But as Pete wrapped his arm around her and pulled her close, deepening the kiss, all of that faded away, replaced by a rush of heat and yearning she’d never felt before. Without thinking about it, she circled his waist with her arms, running her hands up his back. Pete made a sound of appreciation that caused her to want even more. She opened her mouth, allowing him entry.
This shouldn’t feel so good, not with Pete, but it did. Oh, how it did.
When he broke the kiss, Pete left her breathless. His smile was full of mischief, as if he knew exactly how his mouth had scrambled her brains.
“Not bad for a birthday kiss,” he said.
He wanted to tease, did he? Well, two could play that game. She shrugged. “It was okay.”
She saw the challenge in his eyes a moment before he pulled her to him again and stole her breath and ability to think coherently with a kiss so thorough her knees actually weakened. She’d always thought that was a cliché in novels because she’d kissed a lot of guys and never come close to feeling as unsteady as she did in this moment.
How had she not realized what she’d been missing all these years?
Because Pete wasn’t a loud, showy guy wearing his testosterone on his sleeve. Not that he wasn’t 100 percent red-blooded male, because he obviously was, but he’d always been just Pete, her dear friend, the guy next door. Not once had she imagined him naked in her bed, but she sure was imagining that now as he pressed his body close to hers. It was obvious what their kissing was doing to him, and the feel of his arousal pressed against her stomach along with the memory of seeing his bare chest had her body buzzing, as well.
Just as she was considering pushing him down on the couch and having her way with him, he abruptly pulled away. With a wicked smile, he headed down the hall. “See you tomorrow. Sweet dreams.”
Stunned by his sudden departure and trying to remember how to breathe normally, she tried to gather enough brain cells together to realize what he’d done. He shot her another mischievous smile before he slipped into his room and closed the door behind him.
Oh, he’d just declared war. And she was very imaginative when it came to paybacks.
When an image of tying him to his bed and teasing him unmercifully with her tongue entered her head, her legs wobbled enough that she sank onto the arm of the couch before she fell. The last thing she needed was for Verona to come out and ask why Elissa was crumpled in a heap on the floor.
Oh, no reason. Pete just kissed me senseless and evidently boneless, too.
Elissa ran her fingers over her lips. It took a remarkable amount of restraint to not follow Pete into his room. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Either this was going to be the best relationship of her life or it was going to end very, very badly.
* * *
THE NEXT MORNING, Elissa’s nerves hummed as she left her room and entered the kitchen to find Pete already there leaning against the counter and drinking a cup of coffee. Really, how had she never noticed how good he looked in that uniform?
“Pulled the morning shift, huh?”
“Yeah, and I don’t seem to mind this morning.” He grabbed her around her waist and pulled her close for a kiss. He tasted like coffee, banana bread and intoxicating maleness.
The part of her brain that didn’t want Verona to know about them screamed for her to pull away, but that warning got shouted down by the rest of her brain and her entire body. How could she say no to something that felt this good?
Pete moved his lips to her ear. “She’s already gone.”
A shiver ran down her spine at the rumble of his voice, which suddenly sounded husky and sexy next to her ear. As if she wasn’t about to combust enough, he gave her earlobe a playful bite. If she didn’t get out of here soon, they were going to end up naked. And despite the fact that she was traveling down a different road with Pete, she wasn’t quite ready for naked to happen.
Elissa took a step away from him, but in the next moment she lifted her hand to his black eye. “This really is a doozy. Does it hurt?”
“I’d be lying if I said no.”
“Guess it comes with the career choice, huh?” And though she’d never really thought about it before, Elissa knew in that moment the fear in Pete’s mother’s heart even though she’d never stood in his way of doing what he really wanted to. A memory of Pete’s dad’s funeral flashed through her mind, and with it the visceral need to somehow keep Pete safe.
“What’s wrong?”
She met his eyes. “Nothing. I just need to get going. I’m meeting with the contractor today.”
“What time?”
“Ten? Why?”
He shrugged. “Just curious.” But then he pulled her to him and gave her another one of those bone-melting kisses.
This time, she was the one to pull away. She wanted to tease him the way he had done to her the night before, but the concern utmost in her mind came out instead.
“Are we treading dangerous water here?”
Pete cupped her face and ran his thumb over her cheek. “Probably. But I don’t feel like I have a choice.”
She didn’t, either.
“I’m willing to chance it if you are,” he said. “Because either I act on this attraction or go crazy thinking about it.”
Her entire body sprang to hot, buzzing life at the intensity of his words and the way he was looking at her.
Pete shifted his thumb to run it over her bottom lip. “We’ll go slow.” He nodded toward the door to the garage. “Now you better go.”
She saw a hunger in his eyes that said that if she didn’t leave, that going-slow thing might get tossed out the window and she’d be late for her appointment with Brett. While part of her liked that idea, she instead used her common sense and headed for the garage.
But during her entire drive to work, she couldn’t stop imagining where their kisses might end up. Even as she began shifting everything that was salvageable out of the area of the building that was damaged most severely, her imagination went wild. It conjured scenes of Pete slowly removing her clothes, lifting her in his arms and carrying her to bed, making her cry out his name so loudly that all of Blue Falls heard her.
She couldn’t believe how quickly she’d gone from thinking of Pete as merely a friend to a potential sex partner. And this wasn’t just one of those friends-with-benefits situations, either. What she was feeling toward him had nothing to do with friendship and everything to do with finding out if the other half of his body was as sexy naked as the top half.
By the time Brett arrived for their meeting, she felt as if she needed to go take a leap in the lake to cool off. She certainly hoped that Brett wasn’t a mind reader.
The two of them were standing outside the front of the building talking about the time schedule for the repairs when Pete showed up.
“Hey,” she said. “What are you doing here?”
Before answering her, he extended his hand to Brett. “I see you won the bid.”
“Thankfully.”
Pete turned his attention to Elissa. “Can I talk to you for a minute?”
Wondering what in the world could be so important that he’d interrupt her meeting, she excused herself from Brett and followed Pete to the edge of the graveled area that had been covered with large planters, trellises and birdbaths.
“Is something wrong?”
“No. I just wanted to tell you that I thought of a way for you to save some of the money toward your expansion.”
“You found a money tree in my backyard?”
“No, though that would be nice.” He glanced past her to where Brett stood. “Just hire him to do the big, structural rebuild, anything where you have to pass codes. I can help you do the inside work, painting, drywall, that kind of stuff.”
His offer touched her, and she wond
ered if she felt it so deeply because her feelings for him had changed. “You don’t have to do that. You already have a full-time job.”
“Which doesn’t require me to work twenty-four hours a day.” Pete took one of her hands between both of his and smiled. “Don’t argue.”
Her independent streak tried to rear its head, but she shoved it down. What he was offering would help alleviate some of her financial stress, and they could spend time together without anyone being suspicious.
“Thank you.” She wanted to kiss him, but she wasn’t ready to declare their tentative new state publicly. If it didn’t work out, she didn’t think she could stand everyone looking at her with that knowledge in their eyes, with pity or accusation depending on whom they blamed for the breakup.
She shook her head, telling herself she had to stop thinking negatively. She never really did about anyone else she went out with, but then none of them had been a friend with whom she’d shared confidences, a friend who had trusted her with his own hopes and dreams.
Elissa compromised and hugged Pete. “Thank you.” She quickly pulled away and headed back to discuss the new plan of action with Brett. When she reached him, she glanced back at Pete just in time to see him smile at her, a smile that made her skin tingle.
If she didn’t mess this up, she was so going to bed with that man someday.
* * *
OVER THE NEXT few days, Pete nearly drove Elissa crazy. Now that she’d given him the green light to explore where their new relationship might go, he found every opportunity he could to steal a kiss, everything from a quick peck to ones so hot and thorough that she’d swear her mind was going to melt.
Toward the end of the week, they rode down to San Antonio together to pick up a bunch of stock on the cheap from a nursery that was closing up shop after the death of its owner.
“I can’t believe they had this stuff cheaper than I could order it wholesale,” she said as they finished loading the last of the planters.
“Guess they just want to be done with it. I can understand.”
Elissa experienced a pang at the memory of how Pete had sold his mother’s house to the first person to express an interest. He hadn’t wanted to drag out the process of dealing with her estate. He’d never said so, but Elissa knew him well enough to realize that he’d been about at the breaking point after months of watching his mom slip away.
Once they were in the truck and Pete had pulled out from the Blooming Rose, he glanced over at her. “You hungry?”
“Is Texas hot in July?”
After hitting the nearest drive-through, Pete drove them to a small park next to a man-made lake. A family of ducks floated along the surface of the water as Elissa and Pete walked to a picnic table at the water’s edge.
“I didn’t even know this park was here,” she said as she sat on top of the table with her feet on one of the concrete benches.
“We used to stop here on our way home from my grandmother’s before she died,” he said. “I haven’t been here in a long time, though.” He stared at the water for several seconds, seemingly lost in his memories. “You know, sometimes when I wake up in the morning, I forget that everyone is gone. Even though I hadn’t lived with Mom in years, I almost expect her to come in and jerk my covers off to wake me up like she did when I was a kid.”
Elissa’s heart broke for him even though she knew he wasn’t seeking sympathy. She reached over and gripped his hand. “I know it’s not the same, but Verona and I consider you family. India and Skyler, too. I’m a firm believer in family being what we make it.”
Pete looked at her so long that she felt it all the way down to her bones. “I feel the same about you all,” he said. “Even before things started changing between us.” He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed it.
“It’s crazy, isn’t it? How one minute we’re just buddies, and in the next something shifted out of the blue?”
“I’m trying not to dissect it,” he said.
She wondered if he was afraid of what he’d find if he did.
Elissa retrieved her hand, and they ate in silence for a few minutes. When she was down to the last couple of bites of her burger, she stared at it. “Skyler swears that one of these days all this food I eat is going to catch up to me.”
“You never stop moving long enough to gain any weight.” Pete wadded up his burger wrapper and pitched it into the trash can.
“Too much to do to sit still.”
“Seems like you’re sitting still to me.”
She looked over at him and wondered again how she’d gone for years without really appreciating how handsome he was. “Who says I’m not doing anything? Thinking is doing something.”
He smiled a little. “Oh, yeah? What are you thinking about?”
“I’ll give you one guess.”
“About how awesome I am.”
She laughed. “Who knew there was an ego buried under mild-mannered Pete Kayne’s exterior?” Elissa slid off the table, tossed away her trash and headed back toward the truck.
Before she realized what he was doing, Pete caught her around the waist and spun her around so that her back was to a live oak tree. When he pressed close, her breath caught and her heartbeat accelerated.
“How about I tell you what I was thinking?”
She shifted and felt the unmistakable bulge in his jeans. “I think I can tell.” Her voice sounded raspy and a touch breathless.
Pete lowered his mouth to hers and captured it in a kiss that could only be described as hungry, as if he were a man who hadn’t eaten in a very long time and was starving. Elissa’s pulse jumped at that thought as she ran her fingers through his hair. She didn’t like the idea that he might have appeased his hunger with anyone else.
“This is so crazy,” she said against his wet lips.
“Maybe we both need a little crazy right now.”
She liked the sound of that so much that she matched his hunger as they kissed some more. It didn’t take long for her body to start demanding more. She was on the verge of ripping his shirt off when the sound of a car door closing somehow penetrated her thoughts.
Pete must have heard it, too, because he jerked away from her and glanced around the tree toward the parking lot. He cursed under his breath before looking back at her. His expression softened in a way that caused her heart to swell. No one had ever looked at her like that. Sure, she’d had lots of interest from guys, had a lot of fun playing the field, but this was deeper, something born of genuine affection. In that moment, as insane as it might seem, she thought maybe she’d just fallen a little in love with him. That thought should have scared her, but it didn’t.
Pete dropped a quick, sweet kiss on her lips before adjusting his hat, then taking her hand and casually escorting her to his truck, nodding at the young mother and her three kids as they passed them.
“Well, they almost got a show they weren’t bargaining for,” Pete said.
The comment was so unexpected that Elissa snorted.
Pete laughed at her. “Nice. How did I overlook that sexiness all these years?”
Elissa shoved him away, but her entire body tingled at the thought that Pete might think her sexy. As they got into the truck and Pete turned them toward home, her mind spun with how quickly things were changing between them. She wondered if the attraction had somehow been there all along, building up without her knowledge until it exploded. Because the way she felt now, she imagined this was how people felt who either had been falling for each other for a long time or had fallen in love at first sight. She and Pete were neither; instead, were some sort of hybrid.
When they turned into the nursery’s parking area, Brett waved at them from where he was talking to one of the guys working on the front of her building.
“Now, that’s what I call a shopping trip,” B
rett said as he walked toward them when they got out of the truck.
“Well, I thought, ‘Hey, I’m not bleeding enough money. Let me go fork over some more.’”
Brett laughed, and she glanced at Pete in time to see his expression tighten. Jealousy wasn’t usually an attractive trait, but there was something about seeing it on Pete’s face that made her feel funny. Even though she was about as independent as a gal could get and didn’t need protecting, there must still be some sort of primitive instinct that liked when a man appeared as if he’d willingly go to war for her.
To his credit, Pete hid it better than a lot of guys would have and he didn’t say anything. That told her he trusted her, and that was sexier than anything he could have said.
Brett waited until Pete had lifted a large terra-cotta planter from the back of the truck and started to walk away before he spoke again. “So, you have any plans after you get this unloaded? I hear there’s a good pizza place in town.” Evidently, he was willing to give going out with her a second chance.
It took some effort, but Elissa didn’t allow herself to look toward Pete. “I already have a date, with a shower and about ten hours of uninterrupted sleep.”
“Maybe another night, then.”
Elissa made a noncommittal sound as she reached into the bed of the truck for a bag of wildflower seeds.
“Need any help?”
“No, we’ve got it. But thanks.”
Brett seemed to take her subtle hints and nodded before heading back toward his crew.
Elissa watched Pete as they unloaded the rest of the supplies. He didn’t say one word about Brett, but by the time they finished she was having a hard time not smiling at how set his jaw was and the way he looked toward Brett every couple of minutes, as if he was making sure he wasn’t approaching again.
Wanting to put him out of his misery, not to mention feeding her own desire, she caught him in the back room where they were storing everything until the rebuild was complete. He was about to exit the room, but she pushed him back inside and up against the wall. This time she took the initiative and captured his mouth with hers. Fire raced along her veins. Nothing in her life had ever felt so good.
Marrying the Cowboy Page 14