Wade nodded. His grip tightened around her hand, and without any prompting, she stepped closer to him.
It was dangerously close. He could feel her breath against his chin as she looked up at him. In half a second, he could have placed his lips against hers. What would she do?
He paused, imagining it for a moment. Did he dare? They were married, weren’t they? Deep down, he knew this was something he shouldn’t want.
And yet he did, desperately.
She looked up at him with those brown eyes, full of trust and hope and everything good in the world. His hand itched to reach up and cup her cheek, to pull her chin upward ever so gently.
And just as he thought he might give in, the door creaked open and Wade yanked himself away from her.
“Boss? You ready to go? That sheriff is getting restless.” Stewart stood in the doorway, seemingly oblivious to what he’d just interrupted.
“Let’s get on, then. I’ll be there in a second.”
Stewart nodded and disappeared out the door.
“Please be careful,” Hazel said, her hands clasped together.
“I will. It should be uneventful.”
“I’ll look forward to your return tomorrow.” She looked up at him with the sweetest, most genuine smile.
Before he could stop himself, Wade stepped forward and placed a kiss against her forehead. It wasn’t what he truly wanted, but it would have to do for now.
And then he left to retrieve what belonged to him.
Chapter Fourteen
Hazel woke suddenlyfrom a dreamless sleep.
She blinked in the darkness. It didn’t feel late enough to rise for the day. She reached for her father’s old pocketwatch, which lay on the bedside table. Squinting through the shadows, the clock face showed 3:30 a.m.
Hazel dropped the pocketwatch and fell back against her bed. Her eyes had just drifted shut again when a squeak came from downstairs.
Heart thumping hard, she sat up. Had Wade returned home? He’d said “tomorrow,” and while it was that, she hadn’t imagined him driving cattle home in the dark of night.
