Page 47 of The Way to a Cowboy's Heart

The air was crisp and a little cold at this time of night and when she looked up, the sky was awash with stars. She’d really never seen anything like it before.

A shooting star flickered in an arching trajectory over the mountains and disappeared. “When I was little,” she told him, leaning against the fender of the truck, “in England, the stars were nothing like this. Lots of cloud cover and the sky was small compared to yours. But I do remember sitting on my mother’s lap and her telling me that wishing upon a star was something I should always do. That it was real. That’s just come back to me now, watching this sky.”

Liam leaned against the truck beside her, looking up. “She was not the pragmatist in the family then?”

“No. That belonged to my father, who drummed such far-fetched ideas out of our little heads early on. I’m afraid there is still a tiny bit of dreamer alive in me, though. Don’t tell my father.”

“I had one of those, too,” he said. “My old man had no patience with dreamers. He was a man of action, whose actions often got him into trouble. Life has been better since he passed. That’s awful of me to say. But for all of us. Especially our mom.”

“I love your mom. Everyone should have one like her.”

“Agree. She’s fond of you, too.”

“She and Ray seem happy.”

“Yeah. That’s a long story. One that nearly turned our family inside out. But they’re madly in love and now that his cancer is finally in remission, things are even better for them. She’s happy after many years of… happiness being elusive. I think they plan to get married someday. But they’re in no rush. With Cooper, Shay, and Ryan living out on Ray’s old ranch now and Ray moving in with Mom, it feels like everyone is finally where they’re supposed to be.”

“And what about you?” she asked.

“Me?” He swallowed thickly. “I’m standing here watching the stars with you. What else could I ask for?”

She rolled toward him and wrapped her arms around him, and he did the same to her. She inhaled his scent deeply. Etching this memory in her mind, she knew full well that their time together was short, and they would likely never get the chance to find whether they were supposed to be. The same universe that had thrown them together was intent on separating them. She couldn’t work out the logic.

But this was the reason she’d come. This, right here. Maybe it was only meant for her to taste this kind of a feeling, not to keep it.

He was, she feared, meant to be an escape, not a landing place.

*

Morning light filteredthrough the window curtains, aiming a beam at Liam’s left eye. He rolled sideways and blinked, his gaze coming to rest on the soft flow of Emily’s hair on the pillow beside him.

A slow smile tugged at his mouth. She was still asleep, her face turned toward him, hand curled under her chin. She looked… as if she’d been painted there in the morning light with her lashes shadowed against her cheeks, skin pale with sleep. Her lips—those same lips he’d gotten lost in last night—were pursed with sleep as she dreamed about something. He wanted to touch her, reach out his hand and wake her for more of what they’d shared last night, but he felt almost content to watch her sleep.

The memory of last night was still fresh, but somehow felt like he must have dreamed her pulling him into her cabin last night with a kiss that didn’t end until they were on her bed and tugging off their clothes. They’d had more than a few drinks at Grey’s. But no. Clearly, that had really happened. He remembered pausing to watch her strip off her blouse and skirt, his gaze devouring the sight of her half naked until she reached for his shirt and tugged it over his head. Staring at the shape of her breasts filling the black bra she wore and the pique of her nipples as she made her intentions clear.

“Keep up, cowboy,” she teased, reaching for the buckle of his belt to undo it with a flick of her wrist.

He kicked off his boots and shed his black jeans, leaving them in a puddle on the floor before pulling her down beneath him, sprawled on her bed together exploring her skin with his mouth with his last bit of restraint. She tasted… like honey. Like dropping his nose into a bed of clover on a hot summer day. And every inch of her was soft and willing and delicious.

“Em,” he whispered against her neck as she arched her back under him. “I can’t get enough of you.”

She met his gaze then, kissing him into silence, dragging a hand down his back, exploring the crescent-shaped scar her fingers found there. But she didn’t question it. She merely traced it with her fingers until he distracted her by pushing aside her lacy bra to access that nipple with his mouth. Her response was a shaky breath, exhaled slowly.

She murmured, “I used to imagine you doing this sometimes when we were on the phone together.”

He laved her nipple with his tongue, then, “Stop. You’re gonna make me lose it.”

“Sometimes,” she persisted, smiling, “I’d have to resolve that situation myself.” She curled her fingers in his hair as he moaned softly against her breast. “But I must admit, this is… better.”

He smiled against her breast, his hand trailing down the back of her hip until he’d cupped her ass up close to him. “If I’m honest… same. I’ve wanted you since the moment I laid eyes on you. That sounds bad, right? Like… stalker bad?”

She shook her head. “I believe it was I who dragged you into my bedroom, sir.”

“That’s right. You did.” He palmed the skin of her thighs, moving up to the spot between her legs, enjoying the tremor that caused against his hand. “And I’m grateful for that. ’Cause I didn’t want to push you.”

She took his earlobe between her teeth and gave it a little tug, sending a shiver of heat through him.

“Shhhh,” she whispered. “You and I? We won’t apologize for this. We’re past doing that. I don’t want to think about tomorrow or the next day. I only want to think about now. Right here. With you.”

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