“It’s not the same as you saying it straight out.”
She nodded slowly, thoughtfully. Her fingernails pressed white crescents into her palms. She took a steadying breath. “No, of course it isn’t. You’re right. You shouldn’t have to interpret or guess. So here it is straight out. I love you. My heart aches so fierce at times that I want to curse you. Sometimes I do. There’s not much that frightens me, but I’ve been scared to death for a long time now, some about this twisting, aching feeling that I can’t shake, but mostly about something happening to you. I think Sheriff Carter would as soon shoot you as look at you, so yes, I made it my business to see him in this getup and keep you out of his sights.”
It was a lot to take in and Call didn’t say anything fora time. The buckboard creaked and rumbled. Behind him, Artemis nickered. Grasses shifted in the breeze. Laurel was staring straight ahead and Call could only see her in profile. A muscle jumped in her cheek as she clenched her jaw. It made him smile. She was always so determined. It was one of the many things he loved about her.
“That achy, twisted feeling you have? I have it, too.”
Laurel risked a quick look in his direction. “You do?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Are we both afflicted, you reckon?”
“Seems as if we might be.”
She nodded. “It ought not to make a body feel so unsettled.”
“Skittish, too, like a cockroach on a hot griddle.”
Now Laurel stared at him, eyes wide, jaw a little slack.
“I know,” he said, deadpan. “Mrs. Lancaster says I’m not much for sweet talk.”
“To say the least.”
He reached for her hand, put his over hers, and pulled up on the reins. The buckboard rattled to a stop. Artemis came forward and nudged Call’s shoulder with her nose. He shrugged her off. “Laurel.”
Her eyes shifted from the hand covering hers to his face. “Hmm?”
“I love you,” he said. “I wanted you to hear it straight so you can’t mistake my feelings. It’s been in me for a long time, but I didn’t trust what you would do with it.”
Laurel felt pressure building behind her eyes. She blinked. Tears came anyway, unbidden, unwelcome. They hovered, blurring her vision, but they didn’t fall, and she shut her eyes. Call’s thumb made a pass across her spiky lashes, erasing her tears. She gave him a watery smile. “I’m sorry,” she said, her voice a mere whisper. “You were right not to trust me. I’ve been horrible.”
“You’ve been afraid.”
“Yes. Since you showed up at the station.”
“First or second time?”
“Second time,” she said, and then because there was agleam in his eyes, she added, “I didn’t give you much thought when you were only passing through.”
Call studied her face. “Liar. You were probably scared then, too. Scared you’d never see me again.”
There was some truth in what he said, not that she was going to admit to it just now. “You don’t think much of yourself, do you?”
He chuckled. “You’ll always keep me on my toes and in my place.”
“In your place? Where do you think that is?”
“With you,” he said simply. “It will always be with you.”
She was going to say that maybe he did know something about sweet talk after all, but then he was kissing her and it seemed best to say nothing.
It wasn’t a perfunctory kiss, no quick stamp as if he meant to seal a promise. No, he took off his hat and tossed it in the back of the buckboard. It was a sure sign that he meant this kiss to be sweet and slow and serious. He lingered, tasting and teasing just a little. The reins slipped out of her hand and dropped to her feet. The horses shifted but didn’t move forward. Laurel gripped the bench to steady herself in the event they changed their mind. It was not a satisfactory solution, not when Call steadied her so much better. She raised her hands to his shoulders, holding him as she held on.
He lifted his head a fraction so their lips were only a hairsbreadth away, and he murmured her name. She heard longing and need and something like satisfaction. That was all right, then, because she was satisfied as well. This man—and only this man—had become necessary to her, essential to a life fully lived.
Call changed the slant of his mouth, swept her damp upper lip with the tip of his tongue. Her fingers tightened on his shoulders while his curved around her waist. He pulled her closer. When she raised her head to catch her breath, he took advantage of her exposed throat and nipped at the slender cord in her neck.
