Page 31 of Waiting for the Rancher
“Tanner is sweet, funny, and likes me.”
“He doesn’t love you.”
“Maybe I don’t need love.”
This time he grasped her arm and tugged her back into the barn. There was an urgency in his movement that made her pulse accelerate and her insides flutter. As always, she couldn’t resist him, even though a part of her warned that she should.
Once they were standing in the shadows and out of the view of the barn door, he took a step toward her, closing the distance so that he was mere inches away.
His presence was as magnetic as always, and before she did something really stupid, like throw herself against him, she took a step back, pressing into the barn wall.
Again, he stepped after her so that only inches separated them. He reached out and braced a hand against the wall beside her head, and his gaze made a circuit around her face before landing on her mouth.
What was he doing? Was he thinking about kissing her again?
Delicious heat pooled low in her stomach. She’d chastised herself severely all day about her feelings for Maverick and the need to stop caring about him, but now that he was here and so close, every thought flew from her mind except one—how much she wanted him. She wanted to feel his mouth taking command of hers, wanted the pressure of his body leaning into her, wanted the tangle of their limbs and lips.
His breathing seemed to grow shallower in the space between them.
Did her nearness stir up longings in him too?
He tilted in just a little closer, his broad chest brushing hers.
The graze only sent more heat spilling through her.
Something was there between them, whether either of them acknowledged it or not. She wanted to say something about it, but the words were lost in a haze of strange desire.
As he bent his head closer, her body tightened with need—the need for another one of his kisses. She suddenly needed it more than another breath of air. Her lungs seized, as though agreeing with her. And she waited breathlessly.
But instead of moving toward her lips, he shifted so that only his cheek brushed hers, his stubble scratching her.
The sensation of his face against hers was so exquisite she could only close her eyes and savor the closeness. And of course, she couldn’t keep from wishing that the moment would never end, that she could stand in Maverick’s presence like this forever.
He drew in a ragged breath, one close to her ear. “You do need love, Hazel,” he whispered. “You deserve it more than anyone I know.”
“What about you?” Her whisper came out more of a plea, but she couldn’t help herself. She wanted to know if he’d ever consider loving her.
At her whispered words, he froze. Then he pushed away from the wall and away from her. Anguish creased his face—an anguish that he quickly worked to hide.
She didn’t realize she was trembling until she pressed farther back and her fingers made a connection with the barn wall. What was going on? Why was he acting this way—seeming to want her one moment and then letting her go in the next?
At the rumble of a wagon nearing the barn, she knew Alonzo had arrived and that she needed to go out before he caught sight of her alone with Maverick. Even though Sterling hadn’t stopped her from coming to work at the Oakleys’, he’d made sure shewas well aware of his loathing of Maverick. Just yesterday, he’d even quizzed her about her interactions with Maverick, asking her how much time she was spending with him.
She’d been able to honestly answer that she’d hardly seen him all week and that he hadn’t talked with her or spent any time with her.
If Alonzo carried home word that she’d been in the barn alone with Maverick and that they’d been standing awfully close, close enough to kiss, Sterling would accuse her of lying and do everything within his power to force her to quit her job.
Because even after almost two weeks since the failed wedding, he was still bitter and angry and showed no signs of being able to forgive Maverick.
And the truth was, she was more confused than ever about what was happening between herself and Maverick. After the past week of hardly any interaction and feeling shoved aside, what did this closeness now with him mean?
She finally let herself meet Maverick’s gaze. For just a second, his eyes seemed open, like windows, letting her glimpse deep inside. Heat and attraction and even something more glowed there.
But with a quick shake of his head, he shuttered himself off. “Stay away from Tanner.” Then he spun and stalked off.
As she watched him, she wanted to shout thatheneeded to stay away fromher, that every time he came near, it hurt even more when he walked away. Surely it would be easier on her heart if she cut him out of her life and stopped caring about him altogether.
If only she could.
