Page 43 of The Roper & the Author

He smiled slightly and edged in until he overshadowed her. She loved how big and tough he was.

“Yes,perfecto. Um, now can you plant one hand next to my head and cup my jaw and cheek with your other hand?”

“Sure.” His voice was gravelly, and she wanted to remember that exact husky timbre. She was tempted to take a break and go write down the details, but nothing could pull her away from this moment. Not even her work, which usually overruled everything else in her life.

He held eye contact and placed one hand against the wall, cupping her jaw and cheek with the other hand. She found herself leaning into it, loving the calloused and smooth edges, loving how big it was and how perfectly it framed her face. He gently traced his thumb across her cheek and over her lower lip.

She sucked in a breath as warmth and tingles raced from her lips throughout her body. She was faint and swept away and so in love. Could a person fall in love in three days? It happened for her characters, but she’d always believed it was more likely the stuff of fairy tales.

“Sorry, that wasn’t in my instructions.” His voice was flirtatious and husky.

“Don’t apologize. That was perfect.Chacho. Okay. Let me calm down and try to think straight.”

His slow cowboy grin came at that. Devastating, inspiring, enticing. She loved his grin and everything about him.

“Now…” She swallowed. What now? He was touching her and leaning in close. She needed to reciprocate. “I should cling to your beautiful bicep muscle and slide my other hand around to your back.”

She followed her own instructions and was temporarily distracted by how ideal his well-built arm was as she cupped her palm and fingers around it. She made the mistake of placing her hand on the side of his abdomen first. He sucked in a breath, and she was lightheaded. She slowly ran her hand from his taut waistline and around his back.

“Ooh,si.” She clung to him and leaned into the wall, her legs barely supporting her. “I saw all of that beautiful muscle when we jumped in the freezing lake, but it’s another story to touch it when I’m hot all over and all alone in my bedroom with you.”

He grinned at her, a touch of chagrin in his eyes. This cowboy hero of hers was devastatingly beautiful. Walker was no 2D protagonist or cookie cutter male lead. He was real, thoughtful, and he made her feel things she’d never felt—importance, joy, and hope for a future with an incredible man.

They studied each other for a few beats then he cleared his throat and asked, “More instructions?”

She swallowed and managed to squeak from her very dry throat, “I was hoping you wouldn’t need any.”

He quirked an eyebrow at her. There was a glint of teasing in his blue eyes, and he slowly traced his thumb across her lower lip again. She trembled under his tender touch.

He pulled his other hand from the wall and cupped her face completely with those large palms. Then he ran one hand around and into her hair, threading his fingertips through the strands and making her scalp tingle with delicious warmth.

She let out a telling moan that made his smile grow.

“You liked that?” he asked in a husky voice.

“Walker, I like everything you do.”

He chuckled, but then his eyes grew serious. Several beats passed.

“What were you hoping I’d do next?” he asked.

“Lean in and kiss me,” she managed to whisper.

Walker’s gaze dipped to her lips and then met her eyes. “If it’s research for a book, I don’t know how to tell you no.”

That line confused her, as did the conflicted look in his blue eyes. Why would he want to tell her no?

Oh, goodness. Was she throwing herself at him and he wasn’t interested? He’d given her a lot of cues that said he was into her, but what did she know? She wrote perfect heroes, but real life wasn’t like a book. At least hers had never been. She only lived vicariously through her stories. What if she was doing it all wrong?

Walker studied her when she didn’t reply. Was he waiting for instructions? Did she need to force him into this kiss? That wasn’t how her hero would claim her lips and her heart.

He drew in a breath and that conflicted look in his gaze changed to resolution.

“Marci,” he whispered in a growl that shot desire through her.

“Yes?” she whispered back.

“I couldneversay no to you. Anything you ask, anything you need, no matter what it costs me. I am yourvaquero guapo.”

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