Page 81 of The Cowboy's Unshakeable Love

She pecked his lips. “It’s not a habit that I want to break either. I kind of wonder how long it would have taken for us to get this close if you weren’t carrying me around all the time.”

He chuckled. “It might have taken you a little longer to defrost, but I would have gotten there.”

“I was never frosty toward you.”

He kissed the tip of her nose. “Maybe not frosty, but you weren’t exactly warm in the beginning.”

“I wasn’t? I thought I was friendly enough.”

“Yeah, but there’s a difference between just friendly and the kind of warm I’m talking about - the kind of warm that’s going to get hot enough to light a fire.”

She tightened her arms around his neck. “The fire’s already burning.”

He squeezed his eyes shut. “Too damn right it is. As soon as that cast’s gone …”

She nodded eagerly. She couldn’t wait. She was tempted to sayif not sooner. She hadn’t been able to stop thinking about it the last few nights. Sleeping next to him was wonderful. He was so big and warm, and so gentle – and so damn sexy. Her frustration was growing by the day, but she hadn’t felt like she could bring it up.

He was holding her gaze, and it was easy to see the desire in his eyes.

“I … do you think …”

He made her laugh as he hurried her to the wheelchair and deposited her in it. “Don’t say it, darlin’. Don’t suggest that we could … nope. I’ve been a good boy because I kept telling myself that we had no choice. If you give me hope, my horny little mind won’t stop until we find a way.”

“Would it be so terrible if we …”

He blew out an exaggerated sigh. “It won’t be terrible, darlin’. It’ll be magical, but I don’t want to screw up by rushing it.”

She gave him a sad smile. “I know.”

He chuckled. “I kind of hoped you might put up more of an argument.”

“I’m still tempted to.”

“So am I.” He checked his watch. “But I have to run.” He took a step backward. “I’ll call you as soon as I can. You call Ty or Shay if you need anything. They both said they’ll stop in to …”

“It’s okay. I’ll be fine. I promise I’ll call them if something comes up, but I don’t expect it to. You’d better go, or you’ll be late.”

“Yeah.” He took another step back. “And if you’re up to it, we’ll go to the bakery this afternoon.”

“We will. Go on.”

He laughed and hurried back to kiss her one more time before he left. “See ya later, darlin.”

“Bye.”

Chapter Seventeen

When they arrived at the bakery on Friday afternoon, Travis was happy to see so many of his friends there. He’d looked forward to coming home for a long time, but he hadn’t realized how much he’d enjoy life back in the valley.

He’d missed Ace, Deacon, and Emmett – and Trip, most of all. But he hadn’t realized how much he’d love spending time with the younger MacFarlands as well. He’d known them all their lives, but they were just kids when he left. They’d grown into a great bunch of people who he was proud to call friends in their own right.

Tanner greeted him with a smile when they reached the booth. “Hey, Trav. Hi, Retta. How’s the leg? Are you going to be okay in your wheelchair or do we need to do some rearranging?”

Travis was glad when she shook her head and said, “I’m fine to stay in my chair, thanks.”

For one thing, there were far too many of them for he and Retta to take up too much space by sitting with her on his lap with her leg up on the seat again. For another, he didn’t think it’d be wise to sit with her like that while they were with company. It’d been getting harder and harder for him to stop his mind from straying to the day when he’d finally get to make love to her. He didn’t like the idea of having to hide a hard on while he chatted with their friends.

He positioned her wheelchair at the head of the table and grabbed a chair from a nearby table so that he could sit next to her. Ace grinned at him when he took her hand.

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