“I have to say,pure goldsounds like the sort of thing you’d look for in a partner.”
“All right.” She couldn’t keep her smile from breaking through. “You’ve impressed me from the get-go. But I would never agree to marry someone, even hypothetically, when I’ve only spent a few hours with him.”
“Very intense hours. We’ve had a chance to show our true colors. We’ve had quality over quantity. We?—”
“Give it a rest, counselor.”
“Meaning?”
“You won’t get an answer from me tonight.” She let the sheet fall away. “But if you’re willing to drop the subject, you might get something else.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
That hadn’t gone as bad as it could have. And Kieran made sure the rest of the evening was a roaring success. He loved the hell out of Sara until they were both too exhausted to do more than kiss goodnight and curl up together in Rance’s king-sized bed.
The alarm they’d set chimed at four-fifteen. They both staggered out of bed and bumped into each other as they sorted through the clothes on the floor.
“We need to be more organized next time,” Sara mumbled.
“Next time?” The cobwebs disappeared from his brain. “You’ll come back again?”
“At the risk of adding ammunition to your argument, I’ll admit that I’ve never had sex this good and I want more of it.”
“If you think I’m too sleepy to remember that, I’m not.” He’d cherish that comment for the rest of his days.
“Speaking of sleep, why are you getting dressed? You don’t have to go anywhere. You can just stay here and catch up. I’ll bet you’re still jet-lagged.”
“I’m walking you out to the porch. That’s what we pure gold fellas do.”
“Until you pass out from lack of sleep. You need to conserve your energy. Aren’t you and Lucky doing a nine o’clock call to your granny?”
“We are.”
“Are you going to say anything about me?”
“I don’t know. I could, since Lucky’s in on this secret.”
“Do you want my opinion?”
“I do, yeah.”
“Don’t say anything about me. You’ll be giving her enough emotional news about your mom and Lucky. Even Oksana won’t be on the call. Mentioning me, even if you only refer to me as a new friend, could add confusion.”
“That’s good advice. I’ll take it. But I’ll need to tell her about you eventually. Just so you know, she’d believe I’ve found my dream girl and it was meant to be.”
“Which could only make the situation more difficult for both of you.”
“Maybe.” His gut tightened. No maybe about it.
“I hear Rance’s truck.” She picked up her jacket and put it on. “I just need my phone. Where?—”
“Here.” He took it off the bedside table, handed it to her and followed her into the living room. He didn’t want her to leave. “I’ll text you after the phone call with Granny. I don’t know what the schedule is apart from that.”
“Me, either.”
“But I’ll see you. At lunch, or dinner, or?—”
“We’ll see each other.” She turned and gave him a quick kiss. “Good luck with the call.”
