One Tall, Dusty Cowboy

“Rafe! What are you doing here?”

He moved closer. “Waiting on you to get off work. I asked at the nurses’ desk to speak with you, but a nurse there told me you were busy changing shifts and that you’d be out shortly.”

She let out a long, pent-up breath. “I—well, you certainly surprised me. Is anything wrong with Bart? He seemed fine this morning.”

Shaking his head, he took another step toward her. “Gramps is fine. I just found your voice mail earlier this evening. My men and I have been working out on the far west range for the past two days. My phone lost its charge.”

“Oh. I had decided you didn’t want to talk to me.”

He continued to study her closely. “The other night before I left your house, you implied that I was wasting my time with you. Am I?”

Reaching up, she pulled a pin from her coiled hair and shook it free. “I honestly don’t know, Rafe. The other night—I was—well, I rarely date. You see, I made a mistake in trusting a man once and since then I’m afraid I see most of you as predators. That’s wrong of me, I know. But I can’t get past it.”

He was close enough now for her to see his features soften and a look of understanding flicker in his eyes.

“Lilly.”

As he spoke her name his hands reached out to cradle her face, and his touch was like a ray of sunlight bathing every cell in her body with delicious heat.

“I’m not going to pretend that I’m the perfect guy for you. Or that I’m even a good guy. I only know that when I’m with you everything feels different. I feel different. Something about being with you brings out the better side of me. I don’t want that to end, Lilly.”

The quiver she felt rushing through her body had nothing to do with being exhausted and everything to do with this man that was touching her as tenderly as a drop of dew on a rose petal.

“These past few days I’ve been trying not to think about you, Rafe. But to be honest, I’ve missed you.”

He didn’t make any sort of reply. Instead, he threaded his fingers into her hair, then bent his head toward hers. The second his lips angled over hers, the cautious side of her was screaming for her to step back and run from this man. But the lonely yearning inside her was much stronger and before she knew it, she was slipping her arms around his waist and opening her mouth to his eager kiss.

After that, she was totally and completely lost. His sensual scent swirled through her head and mingled with the taste of his mouth. Against her back, she could feel his hands drawing her closer and closer. Sweet, hot desire burst inside her and the onslaught had her desperately clutching his arms for support.

The kiss went on and on and probably would have continued if it hadn’t been for the sound of approaching voices. When their mouths finally tore apart, Lilly quickly stepped back to put a respectable distance between them. As she sucked long breaths of air into her starved lungs, she realized her lips were burning and so was the rest of her body.

Taking her by the hand, Rafe said in a low, husky voice, “Let’s go somewhere for coffee or something. Anywhere. Okay?”

As soon as she’d stepped into his arms, she’d crossed the line of no return. He understood that and so did she. The realization of what that meant sent a shiver of anticipation rippling through her. What did this man really want from her? And exactly what was she willing to give him? She didn’t know the answer to either of those questions. But she was certain of one thing: she wasn’t going to run and hide anymore.

“I’ve not eaten yet,” she told him. “Are you hungry?”

“Starved. Let’s go get that burger you wanted the other night,” he suggested.

“Green Lizard Bar and Grill is just two blocks down from here and it’s good. If that’s okay with you, I’ll follow you in my car,” she told him.

“I know where it is.” He planted a kiss on her cheek. “I’ll wait for you out front.”

Moments later, as Lilly drove her car a short distance behind Rafe’s truck, she realized her hands were trembling on the steering wheel and she had the strangest sensation of wanting to laugh and cry at the same time.

For years she’d believed she’d lost her ability to feel any sort of desire. She’d thought her chance to experience passion again had walked out the door with Grant. She’d believed her hopes and dreams had died when the baby she’d been carrying was lost to a miscarriage.

But now Rafe had created an explosion inside her. A wonderful explosion that she never wanted to end. The only thing she needed to worry about at this point was keeping her heart separated from the passion. Even if she did throw caution to the wind and go to bed with him, she would never let herself make the mistake of falling in love with him.

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