Page 36 of Montana Freedom

“Is that forgiveness?” I wished the hope weren’t so obvious in my voice.

He was looking at me, and I was looking at the water. “I don’t know if you need my forgiveness, Emma. You didn’t owe me anything then, and you don’t owe me anything now. But if you want my forgiveness, you have it.”

Orange and pink streaked over the water, creating a blazing sunset. Back on the ranch, it would have covered the sky and felt like it was almost an aurora above us. The awkwardness I’d sensed between us was gone, and I…

I knew the risk, but I couldn’t stop it now. There’d been too many moments between us, and I had to try. At least once to see if I was alone or if he was here with me.

Daniel was still looking at me. I turned and met his stare. He didn’t move and neither did I. So I rose on my toes and kissed him.

He went still with shock before relaxing and kissing me back.Fuckyes. Heat rolled over me along with a longing so strong it stole breath I didn’t have. This was akiss. I’d been kissed before, but nothing like this. Daniel’s mouth was hungry on mine, and being pressed up against the body I’d been staring at for weeks sent tingles down my spine.

Then he stiffened, and dread spiraled through me.

Gently, Daniel pulled away. I could already see the regret in his eyes, and I didn’t think I’d be able to breathe ever again. I thought—

It didn’t matter what I thought. I was wrong. It was all me projecting my dreams on to him, and nothing more. “I’m sorry. I’ll go back to the hotel.”

“Emma, wait.” He caught me by the shoulders and held me still. “Don’t apologize. You didn’t do anything I didn’t want.”

But he’d still pulled away, so I wasn’t going to give myself the dignity of hope.

“Please believe me when I say it’s nothing to do with you and everything to do with me.”

When I didn’t respond, he tilted my face up to him with one finger, and what I saw there made me go still. There was hunger in his eyes. Dark, pure hunger that matched his kiss. And along with it, devastation. The kind of grief that never left you alone. That look made me want to wrap him up and never let him go, if he’d let me.

“I told you I’d dreamed about you,” he said quietly. “I did. I still do. And it’s more than you being in a cage, Emma. You’re beautiful, and I don’t care what you say about yourself. You’re smart and funny, and I can see how kind your heart is. I won’t lie to you and tell you I haven’t had to stop myself from kissing you half a dozen times in the past two weeks.”

“You didn’t have to stop yourself.”

A sad smile appeared on his mouth. “Yes, I did. For so many reasons. None of them you.”

“Then tell me why?”

He hesitated for a moment but sighed. “First, I’m too old for you.”

I raised an eyebrow. “How old are you?”

“Thirty-seven.”

That didn’t bother me in the slightest. “Is that all?”

“No. I want to do you the same favor and tell you everything, but it might be…a lot for tonight. But I will tell you once we get back to the ranch if you want to hear it. But the short answer is I’m too broken for you to waste your life on, Emma. Too old and too broken to tie down someone like you.”

Staring at him, I didn’t agree. Nothing about Daniel told me he was broken. If anything, he seemed like one of the most complete people I’d ever met. The people around him loved and respected him, he did work that made a difference, and he was mind-bogglingly attractive. There wasn’t anything I could think of that would make me find any of those things untrue.

“I can decide who I spend my time on.”

“You can, but you won’t want to.”

“I’ll be the judge.”

He pulled me into his arms, and I let him. Pure warmth. It called back hazy, delirious memories of him carrying me when he saved my life. Both times, he’d had to. These arms meant safety, and I wasn’t sure Daniel understood how rare that was or what it meant.

More than anything, I wanted him to know he would never be a waste of anyone’s life. One way or another, I was going to show him. In the meantime, I relaxed into his embrace and took the only version of Daniel Clark he would allow me to have.

Chapter11

Daniel

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