Page 28 of Snowed in with the Rancher

He nodded his agreement.

Now Olivia treaded closer to the area she wasn't as sure about. She'd never had to share the girls with anyone, and she had no idea what Tate's ideas were about his ongoing role in their lives. At the same time, she wanted her girls to have every good thing in the world—and that included a father who was an active part of their lives. “I'm wondering how you see this going after we've settled in?”

He cocked his head and looked curious.

She plowed on. “I mean, I'm hoping you'll want to see them regularly, let them get to know you better…” Her voice faded as she ran out of words. She didn't even know exactly what she was asking, much less how to ask it.

“You mean like visitation, custody, things like that?”

She pursed her lips, not liking those terms. They sounded so clinical—like an obligation rather than something hewantedto do.

He continued as if he could read her mind. “I want to see them, I want to get to know them. You're their mother so I'm going to have to rely on you to tell me the best ways to do that. I don't want to do anything that makes them feel unsure about their home or who loves them.”

The twisty feeling inside her relaxed and she touched his arm, feather lightly. “Thank you. I want that, too. Maybe we can start with some dinners together, that sort of thing.”

He nodded. “Wow, that was easier than I'd have thought.”

She agreed, but she also knew the next part wouldn't be as smooth. “I think the more complicated thing we need to deal with is that kiss in the lobby earlier,” she admitted.

His gaze shot to hers, and a wry smile curved his lips. “Yeah, about that kiss…” He let the word hang there between them.

“Guess we haven't lost whatever it was on the cruise.” She couldn't help the grin on her face.

“No, we haven't.”

Tension filled the air between them, and Olivia's breath became short, her chest achy, her skin tingly.

“I don't have an answer for you about what that kiss means, but I'm willing to try it again and see where it leads us,” he told her in a low rough voice as he leaned closer.

“I think I could be convinced to experiment some more.” She even sounded breathless to her own ears. She worried that they might be rushing things, but that worry wasn't enough to make her pull away. Not when she wanted this so badly. Tate was the last man she'd made love to. She'd tried some dates, mostly set up by well-meaning friends, but none of them had ever gone anywhere. The most she'd gotten from any of them had been a kiss. And none of those kisses had come anywhere close to what she'd shared with Tate earlier. She wanted more—craved it.

Tate cupped her cheek in his palm and gently pulled her toward him. Her eyes drifted shut as his lips made contact with hers. He teased her mouth, brushing his lips over hers before sliding his tongue along the seam of her lips. She gasped as her mouth opened beneath his and the kiss deepened.

In the hallway outside, a door slammed, and on the baby monitor one of the girls sighed in her sleep, but in the shelter of Tate's hotel room, heat built and Olivia's entire body sparked to life. He reached for her and pulled her onto his lap. She straddled him and felt the evidence of his arousal pressed against her core.

He made a growling sound in the back of his throat as one of his hands found her hip, squeezing it possessively. His other hand skimmed up the curve of her waist before cupping her breast and brushing over her nipple with his thumb.

But then Tate froze, his hand tightening on her hip.

“What is it?” She looked at him with concern, saying a little prayer he wouldn't stop now.

Was he blushing? “Uh, I don't actually have any condoms on me, and given what happened last time…” His voice trailed off, and he looked up at her, seeming to hope she'd say the right thing.

She ground against his erection, making him groan again before she answered. “I'm on birth control, and I haven't been with anyone since you.” She bit her lip, hoping she hadn't said too much.

“Well, that's good to hear. About the birth control, that is. The other part, too. Well, at least from my perspective. Ouch!”

Olivia interrupted him with a pinch to the arm. “Shut up and keep kissing me, cowboy.”

“Well, yes, ma'am.” He gave her another of his devastatingly handsome smiles before his lips blazed a path down the column of her neck. She arched her back, nerves firing back up like tiny sparklers. Oh, how she'd missed this. Missed him.

Beneath her hands, the planes of his chest were hard, built from real labor, not a gym. She rocked on him, need building in her like a volcano waiting to erupt.

“God, you're beautiful,” he whispered, digging a hand into her long, wavy hair and rubbing his cheek over the cleft between her breasts.

“Tate.” The name left her lips like a prayer, and he seemed to understand exactly what she was praying for when he slipped a hand between them, murmuring heated words in her ear as he applied the perfect amount of pressure to the perfect place.

She buried her head in the crook between his neck and shoulder as her need grew. Then he was lifting her. She kept her legs wrapped around his waist while he carried her to the bed, laid her down gently and stared at her.

---