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  “You were kind enough to come get Buttercup when I couldn’t keep him,” Tory told her. “But he’s not really your responsibility, and I knew you wouldn’t—” She broke off and stamped her foot, pointing to the floor in front of her. “Get on in here. Jesus, the two of you. I swear, if I’d known then what I know now, I’d have knocked sense into both of you years ago.”

  Chey had been walking toward Victoria but she stopped dead in her tracks as a prickle of pure dread—no, make that full-blown panic—raced over the back of her neck and all the way down her spine, immobilizing her on the spot. The dread turned into a sick ball in her gut and she was very afraid she might be sick. Dread, or anticipation? Maybe both. Okay, definitely both. But she didn’t want either of them, thankyouverymuch. “Tory,” Chey said, her voice low and as threatening as it had ever been in her life. “You did not—” She could barely get the words out. “Tell me you did not—”

  “She did.” And if that voice didn’t set Chey so far back on her heels she was surprised it hadn’t planted her, ass-first, on the packed dirt, one look at Wyatt Reed as he stepped into the stables—her stables—sure as hell did.

  “Hey, Cheyenne,” he said, as if an entire lifetime of anger, pain, longing, friendship, and regret hadn’t filled her every waking moment since he’d walked out of her life so many years ago. He held her gaze directly, and she owed him a direct gaze in return. She owed him so much more than that. But meeting his eyes was a start. And it took everything she had to manage even that much.

  He didn’t look angry, or mad, or sad, or…anything, really.

  What he did look was good. So incredibly, terrifyingly damn good.

  About the Author

  Photo by Spencer Kauffman

  USA Today bestselling author DONNA KAUFFMAN is a RITA finalist who has seen her books reviewed in venues ranging from Kirkus Reviews and Library Journal to Entertainment Weekly and Cosmopolitan. The author of over 50 books, she is also a regular contributor to USA Today’s Happy Ever After blog. She has won the National Readers Choice award, a PRISM award as well as numerous awards from RomanticTimes. She lives in the lovely Virginia countryside. You can contact her through her website at www.donnakauffman.com.