Page 59 of A Rancher's Vow
She’d already crawled from the truck and was reaching for the back door when he arrived at her side, clicking his tongue as he took over. “I see I need to train you in the fine art of waiting.”
“I am capable of opening my own doors.”
“Of course, you are. Which is why waiting for me to do it means you’re giving me the privilege of taking care of you.”
She stopped in the middle of reaching for her gym bag, dropped her arms to her sides, and stared at him. “Really?”
Dustin looped her bag over his shoulder, caught her fingers in his and whistled for Annie, who was sniffing the nearby rose bushes. “Really what?”
“Is that why guys open doors for others?”
He shrugged. “Don’t know about everyone else, but that’s what Luke told me. I think it’s a nice way of showing I care about people.” They were in Charity’s apartment a minute later. He put her bag on the table then turned to face her. “Need anything else?”
She shook her head. Annie sniffed her way around the room like a bloodhound on a mission.
“I’m going to miss you.”
Dustin’s heart kicked for a second before falling with a thud—
Damn it.Charity was talking to the dog as she knelt to ruffle Annie’s ears.
He kept it cool. “You’ll be out at the ranch Monday morning. I’ll make sure I stop by when I can so you can see Annie.”
“Of course.” Charity stood. “Here’s hoping things go okay when you hit Silver Stone. And I’ll let you know as soon as I can what Chelsea says about their plans to visit.”
“We still need to have a date or two.” Dustin tried but failed miserably to keep from fidgeting.
“The bachelor auction as well, but we can play that by ear.” She stood opposite him, all awkward with no eye contact. The comfort level built between them seemed to have vanished as soon as they’d walked into the room.
He wanted to kiss her. He wanted to pick her up and take her to the bedroom and strip her down and go back to where they’d been that morning.
Woof.
The bark was both loud and unexpected enough he and Charity’s attention snapped to the side. Annie had jumped up on the couch and was now sitting on her butt, front legs braced as she watched them expectantly.
At least her hijinks broke the tension in the room. Charity laughed. “Annie. We’re not watching a show. You need to go back to the ranch with Dustin.”
Annie put her chin down on her front paws as if she understood but was saying a clearno.
Dustin’s phone buzzed loudly. “Shit. That’s Tucker.”
“Oh no.” Charity’s eyes widened with concern as he checked the message.
Thank goodness, it was nothing. “It’s okay. He wants me to pick up an order at the mercantile once I drop you off, and they close soon.”
“You should go. Message me, though. Let me know how it is over there. And I’ll talk to you on Monday.”
To hell with it. Dustin closed the distance between them and caught her cheek in his hand. Then he kissed her. Hot and hard and possessive and damn, it felt so right.
When he finally pulled away, Charity was once again smiling instead of looking at him all awkward and uncomfortable. He dipped his head and slipped out the door, Annie at his heels.
The dog stared out the window forlornly the entire trip home to Silver Stone. Dustin couldn’t help but think that his expression was probably as hangdog as the beast’s. Being back in Silver Stone was good, but not being around Charity was bad.
Which meant…
Over the years Dustin had been a front row witness to his siblings finding their perfect partners, so the signs weren’t entirely foreign. He and Charity got along like a house on fire in bed. Outside of sex, they liked each other plenty, and they had lots in common.
Which meant it was time to do some thinking about what he really wanted, and whether their short-term pretending should become an attempt at long-term reality.
