Page 28 of Blazing Hot Nights
“Is Beau going with you?” she asked, resting her hand on my chest. I suspected it was unconsciously, but I wasn’t complaining. The only time I felt alive was when she touched me.
“No, angel, he has to stay here and keep the ranch going. He knows about the trip and why, but I’m not his favorite person right now. He doesn’t want to be trapped in a truck with me for two days.”
She nodded her head several times while she stared me down. The look on her face made me grimace internally. She was disappointed in me. I could see it before she even spoke. “Dawn mentioned Beau was thinking about flying back to Texas.”
Instantly, my heart picked up its pace. She noticed and started rubbing my chest to calm me. “What? I mean, I know he’s been in a horn-tossin’ mood, but I didn’t think he was serious.”
“I don’t know why, that’s all she said. If it makes you feel any better, she got mad at me and threatened to leave Heavenly Lane too.”
We fell into an uncomfortable silence. I was picturing Beau storming out of the barn and giving me the finger. It was funny then. Suddenly, it wasn’t so funny anymore. “We aren’t doing so hot, are we?” I asked, stroking my finger down her cheek. “It feels like we’re all coming apart at the seams, and our stuffing is falling out.”
“You’re fine, Blaze,” she promised, but I shook my head in disagreement.
“No, I’m not fine. Beau might have been angry when he spouted off, but a lot of what he said was true.”
“Same with Dawn,” she agreed with a sigh. She didn’t drop my gaze, and she softened when my hand cupped her cheek. She rested her face there like she needed a place to let her guard down and stop wearing that brave face all the time. “I’ll ride with you this weekend. When are you leaving?”
“Ideally, I’d leave late Thursday night, drop the bison off on Friday morning, and then head back.”
“You’re trying to get back so Beau can go to the rodeo?”
“He deserves some time off, and I know he was looking forward to taking Dawn. I have to protect the ranch, but I don’t want him to leave town because he’s feeling overworked. He needs a break and a way to blow off some steam. The rodeo is perfect for that.”
She clutched my arm and held it, her warmth a little beacon of hope in my life. “We can take turns driving and keep each other awake. We’ll drop the animals off in the morning, grab some shut eye and head back. Beau and Dawn can keep the ranches running until we roll in on Saturday morning. Then they can have the entire weekend to themselves. Tex too,” she added.
I smiled, my thumb tenderly rubbing her cheek. “Do you think you can stand to be cooped up with me that long?”
“I can hold my own with you, Blaze McAwley.”
I lowered my forehead to hers slowly until the heat of hers soaked into mine, making me feel alive again. “Just so you know, if you expect me to keep my hands to myself during those hours together, it’s not going to happen. I’m giving you fair warning before you climb in that truck with me, angel.”
“Why do you call me angel all the time?” Her question was whispered, and the pop of the fire almost drowned out her voice.
I lowered my head until our noses touched. “Because angels come to earth from heaven, and you are the most beautiful angel of them all.”
Her owl eyes were the second-to-last thing I saw. The last thing was her pink, soft, kissable lips right before mine came down on them. I waited, and when she didn’t push me away, I went for broke. My tongue knocked on her lips, and I prayed she would answer.
Out here in the silence of the night with the fire crackling in the background and a beautiful soft woman under me, I wondered if this was heaven.
When her lips fell open, and she let my tongue sweep inside, I knew it was.
Now I just had to keep her.
Nine
The door slammed behind my friend as she came into the kitchen. I was waiting for her at the table with a pot of hot coffee and homemade cinnamon rolls.
“Oh, man,” Dawn said, sliding into a chair. “You’ve been to Midge’s.”
I pushed a plate and a mug toward her. “Nobody does cinnamon rolls like Midge,” I agreed. “I was at the bakery first thing this morning. She was just pulling them from the oven. Go ahead, eat up,” I said, motioning at the plate.
Dawn grabbed one, but her brow was in the air the whole time. “I’m not mad, you know. You didn’t have to buy me off with cinnamon rolls.”
“I know you were just frustrated. I am too. You are more than entitled to that feeling. I don’t want to leave this weekend until I’ve talked to both you and Tex. It’s time to stop stringing you along about your place here at Heavenly Lane.”
“Wait, you’re leaving this weekend? Where are you going? It’s rodeo weekend.”
I held my hand up to quiet her. “I know, and I promise you’ll have time to go to the rodeo. I have to help Blaze with a delivery in South Dakota, though.”
