“Is there something between you and him? Something I might be stepping in the middle of?”
“No.” She shook her head for emphasis. “There’s never been anything between me and Rafe.”
“Good. Then I’m gonna do this.”
Before she knew what was happening, Holt was kissing her again. This time her common sense left for a shorter period, and though she kissed him back, she managed to stop it first.
Someone hit the drum snare and snapped Bailey out of her hormone-induced mental coma, bringing her front and center.
“Don’t worry, little rabbit,” Holt whispered, his eyes still locked with hers. “I know how to be a gentleman.”
That was good because she certainly wasn’t behaving like a lady. And if he were to leave it up to her, there was a good chance her lust for him would obliterate her decorum.
***
True to his word, Holt played therole of the perfect gentleman during the concert.
It wasn’t an easy feat, that was for damn sure.
Well, he figured it was, and it wasn’t.
He wasn’t a bad guy. He didn’t take things that weren’t offered, but from the moment Bailey kissed him back, he’d felt something. Something he’d never felt before. And yeah, that was a fucking cliché if he’d ever heard one, but that didn’t make it any less true. He wouldn’t pretend to be a saint, but he had never felt what he felt when he kissed Bailey.
Okay, fine. That wasn’t exactly true. He’d never felt it for awomanbefore, and he’d kissed plenty. Only one other person had caused that molten eruption in the center of his being, but that had been so long ago that Holt had started thinking it was merely a figment of his imagination. That was why he was here in this small town Rafe Sharpe called home. Holt had come here for a repeat, if for no other reason than to determine whether it was real.
A repeat he seriously doubted would happen based on Rafe’s reaction to his presence earlier. No, Holt hadn’t anticipated a warm welcome from Rafe since the man had up and left the morning after. And not merely Holt’s bed, either. He’d left town. Disappeared. That was nearly three years ago. Holt had intended to track him down long before now, but life had gotten in the way, and he’d vowed he wouldn’t make a move until the timing was right for him to do so.
The timing was finally right, although it could be too late to matter.
The lack of reception from Rafe was expected. But meeting Bailey Weber certainly was not. From the moment Holt walked into the Double R Retreat, he hadn’t stopped thinking about the woman with big hazel eyes and silky hair the color of rich caramel. He’d never seen a woman who looked more pure and wholesome as she did. But that kiss made him think there was a fire banked deep inside her, and the moment she shed that virtuous outer layer, she was going to do some serious damage to some poor man’s heart. Holt only prayed it wasn’t his.
“You want to grab a drink?” he offered when the park began clearing out after the last song.
Bailey brushed her hair back from her face, still avoiding eye contact with him. “I should probably get back.”
“I’ll walk you.”
“You don’t have to.” This time she did look at him. “It’s right there.”
Holt tucked his hands in his pockets to keep from reaching for her. “Then it won’t take us long.”
They’d only taken a few steps when Bailey spoke up.
“How do you know Rafe?”
“We met several years ago down in Corpus. I booked a condo on the beach so I could finish up a project. I couldn’t focus for shit, so I found a place that wouldn’t allow for any distractions. I learned there was one fatal flaw in my plan when a group of people came down to camp out the first weekend I was there. Turned out they did it every weekend in the summer to blow off steam, so I started hanging out with them. Rafe and I became … friends.” He nudged her with his arm. “How doyouknow Rafe?”
“I grew up here. He’s from here. We worked at the same bar for a while.”
“But you never dated him?”
Bailey shook her head, her eyes focused on the ground in front of her. “Not for lack of tryin’ on my part.”
That was interesting.
“Rafe can be a stubborn one,” Holt told her.
Bailey chuckled. “Understatement of the century.”
