Vivid images of the night before flashed in front of her.Oh, my goodness.She’d never thought of herself as a passionate creature, but in Becket’s arms she’d become someone completely different.Someone who knew how to tease, how to flirt, how to make love.
Make love.Swallowing against the lump in her throat, she willed back the tears.She’d fallen in love with him.Against her better judgment, against her resolve never to get involved again, she was so involved she wasn’t sure whether she’d survive being without Becket.
It hadn’t been just sex for her.Not with Becket.Even though there was no way she could tell him how she felt about him, she’d tried to show him with every touch, every kiss, how deeply she cared about him, how beautiful he made her feel.This was a one-way street, she knew that.He’d been very clear from the start.
She’d walked in here, eyes wide open.Granted, at the time she hadn’t realized she’d lost her heart to the cowboy, but she couldn’t blame anyone but herself for falling for Becket Weston.
Sighing, she sat up.It was time to get back to reality.
The bedroom door flew open and in walked Becket, the three dogs at his heels.He was shirtless, carrying two mugs and her mouth instantly watered.And not only because she smelled coffee.
“Good morning, sexy.”He grinned.“Coffee.”
The dogs jumped on the bed, barking happily, fortunately giving her time to try and gather her wayward thoughts.Harper moved right up to Ellie, panting happily.“Good morning,” Ellie crooned as she petted Harper’s head.Jack and Sadie immediately followed her lead, also wanting attention.
“Okay, guys, give Ellie some space,” Becket said.
The dogs jumped down and, barking, chased one another out of the room.
Becket handed her a mug.“Sorry about that, they’ve been so excited to see you again.”
She took a sip, her eyes on Becket’s very sexy chest.
Blue eyes found hers above the rim of the mug.“If you keep looking at me like that, I won’t be responsible for what happens next.”
Taking another sip, she looked her fill.
With a soft cussword, he put down his mug and took hers from her hand.“I was going to let you enjoy your coffee first, but I don’t have much time and I need…” Closing the bedroom door, he quickly got rid of his jeans.“I need to be with you.”
Her eyes widened when she saw him.
“I woke up ready for you.”He grinned as he got into the bed with her.
So did she.She had no idea how a one-night stand worked; she’d thought Becket would’ve left already by the time she woke up.But if this was the last time in his arms, she was going to enjoy every minute.
*
As he parkedin front of the guesthouse to drop Ellie off, she turned to look at him.“I have one more question.Tell me about Walker?”
Swallowing, he looked away.It was always difficult for him to talk about his brother.“We were all in the car.We’d been to town and were on our way back to the ranch.Hayden swerved for an elk, the car skidded off the road and… I could’ve grabbed Walker’s arm, but my mind was on my art and, well, he died.”
“So you blame yourself?”
“If I’d been paying attention, I could’ve saved him.”
“And you feel guilty.Is that why you’re trying to do his work on the ranch as well?”
Startled, he looked at her.Is that what he was doing?
Bending forward, he pulled her close.“You’re asking way too many questions again.Kiss me.”
Chapter Eleven
On Tuesday thefollowing week, Becket was late again for breakfast.When their mom had still lived on the ranch, they’d always had meals together at her house, which was now Hayden and Laura’s house.With a great cook like Isabella—the wife of Ricardo, one of the ranch hands—preparing all the meals, it hadn’t been difficult to persuade them to share meals at the homestead.They’d continued the tradition even after their mom had moved to a house in town.It gave them time to connect and also talk about work.
Since last Monday, he’d seen Ellie every day.On the nights she stayed with him, she usually left for work early in the morning.Initially he’d reckoned they’d only see one another over the weekend, but at the end of each day, no matter how tired he was, he found himself driving into town to either take her to dinner or to fetch her to stay with him.
As soon as she fell asleep, he slipped away to check on his emails and post his illustrations.As a result, he didn’t sleep very much.Emails.There had been another email from June Kincaid, but he’d deleted it again.Of course it was a scam, he was simply going to ignore it.
