Backlash Tender Trap Aftermath - Lisa Jackson Page 0,148

her against him and kissing her with all the passion of eight lost years. “Thanks for coming with me tonight,” he whispered.

“Thanks for asking.”

They drove back to the Aldridge ranch in silence, but Colton remembered the people in the café and the hostility he’d sensed, the crackle of unspoken anger. Not from everyone, of course, but the Monroes and the Wilkersons had been far from friendly—and then there was Ferguson. Ivan’s hiring Ryan bothered him a great deal without his really knowing why.

Cassie touched his shoulder. “You look like you’re a million miles away,” she said, tucking her arm through his.

One corner of his lip lifted. “Not that far.”

“Where?”

“Back at the restaurant.” He shifted down and turned into the lane. The windshield wipers slapped the raindrops aside. “Has your father known Ferguson long?”

“All his life. As I mentioned, Ryan grew up around here, too,” she said. “Why?”

He drove into the yard. “Just curious.”

“Or suspicious,” she challenged.

“I guess I’m a little of both.”

“Oh, Colton, I thought this was over,” she said with a sigh. “I thought that since Black Magic was back, you’d be satisfied.”

“Relieved. Not satisfied.”

“Good night, Colton,” she whispered, refusing to get into another argument. She grabbed the door handle, but Colton reached out and trapped her next to him.

“Don’t go,” he whispered against her ear. “Not yet.”

“You could come inside.”

Colton chuckled. “Ivan wouldn’t like that much.”

“He’d get over it.” She smiled almost shyly and traced the hard line of his jaw with one finger. “Despite what you may think, he’s not an ogre. He’s been very good to me.”

“And you’ve been good to him.”

Blushing a little, she said, “Except where you’re concerned.”

Colton’s teeth gleamed in the dark interior. “I haven’t completely corrupted you yet,” he murmured, his lips moving gently over her hair, causing goose bumps to rise on her skin. “But just give me time.”

“I can’t wait,” she teased back, then caught her breath as he lowered his mouth over hers. Her heart began to beat wildly.

“Oh, Cass,” he murmured thickly as he lifted his lips from hers. His eyes were glazed; his hands trembled as he touched her cheek. “What am I going to do with you?”

“I was just wondering the same about you,” she admitted, her voice so husky she barely recognized it as her own.

“I’ll call,” he promised.

“And I’ll hold you to it.” She kissed him on the cheek, then scrambled out of his rig, waving as he shoved the Jeep into gear and took off in a spray of gravel. She stood in the yard, oblivious to the quiet, moonless night, as his taillights disappeared in the distance.

Lighthearted, she gathered her skirt in her fists and ran quickly along the path to the back porch.

She was still smiling to herself when she let herself into the house and found her father in the living room, his reading glasses poised on the tip of his nose as he worked on another crossword puzzle. Only one lamp burned, and the television, turned down so low she could barely hear a sound, gave off a pale gray glow.

“Have a good time?” Ivan asked. His voice was flat. He didn’t bother looking up.

“The best!” She wasn’t going to let her father’s disapproval destroy her good mood. Not tonight.

Frowning, he slipped his glasses from his nose, then polished the lenses with the tail of his shirt. “I wish I knew what it was about Colton McLean that mixes you up.”

“I’m not mixed up,” she said, plopping down on a tired-looking ottoman and noticing the lines of strain that had deepened near the corners of her father’s eyes.

“So now Colton McLean is a god again?”

“Not a god.”

“Then a hero.”

“No—but not a villain, either. He’s just a man.”

He snorted, tossing his folded newspaper aside. “You’ve gone out with a lot of men,” he said quietly, “and not one of them has even made you smile.”

“Not true, Dad.”

“You never gave them a chance.”

Cassie frowned. “What’re you getting at?”

“Four years of college—then veterinary school. All that time and you didn’t let one man get close to you—not really. And now Colton McLean blows back into town, sticking around only long enough for the bullet wound to heal, and you’re acting like a schoolgirl with a fresh case of puppy love.” He sighed heavily. “It’s beyond me why you’d give a man who’s only caused you heartache a chance to hurt you again.”

Cassie didn’t want her father to deflate her soaring spirits, so she said, “Look, we’ve been over this.” Bending down, she