“It’s fine.”
“No. It’s not.” His voice was a low sexy rumble in his broad chest. Appearing upset with himself, he shifted, moving his weight forward on the sofa cushion.
Her heart going out to him, she moved closer still. And that was when she saw the ugly red wound on the inside of his palm. “Oh my God, Matt,” she gasped. “What is that?”
Chapter Ten
Matt got up from the sofa. “It’s just a splinter,” he said, folding his arms against the hard muscles of his chest and shrugging off her attempt to look at it.
Sara moved in and took his hand anyway, turned it over so she could see. Damn, that was an angry-looking wound. “Did you do this today?”
He shrugged nonchalantly, then lifted his eyes to meet hers. Their gazes clashed as surely as their wills. His scowl deepening, he admitted, “This morning. I was in a hurry. Didn’t bother to put on my work gloves.”
A wave of concern rushed through her. Followed by a surge of emotion that was even harder to rein in. Still holding his gaze with effort, she fought back a sigh. “You know when the skin around it starts to get red like this, that it’s getting infected?”
“I’m going to take care of it.”
She dropped her hand. “Really?” Beginning to realize why he hadn’t already done so, she challenged softly, “How? Given the fact the splinter is in your right palm and you’re right-handed.”
He cocked his head. Unable to argue with her assertion, finally said, “My brother Jack’s a surgeon.”
She nodded, amenable. “You could definitely drive into town and let him take care of it. Or—” she paused to let the sheer practicality of her offer sink in “—you could let me remove it.”
His eyes flashed, and another jolt of awareness swept through Sara. Reminding her just how very much she still desired him.
“Or I could just let it be until it’s convenient.”
Sara thought about the complications that could ensue. Like sepsis.
Determined to help him, whether he wanted her to or not, she stepped closer and curved her hand over the flexed muscles of his bicep. “Not a good idea,” she persisted.
He exhaled wearily.
Suddenly she was lumped in with all the other meddling, overprotective members of his family. And though she wasn’t eager to become a nuisance to him, she also couldn’t knowingly let him walk out of there without caring for him, with the same kindness and concern he’d been bestowing on her.
The oven timer went off.
Glad for the respite from their stare-down, Sara pulled the apple crumble out of the oven and set it on the stove top to cool. Giving Matt no chance to argue further, she went into the adjacent room, came back with a black bag in one hand, a first-aid kit in the other.
A surgeon was a surgeon, after all.
And if she could help...
When she breezed back in, she could see he had made up his mind to cooperate with her. Whether because it was easier than arguing with her, or the splinter hurt as much as she imagined and he really did want it removed, macho attitude aside.
Not that it mattered to her, since she wouldn’t have been able to bid him adieu without the gnawing guilt that she hadn’t been as neighborly to him as she should have been.
He watched as she inched on a pair of sterile gloves. Then leaned toward her and joked, “I thought you only worked on large animals.”
Refusing to let him ruffle her, she narrowed her gaze. “Exactly.”
He couldn’t help it; he laughed. “Yeah, well, just so you know,” he returned, as sexual chemistry arced between them, hotter than ever, “I’m only letting you do this because I still want some of that dessert.”
The practical side of her believed that. The apple crumble did smell good.
Almost as good as he did.
“Mmm-hmm.” With practiced efficiency and a poker face, she tore open a packet of antiseptic and cleaned the surface of his wound.
Although no sissy, he grimaced and hissed when she touched the skin.
She could see why. The thick jagged splinter was really in deep. Sympathy reigned. What was it about men that made them feel they had to conceal anything that might be conceived as a weakness? “Has this been hurting this bad all day?”
His expression remained impassive.
Sara retrieved a packet of sterile stainless-steel instruments from her bag. “Why didn’t you tell me when you got here?”
“I was already late.” He shrugged his broad shoulders. “And it wasn’t anything you or anyone else needed to worry about.”
She glanced sideways at him, then returned her attention to the foreign object needing to be removed. “Stubborn and self-sufficient!”
He chuckled again. “Hey...” He looked her up and down with lazy male confidence. “Look who’s talking!”
She flushed despite herself. “I’m a mom.” She focused on making a narrow incision in the top layer of skin. “I have to be competent in all areas of my life.”
He watched her use the tweezers to deftly remove the wood. “Well, so do ex-soldiers and ranch owners.”
“Touché.” Smiling, she coated the area with an antibiotic cream from her home first aid kit. “There. All better.” She put on a bandage. Started to move away.
He caught her by the elbow.
A shiver moved through her.
“Thank you,” he said sincerely.
As their eyes met, emotion shimmered between them.
“You have to take care of yourself,” she said, suddenly afraid he wasn’t.
He threaded a hand through her hair, his expression gentling all the more. “What I really want to do,” he confessed, his mouth lowering to hers, “is take care of you.”
Sara wanted that, too.
So very much...
The next thing she knew, she was all the way in his arms. They were kissing and touching in one long sensual line. Her body responded with a lightning bolt of desire, and now that he was deepening the kiss, another more powerful wave had started to surge. Followed by a riptide of longing and suppressed need, an aching awareness of just how alone she had been.
He tasted so incredibly good, she realized. Felt so strong and so right. She groaned as his hands cupped her breasts, his thumbs rubbing across the crests. She curled against him. She had never wanted someone so completely. Or felt so wanted in return.
Matt lifted his head. “You better tell me to leave,” he warned gruffly, “if you don’t want me to make love to you again.”
She laughed shakily. Determined to keep this light and easy and sexy. “Actually, I do. And you should...”
Matt laughed wickedly, as Sara hoped he would. He lifted her in his strong arms and settled her on the island. His gaze still holding hers, he caught her around the middle, guiding her legs snugly around his waist. He reached inside her shirt, undoing the clasp of her bra. She shuddered in anticipation. Smiling, he molded her soft curves with the palms of his hands, then bent his head and kissed her again, deeply, evocatively, until her heart was racing and she was tingling all over.
And still their mouths mated.
She shifted her hips, encountering rock solid hardness, heat. His hands moved to the bare skin of her thighs, and her skirt hiked up, nearly to her waist.
“You feel so good,” he whispered, leaving a trail of fevered kisses across her jaw, down her neck. She quivered as his caressing palms went even higher. Then lower. Easing beneath elastic. Finding the feminine heart of her with butterfly caresses. Slow. Deliberate. Determined to help her find release.
She shuddered again, so close to heaven. “Oh, Matt,” she whispered, arching with need, “you feel so good, too.”
His gray-blue eyes darkened with pleasure.
She shuddered and he coaxed her to respond even more, to let all her inhibition
s float away. Until her body pulsed and she tightened her legs around his waist and melted against him.
She had time to draw a breath, and then his mouth was on hers again, hot and hard, and they were kissing as if the world were going to end. She lost her panties. He lost his jeans.
Her nipples budded. The skin between her thighs grew slick once more. She opened herself up to him, longing for the ultimate closeness. He found a condom; she sheathed him. He gripped her bottom and stroked her where their bodies met. And still they kissed. Taking their time. Building their pleasure, pacing their movements, propelling each other to the very depths. Until there was no more holding back. They were racing to the very edge, soaring, climaxing, then ever so slowly coming back down.
Sara didn’t want the moment to end.
And neither did Matt.
Holding each other. Touching...loving...kissing... They moved upstairs to her bedroom and started all over again. The second time they made love to each other that night was even more thrilling. Sara let her head rest on his chest and she fell asleep, wrapped in Matt’s arms.
And woke alone, at midnight. To the sound of Champ whining impatiently.
Sara threw on a robe and went down to let Champ out. To her aching disappointment, Matt was gone. His coffee and their dessert left untouched.
* * *
Sara spent the rest of the night and the morning wondering and worrying. She didn’t know why Matt had left without a word to her. Not even a note. She only knew that on some level it really bothered her because it was just too reminiscent of the way her marriage to Anthony had deteriorated before his death.
For so many reasons, she had done nothing about her husband’s mysteriously distant behavior.
But she could do something about this.
Even if it was to only find out for certain what was going on with Matt, and by extension, them. So she gathered her courage, called her friend Bess Monroe, and asked the rehab nurse if she could come out and sit for Champ and Charley for a few hours while she went out.
Bess, who was still single and had a raging case of baby fever, was delighted to help out.
Her friend looked over the instructions Sara had written out. “When will you be back?”
“Not sure. An hour, maybe two.” How long did it take to get answers and then recover and restore her pride? “But I’ll have my cell phone with me.”
“No worries.” Bess paused, then lifted a thoughtful brow. “Are you okay?”
Well, no, actually... Sara flushed and turned away from her friend’s probing gaze. “Why?”
“You look like you haven’t slept.”
A malady that seems to be going around. Sara collected her phone and keys, and slid them into her bag. “Charley is teething,” she said, although that was not what had kept her awake.
“Ah,” Bess sympathized. “Well, have fun.”
Sara smiled. Will I? Or will this be something else I’ll come to regret? “You, too.”
It only took ten minutes to drive to Matt’s ranch. As she drove through the gates of the Silver Creek, she couldn’t help but notice the progress he was making these days, clearing the land and taking down aging fence. He had mowed some of the pastureland, too, which gave it a neater, more manicured appearance.
Maybe there was a method to his solitary endeavors, she thought. Certainly, no one could argue with the effort he was making to turn his land into a thriving enterprise.
She found him about a mile or so back from the road. He was working on fence today. Wearing jeans and a tight black T-shirt that showed off how fit and taut his tall body was.
Surprised to see her, he lifted a hand in greeting and strode toward her, wary concern on his handsome face. The brim of his hat shaded his eyes. “Everything okay?”
She ambled close enough to see the darker rim of his gray-blue eyes. “I’m not sure.” She rocked back on the heels of her Western work boots and drawled, “Did I do or say something wrong last night?”
His eyes widened in consternation. He surveyed her slowly, head to toe, as if he found her completely irresistible. “What do you mean?”
Trying not to think how attracted she was to him, too, Sara wrinkled her nose. “The way you left. Without a word.” Or a kiss goodbye.
He flashed a too casual smile. “You were so sound asleep. I didn’t want to wake you.”
I wouldn’t have minded. “Is that all it was?”
Something akin to guilt and regret moved across his face. He paused. Like he wanted to say something but didn’t know how. The moment passed without revelation.
“What else could it be?” he finally said in return.
“That’s just it.” Sara shrugged in escalating frustration. She knew he’d been hurt, and was wary of making another mistake of the heart, too. “I’m not sure.”
Abruptly, Matt looked as impatient as she felt. Their eyes locked for a breath-stealing moment. “I thought I was doing the right thing, quietly letting myself out. Avoiding doing anything that would have seemed...presumptuous.”
Given the fact they had just rekindled their friendship, and were keeping things casual, he had a point.
He folded his arms across his chest. “I’m not sure what your rules are, or would be, even if we were dating.”
“Which we aren’t,” she added tartly. Which was another problem.
“So...” He continued to study her, rocking forward. “I’m not sure why you’re so unhappy.”
Because I feel shut out and abandoned. Even though technically I have no right to feel that way.
Her humiliation and embarrassment increasing by leaps and bounds, she forced herself to behave like the mature adult she was. “You’re right,” she acknowledged with a heartfelt sigh. “There was absolutely nothing wrong with what you did last night.” Even though I really wish our evening together ended differently.
She swallowed around the dryness in her throat.
“I’m not sure why I’m so upset,” she blurted out reluctantly, aware their passionate coupling had left her feeling way too hormonal. When he continued watching her, as if perplexed, she threw up a hand, adding, “It’s not like we’re in love or anything.”
His brow lifted in surprise and his hands fell to his sides. “Do you want to be?”
To her shock, Sara realized the answer to that was yes.
But not with just anyone. With Matt. And honestly, how crazy, how unforgivably reckless, was that?
Deciding to exit before she made an even bigger idiot of herself, she lifted her hand. “I’ve got to go.”
“Sara...”
She spun around and began hurriedly walking away. “I just came over to tell you there’s no need to come to my ranch this evening,” she said over her shoulder. “Bess Monroe is going to help me with Champ’s training.”
He caught up with her in six long strides. “Wait!” He put a gentle hand on her shoulder, staying her forward progress, then moved around so she had no choice but to look at him. “Are you sure?”
That was the hell of it, Sara thought, looking into his mesmerizing gray-blue eyes. She wasn’t sure at all. Not of what had happened between them. Of what she wanted. Or especially what he felt.
All she knew was that there were times when she felt incredibly close to Matt. And others when there was an emotional wall between them higher than any she had ever felt with her late husband.
And that wasn’t good.
Not at all.
“Yes,” she said, forcing one last completely fake smile. For both their sakes, she had to be a heck of a lot more cautious. “I am.”
Chapter Eleven
Matt didn’t come over that evening, nor did he call.
Or respond to the text message she sent him the following day telling him that he wouldn’t be needed to help her with Charley and Champ that night, ei
ther.
And while she expected that he appreciated the break from the daily baby and puppy duties, she also sort of expected that he—like her—would be missing the time they usually spent together.
Apparently, he didn’t.
And Sara was still trying to figure out what to make of that at six o’clock that evening when her doorbell rang.
Matt was on her doorstep, with Lulu and their mutual friend Bess Monroe flanking either side of him. He looked incredibly handsome in a charcoal suede blazer, starched blue dress shirt and dark jeans. His dress boots were shined to perfection, and since he was holding his stone-colored hat against the center of his chest, she could see that he had gotten a haircut. He’d also done a very nice job shaving. A sandalwood and leather fragrance clung to his jaw, stirring her senses all the more.
Sara blinked. “What’s going on?” she asked.
Grinning, Lulu breezed in. “My baby brother has finally come to his senses, that’s what! He’s taking you on a date!”
Bess waltzed in after her. “To help make that happen, he enlisted our help. We’re baby and puppy sitting for you!”
Sara’s jaw dropped. Talk about presumptuous! After leaving her hanging, wondering about whatever he was thinking and feeling after their falling out, for nearly two whole days!
Temper rising, she jammed her hands on her hips. Tilting her chin, she formed an officious smile. “I hate to break it to you, cowboy, but it’s customary to call and ask a woman if she would like to go out with you, before you make these kinds of arrangements.”
He flashed a sexy grin. “Thought about it.” His eyes sparkled the way they always did when he got under her skin. He ambled a little closer, purposefully invading her space. “Figured you’d say no...so I decided to take matters into my own hands.”
Sensing fireworks, Bess and Lulu eased away. Sara scowled, even as her heart panged in her chest, trying to think about what it would be like to kiss him again.
Which, after the way he’d left her two nights before, was definitely not going to happen. Not ever again!
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