Page 45 of Wrangling a Wild Texan

He moved to take her in his arms, but she turned her back to him.

“I’m fine. Just fine. You can go. I just need a second. Alone.”

Her words broke his heart even more. Like the angry art she kept hidden, she didn’t want anyone to see her without a smile on her face. No doubt that was the reason she painted angry art. She desperately needed an outlet. Even though there was a mountain of reasons for why he should listen to her and walk away, he couldn’t do it.

He wanted to be her outlet.

He wanted to be the one person she shared her true emotions with.

Ignoring her dismissal, he pulled her into his arms. She stiffened for only a moment before she melted against him and buried her tear-soaked face in his chest. He held her close, trying to absorb all her sadness.

“Take all the time you need, Sunshine. I’m not going anywhere.”

As it turned out, she needed a lot of crying time. The sun had disappeared and a blanket of stars had replaced it when her sobs finally turned to soft hiccups. Still, he would have stood there holding her and rubbing her back until the sun rose again if that was what she needed.

“I’m sorry,” she said in a nasally voice.

“There’s no need to apologize for your true feelings, Sunny. You have every right to feel what you feel.”

She sniffed. “So you’re saying you enjoy women covering your chest with tears and snot?”

He laughed. “A little snot never hurt anyone.” He drew back and lifted the towel he still held in his hand and blotted her tears from her cheeks. Her eyes were puffy and her lips held not even a hint of a smile. And yet, she had never looked more beautiful.

“Thank you,” she whispered.

“I didn’t do anything but give you a shoulder to cry on.”

She lowered her gaze and her cheeks turned pink. “I don’t usually cry on shoulders. I don’t cry in front of people period.”

He placed a finger under her chin and lifted her gaze back to his. “Then I’m glad you chose me to be the first.”

The smile returned. Not a bright, flashy smile. This smile was soft and hesitant and made him feel like he was drowning and she was the only life preserver in sight. He didn’t know how long they stood there staring at each other before her cellphone pinged.

She lifted the phone she still held and looked at the screen. “It’s the rest of the sisters saying there was no skinny-dipping party tonight.” She shook her head. “It doesn’t make sense. Why would Mimi lie? What is that ornery woman up—” She cut off as her gaze snapped to him. “Did Mimi know you were coming here?”

“Not unless Sophie told her.”

Sunny rolled her eyes and sighed. “Oh, Sophie told her. I don’t doubt it for a second. Mimi is extremely good at throwing people together.”

He cocked an eyebrow. “Throwing people together?”

“Matchmaking.” She held up a hand. “And before you start pointing fingers at me, I had nothing to do with hermatchmaking scheme. When she alluded to us getting together, I made it perfectly clear that you weren’t interested in me.”

He should have left it at that. But while he’d been holding her, he’d come to a realization. It didn’t matter that she was his boss’s little sister and he’d made a vow to Sophie to keep his job. Or that they had an aircraft carrier full of baggage, which might explain why neither one of them had ever had a serious relationship. None of those facts seemed to stop the feelings he had for this woman. And it was about time he stopped lying to himself.

And her.

“That’s not exactly true,” he said.

She looked at him with confusion. “Excuse me?”

He smoothed a strand of her hair, enjoying the silky feel of it slipping through his fingers as he tucked it behind the perfect shell of her ear. Just that mere touch had him trembling like a newborn calf taking its first steps. “The thing is . . . Iaminterested in you, Sunshine Whitlock. Extremely interested.”

She blinked those big brown eyes. “But . . . what happened to me being trouble?”

“Oh, you’re still trouble.” He smiled. “But maybe it’s time I got into a little trouble.”

Chapter Sixteen

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