“I’m willing to accept that you’re not that kind of man. But that’s not the only thing worrying me.”
“Then what else?” If there were more obstacles, he hoped to remove them. Discovering whether he and Elle had a chance of building a relationship was his top priority.
“Judging from the way you reacted to breaking up with Cassie, you were deeply in love with her.”
“I certainly thought I was, but I’ve figured out it never would have worked. I’ve made peace with that.” He had a sudden insight. “Is that why you didn’t leave any contact information? You thought I was in love with someone else?”
“You were in love with someone else.”
“I suppose so.” He shoved his fingers through his hair. “But I’m not anymore, and I’m extremely interested in you, so I don’t understand why we’re talking about Cassie.”
“I just need to know something. Do you usually get that involved when you’re in a relationship?”
He sensed this might be a trap, so he took a moment before he responded. “Sometimes I do, yes.” That wasn’t quite accurate. He had a tendency to surrender his entire heart to the woman in his life, which left him bruised and battered when the love affair ended. But he didn’t know how else to be.
“Getting deeply involved with me wouldn’t be a good idea.”
“Are you married?” He imagined some Latin lover down in Argentina and wanted to hit something.
“No, and I don’t expect to get married for a long, long time.”
“That’s fine with me, but just for the record, why the repetition of the word long? Do you have something against marriage?”
She pointed a finger at him. “See? That’s what worries me. I’ll bet you’re looking for happily ever after.”
“Eventually, yeah. What’s the matter with that?”
“Not a thing, except...well, I’m just not into that routine.”
“Okay.”
“I’m looking for ‘happy right now.’”
He desperately wanted to touch her. If he could kiss her, this conversation would be unnecessary. She was worrying about things that wouldn’t matter for quite a while. When April arrived, they could deal with this issue. Talking about it tonight was a waste of valuable time. “I can work with happy right now.”
“You were awfully quick to say that, Trey. I’m not convinced you mean it, especially if you’ve been thinking about me for months and you even wrote a song about me.”
He gazed into her blue eyes and curbed his frustration. Maybe she had a point. Now that he’d discovered that his angel was a beautiful woman, he could be guilty of romanticizing the connection between them and falling in love with the idea of her. Yeah, that sounded like something he’d do.
Blowing out a breath, he shoved his hands in his pockets so he wouldn’t forget himself and reach for her. “It’s possible I’ve attached too much meaning to this chance encounter because of Pam and Emmett’s wedding after what happened last spring. But damn it, when a gorgeous woman appears out of nowhere and saves your life, that’s gonna make an impression.”
“You were delirious. I doubt you saw me all that clearly. You couldn’t have known how I looked.”
“That’s true. I’ve thought about how dazed and confused I must have been. You could have been seventy-five and missing all your teeth and I wouldn’t have known the difference.”
She smiled at that.
“But you seemed like some sort of angel with your halo of blond hair, which was lit up somehow.”
“From the headlights of my truck, no doubt.”
“Probably. I also remembered your beautiful blue eyes, which are as beautiful as I thought they were, by the way.”
“Thanks.” Her cheeks turned pink.
“But I especially remembered your voice—soft, caring, soothing. I’m a musician, so sound means a lot to me. Your voice, which is also sexy as hell, has been part of many dreams these past few months.”
The color in her cheeks darkened. “Oh.”
“Now let me ask you something.”
“Fair enough.”
“Did you ever think of me after that?”
She met his gaze, even though she continued to blush furiously. “Yes.”
“Often?”
“Often enough.” She drew a quivering breath. “But that whole bit about Cassie made me decide you were too intense for me, so I thought it was better that we’d lost touch.”
“And now?” He probably shouldn’t have asked that, but the gleam in her eyes made him bolder.
“Oh, Trey. You do turn me on, but I’m so afraid that—”
“Don’t be afraid.” He pulled her into his arms and lowered his head. He was done talking. “Don’t ever be afraid of me.”
* * *
KNOWING FULL WELL that she was doing exactly what she’d vowed not to, Elle gave up the fight. But he was so appealing, so determined, and...oh, dear God, the man could kiss. His mouth covered hers gently at first as he settled in with velvet pressure that was just enough to make her want more. Pulse racing, she cupped the back of his head and parted her lips, inviting him to take as many liberties as he wanted.
And he obviously wanted. He deepened the kiss with a sureness that made her gasp. There would be no retreat now. She’d planned to stay in control, but that plan was scrapped the moment she surrendered to the thrust of his tongue. When he splayed his fingers over her bottom and pulled her against his rigid cock, she moaned in excitement.
Clothes became the enemy. She tugged at the snaps of his Western shirt, needing to touch him without any barrier. His breathing roughened when she slid her palms up the furred planes of his muscular chest.
Lifting his mouth a fraction from hers, he chuckled. “I’ll take that as a green light.”
“Extremely green.” She reached for his belt buckle. “I want you naked and I want you now.”
“That means we have matching goals.” Returning to that most excellent kiss, he slid a hand under her sweater and unfastened her bra with one quick movement.
Things progressed quickly after that. His ability to kiss was matched by his talent for ridding her of her clothes. She completely lost track of her mission to unbuckle his belt.
A girl could be forgiven for being distracted when a hot cowboy expertly slipped off her sweater and put his mouth there...and there...and there. She whimpered as he took her nipple between his teeth and tugged. This was going to be good. Very good. She’d worry about the emotional consequences later.
As she adjusted to the wonders of being topless and very well caressed, he moved on, divesting her of her jeggings, panties and boots. After that, well, he really took liberties with where he put his clever mouth. And his agile tongue.
Her knees threatened to give way as he drove her insane. “I’m...going to fall...”
“Not on my watch.” Scooping her into his arms, he laid her down on the bed and proceeded to finish what he’d started, which meant she had to grab a pillow and press