Did you follow me?” she asked, hoping she sounded more unaffected by his presence at her house than she really was.

“Tried.” Travis shrugged.

Fidgeting, Kylie wondered whether she should sit down. She moved closer to the porch swing, but then opted to forgo sitting there. She didn’t need that much Travis looming over her. Instead, she moved over to the railing and lifted herself to sit on the edge, glancing over at him briefly. Rounding her back, her legs crossed at the ankle and her hands gripping the rail, Kylie was going for nonchalant.

She probably looked more like petrified.

“Did you sign the papers?”

“No.”

His immediate response caught her off guard. She figured the only reason he would drive the distance he had would be to give her the papers and be done with her.

“Any reason why not?”

“Haven’t looked at them yet,” he explained as though that made perfect sense.

“You should,” she muttered.

“Why?”

Kylie stared into stormy blue-gray eyes and a flood of memories assaulted her. Like it was yesterday and not ten years ago that she’d last seen him standing in the living room of her apartment. The same apartment she was supposed to be living in with him since they’d been married just three short weeks before. Rather than staying, Travis had turned her world upside down and walked away.

Over the years, she had tried to convince herself that he wasn’t impacted by what he did, but she’d seen it in the expression on his face that fateful day. He didn’t want to go, which only pissed her off even more. It didn’t stop him in the end.

“Why are you here?” she asked, ignoring his last question. She wasn’t going to get into her reasons for filing for divorce. The only thing he needed to know was that she was ten years later than she should’ve been in getting it taken care of.