Page 38 of Promise Me This Christmas
She also felt conflicted about her assignment.She’d been asked to write what amounted to a fluff piece on Bramble House.But if someone was trying to sabotage the B & B, shouldn’t that be part of the story?She couldn’t let her sympathy for Amy—and her feelings for Amy’s brother—influence the content of her article.
As they neared the driveway, however, worries about her article were overpowered by thoughts of the man by her side.They’d been dancing around this moment all evening.The previous evening as well.Was he finally going to kiss her?And how would she feel when it happened?
Chapter Ten
Carson was awashwith longing for Larkin.But he also was afraid.Of moving too fast.Of scaring her off.Larkin was the bravest woman he knew, but she’d been traumatized and some of that had been his fault.He may not have been the one to physically hurt her.But he hadn’t protected her.And he hadn’t been there to help her when it was over.
He could sense her trepidation as they paused in front of the historic old house.Should they go to the right, toward the garage and his private suite?The Twins’ Retreat offered warmth and privacy and comfort.
But he sensed it would also set the stage for a whole lot of pressure.Maybe too much privacy and comfort, especially with that big bed, and all it signified.Instead, he led her along the pathway to the porch.A bright light shone over the front door, but the far end of the porch was both in shadow and protected from the driving snow.
Larkin had begun to tremble, ever so slightly.He put his hands on her shoulders and faced her.“Are you cold?”
“I…don’t think so.”She tilted her head up, so he could see her eyes.Her beautiful, trusting, enticing eyes.“I’m just nervous.Does that sound stupid?”
“Not at all.And if you’re nervous, let’s say goodnight now.The last thing I want is to make you feel pressured.”
“I don’t feel pressured.The truth is—I’ve been wanting you to kiss me since almost the first moment I saw you again.”
He could feel his heart bumping hard in his chest.“So, you’re saying yes?”
“I’m saying yes.”
He slid his hands from her shoulders to the sides of her beautiful face.Her skin was cool, but also silky and soft.Gently he lowered his mouth to hers and he heard her sigh as she relaxed into him.He let her set the pace, let her be the one to deepen the kiss, to pull him in closer, to kiss him again.
“Lark,” he said between kisses.“Lark, Lark…” Her name was a song, a talisman against every lonely moment he’d had since she’d been gone.There wasn’t another woman in all of Montana who could ever compare to her.
As the moment stretched on, his trepidation vanished.She was good.This was good.He’d been reining himself in, nervous about her reaction, but she was good.They were good.He let out a groan and gave in to the temptation to kiss the soft skin by her ear, then the line of her sweet neck, to that spot, the small hollow, where she’d always loved—
Abruptly he became aware that she’d stiffened.It was only a momentary reaction—already she was yielding to him again, tangling her fingers into his hair.But still he pulled back.
“I’m sorry.I had a weird flash of panic there,” she whispered.
“I moved too fast.”
“You didn’t,” she insisted.“Believe me, I was loving it.That’s why…”
Her voice trailed off, but he suspected what she’d been going to say was that it was her own desire that had frightened her.Damn that Andrew.He’d taken something that should be good and natural and healthy and perverted it for her.
He kissed Larkin’s forehead.“I loved this too.Every second of it.But let’s take a breather, okay?I want everything that happens between us to be right.”
“You’re such a gentleman.And I love that about you.”
The word “love” hovered in the air as they broke apart and headed to the front door.He almost told her that he lovedeverythingabout her.But he didn’t want to scare her off.
“Thanks for a wonderful evening, Carson.Let’s do it again soon, okay?”Then, as he held the door open for her, she gave him a saucy wink and disappeared inside.
For a long moment he stood there.Slowly he could feel the smile she’d left him with fade from his face.That had been a hell of a kiss, and he couldn’t deny that he’d wanted so much more.
But there was also a festering inside of him.An anger that she’d ever been hurt, ever been forced by someone bigger and stronger.He suspected this feeling wasn’t going to fade.It was going to keep eating at him until he did something about it.
*
Amy found thenighttime routine with Robin soothing.She took her time giving him his bath, watching him splash with his water toys and have gibberish conversations with his yellow rubber duck.Later, she and Chet tucked him between them in their bed and took turns reading all his favorite stories until he finally dropped off to sleep, at which point Chet gently carried him to his crib.
When he returned, he handed her a cup of herbal tea.
“Thank you.”
