It was exactly what I’d said I wouldn’t do.
Regret flooded through me, even as I knew I would never take it back. No matter what came out of this, last night with Gwen had been magical.
I wasn’t crazy about theonenight part of our one-night stand. But this wasn’t the time to talk about it.
Quietly, I slipped out of her bed and dressed.
After I tugged my boots back on and laced them up, I looked back at her one more time.
She was lying in the bed with the blankets down to her waist.
Her dark hair was a tangled mess from the fucking I’d given her last night, and her perky nipples were doing exactly that, perking at me as they peeked out from under the covers.
Gwen looked divine, and all I wanted to do was worship at the altar of her body.
But those were crazy thoughts.
Without another word, I unhooked her window screen, cranked open the window and silently slipped out.
As I walked back to the bunkhouse, I realized that last night might have changed my entire life.
I didn’t think I’d ever be the same again.
Gwen hadn’t been like other women.
Not that they hadn’t tried to hook me into something long term.
But there was a synergy between me and Gwen that I’d never felt before. The one thing I knew was Idefinitelydidn’t want last night to be a onetime event.
I slipped into the bunkhouse while I tried to make sense of my feelings.
This was all new to me and more than a little confusing.
Chapter 9
Gwen
Knox and I did our best to pretend nothing had happened between us over the next few days.
But I’d be lying if I said I was happy.
Sleeping with him had been divine. But now I was faced with an ache of loss that I hadn’t expected. I’d told myself not to get attached. And yet I found myself hanging on his every word… no matter how sparse they were.
And each stolen glance between us sent a tiny sliver of ice straight to my heart.
He was right here, living side by side with me. But that almost made it worse.
I could never have him. Not really.
All I could do was sleep with him again… if he was willing. And what would come of that? I’d just get more attached.
And Emerald, poor Emerald, didn’tneedthis on her plate right now. So I couldn’t even confide in my best friend. She had too much going on with her pregnancy. My number one goal in life was to keep her stress levels down right now.
We were in the kitchen playing cards, and the men were going to Rusty’s auto shop to look at a truck for sale. The seller was waiting there to see if Knox wanted it.
Knox needed his own transportation now that he’d started at the sawmill. Eric had been ferrying him back and forth this week, and I could tell it grated on Knox. He wanted to be self-reliant, almost needed it.
“We’ll be back soon,” Eric said, while Knox stood silently by his side. He glanced at me briefly, a tremor ofsomethingzipping between us, then the men walked out the door.
