She stood under the shower torn between wanting to see Magnus and dreading what he was going to tell her. She missed his touch, and now that she'd discovered sex, she wasn't ready to give it up. Choosing her clothes carefully so she didn't look like she was dressing for his bed, she pulled on old clean jeans and a soft cotton T-shirt. Kate brushed her hair, pulling it up on her head in a ponytail. Dabbing on a quick smear of lip balm, she looked in the mirror. Her jeans hugged her bum and showed off her long, colt-like legs while the fitted shirt clung to her breasts. Kate turned away from the mirror, disgusted with the direction her thoughts were taking. She grabbed a pair of flat shoes from her closet and slid her feet into them.
Kate ignored the raised eyebrows from Tilly. She walked out the door and headed for her truck. With effort, she slid behind the wheel and leaned back. For a few moments, she tried to regulate her breathing until she was sure she could keep her ragged emotions at bay before starting the vehicle and heading for her ordered dinner date.
The shiny BMW was still parked in the same place by the gate. She glared at the car, a sour taste forming in her mouth as she replayed the voice-over in her head that warned her she was headed for a fall or a large dose of embarrassment.
A figure moved in her line of vision, and she looked up to see Magnus walking down the path toward her. Swallowing the lump in her throat, she wrenched the door handle and swung it open. She was out of the vehicle before he reached her. Kate turned and slammed the door, keeping her back to him.
"Kate." Magnus stood behind her, his body seeping with the power he held over her.
Her eyes closed; she listened to his voice bring her libido awake. She trembled before she could stop herself. Kate clenched her hands into fists and spun around, knocking into him.
Magnus grabbed her as she stumbled. He looked at her face and was shocked to see the dark shadows around her eyes. He reached up and ran his thumb under one lid, watching her wince and pull back as he did so.
"What's wrong, Kate? You seem to be avoiding me."
"Missing your sex, Magnus?" she snapped back at him.
"I was missing you actually, our conversations, and of course I miss the sex. What's gotten into you lately?"
"You seem to be busy, so I didn't think you'd miss me." She looked at the car parked beside hers.
Magnus followed her gaze. Sighing with realization, he pulled her arm through his and walked up the path to the house. Pushing her through the door before him he called out, "Nell, can you come here a minute, please."
"Coming," a feminine voice called from the hallway, followed by the patter of bare feet. A petite blonde dressed in snug white shorts and a silk top carrying a sleeping baby came into the kitchen.
"Nell, I want you to meet Kate, our neighbor. Kate, meet Nell, my cousin." Magnus watched the flood of emotions roll over Kate's face.
"Your c-cousin," stammered Kate, her arms going around her stomach as she looked from Magnus to Nell and back again.
"Hi, Kate," Nell whispered, coming forward to greet her. "Sorry I can't shake your hand. I just got Lilly to sleep, and I don't want to move her until she really is gone for the count."
"Um, that's okay, really. Nice to meet you." Magnus watched the blush rush up her cheeks.
"You thought I was someone else, didn't you?" Nell laughed quietly as the baby stirred in her arms. "We saw you run down the steps the other night when I was having a minor tantrum, and I think you got the wrong idea. Sorry about that."
Kate looked at Magnus and then at her feet again, jamming her hands in her back pockets. "It really doesn't matter. It's really none of my business who you are. I'm just the neighbor, and I have a water contract with Magnus, so we cross paths now and then."
"Let me get you ladies a glass of wine." Magnus walked to the fridge and took out a chilled bottle. If that was how she saw it, so much the better. For a while there, he thought she was getting too close and wanting more than he was prepared to give her.
Nell had settled on the couch with the baby in her arms, and Kate was on the one opposite. Magnus passed them each a glass and went and sat beside Kate, his arm across the back as he relaxed and sipped his wine.
"What have you been up to, Kate? I haven't seen you for a couple of weeks, have I?" he asked, glancing at her.
Her eyes were unreadable as she looked down at her wine and shrugged. "Um, you know, the usual stuff. Fencing and sorting out the calves for branding." She raised her glass and took a swallow.
"I don't know how you stand the country, Kate." Nell screwed up her nose and looked very out of place in her designer clothes. "I have to have the city life to keep me sane. But saying that, it would help if my husband was home more often and not rushing around the country so much."
"You knew what you were getting into, Nell, when you married Rolf, and I really don't think that Kate wants to hear all of this," Magnus said, struggling to keep his patience with her. He had heard nothing else since Nell had arrived unannounced with the baby because she couldn't bear to stay at home alone by herself again.
Nell might be his favorite cousin, but Rolf and he had been best
