Page 25 of Waiting for the Rancher
He pushed himself up and then stood, still holding her hand.
She was looking at the embers and nibbling at her bottom lip. If the room had been well lit, he guessed it would have shown flushed cheeks too. With her hair having come loose from her braid, wisps floated around her face and neck.
Heaven almighty, she was beautiful. She was so beautiful his chest began to ache just watching her. It ached with something he couldn’t explain, except that he suddenly and fiercely wanted Hazel to be his.
“Hey,” he whispered, unable to keep himself from reaching his other hand up and tucking one of her strands behind her ear.
She turned her eyes upon him. In the darkness he couldn’t see the play of emotion there. But he could sense something, an interest in him, maybe even desire.
Without giving himself a chance to second-guess his actions, he dipped down and touched his lips to hers. He waited just a fraction, giving her permission to back away and end the kiss if it wasn’t what she wanted.
But she didn’t move. Instead, she waited, almost breathlessly. Was this her first kiss?
A swell of yearning rose inside him, and he pressed in more completely. As he did so, he was unprepared for the softness and warmth of her lips. And he was unprepared for her response. She lifted on her toes and met him with a sweet fervor that somehow seemed to set his blood on fire. Their meshing contained such a soft and delectable rhythm that he felt the tug of it keenly, all the way to his heart and soul.
He started to draw her closer, wanted to wrap her up in his arms, but before he could find his way out of the oblivion thather kiss had taken him to, she broke away. She backed up several steps, paused. Then she turned and raced up the stairs that led to the loft.
A moment later, the soft squeak of the bed told him that she’d lain down. Although she was quiet, he could still hear her rapid breathing and knew she’d been just as affected by their kiss.
Affectedwasn’t the right word for how it had impacted him. He could only stand beside the sofa, his entire world flipped upside down. His muscles were tense with need, his blood hot with possessiveness, his pulse thudding with her name.
Hazel. His woman. His and only his. For always.
He loved her. Heaven almighty he loved her, more than anyone or anything.
He almost groaned aloud with the pressure of that love inside his chest.
How had this happened so quick-like? Or what if it wasn’t quick? What if it had been happening for years but he’d been too scared to admit it?
After the pact he’d made with Sterling about never liking each other’s sisters, he reckoned he’d been left with little choice but to stuff away every last feeling for Hazel that might have been there to begin with.
If he was completely honest with himself, maybe he’d allowed himself to flirt like crazy with most women to distract himself from thinking about Hazel. Maybe he’d needed to keep his feelings locked away even from himself so that he wouldn’t dwell on her and how much he liked her.
Whatever the case, the kiss—or something—had unleashed the feelings, and now they were flooding him with an overwhelming need to be with her. His muscles tightened with the longing to chase after her, pull her into his arms, and confess to her that he loved her.
In fact, the need to do so almost pained him.
But he couldn’t go up into the loft. He didn’t trust himself—not now that his bottled emotions for her were unleashed.
Instead, he lowered himself back to the sofa and perched on the edge. With his elbows on his knees, he buried his face into his hands. What was he gonna do now? There was no way he could go back to being just friends with her. But he couldn’t move beyond friendship until he talked with Sterling and told him he wanted to end their no-sister pact.
But talking with Sterling at this point was about as impossible as going to the moon.
Or was it?
He sat up. Sterling thought he’d been interested in Violet. If he went to Sterling and told him how he felt about Hazel—that he was crazy about her, loved her more than anything and wanted to marry her—what would Sterling say?
Maybe it would work to smooth things over between them. He’d be able to prove he had no feelings toward Violet and never had, that he wasn’t interested in stealing her away, that the only woman he wanted was Hazel.
Maverick drew in a deep breath. Yep. Tomorrow he’d take Hazel home, and while he was at the Noble Ranch, he’d corner Sterling. He’d apologize for everything that had happened at the failed wedding and his role in it. Then he’d tell Sterling how he felt about Hazel.
After that, he’d come up with a grand way to show Hazel how he was feeling. Even if she didn’t love him quite yet, he’d sensed something there. He’d do his best to woo and win her over so that, soon enough, she’d love him back.
10
Maverick slept fitfully for a few hours and was up before daybreak to check on the cattle and horses.
He worked with the ranch hands to shovel away some of the snow to open up the grass. Even then, they had to carry out the last of the stored bales of hay for both the cattle and horses.
