Page 64 of The Cattleman's Unforgettable Love

His eyes turned a darker shade of green as he looked down at her. He leaned closer and she wrapped her arms around his neck. She'd thought to give him a quick peck, but as his arms closed around her waist and he lifted her off her feet, he claimed her mouth in one of his deep, searing kisses that left her breathless.

When he finally leaned back, he sat her on the counter and stood between her legs, sending slick heat trickling through her veins. She wanted nothing more than to wrap her legs around his waist and hold him to her. And as he brushed his thumb over her lips, it was obvious that he wanted the same thing.

They stared into each other's eyes for a few long moments before he let out a short laugh. "I'm supposed to be asking you what you want for dinner. Supposed to be suggesting pizza even though we had it not long ago." He shook his head as if to clear it. "I'm supposed to be asking how your day was – but all I can think about is how beautiful you are and how bad I want you."

His words sent heat racing over her skin and hot shivers down her spine. She tightened her arms around his neck as she said, "I want you, too."

Tension hummed through him as he held her a little closer. "But it's too soon, and I need to feed you, and..."

She brought a finger up to his lips. "The time will be right whenever we want it to be," she told him. "It's not as though we're strangers, is it? We've known each other for a long time, even if we haven't been around each other much until now. And..." She paused to consider her words before she continued, but they were true, so she did. "And I trust you. I'm not the kind of person to sleep around, but I'm also not the kind of person who has a problem with going for it when it's right."

There was no missing the flash of desire in his eyes when he slid his hands under her ass and pulled her to the edge of the counter so that... She let out a little sigh at the feel of him. The way his hard cock pressed between her legs made her want to end the conversation right here and now so that she could drag him upstairs.

She pressed a quick kiss to his lips and said, "And in case I'm not making myself clear, with you, it's right."

He rocked his hips, sending waves of desire crashing over her. "Am I making myself clear enough?" he asked, his voice sounding even deeper and more gravelly than normal.

She had to swallow before she could answer. "Absolutely," she told him.

He brushed his thumb over her lips again – she loved the way he did that – then he traced it down over her throat. Her eyes had drifted closed, and she was lost in the moment, but they popped open again when he paused, his thumb tracing the now tiny scar on her neck.

"The surgeon did a good job, but it was impossible to make it disappear completely," she told him.

Ford closed his eyes briefly. "I wasn't thinking about how it looks; I was thinking how brave you are."

She shook her head rapidly. "I was scared stupid."

"Of course you were. I would have been too, but just because you were scared, that didn't stop you, did it?"

She shrugged. "I didn't do much. Sierra was the one who saved the day."

"No," he said. "You both did. If you hadn't tried to take Jared down, Sierra wouldn't have had the time to grab his gun, would she?"

She shrugged again and reached up to run her fingers over his cheek. "Maybe not, but..."

He gave her a rueful smile as he said, "Yeah, sorry. Way to ruin the moment, me bringing that up."

"It's okay. I don't mind, but I'd rather enjoy being here with you in this moment than spend time talking about that – or about anything else," she added.

He nodded, but she knew that the moment had passed, and there was no point trying to recreate it. But that didn't mean she planned to let it get too far away from them. So she smiled. "And for the record, I could eat pizza every day of the week. I love it. So how about we get it in the oven? And then what do you want to do this evening? Do you want to go out and walk? Do you want to stay in and chill?" She raised her eyebrows. "And I'm talking about before we go to bed."

The look he gave her made her squirm in her panties. "Or we could forget everything I just said and go now."

He chuckled. "We could, and you have no idea how tempted I am. And if we were anywhere else, you can bet your ass I'd have scooped you up and had you halfway to my bed already. But I can almost guarantee that if I tried that right now, at least one of my brothers would come by needing something." He let out a short laugh. "Knowing my luck, probably all of them would come by for something or another. So..." He leaned in and kissed the tip of her nose. "Let's have dinner and we'll go from there. How about that?"

She nodded happily. "That sounds like a fine plan to me."

~ ~ ~

Ford enjoyed every moment of their evening together. He had to keep adjusting his pants, but other than that, he felt more relaxed and at ease around Amelia than he could remember ever feeling around a woman before.

They worked side by side to prepare a salad while they waited for the pizza. They shared a beer – he smiled – at first, she’d said that she didn't want one, and then she'd kept swiping his bottle from his hand while they talked.

Then they'd come out here to the back deck to eat. It was a beautiful evening; his breath caught in his chest – he was spending it with a beautiful woman. He glanced over at her. They were sitting side by side on a big wicker sofa. Neither of them had said anything for a while, and what she'd said about companionable silence came back to him. That was exactly how this felt.

She glanced over at him. "Are you doing okay?" she asked.

"I am. I was just thinking how much I'm enjoying this."

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