Vanishing Dreams: Vanishing Dreams (Devil's Bend #2) (20 page)

“You want to go
where
?” Katie asked, confused.

“To the horse place,” Lexi said firmly. “Can you take me?”

“What horse place?” Katie had a pretty good idea of where Lexi was
talking about, but she was clueless as to the reason.

“The one with the nice cowboy man,” she told him. “He let me look at
the puppies and the horses.”

“What was this cowboy man’s name?” she asked, scared of what Lexi’s
answer was going to be.

“Mr. Dalton.”

Yep, her deepest fears were confirmed.

She recalled her conversation with Sarah just a few hours ago. Right
before her best friend had disappeared out the front door, off to handle her
own personal life rather than take care of Katie and Lexi. She mentioned that
as soon as she’d woken up, Lexi had started to go on and on about going to the
horse place and meeting the nice man who’d talked to her.

Oh, crap. The field trip.

Katie recalled Bethany, the child-care center’s director, mentioning
that Lexi had done incredibly well on the field trip. She’d even talked their
ears off when they’d made it back to the center, telling everyone about the
horses and everything she had learned.

Yes, Lexi was incredibly smart, but she had a central focus about
things. When she found something she was interested in, she learned all that
she could, to the point of being obsessed. Hence, the obsessive-compulsive
disorder she’d been diagnosed with. And Katie had seen firsthand just what that
would do to Lexi.

Which meant her only option was to give in to Lexi’s request to take
her back to the horse place.

“Was it called Dream Chasers?” Katie asked, hoping that maybe she was
wrong.

Lexi’s eyes lit up, her mouth curving into a brilliant smile. “Yes!
That’s it. Can we go? Can we?”

Crap.

“Can I take a shower first?” Katie asked, knowing that any other answer
would’ve sent Lexi into a downward spiral, and as much as she didn’t want to have
to face
Mr. Dalton
, as Lexi had referred to him, she knew she wasn’t
going to get out of this one easily. Either face him or face Lexi’s wrath.

Damn it.

So much for keeping her personal life secret.

“Yes. Go!” Lexi encouraged, pulling on Katie’s arm. “Go shower so we
can go see the horses.”

Katie nodded, allowing Lexi to pull her to her feet. She was trying to
come up with a plan, wishing like hell there was a way she could get out of
this without having to face Dalton or answer any questions from Tessa or
Cooper, but she knew Lexi. The kid was bull-headed at best, and when she got
her teeth into something, she didn’t let go without a fight.

Katie didn’t want to fight.

Not today.

As it was, she was drained. Emotionally, at least.

Forcing her feet to move, she made her way down the hall to the small
bathroom. It wasn’t that she needed a shower, because she’d taken one just that
morning when she’d gotten home from the club, but at least this would give her
a little time to possibly formulate another plan.

Not that she was likely going to come up with a way to distract Lexi.
That never worked.

Then again, Katie had never been this motivated before.

An hour and a half later, Katie was pulling down the dirt drive that
led to the Dream Chasers Equestrian Center.

Yeah, so much for a possible out. She’d come up with exactly zilch. And
the few things she’d mentioned to Lexi had been shot down before they’d even
come out of her mouth.

Her little sister was officially fixated on the horses.

At least she hoped it was the horses. Every conversation seemed to
mention Mr. Dalton as well as the horses, but what did she know.

“Hey, lady!” Tessa greeted when Katie stepped out of her car. “This is
a wonderful surprise. What brings you by?”

Katie glanced back at the car, seeing Lexi still buckled into the
backseat. An assortment of lies formulated in her head, but nothing would come
out of her mouth. What was she going to say? It wasn’t as if she could pretend
Lexi wasn’t there. Or that the little girl wasn’t with her. Seriously, they
looked so much alike, it was scary. Even the girls at the day-care center had
thought Lexi was Katie’s daughter at first.

“I just thought I’d stop by to see how things are going,” she lied.

“Hey, kiddo,” Tessa greeted hesitantly, looking behind Katie. That’s
when she realized that Lexi had scrambled out of the car and was moving toward
her with intent.

Once Lexi’s small fingers slipped into hers, Katie looked back up at
Tessa to see the other woman was studying them both.

“Is she … your daughter?”

“My little sister,” Katie blurted. “Lexi, meet Tessa Donovan. Tessa,
this is my sister, Lexi.”

Tessa moved closer, but she did so slowly, almost as though she knew
how to handle Lexi without being informed.

“It’s very nice to meet you, Lexi.”

Lexi didn’t respond, but Tessa smiled down at her anyway.

“Did you know that I work with your sister?” Tessa asked, keeping a
safe distance between them. “I also own this place.” Tessa signaled her
reference by raising her arm and motioning toward the huge buildings behind
her.

“You own it?” Lexi asked excitedly. “Does that mean the horses are
yours, too?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Tessa agreed.

“What about Mr. Dalton. Is he yours, too?”

Tessa choked, her eyes bugging as she looked up at Katie and then back
to Lexi. “No, Mr. Dalton does not belong to me, but I take it you’ve visited us
recently, huh?”

Katie glanced down to see Lexi nodding in agreement.

“So what brings you out here today?” Tessa asked, this time turning her
question to Katie.

“She wanted to come and see the horses.”

“And Mr. Dalton,” Lexi tacked on.

Tessa’s smile widened, and Katie was pretty sure she saw a mischievous
gleam in her eyes.

“Well, good news,” Tessa replied. “We’ve got plenty of horses in the
arena right now, and Mr. Dalton is there, too.”

Katie fought the urge to turn around and run back to her car. The
thought of seeing Dalton wasn’t terrible, but she wasn’t sure how this was
going to go. After all, bringing Lexi was just another way of exposing one more
of her many secrets.

And she knew exactly what Dalton thought about the last secret he’d
unearthed.

∞ ∞
∞ ∞ ∞

Dalton had spent the morning in a fog. After three cups of coffee, his
blurry brain hadn’t cleared any, but he was wired for sound. That was one of
the main reasons he was working with Sacred Spirit, the unruly gelding they’d
brought to the center recently. He had to do something to stay busy, and the
less he had to think, the better off he would be.

“Hey, Dalt! You’ve got visitors!”

Dalton turned at the sound of Tessa’s voice.

What he saw, or rather who, had him stopping mid-step.

Katie? And Lexi?

What the hell was going on?

“Hey,” he greeted as he approached the ladies.

“Hey,” Katie replied, not meeting his gaze.

“Mr. Dalton! My sister said I could come see the horses today!” Lexi’s
enthusiasm had him smiling.

Sister? Holy shit. His gaze transferred back and forth between them,
finally landing on Lexi when he realized Katie wasn’t going to look at him.
“Well, I’m so glad you’re here, little lady.” Dalton left Sacred Spirit alone
in the arena while he joined Katie and Lexi on the other side of the fence.

“I’ll get her put up,” Tessa informed him, touching his arm gently as
she passed him.

“Don’t you go in there,” Dalton warned her. “Sacred’s in a mood this
mornin’.”

Tessa nodded. “Okay. Cooper’s on his way down here. I’ll let him get
her then.”

“Lexi, you wanna go see the puppies first?” Dalton asked the little
girl as he made his way to her side.

“Yes, please,” she confirmed, taking his hand when he held it out to
her.

Glancing over at Katie, Dalton noticed she was watching the interaction
between him and her sister, but she didn’t say anything. She simply fell into
step a few feet behind them.

Right then, Austin came waltzing up to them, his brother and sister
charging along beside him. “Hey, Dalt.”

“Mornin’.” Nodding toward Katie, Dalton made the necessary
introductions.

“Nice to meet you, ma’am,” Austin replied.

“You, too,” Katie answered softly, her gaze linked with Dalton’s for
the first time since she’d arrived.

Lexi gripped Dalton’s hand a little tighter, but when Dalton looked
down, he noticed she was watching Austin intently. “You wanna go see the
puppies with Austin?”

“Hey, Lex,” Austin greeted her. “This is my little brother, Matt. And
my sister, Olivia.”

“Hi,” Austin’s brother and sister said in unison. Lexi didn’t respond,
gripping Dalton’s hand even tighter, but she was smiling.

“Come on, y’all,” Austin said as he guided Matt and Olivia toward the
pen where the petting zoo animals were kept and the area where the puppies were
being contained.

“You can go, Lex. I’ll be right here with your sister. Okay?”

Lexi nodded, releasing Dalton’s hand and glancing over her shoulder at
Katie before smiling and hopping toward the others. When the four of them
walked off together, Dalton pivoted to see Katie watching after Lexi.

“Didn’t know you had a sister,” he told her blandly.

Katie peered up at him, her pretty gray eyes widening. “You didn’t
ask.”

That was the same thing she’d told him last night when he’d asked about
her being a stripper. And just like then, her response felt like a slap in the
face, but Dalton managed to hold his tongue.

Barely.

Only because he didn’t want to argue with her. Last night had been hell.
Significantly harder than he’d anticipated. Walking away from Katie, anytime,
was damn near debilitating, and last night hadn’t proved to be any different.

“Look, I didn’t come here to—”

Dalton took two steps and was standing directly in front of Katie.
Before she could finish the sentence, he gripped her shoulders and leaned in
until their mouths were less than an inch apart. “I don’t want to fight with
you, Katie,” Dalton whispered harshly. “I’ve never wanted to fight with you.”

Her eyes widened, but she didn’t say anything.

And that’s the moment Dalton snapped. He lost every ounce of his
control.

Sliding his arms around her, he crushed her to him, pressing his lips
to hers. At first, he didn’t try to take things further. But that lasted all of
two seconds. Before he could question his own sanity, Dalton coaxed Katie’s
mouth open with his tongue, slipping inside. God, she tasted just like he
remembered. Sweet. Like mint and coffee.

He groaned, unable to contain the pent up emotion that rumbled in his
chest. And when Katie wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing him back just
as desperately, he felt all of that anger that was encasing his heart crack.
“Katie.” He breathed her name against her lips, his hands sliding down her
back. He kept them north of her ass, but just barely.

Guiding her backward, he stopped when her back was against the wall of
the stable. They were just inside, hidden from any prying eyes, and Dalton
couldn’t help himself.

Sliding one hand up, he cupped her face gently, not wanting to hurt her
but unable to contain the fiery need that ignited in his bloodstream. He
slipped his thigh between her legs, urging them open. Grinding his thigh
against her pussy, he took the kiss to the next level. She was kissing him
back, nipping at his lip, her nails digging into his back where she’d slid her
hands beneath his T-shirt.

“Oh, God, Katie.” He was losing his fucking mind. That was all there
was to it. He had no idea how to stop the collision course they were on, but he
didn’t want to, either. He wanted to devour her. He wanted to lift up her
skirt, pull her panties to the side, and drive himself into her, claiming her.

“Dalton!”

The sound of Austin’s voice calling him was the only thing that stopped
him. Pulling his mouth from hers, he didn’t stop touching her, one hand at the
small of her back, pulling her to him, the other cupping her face while he
brushed his thumb over her soft cheek.

“What the hell is going on, Katie?” he asked, his voice low and gruff.

“Dalton. Hey, man. Where are you?”

“You better see what he needs,” she whispered, her eyes still linked
with his.

Dalton nodded, releasing her from his grip. “Don’t go anywhere.”

“My sister’s here, remember?” she retorted, her eyes sliding away from
his.