“No doubt.”
“I know she blames herself, but the four of us understand it was a fault of our father’s, not hers.”
“You’re a good son, Hadley.” I trace the angle of his jawline with my fingertip, unable to resist the urge to touch him any longer.
He pops up on his elbow, his face inches from mine. “Tell me what makes you tick, Maggie Gallagher.”
“You might not like the answer,” I whisper.
“Try me.”
Now I’m the one loaded with heavy sighs. “I feel like if I don’t at least try to make a difference in this world, I’ve wasted my time here. We have such limited lives, and even those can be taken away without a second’s notice...”
His head tilts a little, and I swear he’s stopped breathing.
I close my eyes, inhaling to steady my racing heart currently doing its best to leave at full throttle.
Knuckles brush over my cheek before his palm presses to the side of my face. His thumb drags over my bottom lip, and my last breath hitches. Eyes fluttering open, I see him more clearly now in the dim space. And there is no denying the heat in his gaze as he leans in.
“You are already making a difference, believe me.”
I open my mouth to say something, anything, only managing to swallow back a cluster of incoherent words. A kiss presses to my forehead before he lies on his back and slides his hands underneath his head. “Night, Maggie.”
Stunned and teetering on the edge of something I’ve never felt before, I shuffle back down to my side and pull the sheet up. I roll onto my back and stare into the nothingness around us.
The realness of what just happened between us sinks in.
I don’t think the universe was listening when I said I’d never fall for a rodeo man.
Or maybe it was, and it’s out to spite me.
Hadley’s steady, slow breaths fill the space. Now I’m anything but tired.
Uttering a curse under my breath, I roll over and slam my eyes shut. Everything will feel a lot less complicated in the morning, I’m sure.
Right?
