Page 51 of Boston
He’d worried that might not be the case if he had Cora with him, but the trip had done the same thing as it always had.
Only fifteen minutes later, they stepped onto the improved grounds at Silver Sage, though they’d never really left the property.
“Here you are, Cora-Cat,” he said, delivering her right back to her front door. He opened it and put her pack inside, then drew her into his arms. “Thanks for coming with me.”
“Maybe next time we can take the horses,” she said.
Boston chuckled. “Why are you so tired? You seem to sleep fine at night.”
“You get me up early, cowboy,” she said, “And you toss and turn like a madman.”
Boston chuckled, this romantic warmth moving through him absolutely blissful.
She wore a grumpy expression, but Boston leaned down and touched his lips to hers. “Well, I really enjoyed it,” he said.
“If that’s your definition of a goodbye kiss,” Cora said. “You better think again.”
Boston blinked at her. “We’re standing on your porch.”
“Yeah, and it’s the middle of the afternoon,” she said. “Kat and Momma will both be down for their naps, and Jeremy will be over in the administration lodge. So kiss me goodbye properly, because I’m not going to see you again until tomorrow.”
Boston liked this sassier, bossier side of her, but he tilted his head to the side, trying to see inside her mind. “We’re not going to dinner tonight?”
“I’m going to go take a nap,” Cora said.
“But if you sleep through dinner, then you won’t be tired for bed.”
She sighed like he was the most exasperating man in the world. “Fine. I will allow you to bring me dinner.”
Boston tipped his head back and laughed. “Your wish is my command, sweetheart.”
He kissed her then, much more than a peck, drawing the gesture out and deepening it, hoping she knew how much he liked her already. Spending three whole days together with a person could really accelerate a relationship, and for a moment he worried that she didn’t like him as much as he liked her. But she kissed him back like she sure did, and Boston told himself not to be so concerned.
He pulled away first again and whispered, “You know, you could come to my place for dinner. Iama better cook than you.”
She looked up at him with sleepy, beautiful eyes. “Is eight o’clock too late?”
“Yes,” he said emphatically. “Eight o’clock is too late. I go to bed by nine, sweetheart, and we got up at five and we walked six miles today.”
“Seven, then.”
“Seven is fine,” he said. “Are you going to come to church with me in the morning?”
Indecision raced across her face, and she had enough courage to say, “I don’t know. I’m still thinking about it.”
“We don’t have to go at eight,” he said. “We can leave at eight-forty, and that’ll get us there right in time to walk in and sit down. No one will see you. No questions.”
Cora nodded, and Boston wondered why she didn’t like eyes on her or questions coming her way. She certainly worked in a profession where both of those things would happen on a daily and hourly basis, but they sure seemed to bother her.
“I’ll let you know tonight.”
“Okay.”
She stepped out of his arms as if she’d go inside, and then she rushed at him again and kissed him almost roughly before she fell back. “Okay, yeah. See you tonight.”
She went inside, and Boston waved to her through the screen as she closed the main door between them.
Then he turned and had another quarter-mile walk back to his apartment. Exhaustion pulled through him, but he managed to get everything inside, get in the shower, and lay down on the couch before he dialed Cash, ready to freak out about everything that had happened in the last three days.
