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He’d expected the meeting of their lips to be soft and brief, assumed that was all she’d allow. He’d appreciated her trust last night so much he’d been careful not to do anything to break it. But she surprised him by throwing her arms around his neck and parting her lips, making the kiss far more passionate—so passionate that his hand automatically came up to palm the back of her head.

As her tongue moved against his, the rest of the world faded into the background. He couldn’t even feel the cold anymore.

By the time he pulled away, they were both breathing hard, and he was thinking that he was damn lucky he hadn’t kissed her last night. If she’d reacted this enthusiastically, there was no way they would’ve made it through the night with their clothes on.

Fortunately, they were outside where they could be seen from the main drag, which had some traffic even at this hour, and they were working against the clock. That forced them to keep themselves in check.

“Sorry,” she said when he set her away from him.

Her apology caught him as off guard as her heated response. “For what?”

Face flushed, she seemed happy, even excited, when she replied, “For being so…out of practice, I guess. And probably a little too eager. I nearly knocked you over.” She laughed. “But it’s been years since I’ve kissed a man. And that was…quite a kiss.”

He’d never encountered anyone as guileless and transparent as she was. He wasn’t quite sure how to react to it. He knew he could never be like that. He’d grown too used to maintaining a defensive position, couldn’t allow anyone to get too close. “You didn’t almost knock me over,” he said. Only metaphorically, he added silently.

When he left it there, she seemed disappointed, and he could understand why. He wished he could offer her the same candid honesty—let her know that he had never experienced a kiss quite like that one, either. But that would only propel them further down a dangerous road, one in which they’d both wind up worse off than they were now.

He needed to get her out of here, he decided. He couldn’t let his resolve crumble any further.

He wiped the snow off the roof and hood of her 4Runner with one arm. Then, while she got the scraper and went after the windows, he found a shovel in the maintenance closet and created a path to the road. They were fortunate. Montgomery Street wasn’t nearly as impacted as the parking lot. The snow there had already turned to slush, making him believe she wouldn’t have too much difficulty getting home.

Still, it was five-thirty by the time he opened the driver’s door and motioned for her to get in. She hesitated, probably unsure of how to say goodbye. But he couldn’t allow another kiss. He didn’t dare get that close to her again. He held the door but made no move to touch her as he told her, in a perfunctory way, that he’d let her know how the ads performed.

Her smile wilted. But then her chest lifted as she drew a deep breath and shored it up. “Thank you. I appreciate…everything. It was…nice of you.” Her feigned brightness—what he identified as determination to take the rejection well—was almost as admirable as everything else about her. It made him feel like shit, but he knew he couldn’t change his mind. “No problem,” he said.

As soon as she buckled her seat belt, he closed the door, and she gave him that “grin and bear it” smile again, put her 4Runner in Reverse and managed to get out of the lot.

“Thank God,” he muttered as he watched her taillights disappear.

Chastising himself for not staying away from her in the first place, he went back inside—and that was when he noticed that she’d forgotten her computer.

* * *

Patience was able to park in the detached garage and sneak inside the house while it was still dark and quiet. Fortunately, when she told her father she was meeting with a couple of business owners who were helping to promote the festival last night, she hadn’t mentioned any names, and he’d been so caught up in what he was watching that she’d managed to get out the door before he could ask. She hadn’t wanted to give him the chance to warn her—once again—of the risks of associating with someone like Kanon, especially when Kanon was only trying to help make the festival a success.

As a parent herself, she understood that her father was trying to keep her safe. But the longer she lived with Carl since moving back in after her divorce, the more say he felt he had in her life.

She could always combat that by getting her own place, she reminded herself. She wasn’t helpless. He was being generous to let her stay. But every time she considered moving out, she listed the costs and couldn’t justify the expense. Her job didn’t pay a lot in the first place. She needed to save for Ari’s college, wedding and other important events.

Besides, her father wasn’t normally too big of a problem—as long as she wasn’t dating, and she hadn’t so much as looked at a man since Jack.

A toilet flushed before she could start up the stairs to her room. Judging by where the sound came from, it had to be her father. He had the master suite, which was located on the main floor.

Holding her breath, she listened carefully, waiting to see if he’d go back to bed. She didn’t dare make any noise, couldn’t risk drawing him from his room. He insisted on sleeping with his door open—said he felt too claustrophobic otherwise—and could see the stairs from his doorway. If he caught her wearing the same clothes she’d had on last night, she wouldn’t be able to lie her way out of the fact that she hadn’t returned until now. It would be too easy for him to check her car and find the engine still warm.

Her heartbeat crashed in her ears like cymbals while she waited, but when his light didn’t come on, and he didn’t appear in the doorway, she moved as stealthily as possible, creeping up each stair slowly while praying it wouldn’t creak beneath her weight.

All remained quiet. Relieved, she took a deep breath as she reached her room, closed the door and flew into action, removing her clothes, throwing them in the bin in her closet and pulling on a T-shirt before slipping into bed. She had to get up in forty-five minutes, didn’t have much time to grab a nap.

She doubted she could fall asleep again anyway. Her mind was spinning over the moment when Kanon had kissed her in the parking lot. He hadn’t tried anything while they were in his bed. He’d held her carefully, almost like a porcelain doll he thought he might break. So the kiss had completely surprised her. Where had it come from? And why had he backed away so quickly afterward?

It didn’t matter, she told herself. She couldn’t date him. She had too many things to consider. Her father was one of them. She didn’t want to disappoint Carl or embarrass him in front of his flock again. She didn’t want to go back to battle with him, either. It’d been so upsetting and exhausting the first time, when she was married to Jack. Her father had won in the end, anyway, so mustering the defiance to fight for her independence had all been for nothing.

She also didn’t want to disrupt Ari’s life, didn’t want her daughter to have to live with two people who were struggling to get along. Jack and Glenda’s divorce would be difficult enough for her daughter. Whether she acknowledged it or not, change was change and always introduced uncertainty. In other words, trying to have a relationship with Kanon wouldn’t be worth the damage it would cause, especially when chances were good—by his own admission—that he wouldn’t stay in Hard Luck for very long. Once he returned to North Dakota or wherever he went next, she’d be left alone to cope with the wreckage their relationship had caused.

But that kiss… She already knew she’d never forget it.

She hugged herself, reliving the moment his lips had met hers, the way he’d tasted and held her anchored so tightly against him as the snow drifted lazily down around them.