that also reminded her of the other comment made that day in the quilt shop. The bit about how she was also free to fool around, and more, if she wanted.
Her fingers rested on his firm shoulders, his hand on her waist. It was intimate, and yet when the next song dropped a pace, Mark’s low, rumbling laugh made the tingles strike harder.
He settled her the slightest bit closer, lips brushing her ear. “Relax, darlin’.”
“I thought I was,” she said, happy none of her current lustful thoughts snuck into her voice. “I’m not doing chores.”
He had both hands on her hips, sliding them down slightly until the ends of his long fingers rested against the upper swell of her butt. “Looks as if we need to practice a little more. Mr. Stevens would be very disappointed right now. You’re not applying yourself adequately, Ms. Tetrenko.”
The reminder of their high school gym teacher’s favourite phrase made her laugh. Her maiden name sounded odd after so many years. She chose to push aside both amusement and uneasiness and simply savour the moment. “Quiet. I need to count the beats.”
It was his turn to snicker, because that had been his comment back in the day. The fact that she’d remembered put a smile on her face.
It felt good to be in his arms. Truth be told, it felt better than she wanted it to feel, because for one strange, inexplicable moment, guilt slipped in.
That useless emotion was pushed away rapidly. She wasn’t doing anything wrong. Her husband was dead, and she didn’t need to be faithful to a memory. She was alive and deserved to live.
They were almost all the way home before she realized the whole reason she had given him for the evening out still had not been answered.
They were on the porch steps when she twisted toward him. “You said you would tell me why you’re ranching again when you left Rocky to avoid it.”
“Right.” He adjusted the collar of her coat, smoothing the lapels as he stared at her lips. “I was drawn to you, all those years ago. I didn’t move fast enough, though, so when you and Ben fell in love, I couldn’t say anything. It wasn’t your fault, and it wasn’t your responsibility, but I couldn’t stay and watch you build a life together.”
His words took a moment to sink in. To register. Then the shock of it hit, hard and quick. “You left because of me?”
Strong shoulders lifted in a gentle shrug. “I left because it was the right thing to do, for you and for Ben. It wasn’t the ranching I was running from,” he confessed.
She didn’t know what to say.
They stood, separated by mere inches, staring at each other. It had been a wonderful evening, more wonderful than Dana had hoped. His confession was a piano falling out of the sky and striking the ground with huge impact.
He had hold of one of her hands. “I want to kiss you.”
“Maybe I’m not the type to kiss on the first date.” She tried for lighthearted, but her pulse pounded in her throat.
His lips curled upward as he leaned toward her. “I’ve dreamed about this day for so long, it doesn’t count as a first date anymore.”
And then he was kissing her. Fingers strong under her chin, holding her steady as he brushed his lips over hers once, twice. A soft kiss followed, slowly deepening as his hand slid over her cheek and into her hair, cradling the back of her neck as he pulled their bodies tighter.
It had been forever since she’d been kissed with that kind of passion, that kind of gentleness. That kind of need.
Dana tangled her arms around his neck and jumped in with two feet. Accepting the worship he gave. Moaning as his tongue dipped between her lips, shivering as he pressed a hand against her lower back, and even through the layers, his arousal was clear. Every bit of him hard, a solid and unyielding man—
Who had taken time out of his day to make her cookies.
A man who even now was pulling back, breathing heavily, with fire in his eyes and yearning on his face as he put space between them.
“I’ll call you,” he promised.
Before she could say anything else, he was gone.
19
By the time Blake got out of bed for the second time, the sun was high in the sky and the house was quiet. He’d missed the entire rush and rumble of the kids headed off