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  "But I wanted to see you!"

  "That's no excuse. You have to think before you risk things like that." He mashed his hand over his face, at a total loss as to how to handle this.

  "You left."

  His next words died on his lips. "Huh?" he said stupidly.

  "You left us."

  "I have a business to run—"

  She shook her head wildly, crawling out of the big leather chair and standing before him. He stared down. She stared up.

  "You're my daddy, aren't you?"

  Kyle felt his legs give out and he sagged onto the desk. "Did your mom tell you that?"

  "No." She told him about overhearing her grandmother and mom talk about him. "You're that Kyle." He nodded and half expected a smile. What he got was the blackest little-girl scowl he'd ever seen. "Why did you leave my mommy?"

  Boy, this was hard. "Aw, Mimi, baby…" He reached for her, and his heart leaped when she went to him. He lifted her in his arms and sat her on his lap. "I was stupid, I didn't think of anything, except what I was feeling. I wanted to hurt your mom, 'cause she hurt me."

  "Like me when I ran away and when I took that ride?"

  "Yeah. It was a big mistake." He sighed heavily, then eyed her. "But I didn't risk my life."

  Fat tears welled in her eyes and she sniffled. "I'm in big trouble, huh?"

  "Oh, I'd say that was definite."

  "You're mad at me, aren't you?"

  "No, I'm just a little disappointed." Her expression crumbled, and Kyle knew he'd hit a nerve. "I know your mom taught you better," he said softly. "Did you think about what she's feeling right now, looking for you, worried that you're hurt and she can't help you?"

  Mimi looked ashamed and remorseful, and Kyle figured that her mother would have a few things to say to her and that was about as much as a kid could take right now. He set her down, pointing to the chair. "Get your butt there and stay put. Understood?"

  She nodded, flipping her braids over her shoulder as she scrambled into the chair.

  Her eyes watery, her mouth turned down, she about broke his heart right there. Kyle stiffened against going soft on her. She'd risked more than he wanted to consider by running to him. But she had run to him.

  "Do you love my mom?"

  "Yes, very much."

  Mimi grinned. "Are you going to get married?"

  "Is that okay with you?"

  "Yes."

  "Good. 'Cause she said yes."

  He was about to leave his office to call Maxie in private, when she burst in.

  She looked to Kyle, then to the child curled in the chair. She opened her mouth.

  "Max." Kyle caught her arm before she unleashed on her daughter. "Let's get you two home, and we can discuss this."

  Maxie nodded, and Kyle gestured to Mimi. She left the chair, following her parents outside. "Where's your truck?" he said after a glance around.

  "Jackson dropped me off. I couldn't drive. I was too scared to concentrate." She looked down at her daughter, and Mimi fairly hid behind Kyle.

  He rubbed the top of her head, his lips curving gently before he nudged her forward to face her mother's angry stare. "I'll give you a lift."

  "In the chopper?" Max squeaked.

  She was afraid of heights, he recalled. "Got to trust me sometime, Max."

  "I trust you."

  "Yeah, sure." He opened the chopper door, and Mimi climbed in the back, glancing between her parents like a squirrel perched in a tree.

  "Who didn't bother to tell me he lived on the other side of the canyon?" Max said, waving the business card he'd left her.

  He arched a brow. "Who didn't bother to ask?"

  She flushed red. True enough, she thought. "I do trust you, Kyle." Still Maxie didn't move.

  "Then let me in, Max." He stepped closer. "All the way in," he said in a dark voice. "You have to let me be a part of everything. Not just what you pick and choose until she gets used to the idea that I'm her dad. Neither of us can help what happened in the past. But this—" he nodded to Mimi, her face tucked between the two seat backs "—this could have been avoided."

  Maxie's eyes lit with green fire. "That was a chance—"

  "She knows who I am," he interrupted. "And there's no getting around it this time."

  "I know," Maxie muttered.

  "She just wants us to be honest with her," he said. "And you need to get used to the idea that you are not alone anymore." He pressed his lips to her forehead. "Trust me on this." Kyle took a step back, then came around the front of the chopper to his side and climbed in. "Aren't you coming?" he said through the open passenger's side.

  A chopper. High up, too high.

  He put the headset on, one on Mimi and leaned out extending his hand to her. "Come on, Max."

  "Yeah, come on, Mom. It's fun."

  She was still as a rock, her hands clenched, her gaze darting all around the chopper. He knew she was terrified to get in and worse, lift off.

  "Hey, I'm willing to bend, but you have to start first."

  She would, she knew it and trusting him to put her safely back on the ground was something she'd easily give. It was the trip in between she was scared about. "I'm bending, I'm bending," she said, climbing in before she lost her nerve. "I've been in love with you for years and I'm trusting it now. And your skill as a pilot." He lifted off quickly.

  "I'm proud of you, Max."

  "Me too, Mom."

  "Okay. I'm taking the risk." She couldn't look at the ground and looked at him instead. "Now, get on the ground and marry me, Kyle. Please."

  "Yeah. Marry us … Dad."

  Kyle's eyes watered, and he twisted in the seat, brushing his fingers along Mimi's jaw, then looking at Maxie. These women were his life, he thought. His hands on the control stick faltered, and the helicopter wobbled as they hovered over flight-legal canyon airspace.

  Maxie inhaled, gripping the seat edge till her knuckles turned white. "You'd better hurry," she said. "Before I decorate the windshield!"

  "Go ahead, if you feel the need."

  "Kyle!"

  He didn't want to laugh at what was obviously a horrifying experience and instead bit the inside of his mouth to keep from smiling. She wouldn't appreciate that right now. It was a long enough ride back now as it was. "I have to get you to a preacher before you change your mind." He swooped quickly, lowering the craft to the ground.

  "Not this time." She let out a lungful of air and sighed back into the seat. Then she looked at him, her heart in her eyes. "My mind hasn't changed in seven years. I just wasn't listening very well."

  He pried her fingers from the seat cushion and pulled her across the seat and into his arms. He kissed her, deeply, powerfully.

  "You guys," came from the rear seat, followed by a soft giggle.

  They pulled back and looked at their daughter. Kyle reached around Maxie and twisted the lock, then shoved open the door. "Get into the house and into your room, short stack. You're grounded."

  Mimi looked wide-eyed at him, then at her mother, and Maxie knew she was weighing her options, the little devil. But Maxie wasn't about to let her daughter start their new life with playing them against each other—now that she had big-gun backup.

  "You heard your dad." God, it felt good to say that aloud. "Beat it."

  Mimi climbed out, sulking as she walked toward the house, a tiny smile working at her lips. Maxie and Kyle watched her go. "Kyle?"

  "Hmm?" He dragged his gaze from Mimi's hunched form to her.

  Her gaze sketched his features as she brushed a lock of hair off his forehead, letting it sift through her fingers. Oh, how she loved this man. He'd given her more than his love, his child—he'd given her freedom. She'd been trapped for so long.

  "Thanks."

  His forehead knitted slightly. "For loving you?"

  "That—" she rubbed her thumb over the pad of her lips "—and for rescuing me from my own loneliness."

  "Aw, baby," he said, the back of his eyes burning. "I'm the
one who needed rescuing. You and Mimi, you brought me back from my own prison."

  She leaned closer, brushing her mouth over his, teasing him, making him squirm in the seat. "Think about that when we're stuck in the house all day, with a child who's grounded. Talk about a prison sentence."

  Kyle chuckled softy and covered her mouth with his, not thinking about disciplining a spirited little redheaded daughter, but of thanking God for the chance to love them both. Ah, he thought, sinking into her kiss. Life was suddenly very, very good.

  * * *

  Epilogue

  « ^

  Ten years later

  Kyle came around the side of the barn and stopped short at the sight of his oldest daughter talking with a young man who looked far too dangerous to be even in the same state with her.

  "Kyle, honey, will you put it into gear?"

  He looked at his wife and his three other daughters impatiently waiting for their mounts.

  "Yeah, Dad, get it into gear," Christa repeated, bouncing on the fence rail.

  "What's zat mean?" came from his youngest, Brianne, as she climbed onto the fence beside her sister.

  "Means Dad's being too slow." Kate, nine, folded her arms over her flat chest and wondered if her parents were going to kiss in public again. Gross.

  Brianne looked at her dad, then her sister. "But he's not even moving."

  "I know, silly." Christa rolled her eyes, and Maxie told them to behave as she crossed the paddock, hopped the fence and came to stand beside her husband.

  "Hey, what fog has you captive?"

  He looked down at her, smiling and inching closer. Every time he was near her, touched her, slept his nights away in her arms, he loved her more. Each day he realized a man didn't get this lucky and live to enjoy it. So he wasn't wasting a moment.

  "Who's the guy?" He nodded to Mimi and the kid clad in way too much leather, his hair dangling over one eye and his butt hitched on the motorcycle seat.

  "That's Jackson's nephew."

  Kyle cast another look at the kid. "Well, I don't like him."

  She laughed softly. "You don't even know him."

  "I know how he's looking at my daughter, and that's all I need."

  "Ooh—judgmental and a tyrant."

  "Well, look at him, Max." He snapped his hand in the kid's direction. "He's got trouble written all over him."

  "Careful, honey, that's exactly what my father said about you."

  He met her gaze, the protectiveness of a father melting into soft memories. He hadn't thought about the years they'd spent apart much and saw only the new ones mesh together and erase the wasted pain.

  "Your dad likes me now."

  A devilish glint brightened her eyes. "Yeah, but that's a marine thing, you know, old corps, buddies forever. You're still on probation."

  "Gonna send me packing?"

  "We could work out a deal." Out of anyone's view her hand slipped between them, shaping the hardness straining his jeans. Kyle groaned and swept his arm around her waist, pulling her tightly to his body. Four children, and she was still slim and sexy as hell. Ten years of marriage, and he still got hot for her on a regular basis and was continuously fascinated with the shape of her bottom in tight jeans. He cupped the spot, squeezing gently and pushing her to him. "Oh, Kyle," she whispered.

  "God, I love it when you say my name like that."

  "It won't come out any other way when you touch me like that."

  Christa and Brianne giggled. Kate rolled her eyes and stomped off, muttering something about her parents and how weird they were.

  Kyle bent and kissed Maxie, his mouth riding lustily over the warm curves, his tongue pushing deep inside.

  "I love you, baby."

  Her heart skipped every time he said it. "I love you, too, Kyle."

  "Way to go, Dad!" Mimi hollered, and Kyle looked up, winking at her. The boyfriend of the week snickered, and Mimi socked him in the arm for it. His short stack was a dead ringer for her mother, tall and leggy, and Kyle knew she could take care of herself. Especially since he'd trained her in marine hand-to-hand combat.

  But that didn't mean he wouldn't be there for all the women in his life if they ever needed rescuing. Because their mother, he thought, staring down at Max and kissing her again and again—had rescued him.

  And he was still loving every minute of being saved.

  * * * * *