Page 83 of Second First Kiss

“Just tonight they were trying to convince me to tell you the truth about how I feel. But I was afraid you’d run.”

They were encroaching on dangerous territory. Like walking through a field full of emotional land mines with Tiny Dancer leading the pack. His answer could blow up everything they had going, but so could her silence.

“Why are you so sure this will work?” she asked, every insecurity and bad word said about her rising to the surface.

“Why are you so sure it won’t?” he countered.

“I am as far from your normal type as one can get.”

“There must be something here if you’re paying close enough attention to know my type.”

“Your kind always has a type. A Holly Homemaker who wants somewhere between three and five kids that they will name after a state or something obscure like Corduroy. They drive a hybrid crossover, do Pilates, volunteer as snack mom, and wear lululemon pants like it’s a uniform.”

Nolan snorted. “Anything else?”

“They think Doc Marten has a PhD, horses belong outside, classic cars are death traps, and once a bad girl, always a bad girl.”

“Good thing I don’t want a girl. I want a woman. A ballbuster with a soft interior who knows her mind, calls me on my shit, challenges me, loves her family and friends, and is loyal and tough as the steel on the toes of her boots. I want you, Kat.”

This is your time, girl. Put up or shut up. Ask him what you really want to know.

“What if your parents don’t like me? What then?”

It was as if she’d sucker punched him in the gut the way his expression hollowed out. He cupped the back of her head. “While my parents’ opinion is valuable, my happiness and instincts are more important. And they’d support that. But, just like with anyone I’d deem worthy to bring home to meet them, I know that once they got to know you, they’d love you.”

Unable to look at him when she’d asked the question, she rolled back on her side and took his hand, threading their fingers and pulling it to her chest. “What are your instincts saying?”

“That this is right. That for me, you’re right. And I know that we fit. We didn’t have the best of beginnings, but we’ve had one hell of a time since and I want to keep going and see where this ends.”

“I do too. I think I’m just scared of being used again or getting hurt when it does end. Because in my world it always ends.”

“You don’t think I’m scared too? I’m terrified. But to me, exploring this with you is worth it. And I promise you I am not like those other people in your past, and I think I’ve shown you that.” He pulled her against his chest and said against her neck, “I would never hurt you or Tessa.”

A foreign heaviness filled her chest and stung the back of her eyes. She wasn’t sure if she liked the feeling—she was scared it would stay, but terrified it would go away. But the more they talked, the more panicky she felt, until she began to question why she’d come out here.

To get him out of her system. Right!

“Then can we start the exploring portion of the evening now? I’m done talking,” she said, sliding his hand down the center of her cleavage, under the elastic waist on her bottoms, and placing his palm on her core. He paused, as if not sure how he felt about the abrupt change in direction, but he didn’t press her, and she liked him even more for it.

Sneaky man.

“It seems like I have been neglecting my duties,” he growled. “How long have you been like this?”

“Since you pulled out your big gun and saved me from the bad man,” she said.

He ran a finger down her center. “You liked being saved?”

“I know. It surprised me too.” It also ticked her off and he knew it by the way he chuckled.

“I like to surprise you,” he admitted. “Somehow I get the feeling that you haven’t had many good surprises in your life. That’s going to change.”

“Enough with the chitchat, Ranger.”

“When did I get downgraded from Agent to Ranger?”

“An agent would assess the situation and get to work. A ranger would talk to the tourists, the birds and bears, gab with just about anything that came across his path. Oh!” she yelped.

One minute she was on her side, the next her bottoms were on the floor, and she was kneeling over his face.

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