Page 13 of Faking it with the Cowboy

“I’ll stay under one condition.” Birch’s deep voice rolled through his chest.

“What’s that?”

“You let me help you get past this. Rearranging your life around the weather has to stop. Do we have a deal?” He pulled back and held out his hand.

With no other choice, I slid my palm against his. “Deal. Now I’ve got a favor to ask and you can’t say no.”

“What’s that?”

“Will you sit outside the bathroom door while I take a quick shower?”

9

BIRCH

She was killing me. I could hear the water hit the bottom of the tub, and all I could do was picture her standing under the spray, running her hands over her curves. I’d stripped off most of my wet clothes so I didn’t track any more mud all over the cabin and was battling the hard-on that threatened to tent my boxer briefs.

Lightning flashed outside the window and Jericho screamed. I pushed the bathroom door open and flung back the shower curtain.

The candle I’d set on the bathroom counter went out as I stepped over the edge of the clawfoot tub and pulled her against me. “It’s okay, honeybee. I’ve got you.”

She burrowed into me, her crossed arms the only thing preventing her chest from smashing against mine. The water continued to stream from the shower. Within seconds, my briefs were drenched. If she weren’t terrified, it would have been funny—the two of us standing huddled in a shower, still covered in mud.

“I’m such a loser.” Her palms pushed me away. “A grown ass woman and still scared of a little rain. It’s ridiculous, right?”

“Hey.” I sandwiched her cheeks between my palms. “Don’t talk to yourself that way. You have a good reason to be scared of the rain.”

“It’s pathetic.”

“You’re not pathetic, Jericho. You’re amazing. We’ve all got pieces of the past we hang onto. Things we regret or wish we’d done different.”

“Not you.”

“You don’t think there are things I wish I’d done differently over the years?” If I listed everything out, it would be over a mile long.

“Name one.”

My gut twisted. I’d been holding back from her for too damn long. Maybe it was time to come clean. “Fine. You.”

“Me? What about me?”

Regret worked its way through my system, making my fingers go numb. I pulled my hands away from her cheeks. “It’s always been you. I just never had the balls to tell you that.”

Time stood still. The water continued to beat down on my back while I waited for her to respond. Even in the dark, I could make out the outline of her shoulders and the curve of her breasts. My fingers ached to touch her, to pull her into me, to tip her chin up and taste her lips. But I didn’t move. Whatever happened next needed to be her doing. I’d bared my heart and, in the process, given her complete control.

She took a hesitant step forward, closing the gap between us. Her hand reached out, her fingers trembling as they brushed my cheek.

“You never needed to hide anything from me,” she whispered.

I could barely hear her voice over the cascade of water falling down around us. The overhead light flickered on just long enough for me to catch a glimpse of the unshed tears shimmering in her eyes. A glimmer of hope sparked to life in my chest.

“I’ve wanted,”—she looked down, her gaze pinned to the spot between our feet—“I’ve always wondered what it might be like between us.”

A wave of emotion surged through me, sending heat racing through my veins. As if some invisible wall between us had come crashing down, I pulled her into my arms. Skin-to-skin, our bodies molded together—a perfect fit. My lips touched hers as the water continued its relentless cascade, washing away the regrets of our past.

My world narrowed to her taste, her touch, and the intoxicating feel of her body against mine. I held her cheeks between my palms, my thumbs tracing the outline of her jaw as our mouths moved in perfect sync. Now that I knew my feelings weren’t one-sided, I didn’t want to rush. I gently pulled away and stared down at her. Even with mascara smeared across her cheek and shampoo suds in her hair, she was the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen.

“We should probably finish getting you cleaned up and rinsed off before we get out of the shower.” I reached for the washcloth and turned us both around, so she stood under the spray. Being as gentle as I could, I slid the soapy washcloth over her skin while she rinsed the shampoo from her hair.

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