Page 35 of Accidentally on Purpose

I nodded. “I worked on a few ranches in Texas when I was younger. They can get violent, but not usually if you’re steady. Slow and steady.”

“But the way you protected Reese—”

“Mom…”

“Honey, the way he stepped in front of you out of instinct, it was like out of a fairy tale,” Arlene went on, giving me another wink when Reese groaned from the back seat. I fought to hide my chuckle. “So, if you want to stay at the hotel tonight, I fully understand—”

“Mom!” Reese shook her head.

Arlene heaved a sigh, fanning herself with her hand. “You think about it on the way home. You don’t have to decide now.”

I watched Reese open and then promptly shut her mouth. Maybe she didn’t want to argue with Arlene.Or maybe she was considering it—considering spending the night with me.

ChapterEight

REESE

“Thanks for bringingme to get the Jeep tonight,” I said as Decker pulled to a stop in front of his shop.

Did I need my rental back tonight? No. Did Decker need it moved from his shop? No. Was I looking for some excuse to be alone with him again?Guilty.

That kiss on the trail stayed with me like a loose string, one my mind kept on tugging and tugging and tugging, wondering just how far I could take things with Decker before everything unraveled.

No relationship. No complications.

I made my position clear…and he still wanted whatever I was willing to give.

And it was more than sex. More than him looking for an easy score with zero strings. If that were the case, he wouldn’t have been content to coax me to pleasure for the last five nights with zero demands in return.

And then the bison…I’d never felt fear like I did in that moment. How many stories had I read—heard—about tourists getting too close to the unpredictable beasts and being mauled? Far too many. But all I could think as I stood there and clutched Decker’s shirt, soaking in the warmth of his protection, was what if this was it?What if I never got the chance to know what it would be like with him?

Even if that chance only lasted two weeks and was relegated to complication-free sex.

I had to know.

For years, my only focus had been achieving. Goals. Progress. Success. Maybe for these next two weeks—weeks I was technically on vacation, maybe I could be on vacation from that, too. From needing toproveanything.

“No problem.” He held the door open for me and then hit the first light switch when we walked into his shop, illuminating the farthest bay. “Keys are in my office. I’ll be right back.”

I stopped and watched him go. The broad stretch of his back. It had felt so strong—so solid—earlier. Like even if that bison had decided to charge, it wouldn’t have mattered; nothing was getting through Decker to get to me.

Heat coiled like a knot in my stomach.

I was always my own best defense. The princess and the knight. But around him…around him, I wanted to hand over my shield and sword for just a little and give my soul a few moments without the weight.A few moments to slow down. To savor. To be taken care of.

I shivered, but before the warning sirens could go off in my head, Decker was heading back toward me. His eyes dark. His hand clasped tight around the keys, muscles flexing all the way up his arm.

My lips parted, and I inhaled, pure desire running like oxygen through my blood. I wasn’t here for the keys or the Jeep; I was here for him.

He stopped only inches in front of me like it took all his restraint to keep that distance.

“Here you go.”

I looked at his hand and then lifted my gaze to meet his, lust sparking when they connected. My throat bobbed as I tried to swallow, but I couldn’t—the words I had to say were too big. Too heavy to try and hide any longer.

“I’m not here for the keys, Decker.”

His nostrils flared, the words sending a quake through his big body. “Then what are you here for?”

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