stopped by on the way to the next rodeo?
She didn’t have any answers and until she did, it would be unfair to both of them for her to throw caution to the wind. That would only set up both of them for the devastation of going through another breakup.
It had nearly destroyed her to leave him the first time. She knew for certain she wouldn’t be able to survive a second time.
* * *
Sam sat in the family room impatiently waiting for Bria to finish washing the supper dishes. He had spent the entire afternoon trying to think of something that would make her happy and never suspected that cutting his thumb would give him an idea that was sure to please her.
Earlier, when they walked out of the clinic and he had looked down the street at the Broken Spoke, he knew that taking Bria dancing was the answer. The first time he ever saw her had been at a party for the riders and personnel after a rodeo in Amarillo. She had been line dancing with her sister, Mariah, and some of their friends, and from the moment he laid eyes on her, Sam knew Bria was the one for him.
He supposed they could have danced after having supper at the roadhouse in Beaver Dam, but having a roomful of men ogling his wife wasn’t part of his plan for the evening, nor did he want to waste a half hour for the drive back home. That’s why he had declined eating at the Broken Spoke in favor of coming home to be alone with Bria. And now that he had her favorite CD queued up on the player, the chairs moved out of the way and a couple of candles lit, he couldn’t wait for her to join him in his impromptu dance hall.
When he heard Bria walking toward the family room, Sam picked up the remote for the CD player and turned it on. As the first notes of the romantic country tune began, he stood up and turned to watch her walk into the room.
She was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen and each day they were together he fell just a little bit harder, wanted her just a bit more than he had the day before. He took a deep breath. His plan to win her back had to work. He didn’t even want to think about the living hell he would go through if he couldn’t.
“What’s this?” she asked, looking around at the candles and at the furniture he had moved.
Sam walked over to her, then leading her back to the area he had cleared, he took her hands in his and raised them to his shoulders. Wrapping his arms around her waist, he drew her close. “I want to dance with my wife.”
To his satisfaction, she smiled and began swaying with him in time to the music. “What made you decide we need to dance?” she murmured against his shoulder.
“You like to dance and I like to do things that make you happy,” he said, kissing the top of her head.
He heard her catch her breath a second before she leaned back to look up at him. The uncertainty in the depths of her green eyes caused a knot to form in his stomach. Without a second thought he lowered his head and covered her mouth with his. He wanted to wipe away whatever indecision and doubts she had about staying with him, wanted to remind her that they belonged together.
When he deepened the kiss, Bria’s soft sigh as she pressed herself closer caused his heart to pound against his rib cage and a spark to ignite in his lower belly. Her response and the fact that it had been months since he’d made love to her sent his temperature soaring. But his need for her could wait. Tonight was all about her, all about making her realize that no matter what problems they had experienced in the past, what they had together was worth saving.
He would have tried to remind her of all that three months ago when she left him, but he had been out on the road for over a week and when he returned, she hadn’t given him the chance. She was so upset and so intent on leaving, he knew she wouldn’t have heard a word he said, anyway. And anything he did at that point, any gesture he made to show her how much