“You know he bought a ring.” Chance rubbed a hand across his chin.
“He told me.”
“He seemed like a nice enough guy. Didn’t even try to take a swing at me. Better man than me in a similar situation.” Chance crossed his arms. “I’m just curious, did he end it, or did you?”
Temple pulsing, she sucked in air. “When I turned down the job with my father and wanted to start living on my own, Ben asked me to move in with him once he was done with his training. I told him I couldn’t just then and wasn’t sure when…if ever. Then he found out I was here with you, from my father as it turns out, and decided to pay a visit. I guess he wanted to hear it from me in person, which I intended to do once he got back from training. Outside, he accused me of still caring for you. I didn’t deny it. So he left.”
Had she seen a flicker in his eyes or simply wished it?
“You know there’s been too much damage for there to be anything permanent between us—and I’m giving that to you straight. Just because I’ve got money now may change things in your eyes, but I’m the same guy you walked away from before. I haven’t changed. You can have all the mistaken feelings you want. It won’t make any difference.” He pushed off the counter and began to hobble toward her.
“It’s got nothing to do with having money or not having money.” Would he ever accept that she cared for him, about him, because of him, not the size of his bank account? Back then she’d had nothing to bring to the relationship but good intentions. “Maybe I’m the one who changed.”
“In what way?”
He stopped and stood nose to nose with her, so close she could see the fire in his gray eyes. She hadn’t fought for him before. She was going to fight for him now using everything at her disposal.
“You said yesterday no strings, no regrets.” She lifted her chin, even as it wobbled. “I’ll take that deal.”
Chance gave a mental shake, wondering if he’d heard correctly. Maybe it was how desperate she looked, or her admission of feelings for him (not that he believed in her feelings, but at the moment, she surely did), or the fact of her offer, but he could no longer resist the pull she exercised over him every time he saw her, and especially this moment.
He brushed a strand of hair behind her ear, felt her shiver at his touch. “Are you sure?”
“Very sure.” Her voice was low but firm.
“You’re in a vulnerable spot right now. Don’t you want to take some time? Think about it?” He didn’t want to take advantage, but he wanted her, every inch of her, even if it meant heartache.
“I have thought about it. I’ve thought about nothing else.”
For his own sake, he should send her packing. Let her go. But when had he ever done what he should?
Instead, he bent his head, wrapped his arms around her small waist, and pulled her tight. And then he rode over her lips as desire surged through him and she melded into his arms. Invading her mouth with his tongue, he tasted her sweetness and demanded more.
He hoped she understood exactly what she’d just signed on for.
Chapter 13
It had been such an emotional day from the stress of the job interview, to the scene with Ben, to facing Chance and telling him her real feelings. And then agreeing to the type of relationship he’d proposed even though, for her, this was more than physical attraction.
Being in his arms again, she never wanted to leave. His lips, his strength, his traveling touch, she was reveling in being with him, however tenuous the relationship.
She wanted him. All of him. With every fiber of her trembling being.
“The bedroom,” he whispered as his tongue tickled her ear.
Of course, Chance’s injuries would require a bed for the type of activity they were contemplating.
A short limping walk down the corridor, kissing as they went, and they were tumbling into the half made bed, sheets tangling around them.
She stretched out against his long body as he kissed her lips, her jaw, down her neck. His hand was under her skirt, pulling it up, touching her panties, brushing her stomach.
The desire was too strong, the lure too enticing. She’d wanted to be with him since she first saw him at the Cattleman’s Club, looking too good by half. Now, with his lean body covering hers and an invitation in his storm-cloud eyes, she couldn’t remember a single reason why she shouldn’t. Her head had lost the argument to her heart.
He kissed her neck. “I want you. You want me,” he said in between kisses.
She did. Only she wanted so much more from him.
He certainly wasn’t offering more.
But he was offering enough. And maybe, with some time, she could get him to forgive her, to see her as a woman he could love.
“We were so good together.” His breath puffed along her throat.
The palm of his hand brushed along her arm in slow, hypnotic strokes. Warm, firm, possessive. And God knew she wanted to be possessed by him. His palm slipped to her back and pressed, gathering her to him.