by Jo McNally
He ran his hand down his face. His foot bumped against something and he glanced down. A paperback book was lying open, pages down, on the floor, and he knew she’d dropped it there in her hurry to get to help Nell. He picked up the book and smiled. The cover art was a dramatic image of a red-haired beauty in the arms of a dark-haired knight. Good grief, was this what she liked to read? He flipped through the pages and shook his head. Chests were heaving on every other page.
He raised his head to find Bree standing in the archway leading to the hall, dressed in black leggings that stopped just below her knees. A large T-shirt advertising The Hide-Away fell to midthigh. Her hair was towel-damp and disheveled, falling in soft waves around her face. Her eyes were wide, and her hand rested on her chest as if she’d been surprised.
“I... I didn’t expect you to still be here.”
Why was he still here? Why wasn’t he hustling his butt back home, where it was safe? “I, um, wanted to be sure you were okay. Are you hurting anywhere? Do you need anything?”
Her head tipped to the side. “So now you’re suddenly concerned about me? Really? Because yesterday...”
It was time for her to get her pound of flesh over his lousy treatment of her at his place. Fair enough. He nodded his head toward the kitchen counter.
“There’s a glass of cognac there for you. It will warm you up a little.”
She glanced at it then back at him.
“Are you suggesting I’m cold?”
“I’m suggesting you were wallowing in mud a little while ago. I’m sure the shower helped, but...just drink the brandy, alright?” He ground the last words through his teeth. Damned if this woman didn’t push every button he had and a few he didn’t even know about.
She walked to the kitchen counter and took a sip from the glass, closing her eyes as the liquid slid across her tongue. He took a step toward her and stopped. Being any closer to her would be dangerous. But there was something he had to say.
“What you did tonight...it was really something, Bree. That heifer is worth a lot of money, but it’s not just that. I wouldn’t have wanted to lose her or Trixie. Losing animals is part of farming, but it’s a part I have a particular dislike of.” He’d seen enough dead bodies to last him a lifetime. She was staring at him now, her eyes intense but with a bit less fire. He knew he had to say the two words he spoke even more rarely than apologies.
“Thank you.”
She blinked but didn’t bend. She wasn’t done with him yet.
“Yeah, well, you weren’t here so we did what we had to do.”
He nodded his head in agreement.
“I wasn’t here when you needed me. If you hang around awhile, you’ll learn I’m good at that. But I am sorry.” He ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. She wasn’t going to make this easy for him. “Look, I know I haven’t treated you very well.”
She took another sip of brandy. “Cole, I can handle the animosity, or whatever it is, when it’s just you and me. I can take all your bull and give it right back to you. It’s fine. It’s our thing.” He noticed her hand trembling just a little as she set her glass down. “But yesterday you embarrassed me in front of your friends.”
He didn’t mind making her angry. In fact, he usually enjoyed it. But this was different. He’d hurt her feelings. She lifted her chin and tried to look invincible, but he could see the sting of pain in her eyes.
He took another step forward. “I acted like a jerk yesterday. I think you know that’s generally my fall-back position.” That got a hint of a smile out of her, and he had an inspiration. “Bree, you said I didn’t know you. But you’re wrong.”
She snorted in surprise and disbelief, but he plowed ahead.
“I know you. I know your ex-husband betrayed you on television. I know you fought him tooth and nail to keep that fancy mansion on the beach. I know you think the lack of money is what killed your mom when she got sick.” Her lips parted in surprise, and he took yet another step, unable to stop himself. “You picked yourself up and started your own business. And even in the awful situation of having some nutcase stalking you, you’ve been able to laugh and make friends while hiding out in a place that’s totally out of your comfort zone.”
He was only three feet away from her now, and he watched her eyes soften then harden again. Damned if she wasn’t a tough nut to crack. He’d clearly proven how much he knew about her, and she still wouldn’t give in. She glanced away then looked back to him. Her eyes glistened with moisture, and his stomach tightened.
She lifted her shoulder in a weak shrug.
“All you’ve proven is that you talked to Nell or looked me up on the internet. It doesn’t mean you know me.”
He closed his eyes, his hands flexing tightly at his sides. A montage of Bree moments started spinning through his mind. Scene after scene whirled across his closed eyelids like a movie. The day she strutted into the bar. Dancing with her. Watching her work on the farm. Pulling her up onto his tractor. The hayloft. Holding a newborn calf across her muddy lap in the back of a pickup truck. His heart started to thud in his chest, and a smile pulled at his lips. He opened his eyes and stepped closer. Bree leaned back and braced her hands on the counter behind her, her eyes going wide.
“Oh, I know you, Brianna Mathews. I know you handle your whiskey better than you handle your temper. I know you came into this town thinking you were better than anyone in it...” She opened her mouth to protest but he held up his hand. “But as soon as you realized total strangers were willing to help you and be your friends, you opened up to them. You returned their friendship. That tells me two things. You’ve known kindness in your life, but you weren’t prepared for it, so you probably haven’t experienced it in a long time.” Her pretty mouth was still open, but no longer in anger. She was just staring at him, and the shimmer of tears in her eyes made them sparkle like emeralds over a flame.
“You defended me at the bar last weekend, even though we’d barely spoken a civil word to each other at that point. I don’t know why you did that...” He stepped forward. “But I know I liked it. I know you’re fearless, even when you’re scared. Maybe especially then. I know you’re not afraid to work hard and sweat hard and get dirty, and I’m pretty sure that surprises you almost as much as it surprises me.”
One last step and he was right there in front of her. She lifted her hands and set them lightly on his chest, making him burn. She didn’t push him away, but she didn’t pull him in, either. She just stared up at him with those eyes that haunted his nights, and he saw the corners of her mouth slide softly into the beginning of a smile. He leaned forward and rested his hands on the counter on either side of her.
“I know you’re not afraid to make friends with the three foul-mouthed clowns who claim to be my friends.” Her lips quirked into a definite smile. “And you won them over so fast their heads are still spinning. They jumped on my case like a trio of mad hens after I chased you off, and I know that’s never happened before. I know you lay in the cold mud an hour ago and helped my cow give birth. Even though you were furious with me, you still did that. And I know that saving that heifer gave you a rush like nothing you’ve ever felt, because it was real. And I suspect you haven’t done real in a while.”
She shook her head, and the motion caused some of that moisture in her eyes to spill over. He quickly caught the tears with his thumbs and wiped them away.
His hands remained on either side of her face, holding her there. She didn’t pull away. He felt a surge of adrenaline shoot through his veins. Danger be damned, because he wasn’t pulling away, either. His next words came out in a hoarse whisper.
“I know that when you landed in my arms in the hayloft, and you pressed your body up against mine...” He moved in and pushed his hips into hers, letting her feel his hardness. “I know you felt the same thing I did, all this heat. I was sma
rt enough to turn away then.” He lowered his head until their noses were brushing against each other. She still hadn’t blinked. “But I’m not feeling very smart right now...”
Those last words were spoken against her lips. His hands cupped her face softly and she sighed, her breath blowing across his skin. This was still a bad idea. But when her hands twisted into his T-shirt, he was lost.
He wanted to take this slow, to be careful. Really, he did. But that plan detonated on contact. Her lips were soft and pliant when their mouths met, and she parted them with a soft moan that went straight to his core.
Men had been plunging their tongues into women’s mouths for centuries. Staking their claim. Grabbing the first taste of a woman. And yes, hinting at that other penetration they had in mind. Kissing like this, tongue against tongue, was natural. Primal even.
But Cole knew that never in the long history of kissing had there ever been a kiss like this. Things quickly spun out of control, their heads turning and their mouths moving against each other aggressively. She tasted like cognac and toothpaste, and hell if it didn’t hit his nervous system like crack cocaine. His hands started to slide up and down her body, fingers grabbing at every curve. She was trembling in his arms like a tuning fork, like she was ready to come just from this. Just from kissing like this.
It wouldn’t be Bree’s style to just passively let him kiss her. She gave as good as she got, tugging, pushing, sucking, biting. She was staking her own claim, holding his head in place while she devoured him. Twice their teeth clashed together, and neither of them flinched.
This was Bree, and he damned-well knew her. He never wanted to let her go. Fear washed over him like a bucket of ice water at that realization. Going further was a mistake. She’d only end up hurting him. And worse, he’d hurt her. His hands flexed against the cheeks of her ass one last time, pulling her against his rock-hard pelvis as if in defiance of where his brain was headed. Regretfully, he finally released her and stepped back.
There was a tiny cut at the corner of her mouth, probably from being pinched between his teeth and hers. Thousands of years of men and women laying claim on each other. Primal. Natural. And scary as hell.
He took another step back. She raised her hands then dropped them, as if she knew she couldn’t stop him. Then she did something that just about destroyed him. She smiled, slow and knowing. The smile was sultry and sensuous, made more so by her kiss-swollen lips. Her eyes were languid and her posture more so as she leaned back against the counter. She knew what that kiss had done to him. She was inside his head, and that was a place he didn’t ever want her to see.
He took another hurried step backward. “Nothing’s changed, Bree. We’re a bad idea. Nothing’s changed.” His voice sounded high-pitched and defensive to his own ears, as if he was trying to convince himself more than her.
She arched a brow, challenging his statement. Everything had changed with that kiss, and he, for one, might never be the same again. He spun and marched to the door. Every good soldier knew when to retreat. Her voice stopped him in his tracks.
“Don’t run away, Cole. You can decide to leave, and that’s fine. But don’t run.” He glanced over his shoulder at her in confusion. She shrugged. “My mom used to tell me that all the time. First when I was competing in the pageants and then when she was sick. She told me I should never let anyone see my fear. ‘Don’t let ’em see you sweat, Bree.’ That’s what she’d tell me.”
Her smile faded. It certainly explained a lot about her approach to life and her inability to turn down a challenge.
“She told me that it was fine to decide to walk away if that’s what I wanted, but that I should never let anyone think I was retreating.”
He swallowed hard. How had she known that retreating was exactly what he’d been trying to do?
“Even when she got sick, she refused to show fear. She told me the cancer might end up victorious, but that she’d never bow down to it. And she didn’t...” Bree frowned then looked at him for a moment as if she’d almost forgotten who she was talking to. Another smile slid across her face. “So walk away if that’s what you want. But don’t run from me. From this.” She gestured between them, trying to capture the odd energy there. He barely won his struggle to stay at the door instead of crossing the room to scoop her into his arms again.
They stared at each other long and silent. If he stayed, he knew where they’d end up. It would surely be memorable. But would it be worth the doubtless pain afterward? He shook his head. She deserved better than him.
“I’m sorry, Bree, but we both know I’m doing the right thing. I’m not running...” Not anymore, anyway. “But I am walking away. One of us has to.”
He stepped out onto her porch and slowly closed the door behind him. He looked down and realized that Maggie was still inside with Bree. Rotten traitor of a dog. He rubbed his hand across the back of his neck and sighed.
That woman.
That kiss.
No way in hell was he going to be able to sleep tonight.
Or maybe ever again.
* * *
“SO TELL ME again how you reached into a cow’s back end and pulled out a live calf.”
“Really, Amanda? I just told you I kissed the hot farmer, and you want to talk about the cow?” Bree leaned on the gate inside Nell’s barn and watched in adoration as Trixie’s baby slept in the deep straw she’d just bedded their stall with. Mama was standing watch close by. She snapped a quick picture with her phone.
“Oh, honey, you locking lips with Hot Farmer was a foregone conclusion. I saw that one coming a week ago. But you acting as midwife to a cow? I did not see that at all.” There was a pause, then she heard Amanda squeal, knowing she’d just received the photo she’d texted to her. “Oh, my God, she’s so precious! Maybe I should fly you back up here to Gallant Lake so you can help my pregnancy along.”
“How is your little one doing?”
Amanda sighed. “Bree, I don’t think this baby will ever arrive. In fact, I told the doctor that yesterday, and he just laughed at me. He told me he’d never known one yet that didn’t show up sooner or later.” Bree wanted to laugh but wisely controlled the urge as Amanda continued mournfully. “I waddle when I walk, and if my husband tells me one more time how beautiful I am, I’m going to throw a lamp at his head. I don’t want to be pregnant anymore. I’m over it.”
“How much longer does the doctor say you have?”
“Probably another week or so. I’m not even dilated yet. Do you think you’ll be able to come up here by then?”
Bree turned away from her pride and joy sleeping in the straw and walked to the doorway on the shaded side of the barn to try to catch a breeze.
“Caroline sent me an email this morning saying someone was calling around and asking some pretty specific questions about me in the town where the Seventh Heaven rehab is located, so the plan might be working. Are you seriously not going to ask me about the kiss?”
Amanda laughed. “I figured if you wanted to talk about it, you would. And clearly you want to. So, please, do go on. Was Hot Farmer a hot kisser? Or was he a disappointing dud?”
Bree’s fingers moved to her mouth. She’d hardly slept last night. Every time she closed her eyes, she felt his lips on hers.
“He was not a dud.”
“That’s a good thing. So you kissed him back?”
Oh, yeah. She’d kissed him back. So hard their teeth clashed and cut her lip. It was perfect.
“I’ll take that silence as a yes. Did anything happen after this smoking-hot kiss?”
“He left.”
“He left? Why did you let him do that?”
Cole kept insisting they were a bad idea. Last week she would have agreed whole-heartedly. But after that kiss, she really didn’t know. There certainly couldn’t be anything long-term between t
hem, but would a little summer fling really hurt anyone? She closed her eyes as her head fell back against the barn door. Of course it would hurt. They’d both be singed around the edges. Which didn’t make it any less tempting.
“Hel-lo? Earth to Brianna?”
She moved back inside the barn. “I don’t want to start something that I can’t possibly finish. Pretty soon I’ll be out of these cornfields and back in Malibu where I belong. Starting anything with Hot Farmer doesn’t make sense.”
“When does having sex with someone new ever really make sense, Bree? But sometimes you have to take a chance, like Blake and me. It’s not that complicated.”
“Says the woman living in a castle with her newly adopted eleven-year-old son. The same woman who’s eight months pregnant after getting married six months ago after almost dying. Yeah, there was nothing at all complicated about you deciding to have sex with Blake.”
Amanda laughed so hard she snorted, which made her laugh even harder. “Well, when you put it that way...” Her voice grew somber. “But honestly, none of that felt complicated once we realized we loved each other. It felt like all the missing pieces were falling into place in our lives, locking us together in the best possible way.”
Bree took that in for a moment then shrugged. “The difference is there’s no chance of Hot Farmer and me falling in love. Those complications would litter the ground in our wake if we ever started a relationship. Cole’s right. We’re a bad idea.”
“Hmm. I’m not convinced. You deserve some happiness. And that might just be in the form of a hot, sweaty, sexy farmer who’s not a dud in the kissing department.”
After the call ended, Bree went up into the loft to throw down more hay for Trixie and her calf. Nell was keeping them inside one more day after the difficult birth. Nell had already christened the calf “Malibu.”
That evening, she and Nell played dress-up with the few clothes Bree brought with her from Gallant Lake. Nell was going on a shopping trip with her girlfriends. It was only a two-hour drive to Raleigh, but the ladies were planning on staying overnight so they could go out for a nice dinner and hit the outlet mall before heading home.