The door opens just after sunrise to reveal Winnie’s tired and surprised face at finding us tucked beneath my blanket and Cord’s jacket like little icicles, still talking. She takes one look and shuts the door with a bang.
“Oops,” I mutter.
“She’ll recover. But damn, I’m sore.” Cord shifts, tucking me deeper into his side.
“That’s what we get for sitting on a doorstep for half the night. I feel like a teenager again.” My lips tingle as I raise my fingers to touch swollen skin. Cord tracks the motion, his gaze suddenly laser-focused.
“You don’t kiss like a teenager.” His mouth touches the corner of mine and then grazes along my throat. He straightens as the door opens. Two mugs of coffee emerge and are set down before the door slams shut with another bang.
“I’m leaving in fifteen minutes. Put some clothes on!” Winnie yells through the door, loud enough for half the street to hear.
I grimace as her voice echoes along the quiet alleyway between the close-set town houses at this hour. “We’d be ice cubes if we were naked.”
“Mmm.” Cord stares at his mug skeptically and takes a tentative sip. “Devils be damned. That’s fucking terrible.”
I snort into his shoulder. “Welcome to the world of us plebs, you great snob. Instant gets better.”
“Like hell it does.” Cord rises, collecting the blanket, and holds out his hand. “It’s wet. Sorry.”
“We’ll be lucky if we don’t both get sick from this.”
“Yeah.” Cord stares at me as he hauls me upright. “I meant what I said last night. Come with me. Or come out to the ranch on your own. But stay with me.”
The charged ambiance of last night returns in force. “I’ve never done anything like this before, Cord.” I suck my tender bottom lip between my teeth.
His intense gaze follows the movement. “Me either. But someone recently told me to be more impulsive,” he murmurs, brushing his lips across my temple.
And I thought you said you’d been planning this, you rancher stalker.
“That’s a pretty big jump,” I hedge.
“That house has been empty too long. Help me fill it, Lanie.” Cord downs his coffee and presses his mouth against mine in a tender gesture that leaves my heart thundering. “Please.”
Even with Winnie’s warning ringing in my head, I can’t say no, because I don’twantto say no to this man. But I can’t fess up to my friend, either. So I say nothing as she fusses around and finally leaves for work, casting a speculative glance at us both.
Then I take the coward’s way out and write her a note, ignoring my head telling me I should listen to her warning. Because, just for once, I don’t want to do the logical thing.
And Cord’s kisses as he says goodbye afterward on the doorstep are the addictive sort.
Even if doing what he asks is the worst idea of my entire month.
NINE
CORD
Changing My Pace
I can’t hide from the fact that we have a problem any longer as I stare at the meager collection of last year’s rodeo kit. It’s a hell of a lot smaller than it should be.
“You’re right. They aren’t here.” I tap my hat against my leg. “The stadium seating either never made it back, or it’s been stolen. You’ve put the order in, right?”
“As soon as we spoke about this last time.” West’s voice holds a sharp edge.
“When we spoke last time” is putting that one-sided conversation bluntly—the time he burst into my kitchen when I had Lanie in my arms and he refused flat out to acknowledge she existed.
And still won’t.
“I’m not brushing this off. Do you remember stacking the rest, afterward?” I searched the barn, but there are only so many places to hide forty-eight pieces of metal fencing.
