Page 40 of His Southern Temptation

“Damn it. And you just thought this up?”

“No. It first popped into my mind two years ago in Hawaii.” He reached up, caressing her bottom lip with his thumb. His half smile was sexy and indulgent. “It scared me so bad, I hopped the first plane out of there. You remember.”

She did remember. It had scared her too.

“And now?”

“Now, I’m looking for more and I want it with you.”

His words thrilled her, the icy, hot rush coursing through her veins. She wanted to run and wanted to stay. She wanted to scream and she wanted to kiss him senseless. Emotions morphed together into a huge ball of frustration that sat heavy in her gut. The urge to lash out in frustration was one she barely contained.

“So I’m supposed to give up all my plans to come back here and play happy farmer’s wife?”

“You can have your business here.”

“With your mom?”

“Yes. Or with a spa in Roanoke, or you can open your own business and be independent.”

“Lucky, I have an amazing deal on the table that I have to sign within the next couple of weeks or it’s gone forever. I don’t have enough in savings to get a loan to do it on my own and these guys are covering a good part of what is normally my investment cost. I cannot just throw away years of hard work to see if we’d work out.”

“You know how good we are together.”

“Only for a few days at a time. In bed. Most couples never last past the honeymoon stage, and that’s all we’ve ever had.”

“What made you such a cynic?”

“Oh, Bobby wasn’t my only poor choice. Just the first.” She brought up another option. “Why can’t you come to Hawaii? It’s beautiful, modern, so much more to offer than here.”

“The farm is here.”

“So your dad is going to sell it to you?”

“He will.” Lucky’s jaw was set, eyes hard with determination.

He scooted forward, large hands hooking under her body to pull her into his lap. She pushed against him, resenting his manhandling but also finding his touch comforting. In his arms she could pretend they weren’t really at odds.

“I’m not asking you to decide right now. Just promise me you’ll keep an open mind.” His words were a soft caress against her skin, in perfect complement to the way his calloused hands petted her back in long, soothing strokes. “Think about giving us a chance.”

She groaned against his shoulder, the urge to flat-out deny his request not as powerful as she expected. The fact that she was even considering his suggestion told her that she should hitch the first flight back to the islands. “Why couldn’t you just let this go? Why couldn’t we go along as we always have?”

He nudged her face up with his hand, forcing her to look at him. He was smiling, his eyes bright blue and smile boyish. It was the expression of a man who knew what he wanted. Damn.

“Because I want you.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah. Oh.” He leaned down, brushing a soft kiss across her mouth, dipping in to taste and making her squirm with the shot of desire it produced. He nudged back, the beginnings of an erection nestled against her thigh. “Beck told me I needed to use our time here to convince you to stay. I realized he was right.”

“Well, hell, if you’re taking relationship advice from Beck, then this is already a disaster.”

He chuckled against her hair, shaking them both. “True. His relationships usually only last the time it takes to zip and unzip his pants.”

They moved, scooting back under the covers to lie face-to-face, legs tangled together. For a while the only sound was their breathing and the various creaks and pops of the old house. Taylor let her mind wander over the day’s revelations.

“Why didn’t you tell me about my mother hitting you at the church?”

“I didn’t see the point. Your mom needed to be mad at somebody and I was happy to take the brunt of it.”

“She never did like you.”

“Understatement of the century.” His words were partially muffled as he pressed a soft kiss just under her ear. “What did she say when you told her about Bobby cheating on you?”

---