Page 29 of Her Cowboy Baby Daddy
When their lips finally parted, Hayley dropped her gaze and eased back a step, her hands falling away from his upper arms. It was the first time he’d seen her revert to her old self, but almost as quickly as her gaze went down, it came back up again.
“I shouldn’t have done that,” she said, her eyes wide as she regarded him. He hoped they weren’t wide with horror.
“It was kind of a joint effort.”
A short laugh escaped her lips. “I don’t want to send the wrong vibe, that’s all.”
“What vibe is that, Hayley?”
Her color started rising, but her expression was businesslike when she said, “The vibe where I’m looking for...” She gestured. Spence didn’t guess at what she meant because he wanted to know exactly where they stood.
“I’m all about sailing my ship alone,” she finally replied after the silence had stretched to the point of being uncomfortable.
“If you’re telling me not to read too much into things, I get it.”
“You do?”
“I’m not looking for anything either.”
The look of relief on her face might have been ego-denting, if she hadn’t kissed him so enthusiastically a few minutes ago.
Her smile was just crooked enough to convey both gratitude and a touch of rueful honesty. “I have to tell you that I haven’t partaken in too many casual kisses, so maybe I panicked?”
“Exactly the response I intend when I kiss someone.”
The smile became more genuine at the wry comment, then she let out a breath that made her shoulders drop. “I guess I didn’t need to say anything.”
“About what?”
“Not looking for anything. A guy who spends as much time on the road as you do... well, you’ve probably made a choice not to get tied down.”
He hadn’t made that choice, but he did not correct her, because she was right in a way. He loved his life right now, traveling, being his own boss. But was he going to love it forever, as in never put down roots? When he thought of his distant future, he kind of visualized himself settled somewhere. But that was fodder for a long think on another day.
“Then I guess we understand each other. No worries.” And probably no more kissing, because he could still feel the soft pressure of her lips and the way his body stirred as her tongue had gently teased his.
“I have something on the stove.” She gave him a wry look, obviously thinking he thought she was making an excuse to escape. “I honestly do.”
“Then you better go check on it.”
“Right.” She turned and headed into the barn and a moment later he heard the door at the front of the building open and shut.
All righty then. Spence rubbed his hand over the back of his neck again and regarded the pipe. Maybe it would be best if he took the job Millie was offering. He’d never been one to run away from a situation and this thing with Hayley was starting to feel like a situation.
It also felt different that anything he’d experienced before and maybe some time away would allow him to get his head on straight. And maybe Henry would stop coming to work by the time he got back?
Time would tell.
*
You need tokiss Spence Keller more often.
The thought cartwheeled through Hayley’s head time and again as she went about her business that day, along with snippets of the conversation that had followed. She loved how he’d simply accepted that she was happy with her life as it was, probably assuming that she and he were similar in that regard.
Were they?
Maybe, but she didn’t think it was for the same reasons. She had a pretty clear vison as to why Spence was a rolling stone—she might be off base, but she didn’t think so—and it wasn’t the same as the reason she wasn’t looking for a partner in her life. Even if their reasons were different, the result was the same, and the knowledge that they were on the same page in that regard had a crazy thought pushing its way into her head.
Crazy, yet... not.
