The Mechanics of Mistletoe - Liz Isaacson Page 0,46

he said, bringing her right back into his arms.

Her eyes searched his, and Bear didn’t know what to say. He reached up and tucked her hair behind her ear, his confidence pushing through his nerves. “Sammy, can I kiss you?”

“Oh,” she said, surprise dancing through her expression. A nervous chuckle sounded in his ears. “I…I haven’t done that for a while.”

“Neither have I,” he said, and he honestly couldn’t believe he was going to kiss her right there on the front porch. Anyone—literally anyone—could walk by and see them. Lincoln could open the door and see them.

“I think we’ll figure it out,” he said, dipping his head closer to hers. The brim of his cowboy hat touched her forehead, and he quickly removed it. “Yeah?”

“Yeah,” she said, her eyes drifting halfway closed.

Bear looked at those pink lips again, really hoping that he’d spoken true and that he’d figure out how to kiss this wonderful woman. He closed his eyes too, only a moment before his mouth met hers, and Bear relaxed, pure bliss running through him.

He pulled in a breath through his nose, adjusted his hand along Sammy’s waist to move her closer to him, and kept on kissing her.

Chapter Fifteen

Sammy’s blood had turned to lava the moment Bear had removed his cowboy hat. And when he’d kissed her…she couldn’t even stand up on her own. She hadn’t kissed a man in a while, but Bear had been right—they figured it out.

He pulled away, but Sammy didn’t want the kiss to be over. She pressed her lips together and ran her hands up the sides of his face, easily bringing him back to her for another kiss. She wanted time to explore his lips and breathe in and out with him. She wanted tonight to be amazing for both of them, and he’d sure started it off with a bang.

Someone catcalled, and Sammy ducked her head, effectively breaking the kiss and burying her face in his chest. She giggled, glad it was muffled by his shirt—and the growl that emanated from his chest.

“I’ll go say hi to Lincoln,” she said, finally looking up at him.

His eyes met hers, and Sammy didn’t dare move. He held such power over her, and she actually liked it. She saw the desire sparking in his electric blue eyes, and she’d felt it in the gentle strokes of his mouth against hers.

“We did all right, right?” he asked, his voice low.

“Oh, yeah,” Sammy said. “That was just fine.”

Bear laughed, and he rolled his eyes as he settled his hat back on his head. He threaded his fingers through hers and turned toward the door. They went into the homestead together, and while Sammy had been here every weeknight for the past few weeks, she still enjoyed the stunning craftsmanship in the house.

Micah Walker had done things with wood Sammy had never seen before, and she saw the name GLOVER carved into the arch above the doorway that led from the foyer into the kitchen. “I haven’t seen your surname up there before.”

“Yeah, it’s subtle.” Bear led her under the arch and into the huge room that took up the entire left side of the house. The kitchen sat against the far wall, with a long, dining room table separating one space from the other. The living room held three full-size couches, where Lincoln sat with Bear’s cousin, Ranger.

“Link,” Bear said. “Come give your momma a hug.”

“Sammy,” Link said, flying from the couch and toward her. Ranger stood as Sammy extended her arms to catch Link. She laughed as he hugged her tight. “You’ll never guess what I did today,” the boy said, and Sammy hadn’t seen him this animated in a long time.

She grinned at him. “No, I won’t.” She’d had an amazing day before showing up at Shiloh Ridge, and that kiss with Bear had made it the most spectacular day Sammy had lived in many years.

“Zona had to take a phone call while we were in the field, and she jumped out of the tractor while it was moving.” Lincoln’s eyes were so wide, and Sammy found herself looking at him the same way.

“That’s insane,” she said, her motherly instinct telling her to warn him never to jump out of a moving tractor.

Before she could, he was off talking again. “And I was in the tractor alone, Sammy, and I got to drive it for a few minutes.”

“Alone?” Sammy straightened and looked at Bear. He wore a disgruntled look on his face, but