sooner or later. The loneliness would fade and he’d get his life back-pitiful as it was.
When he opened his eyes again, he noticed a rider approaching from the direction of the homestead. He squinted to see in the late-afternoon light, trying to make out who it was. Slowly, he realized it was a woman. Hayley?
Suddenly, the rider pulled to a stop and jumped off the horse. Brody’s breath caught in his chest. He blinked hard, wondering if he was imagining her, like a mirage in the middle of the desert. He kicked his horse into a trot and covered the distance between them.
As he approached, she pulled off her stockman’s hat and her curly hair fell down around her shoulders. Brody smiled. If this was a dream, then he planned to enjoy it.
He reined in his horse before he reached her, then slid down to stand beside it. For a long time, they stood facing each other, neither one of them moving. And then, at the very same moment, they covered the distance between them in just a few seconds.
Payton launched herself into his arms and he picked her up and spun her around. She felt real, warm and soft, the scent of her hair filling his head. “Is it really you?”
“I think so,” Payton said. “I can’t have changed that much in four days.”
He set her down and stepped back to look into her eyes. “You’re more beautiful, I think. Is that possible?” Brody took her face in his hands and kissed her, his tongue delving into her mouth and savoring her taste. “Did you even go home?”
Payton nodded. “I did. I saw Sam and my parents and I turned around and came back. When I got to New York, I realized it was the last place in the world I wanted to be. You shouldn’t have made me leave, but I’m glad I put that part of my life to rest.”
“I won’t do that again,” Brody said. “God, I missed you. How did you get here?”
“Teague picked me up. When I got to Fremantle and you weren’t there, I figured you might have come back to the station. I flew to Brisbane and then called Teague and he came to get me. I thought it might be nice to surprise you.”
“Nice,” he said. “I like
“I may have to leave again if they don’t extend my visa. But maybe, we can go to New York for a visit.”
“Or for that football tryout. I’m going to give that a go. And if it doesn’t work out, I have some other interesting prospects.”
She pushed up onto her toes and kissed him softly. “I don’t care what you do or where we live. I don’t ever want to be away from you again. I-I think I might love you.”
Brody chuckled softly. For now, he was happy with a vague statement of love. He could wait for her feelings to grow stronger. “I think I might love you, too. A lot.”
He grabbed her hand, then pulled it to his lips. “So, what are we going to do with ourselves?”
“Mary’s making dinner. We could eat and then go for a swim.”
“Aren’t you tired? You’ve been on a plane for the better part of four days.”
“About seventy hours,” she said. “I’ve taken off and landed sixteen times.”
“Then I definitely think you need to get to bed. Right now. For your own health. And mine.” He glanced over his shoulder. “We could head over to the shack and spend the night there.”
“But we’re not lost. And that would be trespassing.”
Brody smoothed his thumb over her lower lip. “This all started with a life of crime. I think we can live dangerously.”
Payton threw her arms around his neck. “Forget about nice. I’m really starting to enjoy dangerous.”
He wrapped his hands around her waist and set her back on her horse, then remounted. As they rode toward the sunset, Brody wondered at how his life had changed so much in such a short time. There were no answers to his questions, and maybe there never would be. But Payton was here, with him, from half a world away.
This hadn’t been his dream, but it was now. And it was better than any dream he could have ever imagined for himself.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Kate Hoffmann has been writing for Harlequin Books for fifteen years and has published nearly sixty books, including Harlequin Temptation novels, Harlequin Blaze books, novellas and even the occasional historical. When she isn’t writing, she is involved in various musical and theatrical activities in her small Wisconsin community. She enjoys sleeping late, drinking coffee and eating bonbons. She lives with her two cats, Tally and Chloe, and her computer, which shall remain nameless.
