Currant Creek Valley

She tried not to ogle as he unfastened his belt and slipped it out of the loops. As he handed it over, his finger brushed hers with a shock of warmth against the chilling night temperature. With one hand, she pulled the belt through the dog’s collar and drew the end through the metal loop.

“There. Now I just need to hope it doesn’t slip through my fingers, but you’re not going anywhere, are you, bud?”

The dog wagged his tail, his haunches firmly planted on the sidewalk.

“Clever.” Sam looked amused.

“I can be. Your pants aren’t going to fall down now, are they?”

“I believe I can manage to avoid that horrifying eventuality for the few minutes it will take me to walk you to your car.”

Oh, she liked Sam. It was really a cruel twist of fate that the planets were so far out of alignment for them.

They walked through the quiet streets of town in a companionable silence, broken only by the dog’s snuffling as he investigated each crack in the sidewalk, the spring flowers blooming in baskets outside the storefronts, each streetlamp, signpost and fire hydrant.

“What’s your name? Hmm?”

The dog gave her a goofy grin in response.

“I think I’ll just call you Dude for tonight.”

“Oh, please,” Sam protested. “Leave the poor guy a little dignity.”

“Okay, okay.”

She considered ideas as they crossed the street again and headed back to The Speckled Lizard. The perfect name came to her when they were almost to the bar. “I’ve got it. I think I’ll call him Leo. He’s exactly the color of my favorite Leonidas Belgian chocolates.”

“Sure. That was going to be my choice, too.”

She couldn’t see Sam roll his eyes in the dark but his dry tone conveyed the same sentiment.

She laughed and squeezed his arm. What a wonderful night. Walking the quiet streets of Hope’s Crossing on a lovely April evening that smelled like spring with a gorgeous man at her side—and now a very adorable dog. What woman wouldn’t have this little bird of happiness fluttering through her?

Soon enough, though, they reached her little SUV and she opened the back door.

“Come on, Leo. Let’s get you inside.”

The dog didn’t hesitate, just jumped right into the backseat as if they had been practicing this routine for years. Her seats were probably going to stink for weeks. First order of business for Leo was a bath, even though it was nearly midnight. Both of them would sleep better for it.

She reached inside and pulled the belt end through the buckle and handed it back to Sam. “Thanks for loaning your belt. And for the evening. I had a really great time.”

She had said those words often on dates but had never meant them as much as she did in that moment.

“I did, too.” His voice held a slight note of surprise, as if he hadn’t been expecting to enjoy himself. “I would like to do it again. Soon.”

Okay, here was the awkward part of the evening. She couldn’t encourage him, not with all the complications, but she liked him far too much to turn him down flat. “Sure,” she finally said. “I’m pretty busy right now, between preparing for the new restaurant and wrapping things up at my current job, but sure. It was fun.”

“You’re an intriguing woman, Alexandra McKnight. I don’t meet very many of those.”

She tried to come up with something flippant in response, but before she could make her brain work, he stepped forward, leaned down and kissed her.

It started as just a brush of his mouth against hers, a simple “thanks for a fun night” sort of kiss. She should have let it stand there but he smelled so delicious, like sunshine and warm male, and he kissed with just the right amount of pressure, not too soft, not too hard, and she hadn’t been kissed in forever.

She moved her mouth slightly under his, just a taste, and was vaguely aware of her hands moving to his hard, slim waist. He made a sound low in his throat that seemed to shiver down her nerve endings, one hand tangled in her hair, the other resting on the small of her back, and deepened the kiss.

One minute the kiss was sweet and easy, almost innocent, the next was heat and fire and the hard churn of her heartbeat.

He could build things, he was kind to stray dogs and he was a fantastic kisser, too. Um. Yes. She wanted to grab hold of those big, gorgeous shoulders, shove him into her car and take him home with her....

Something cold pressed against her back—the metal side of her car, she realized, vaguely aware that he had her caged in by all those muscles against her SUV and was kissing her as if his next mission depended on it.

She couldn’t seem to catch her breath and felt as if she’d just leaped off the highest point of the mountain and was soaring, soaring out into space.

Reality intruded in the form of a stray dog, who poked his head out the driver’s side door where they stood, with a curious sniff. At the feel of that nose nudging at her, Alex realized she was wrapped around a man she had only met a few hours ago while heat coursed through her like the propane torch she used to caramelize sugar for crème brȗlée.

“Wow. Okay. Um. Wow.” She drew in a ragged breath and then another one. So much for casual, flirty fun. She couldn’t remember ever igniting so instantaneously, not even back with...

Out of habit, she jerked her mind away from even thinking about the past, from that long-ago girl she had been who had given her heart so freely and so foolishly.

“Yeah. Wow. Funny, that’s just what I was thinking.”

She leaned a hip against the door of her SUV, fighting the urge to step back into his arms and stand here kissing him for a few more hours.

Hadn’t she spent all evening reminding herself of all the reasons why she couldn’t afford this complication with him, no matter how tempting?

She was apparently a weak-willed woman.

“I should go. It’s late and I probably need to get Leo settled in for the night.”

“And I’ve got to be at the work site bright and early in the morning. You never did give me a direct answer. When do you think we can do this again?”

How about now? And then five minutes from now? And then ten minutes after that?

“I didn’t, did I?”

Despising herself for the cowardice, she gave him a quick smile and slid into the driver’s seat of her vehicle then quickly closed the door. Before he could protest or she could do something completely stupid like make another date with him, she yanked the gear shift into Drive and took off, leaving him standing on the sidewalk, looking just as dazed as she felt.

* * *

WITH DESIRE STILL PULSING through him, Sam watched her drive off in a sporty little SUV that probably came in handy during the cold high-mountain winters.

He hadn’t intended anything more than a fast, polite kiss but then she had moved her mouth against his and heat had rushed in on a relentless tide, blasting away any chance he had of hanging on to his sanity or control.

Alexandra McKnight, with her blond curls and those incredible green eyes and that smart, delectable mouth, was a dangerous woman. He couldn’t remember when he had smiled so much in an evening or known this effervescent sense of anticipation and sheer fun.

He shook his head. This was not why he had come to Hope’s Crossing. A relationship was the last thing on his mind as he considered uprooting his son and setting up shop in a new town, away from his entire support system.

The timing couldn’t be worse. He had more than enough on his plate right now, trying to build a new life here.