Take the Reins (A Cowboy's Promise #2) - Megan Squires Page 0,50
things so wrong? He always thought he had a decent understanding of women, but Josie was quickly becoming a real challenge to interpret. Either that, or she was the world’s greatest actress, which he couldn’t fault her for one bit. That’s exactly what they had agreed to, after all. To play the part.
Seth rolled onto his back, exhaled, and stared up at the paneled ceiling that was in need of a good painting. Rain continued to patter above. The lull in the storm hadn’t lasted long. Just an hour ago, it picked back up, pummeling the gutters outside his bedroom window with the sound of BB’s shooting through an old, tin can. He contemplated shoving earplugs in to muffle the noise, but if Josie had needed him, he wouldn’t be able to hear her.
But she wouldn’t need him. Josie was self-reliant and he appreciated that. Maybe if she could just rely on him a little bit when it came to taking a chance on her feelings. Was it even okay for him to want that? He had no right to any part of her, least of all her heart.
His thoughts gradually drifted into dreams until a couple of hours later a dip in the mattress unexpectedly roused him from a deep and restful sleep. Eyes bleary, he rotated over to see Josie’s shadowy outline perched at the corner of the bed. She sat in the empty space, knees tucked underneath her, hand outstretched as if about to tap his shoulder. “Seth?” she whispered, voice hoarse. “Are you awake?”
He bolted upright. “Josie. What is it? Is everything okay?”
“I can’t sleep.” There was a frustrated quality in her tone. “I’ve been tossing and turning—”
Seth moved to roll off the mattress. He grabbed his pillow and shoved it under his arm, then nodded toward the vacated space. “Go ahead. You can have the bed. I’ll take the couch.”
“That’s not it.” Her hand touched his hip in a halting maneuver but it did just the opposite. He flinched, not to recoil, but from the mere shock of her hand on his skin. “I can’t stop playing our last conversation in my head.”
He hadn’t been able to stop either. It was on permanent repeat. “I’m really so sorry about that, Josie. I shouldn’t’ve said anything. It was stupid.”
“It’s not that you shouldn’t’ve said anything. It’s that I should’ve said more.” Her hand stayed on his muscled side just above the drawstring on his pants. He tried not to let her touch affect him but that just wasn’t possible. The sharp intake of breath couldn’t be helped, no matter how hard he worked to keep it in.
Josie’s eyes found his in the dark and she shifted closer.
“What should you have said?” Seth’s brain knew he shouldn’t encourage it, but his flesh and blood won out. It needed to know. He swallowed thickly and prayed she would respond.
“I should have told you that you make my heart race, too. And that I’m not sure if it does that because it’s just caught up in this game we’re playing, or if it’s because it’s you that I’m playing the game with,” she admitted. “But I think I want to find out.”
“Yeah?” He swallowed. “How do we do that?” He abandoned his pillow back to the mattress, tossing it near the pine headboard. He was not about to leave this room.
“You could start by kissing me.”
Seth didn’t need to be told twice. That once unreadable gaze was long gone, her eyes now alight with nothing shy of absolute expectation. Seth wanted to kiss her, of course, but he didn’t want to rush the moment. There was something to be said for a first kiss. It would become a memory; a turning point. The before and the after.
This was going to be a marker in their relationship—fake or not—and Seth wanted to make it a good one.
He sank to his knees on the bed and moved toward her across the covers. Reaching out, his hand slid to her jaw, his thumb and finger hooking under her chin to angle her face up to his. While he kept a light hold there, he curved his other arm around her waist to pull her flush, chest to chest. Her back readily arched to meet him and their bodies drew together. Just the feel of having a woman against him was a unique and beautiful form of torture.
“I’m a little nervous.” Her words met his lips as a warm breath.