Page 26 of Snowed in with the Rancher

The warm feeling spread, and before she knew what she was doing, she'd reached out to brush a lock of hair out of his eyes. He gazed at her, and the moment shifted into something that was more than warm. It was hot and it was familiar, even after all the years when she hadn't known where he was.

He caught her hand as she went to pull away. His big fingers closed over her smaller ones, and his voice was low and gruff.

“You did something amazing. You had those girls, and you fed them and sheltered them and taught them without anyone there to help. Without a partner. Without family.”

She blinked at him, an ache building in her chest. This. This was the man she'd come to know on the cruise. This was the Tate she'd been halfway in love with after just a handful of days all those years ago.

“I never really had a lot of time to think about it,” she told him truthfully. “And I didn't have anything else to compare it to, so I just did what needed to be done.”

He leaned closer, his hand still closed firmly over hers.

“You're amazing,” he whispered.

They stared into one another's eyes, caught in some sort of in-between place, where before and after didn't exist. There was only that moment.

Then he leaned in further, and his lips brushed hers—whisper-soft, tender. Her breath caught as she returned the kiss—once, twice. His free hand moved to cup the back of her neck, and she heard him release a breath as if he'd been holding it for days. His head tilted, and he deepened the kiss, his fingers digging into her hair as she shifted, moving her whole body closer to him. He tasted like tart apples and smelled like pine and snow and something else that was simply…him.

Muscle memory kicked in as her hands found the hard planes of his chest. How she could remember the feel of him after such a long time, she didn't know, but she did, and it was like coming home.

He whispered her name as his thumb stroked over her breast, and she gasped. Her mind had lost all sense of time or place and only focused on one desire—more.

Luckily, he seemed to have retained more awareness, because when a door opened at the far end of the room, letting in the sound and activity from the ballroom barbecue, he had the sense to jerk away, leaving her confused and breathless.

“I think I see them right there,” Marjory's voice came from the far end of the room. “You run and tell them it's time for dinner.”

The pitter-patter of four-year-old feet came running across the wood plank floor as Tate cleared his throat and Olivia quickly moved to put some distance between them.

“Mommy!” Jackie cried.

“It's time for dinner,” Melissa scolded.

“And Mr. Tate, too,” Jackie put in.

Olivia looked at Tate and shrugged lightly. “Welcome to parenthood,” she murmured before standing to meet up with the twins.

TWELVE

By the time dinner was over and the guests at the lodge had begun filtering away to their own rooms, the temperatures had plunged, leaving the night dark and frigid, and Tate knew he wouldn't be making it back to his cabin until morning. The lodge told Vince they'd comp two rooms for the local rescue team, so he and Marjory handed one of the keys to Tate before heading off to their own room.

After going outside to his ATV and grabbing the few toiletries he kept packed there for emergencies, he shot off a text to his dad, asking if he'd check on Lobster, before coming back inside to find Olivia in the lobby. He watched as she climbed around on one of the big, overstuffed leather sofas, looking under throw pillows and between cushions.

“You lose something?” he asked, walking up behind her.

She gave a little shriek and nearly leaped off the sofa. Tate shot out an arm, grabbing her wrist so she wouldn't fall on her lovely behind on the floor.

“Oh my God,” she said, laughing. Her other hand had flown to her heart, and she kept it there for a moment, taking a deep breath. “You scared me half to death.”

He reluctantly let go of her wrist. “Sorry. I'm used to walking up on horses, and it's better not to be too loud when you do that. You're not the first person I've startled.”

She smiled, warming the whole room. The big antler chandeliers overhead had been dimmed, and the only other person in the lobby, an overnight clerk at the front desk, was engrossed in a movie on his iPad. But they could have been in the middle of a Times Square New Year's Eve party, and he still wouldn't have wanted to look at anyone but her. He could never get tired of looking at her.

“It's fine. I was just so focused. Jackie lost her bracelet, and I was hoping to find it before I put them to bed.”

“Little silver one with pink beads?” he asked.

“Yes. Have you seen it?”

“Only on her, I'm afraid,” he answered. “But I'm happy to help look.”

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