Page 19 of Cozy Cabin for Two
“Ro and I can bake dozens like crazy, but I would need supplies.” She waved around my kitchen.
“Make a list and Anson can get what you need during his grocery runs. Oh, we just had some baby goats born recently. We could set up a small pen and let kids pet them,” I offered.
“Aw, baby goats? Ro and I need to see those. Can you show us after she gets back from school?”
I nodded, my energy building around this event I hadn’t actually wanted to begin with. All thanks to her. My cock grew by the minute, too. Good thing she was on the other side of this counter or I’d be tempted to do something about it.
I cleared my throat. “Can you make flyers and posters to put out aroundtown?”
“Sure. I brought my laptop with me.” She pointed at the end of the counter where it’d been charging.
“Throughout the day, we can have the ranch hands stationed around the barn to talk about what we did to rehab each horse.”
Her pen worked furiously down the page. “Yes. People love stories that tug at their heartstrings, especially with happy endings. Maybe we'll have a photo station set up where people can take photos with the horses or with props. And Daisy could give a demo of the training she does with Juniper.”
I raised a brow. “Whoa. You want the wildest damn mare on this property to be the star of the show?”
Willow tapped her pen against her lip, thinking. I focused on that lip too much as she told me about her interaction with Juniper choosing her. “I swear, Ash, I felt a connection to her.”
“Well, you are easy on the eyes,” I blurted, and flirted without thinking.
“You think so?” She cocked her head at me with a goofy grin.
I averted my gaze into the coffee, letting a long awkward pause take hold.
She leaned in over the counter. “Hey. What are we doing?”
“Uh, planning the open house?”
“No, I mean, are you going to keep pretending nothing happened the other day when you almost kissed me?”
It took all my willpower to look up and say, “It would have been a mistake.”
She narrowed her eyes to slits. “Then why did it feel like the most right thing we could have ever done?”
Because it did. Damn it.
“Ash, I have to tell you something. True confession time. I’ve always regretted not meeting you under the bleachers the first day we met at school. There, I said it. God, that felt good to finally admit it.”
The corner of my mouth curled slyly. “I don’t think you understand what went on under the bleachers.”
“What—making out?”
“Exactly. See, I’d have pushed things too far with you, as far as you would have let me go. Then, I would have lost interest. That was the kind of self-centered kid I was back then when it came to girls.”
She arched her brows. “And now? Have you grown up?”
I scoffed. “Of course. I know how good to treat a woman.”
Pink rose to her cheeks. “Then I’m not opposed toyou pushing things too far between us.” There went her fluttering eyelashes again. She definitely had a flirt mode she could turn on that got me revved up. But no, dammit. Willow offered herself on an altar as a sacrifice to me, and I still hesitated.
I took a long drink and shook my muddled head. “But you were Scott’s.”
“And now I’m not. He and I were barely adults trying to raise a child. And then… I was a widow. But I never stopped being me. And I never stopped wondering about you and me, and about what if?”
I set the mug down hard enough to make her jump. “You think this is easy for me? Knowing I wanted you back then, and still wanting you now?”
“Then stop pushing me away.” She stepped around the counter and closed the distance between us. Her hand slipped around my waist. I jolted, and my pulse thundered. She tilted her head up, her lips in my view. “Kiss me. And this time, don’t stop.”
