She must be dehydrated or something. This was Stephen. He was young enough to be her baby brother. Nothing about him should make her tremble or even see him as anything but a friend. He was practically a teenager.
“I do want more,” she said. “I want what most women want. A husband and children.”
“That’s not going to happen until you’re willing to stand up to her. So which is bigger—your fear of her or your desire for your dreams? Because that’s what it comes down to.”
In the space of a few minutes, he’d managed to articulate everything she’d been thinking for the past five years. “You’re right,” she whispered. “I do have to confront her.” She looked at him, then bit her lower lip. “Does it have to be today?”
He laughed. “No, it doesn’t.”
“Good. I need to work on my courage a little bit.”
“So you’re not ready for the show to be over yet?”
She shook her head. Even just another week with Stephen would be wonderful. He was so easy to be with, someone she could really talk to. He was…safe. Not a description he would like, but to her it meant the world.
“Then we’re going to have to work on giving the camera something,” he said, moving toward her. “I suggest we start with this.”
Before she knew what he was talking about, he’d taken her in his arms and pressed his mouth to hers.
She didn’t know which shocked her more—the kiss or the fact that they were outside, in the middle of the afternoon, where anyone could see. She wasn’t a middle-of-the-day kind of girl. Not that she had a whole lot of kissing experience. There had been a few boys in college, but still. Those had all been night kisses.
Yet she couldn’t seem to summon the indignation to protest. Not when he had one hand on her shoulder and the other on her thigh. Not when she could feel the heat from his body and feel how her heart bumped around in her chest. Not when his lips on hers felt so good.
Tentatively, she raised her arm so it rested on his shoulder. She slowly, very slowly, tilted her head and let her lips soften. She found herself straining toward him, wanting more than just a simple kiss.
Then it happened. Somewhere deep inside of her a small, cold, empty space came to life. Instead of feeling inadequate, she felt powerful. Instead of wondering what everyone else was thinking, she found herself thinking about what she wanted. Instead of holding back and being scared, she leaned in and touched his bottom lip with her tongue.
Stephen responded by wrapping both arms around her, lowering her to the grass, then kissing her with a passionate intensity that stole her breath away.
She met him stroke for stroke, enjoying the warmth that poured through her, feeling long-numb parts come to life. At that moment it didn’t matter that he was nine years younger or that she was a wallflower who hadn’t been on a date in six years. In his arms, with the bright sun blessing them, she was a woman and he was a man and everything about this moment was right.
DAKOTA WALKED THROUGH the production offices, looking for Finn. She hadn’t seen him in a couple of days and felt badly about their last conversation. In truth, he should be the one coming to look for her, but she wasn’t going to wait for that to happen. She liked Finn and wanted to make sure they stayed friends.
She found him in one of the empty offices, working a column of numbers with a calculator.
“Hi,” she said as she leaned against the door frame. “How’s it going?”
He looked up. “Things are good.” He grinned. “I talked to your boss about the flying school.”
“How did that go?”
“Great. He had a lot of information on starting a nonprofit business. It’s going to take a hell of a lot of money, but he gave me some ideas on where to start.”
“You sound excited.”
“I am. I’ve been playing with the idea for a while, but never thought anything could come of it.”
“See what happens when you come down to the lower forty-eight?”
“Yes, I do. I have a lot to figure out. My charter business, the twins, this damn show. But I’m thinking I want to seriously consider the flight school. I’m not sure what the focus would be right now, or where I’d start it, but I know it’s important.”
He was enthused and not worrying as much about his brothers. At least not the way he had before. The flight school idea had some interesting consequences. As he’d mentioned before, there weren’t a lot of inner-city kids in South Salmon. Which meant Finn had to be considering moving. Maybe Fool’s Gold would make the list.
“I wondered if you wanted to come over for dinner,” she said. “I have another chicken recipe that’s pretty good.”
He rose, shoved his hands into his jeans pockets, then rocked back on his heels. “Thanks for asking, but I’m going to pass.”
“Oh. Okay. Sure.”
The refusal surprised her. She told herself not to take his words personally, that she couldn’t know everything going on in his life. Saying no wasn’t a personal rejection. But psychological training didn’t make it any easier to avoid feeling hurt.
“I guess I’ll see you around,” she said and turned to leave.