Page 38 of In Love with a Ranger

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GIDEON

Gideon looked up to see Christina emerge from the bathroom dressed in flannel pajama pants and a T-shirt with her blonde hair piled into a loose bun at the back of her head. This woman before him was so incredibly appealing to him that she would stand out in a room full of lingerie models regardless of what she had on. His eyes would always land on her. There was just something about her that called to him, and if his mother ever heard him admit that, she’d be all over him again about grandchildren.

“Is this okay?”

“You set the rules, remember?”

“You keep saying that, but we have to live together. I don’t want to cross a line with you or make you uncomfortable.”

“That line is only there for your comfort – not mine.”

There was no malice, no pressure in his words. It was just a simple statement between them, signifying their easy relationship and camaraderie as friends. There had always been almost an instant ease for them, and he assumed it was because of his growing crush on her. There were other signs popping up between them that he was trying to decipher and failing. The way she looked at him, how she treated him, the things she said or did, and he almost asked if something more was going on but was afraid of her answer.

Instead, she sat beside him in the one place where they could sit easily – the bed. There wasn’t enough room in the small cabin for a couch and the recliner would not hold two without putting them practically against each other. While that suited him just fine, he was pretty sure it would put his new bride, who’d never been kissed, quite on edge.

“Thank you.”

“Of course.”

They sat there quietly, watching the TV. He wasn’t paying attention to what was on the screen in the slightest and wondered if she was. He was sitting there; legs outstretched before him and barefoot. He was wearing a clean T-shirt and a pair of sweatpants, holding his cup of tea atop a pillow that was sitting across his lap. Looking at her carefully, trying not to be noticed, he held back a sigh.

His bride.

This was not the wedding night he had ever anticipated, he thought dejectedly and looked at her out of the corner of his eye, only to see her brow furrowed and her lips pressed together. She looked to be concentrating on the television show that was currently on and didn’t want to bother her. Before long, another episode began playing and still neither said a word. As the third episode began, Christina sighed heavily and stretched.

“I think I’m going to turn in,” she said quietly… and his heart did a somersault in his chest, wondering if this was an unspoken invitation to him. She rolled over and pulled the covers over her, facing away from him.

Nope.

No invitation there.

Grabbing the remote, he turned off the television and the lights using the switch beside his head on the wall, sending the room into darkness. Lying down, he laced his fingers on his chest and waited.

And waited.

And waited some more.

“Good night, Gideon,” Christina finally said softly, and he rolled his eyes before closing them. Yup. Nothing was happening this evening or any, anytime soon.

“Sweet dreams, Christina. I’ll see you in the morning.”

* * *

This same routine continued for several weeks.

Each day, it started the same.

They would get up, and he would kiss her ‘good morning’ – and she seemingly responded. They would both be breathless from it, and her eyes made every ounce of him sit up and take notice but as the day wore on, things grew more distant, more tense between them.

Max and Daphne seemed to have worked out things between them because the man who had almost died weeks ago was on the rebound physically and obviously in love with Daphne. His lack of a leg after the amputation wasn’t a hindrance to their relationship, and the two seemed to almost have a brutally candid way of talking to each other. Daphne wasn’t afraid to tell him it was his head that was messed up, not his leg – and he’d seen Max snap right back at her for it. Yet, after the blizzard they’d had a week ago, things were different between the duo.

Max and Daphne got closer.

Jake and Lena were getting married in the morning.

And Gideon was in a very platonic relationship with a woman he adored, unable to figure out how to get past that ‘bump in the road’ between them. He watched her when she slept, memorized the way she would smile at those infernal cows that stunk to high heaven, and was always reaching for her hand, wanting to make her smile, yet she kept withdrawing. He wanted to hold her, to touch her, to show her what she meant to him. Every time he got close, it was like she would run away mentally and emotionally.

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