Page 91 of The Holiday Gift

She was being kissed by the sexy new veterinarian just a day after thinking him rude and abrasive. For a long moment, she was shocked into immobility, then heat began to seep through her frozen stupor. Oh. Oh, yes!

How long had it been since she had enjoyed a kiss and wanted more? She was astounded to realize she couldn’t remember. As his lips played over hers, she shifted her neck slightly for a better angle.

She splayed her fingers against his chest—that strong, muscled chest she had seen firsthand just that morning—and his heat soaked into her skin, even through the cotton of his shirt.

Her insides seemed to give a collective shiver. Mmm. This was exactly what two people ought to be doing at 3:00 a.m. on a snowy December day.

He made a low sound in his throat that danced down her spine and she felt the hard strength of his arms slide around her, pulling her closer. In this moment, nothing else seemed to matter but Ben Caldwell and the wondrous sensations fluttering through her.

This was crazy. Some tiny voice of self-preservation seemed to whisper through her. What was she doing? She had no business kissing someone she barely knew and wasn’t even sure if she liked yet. If she kept this up, he was going to think she kissed every guy who happened to smile at her.

Though it took every last ounce of strength, she managed to slide away from all that delicious heat and moved a few inches away from him, trying desperately to catch her breath.

The distance she created between them seemed to drag Ben back to his senses. He stared at her, his eyes as dazed as she felt. “That was wrong. I don’t know what I was thinking. Your dog is a patient and... I shouldn’t have....”

She might have been offended by the dismay in his voice if not for the arousal in his eyes and the way he couldn’t seem to catch his breath. Because she was having the same sort of reaction—dismay mixed with lingering arousal and a sudden deep yearning—she couldn’t very well complain.

His hair was a little rumpled and he had the evening shadow of a beard and all she could think wasyum.

She cleared her throat, compelled to say something in the strained moment. “Relax, Dr. Caldwell. You didn’t do anything wrong, as far as I can see. I didn’t exactly push you out the door, did I?”

He ran a hand through his hair. “No. No, I guess you didn’t.”

“It’s late and we’re both tired and not quite thinking straight. I’m sure that’s all this was.”

A muscle flexed in his jaw. He looked as if he would like to argue with her, but after a moment he only nodded. “I’m sure you’re right.”

“No harm done. We’ll both just forget the past five minutes ever happened and go back to our regularly scheduled lives.”

“Great idea.”

His ready agreement sent a hard kernel of regret to lodge somewhere in her sternum. For a moment, she had felt almost normal, just like any other woman. Someone who could flirt and smile and attract the interest of a sexy male.

He wanted to forget it ever happened, whereas she was quite certain she would never be able to erase these few moments from her memory.

“I should, uh, go.”

“Yes.”Or you could stay and kiss me for a few more hours.

“Call me if anything changes with the dog.”

She drew in a breath. “I hope we’re past the worst of it. But I will.”

That last was a lie. She had absolutely no intention of calling him again in the middle of the night. She would drive Luke to the vet in Idaho Falls before she would drag Ben Caldwell out here again anytime soon.

“Good night.”

She nodded, not trusting herself to reply, just wishing he would go already. He gave her a long, searching look before he shrugged back into his ranch coat and left through the side door.

A blast of cold air curled into the room from that brief moment he had opened the door. Chilled by more than just the winter night, she shivered as it sidled under her T-shirt.

What in heaven’s name just happened here?

She wrapped her arms around herself. She hadknownhe would be trouble. Somehow she had known. She never should have suggested he move into the foreman’s house. If she had only used her brain, she might have predicted she would do something stupid around him, like develop a very awkward and embarrassing crush.

She spent most of her days here on the ranch, surrounded by her brothers and his few ranchhands, most of whom were either fresh-faced kids just out of high school or grizzled veterans who either were already married or held absolutely no appeal to her.

The ranch was safe. It had always been her haven from the hardness of the world. Now she had messed that up by inviting a tempting man to set up temporary residence smack in the middle of her comfort zone.

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