Page 47 of Catch Me, Cowboy
“I think I’d be more worried if he kept it.”
Shelby nodded. “Good point.” Great point, maybe. She’d love to discover that she was concerned over nothing more than the natural aging process.
Ty shook his head. “I appreciate it, Shelby, but honestly? Maybe it’s better if I don’t.”
“It’s just dinner.”
“No. It’s not.” He slid his hand behind her neck, his thumb caressing the edge of her jaw, making her want things she could not have. “This plan of yours… isn’t working.” He released her and took a step back, hooking his thumb in his belt loop as if to keep from touching her again.
“No. It is not.” Her voice was husky. She looked down at the ground. “I was afraid something had happened to you tonight.”
“It did.”
“No. I mean something… serious.” He didn’t say anything and when she looked up, she found him regarding her with a thoughtful expression on his face. “I realized today that I need to face my fears.”
He frowned at her. “What fears haven’t you faced? You’re roping again.”
“Yes. There’s that.” She pressed her lips together.
Hard. Tried to come up with an easy way to say what she needed to say. There wasn’t one. She had to face her fears, but she didn’t need to confess them, because confessing them would only serve to screw with Ty’s life.
“I’ve been stupid,” she finally said.
“How so?”
“I’ve wasted time. With you.”
His eyes went dark. “What do you mean?”
“I let anger and fear take control, even when I knew I was still attracted to you… and that there was still something between us.”
Ty frowned at her, as if he didn’t know what to make of what she’d just said, then he slowly reached out to take her into his arms, cradling her against his chest. “Damn it, Shelby,” he murmured against her hair.
But his arms tightened as she slid her hands around to his back and hung on.
“I’m not twenty-three any more. Things aren’t as black and white.” She leaned back to look into his face. “I guess what I’m saying it that I don’t need for you to stay. I need time with you while you’re here.”
And she did. She needed to feel him touch her, make love to her. Reassure herself that he was alive and well and with her. No one knew what the next day would bring, but they had today. She needed to get used to today being enough.
“You’re sure about this?”
When she could feel him growing hard against her belly? Oh, yeah. She was sure. But she had a hard time finding words, even one or two, as she stared up into his very serious expression. This meant something to him, just as it meant something to her. Maybe their lives would never align, but they had this moment, and she was not going to waste it.
“It’s a place to start.”
“I guess we’ve got to start somewhere.”
He studied her face for another long moment, as if giving her one last chance to bail, then lowered his head to meet her lips in a slow, heart-stopping kiss. Her hands moved up the sides of his face and this time she took off his hat without breaking the kiss, tossing it onto the four-wheeler rather than knocking it off. It hit the ground anyway.
He deepened the kiss, his tongue demanding her total focus, which was just wrong, because his hands were demanding the same thing. The light popped above them and then went out.
Ty pressed his mouth against the side of her neck, making her gasp as he hit the sensitive spot there he knew so well, then eased back and let his hands slide down her arms to her wrists.
“My place?” he asked lowly.
“Our only option,” she murmured.
Ty led her though the darkness, around the barn and to the trailer, where he opened the door and ushered her inside. He crossed the room to snap on a small lamp, but Shelby gave her head a shake and he snapped it off again. The windows of the trailer were clearly visible from the living room where her grandfather might no longer be sleeping. Besides that, she didn’t need to see him. She knew him. Every inch of him and she was going to renew the acquaintanceship. She pulled her shirt over her head, dropped it on the floor behind her. She heard the pop of pearl snaps as Ty followed suit. Next time they’d undress each other. Next time they would play the games. Right now she needed him. In her. He hadn’t even touched her and her breath seemed to be coming in ragged gasps.
