Page 54 of Christmas with the Cowgirl
She stared at him.He was thinking about which of them would outlive the other?As if…as if they’d be together that long?
As if they were together now?
And then, with a sudden move she couldn’t have dodged even if she’d wanted to, he was kissing her.Long and hard and deep, tasting, probing, until she felt as Minna must have felt, a little weak in the knees and needing that strong, powerful man beside her to keep her upright.It was dizzying, yet never had she felt so on fire, never had her blood been pumping at this rate, even when she was on the last barrel of a prize-winning run.
When he broke the kiss at last, he pulled his head back to look at her but still held her close.
“That clear enough?”he asked, his voice low and almost hoarse.
He sounded like she felt.Almost desperate.
And that quickly, all her resistance crumbled.She’d been alone so long, she’d managed to shove needs like this into the background.She always told herself it didn’t matter, she had enough in life, more than many did.But with that kiss he’d shattered the wall she’d built between herself and feelings like he roused in her.The need he somehow roused in her.
Not need.Necessity.
“Clear enough,” she agreed, and there was a note in her own voice that even she didn’t recognize.
“Then it’s up to you what happens next.”
And she knew he meant it.That if she backed out even now, he wouldn’t fight her.He wouldn’t try any cajoling, any false promises, wouldn’t say anything he didn’t truly mean.How she was so sure of this she didn’t know, but she was.
And that was all she needed.
“Anyone ever warn you about the Last Stand grapevine?”
His brows furrowed slightly in puzzlement, as if he wasn’t sure how this related.
Or thinks you’re heading toward saying no because of that grapevine.
“Jackson said it outdoes anything in Hollywood, and out-speeds any broadband,” he said after a moment.
“It does.And I don’t really want to start that daisy chain chattering—not yet.It’ll get back to my dad and he’ll run with it.”He was staring at her now, and she didn’t blame him.“Look, I know I’m too old to be worrying about what my father thinks, but I do.”
“I’ll let the too old bit pass this time,” he said, “because he’s the rock of your life and you don’t mess with that.”
What little resistance was left in her melted.He’d put into five simple words what her father was to her.The rock of her life.Her throat was so tight she couldn’t speak.
“So…was that a ‘this ends here’?”he asked, very carefully.
“No!”She startled herself with the energy of her response.“Just theherepart needs to end.”She waved toward the crowd around them.“With the whole town watching.”
She knew she wasn’t mistaking the relief in his expression when slowly, a delightful smile lifted one corner of his mouth.That lovely, kissable mouth.“Now that you mention it, I’m not sure I want Jackson—or more accurately, Nic—having this fodder tossed to her.She’s already on a campaign.”
“Exactly.”
“So where do we sneak to?”
She laughed, and she felt the difference in it, the lightness, the anticipation, the…excitement.
“Ever been by the Hickory Creek Inn?”
“Is that the place run by the former Texas Ranger?”
She nodded.“Frank Buckley, and his wife Karina.We could go there.Frank is the soul of discretion.”
“Won’t they be full this week?”
“Yes.But they always keep a room open for locals who might have…an emergency and need a place.”
