“I’m sorry about my mom,” he said for maybe the fourth time.
She put her hand on his arm—to, ah, be nice, she told herself. Not to feel the muscles. “Stop. Seriously, I’m fine. Totally and completely fine. I had a great time. I ate enough for twenty, had champagne and talked kitten heels with three of your cousins. My evening was perfect.”
“She’s a snob.”
“Some people are, but you’re not and I’m not, so please let it go. In a few weeks I’m going to be gone. She’s your mother and there’s no reason to be mad at her. I swear.”
“Thank you. Other than that, was it okay?”
She put her hand on her very full stomach. “I’m very happy right now. Full and sleepy. Everyone was nice to me. I love your Grandpa Frank. Don’t take this wrong, but if he were to ask me out, I’d probably say yes.”
Cade chuckled. “I’m not going to pass that piece of information on to him.”
“I’m crushed.”
He pulled into the long driveway and used the remote to open the gate, then drove past the house and around to the barn.
Before she could ask why he was parking here, he killed the engine and looked at her.
“You’re going to check on Rida, aren’t you?”
“Of course.”
“Now you’re closer. I’ll leave the back door open for you.”
Like she’d thought before—nice. And considerate and really, really good-looking. Those hazel eyes appealed and when he smiled, her whole body tingled.
Without thinking she leaned toward him. Mostly because she could use a few tingles in her life. It had been a long time between tingles, probably because the guys she’d been dating had been uninspiring at best. Oh, but they’d been safe. She’d made the decision to sacrifice love or even attraction for knowing she would never be hurt and at the end of the day, she’d been left with nothing. Her father had scared them all off. Worse, she hadn’t actually missed them when they’d been gone.
But Cade was different. She liked a whole lot about him, plus the tingles.
Maybe it was the cheese puffs, or the champagne or the fact that he’d driven her right up to the barn. Whatever the reason, she put her hand on his bicep and raised her chin expectantly. It was only when he hesitated that she had the awful thought that she could have misread the entire situation and he might not be interested in her at all.
Before she could scream and bolt, he slipped his hand into her hair to cup her head and brushed his mouth against hers.
That was it—a brief, almost-chaste moment of contact. It should have been nothing, but it was everything. Nerve endings fired, her heart raced and her breath caught.
He did it again and she nearly moaned. On the third time, she wrapped her arms around his neck and surrendered to whatever it was he wanted from her.
He drew her as close as she could get, what with the truck console between them. Hard plastic bit into her ribs, but she didn’t care—not when Cade swept his tongue against her bottom lip. She parted for him and he deepened the kiss until she was all fire and need.
A very tiny, sensible part of her brain whispered that she should be careful, but she ignored the soft words. Just once she wanted to be like everyone else. For there not to be consequences. Only the whispering continued and she began to remember that she wasn’t like everyone else. While she liked Cade a lot, she didn’t know if she could trust him and until she was sure...
She drew back. He did the same. They stared at each other, their breathing loud in the truck cab. Finally she opened her door and stepped out.
“Thank you for everything,” she told him. “I’ll see you in the morning.”
He nodded without speaking. She walked into the stable and went to check on Rida. Partway to his stall, Harry joined her, meowing as if asking about her evening.
“It was good,” she told the cat. “I had a nice time.”
Harry’s expression was quizzical.
She smiled. “All right. Better than nice. Are you happy?”
The cat began to purr.
*
CADE HAD TO admit so far this was shaping up to be the best November ever. First Rida, and then last night, he’d kissed Beth. He grinned as he checked his email. Sure it was just a kiss, but it had been a really good kiss.
He liked her. She could have been upset about his mother’s ridiculous behavior, but she’d handled the situation with grace and charm. She was professional with the horses, friendly with the staff and easy to be around.
He hadn’t allowed himself to get involved since the debacle with Lynette, the girl in Kentucky. Oh, there had been women, but only casually. He’d vowed to be more careful, to stick with women who were more like himself—hardworking, regular kind of people. He didn’t need a show horse—at least not the human kind.
His phone buzzed, letting him know someone was at the gate. He activated the camera and saw a delivery truck.
“Come on in,” Cade said as he pushed the button to open the gate, then went out to meet the driver.
There were a handful of deliveries, including a good-sized box for Beth. He signed for them all, then left the rest in the office and went in search of her.
He found her in the stable, cleaning out a stall. Judging by the nearly full wheelbarrow nearby, she’d been at it for a while.
“What are you doing?” he asked without thinking. “You don’t work here.”
He immediately wanted to call back the words. Not only did the statement sound hostile, this was the first time he’d seen her since last night and their kiss.
She looked good. A little sweaty and dusty but still pretty. Instead of getting upset, she grinned.
“See, questions like that make me wonder if you’re really ready to be a horse owner. News flash, horses poop about fifty pounds of manure a day. That’s per horse. Of course cows poop about three times that, so we have it easy by comparison. Still, someone has to clean it up. I’m really surprised you didn’t know that.”
“Sorry. I meant why are you cleaning out stalls?”
“One of your guys had car trouble and with the holiday weekend, I figured you were already shorthanded. I’m just helping.”
“You don’t have to.”
“I don’t mind. I’m trying to figure out a few things in my life. Nothing clears the mind like honest, manual labor.”
“You got that right. Thank you for helping.” He remembered the box he’d brought. “You got a package.”
Her mouth straightened and emotions flashed through her blue eyes. “I wasn’t expecting anything.” She sounded more wary than excited.
He handed over the box. She took it and read the label, then smiled.
“It’s from my mom. Liana Smith.” Her smile broadened. “Knowing her, it’s clothes. She told me to pack more than I did, but would I listen?”
“She sounds like a good mom.”
“She is.” She set the package outside the stall, then nodded at the rakes and shovels by the door. “You could help.”
“I could and I will.”