Page 22 of Between Two Thorns

He didn’t return it, but he nodded his head. Del lifted himself up onto the pull-down seat, keeping his eye on the windows in the door.

Sam laid down, crinkling the shock blanket with the sound of thin metal as he arranged it around the both of them. “You’ve met before?” He asked at her ear.

Rose turned over her elbow, her brows furrowed. “Nope, why?”

Sam pursed his lips, then nodded. “That’s a little impressive.” He mumbled. “Took me forever to decode one Del-silence over another.”

Rose glanced over, before giving a little smirk and a shimmy of her shoulders. Though that ticked something else in the back of her mind. She turned her hazel eyes towards Sam. “You two have met them—I mean, you know each other?” She inquired, her curiosity probably obvious in her tone.

“Yeah, we do.” Sam said, utterly unhelpful. His dark brown eyes turned towards their feet and over the shock blanket towards Del. Who was pointedly looking outside, it seemed.

Rose frowned. She could tell that they did know each other, despite their differences in age and appearance. Also, the longer she was listening to them both, and the more that she could distinguish between their accents.

Rose was familiar with the fake cowboy-isms of the more touristy parts of the Midwest—which was the number one way for a guest on the Ranch to get right on her nerves. They didn’t have southern accents. People from the Bible belt did. And no, your impression was not cute, it was cringeworthy.

Sam didn’t drawl the way Del did, unless he meant to, but he had more of a twang to his words. Rose noticed that the paramedic seemed to speak emphatically, keeping every syllable and every word, whereas the younger man dropped sounds and entire words.

When Del glanced their way, and saw Sam staring, he shifted in his jump seat and pointedly looked away, which caused the sigh she heard from his lips—and had to imagine because she was currently looking at the back of his curly head.

Great, thick curls, mind you.

Then Sam rolled over, and Rose felt absolutely all the breaths out of her lips and nose stop all at once. Because she was nose to nose with that beautiful warm skin and dark brown eyes.

Eyes that Rose wanted to let swallow her whole.

A chuckle came from his mouth, lips pulling off his contrasting white teeth. “Still thinkin’ about that kiss quest of yours?”

Rose blinked, her face flushing as red as her hair fast enough to make her head spin. “Well, I am now.” She said back, like his accent was contagious.

Sam laughed. And the sound was as rich and deep as those eyes.

“Well…”

Rose held her breath, like everything in her was waiting on how he was going to finish that sentence.

The blanket crinkled, and his arm moved, and Rose nearly shivered. Like he was ghosting his hand up along her side to—

Check his damn watch.

“…since it’s two minutes past midnight on your birthday—”

“I deserve twice as many kisses, I agree,” Rose blurted, as Del settled in behind her.

The Kiss Quest

Thistime,therewasa remarkably unfamiliar tension that spiked through the chilly air at Rose’s request—but she still welcomed Sam’s rich laugh.

Del had just rubbed over his sleeves, obviously not warm enough without his jacket, and slid in behind Rose under the crinkly aluminum blanket.

There wasn’t enough room for anyone to lie on their back, so Sam, Rose, and Del were packed like sardines on their sides. All using the lumpy duffle bag she’d filled into a pillow. And…her body was vibrating with the intimate press of their strong and warm bodies on all sides.

Sam had his head propped up on his elbow, facing Rose, rolling those deep eyes at her joke. “Single-minded, aren’t ya?”

Rose gave a brief hum and a shrug. Double-minded, she would say—because why choose between them? They were both gorgeous in their own way.

There was no denying Sam’s appeal. Just how he carried himself and the square of his shoulders pulled her into his orbit.

Del was a less imposing figure. But there was something about his quiet demeanor and his facade of aloofness that Rose just wanted to unlock and figure out.

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