Finally, I drag my face away, turning my head so I can suck in a deep breath of much-needed air. Warner takes a step away, opening up Pearl’s driver side door. I climb in. “Let me know about this weekend,” I tell him.
He presses a thumb to the center of his lower lip, regarding me with that perceptive gaze of his. Maybe with most men I could get away with hiding my feelings, but Warner is not most men. His sensitivity doesn’t allow for smoke screens.
“You’ll talk when you’re ready?”
I nod. His willingness not to push is another reminder he is practiced in the art of relationships. Anna has taught him not to force a woman to talk when she doesn’t want to.
I turn the car on, Pearl’s engine coming to life with a roar. Warner closes my door, smacking it once with an open palm and striding back to the homestead as I drive away from it. On my way past Cowboy House, I spot Jessie and Wyatt coming out. They pause in the front porch light. She looks irritated. He looks exhausted. Maybe he was up late last night. Maybe he was with the married woman again. Far be it from me to judge.
I grab my phone as I lay down in bed and open up my text app. Just as I hoped, there’s a message from Warner.
Good night, beautiful.
I answer him withGood night, handsome.
24
Tenley
“You said you had an early morning.”
The voice comes from across the room. I open my eyes, blink against the sunlight, and hold back the groan rising up.
Warner has one eyebrow raised. He holds his coffee carafe and a white paper bag.
Sitting up, I pull the comforter up around my middle and push my hair from my face. “What time is it?”
“Nine. I took the kids to school and stopped for a treat”—he raises the white bag— “it’s blueberry muffin day at The Bakery. Thought I’d just be dropping it off for you to have when you returned, but when I drove up and saw Pearl, I went to my house and made coffee, then came over.”
“How did you get in?”
“You didn’t answer my knock, so I used my key.”
My mouth opens. “You’ve had a key this whole time?”
He shrugs. “Technically, you have a key to my house also. It’s near the front of the junk drawer in the kitchen.”
I frown. “Doesn’t count if I didn’t know it was there.”
“Are you mad I let myself in?”
I cross my arms and pretend to be upset. “Maybe.”
“Are you going to let me make it up to you?” His tone changes from apologetic to flirtatious.
“Depends on what you have planned.”
Warner grins. It’s not his normal, happy, nice guy grin. This is wolfish, causing frenzied excitement to flutter in my core. He sets the coffee on the dresser, but keeps the bag in his grasp. “First, I have for you a blueberry muffin that will put all others to shame.” He stops at the foot of the bed and hands me the bag. The mattress dips when he presses a knee onto the bed and leans forward on both hands. “And I’m wondering if you, perhaps, have a muffin for me to eat.”
My lips press together at the boldness of his words. Who would have guessed that the respectful man who pulled over to help a stranded stranger could talk like that?
Warner grips my ankle tucked safely under the sheets. “Did I embarrass you?”
“A little.”
Warner grins again, and I think helikesthat he made me blush. He grips the comforter in one hand and yanks, throwing the entire thing on the ground behind him. I laugh, and he does the same thing to the sheet, leaving me sitting there in my oversized T-shirt clutching the crinkly paper bag.
Warner’s gaze runs the length of my legs, his eyes hooded and hungry. A predator. I’ve never seen him like this. I… well, I love it. He lifts my leg, and I fall back on my elbows. Pressing a kiss to the inside of my ankle, he says, “I’ve missed you.”
