Page 35 of The Cowboy's Christmas
“No,” Sara said with a frown. “I mean, you know, if you’re both on the same page and no one is going to get hurt…” She exhaled, allowing her shoulders to drop. “If you’re not ready for that, then step back.”
“Good advice,” Savannah said quickly. Exactly what she’d wanted to hear—her sister telling her to step back. Except Sara hadn’t given that advice until she realized that was what Savannah needed to hear.
“I’ve got to go,” Sara said regretfully. “Keep me posted.”
The last was a command.
“We didn’t get to talk about you.”
“Nothing new here. Just take good care of my babies.”
“Will do.”
After the call ended, Savannah went to the window and stared out across the drive to the shop where she’d kissed Quinn Harding. It meant nothing. She’d been crying and he was a good guy, as he’d proven more than once in just a matter of days. She cried. He comforted.
But damn could that man kiss. Why else would she have gone back for seconds with a virtual stranger?
Even now, if she closed her eyes, she could put herself right back in his arms, feel the length of his hard body against hers, the warmth of his lips, the amazing way he smelled. Talk about pheromones…
But she wasn’t.
She was glad she’d confessed to her sister, because she didn’t feel like she was tackling this new territory alone, but honestly? She was. No one else could make the decision as to what she was and was not capable of.
And right now, she was dead set against entering territory which meant risking loss again. It was easy to step back after one kiss, even one in which she’d gone back for seconds. Now was the time to do it. Before things got more out of control.
She turned away from the window, wrapping her arms around her middle and closing her eyes.
I miss you, Matt.
Missed the man. Missed the security of their relationship. Missed knowing where she stood and what to expect.
So safe. No guesswork. No uncertainties.
Her eyes opened. Maybe that wasn’t all good, but it was secure.
They’d joked about how growing up together, moving from teen years into adulthood, had caused them to take one another for granted. Promised to work on it, but with the time suck of ranch work and part-time jobs, they’d never gotten a chance to start.
That didn’t mean they hadn’t been wildly in love. It just meant that they were human.
*
Quinn arrived atthe Dunn Ranch earlier than he had the previous day, wondering if Savannah might see things differently after having a night to think. He didn’t think she’d kick him off the ranch; she was too protective of Deke. But she might have something to say on the matter, and he figured they might as well get the awkwardness over before starting the day.
He hadn’t expected to kiss her yesterday, any more than she’d planned to break down. A perfect storm, so to speak. And he surely hadn’t expected a kiss that had started as borderline sweet, meant to comfort, to shift in intensity. Hadn’t expected things to heat up between them as they had.
He might have expected it, had he given the matter thought, but he hadn’t because the chances of him and self-protective Savannah kissing had seemed remote. Like halfway to the moon remote.
He sucked a breath through his teeth, recalling the mixture of shock, vulnerability and longing that had played across her face after the second kiss ended. She hadn’t been ready.
He exhaled as he unplugged Betsy. He’d let himself slip out of line. Not good, Harding.
The sound of footsteps on gravel brought his head up to see Savannah approaching, and he was surprised to find his heart beating harder as he waited for a signal as to how this day was going to go down.
When she was a couple yards away from the barn, she looked up at the gray sky, then back at him.
“It’s going to snow today.”
Weather talk? All right. He could weather talk with the best of them.
