Wild Western Nights

She gave him an exasperated glare.

He threw up his hands. “Okay. I know that look. I’ll take you back to your ranch now.”

She smiled. “I knew you’d do what I asked. Thank you, Gabe,” she said sweetly.

He picked her up and spun her around. She yelped while she clung to his shoulders. “Hey!”

“I’m glad to see you and wanted to do that one more time. I wanted to hold you and have you hold me. I wanted to hear you laugh. Maddie, I’m glad you’re back,” he said, suddenly sounding earnest. Her heart lurched.

“I’m not really back. I left your life a long time ago,” she replied, feeling the tension escalate between them once again.

He inhaled deeply. “I’m going to change your mind about leaving again.” The note of steel in his tone made her heart beat faster. Once, she would have been thrilled to hear those words from him. Now, they threatened her peaceful life.

“Don’t try to make a project of me. Besides, you haven’t missed me.”

“I did miss you,” he said. “I just didn’t realize how much. You’ve been in my life even when we were both kids. When you moved away, you left a void.”

His words wrapped around her, binding her heart to him in ways she wouldn’t be able to forget. In ways she couldn’t deal with now. “Gabe, you don’t mean it. You would have come after me if you’d felt that strongly.”

“It took a long time for me to realize the cause of my dissatisfaction. Even longer to face that my life had changed because you were no longer in it.”

“I need to get home,” she said abruptly. She didn’t want another broken heart. It had taken her years to mend her last one.

He leaned forward to touch her lips with his again, a fiery, possessive kiss that bound her heart as tightly as his words had.

When he raised his head, she looked into determined blue eyes. He set her on her feet and their gazes still held. With an effort, she turned toward the door.

They walked through the house together and out to his car. When they stepped into the cool night, Gabe draped his arm across her shoulders and pulled her close against him.

“Anyone who works for you staying at the house with you?”

“No, there’s no one staying with me.”

“In all seriousness, you could stay here, you know. You can have a separate bedroom, and you’ll have all the peace and quiet and privacy you want.”

“I better stay at my place,” she replied, doing the smart thing. “I’ve always felt safe at home. Besides, I have a direct line to Sol’s house.”

“That’s good to know. He’d come on the run if you needed him.”

At the car, Gabe turned her to face him, keeping his arm around her.

“Let me take you to dinner again tomorrow night. I won’t bring you over here. We’ll go somewhere special.”

“Thanks, Gabe. Tonight was great. You know I had a great time—”

“Maddie, let’s have another few hours together,” he said, interrupting what she had been about to say. “A dinner is harmless. You’ll sell the place soon. You could sell it by the weekend, and then you’ll return to Florida. Let’s go out together again before you leave,” he said, bending his knees so he could look into her eyes.

She argued with herself, a tiny voice screaming to turn him down. That voice was being drowned out by another inner voice shouting yes. And Gabe was looking at her with those sexy blue eyes that spun a magic spell.

“Yes, Gabe. Against all logic and good judgment, I’ll have dinner with you again.”

He gave her a tiny squeeze. “I’m glad. We’ll have a super time.” He leaned forward to brush a kiss on her forehead, then her lips.

He held open the passenger-side door for her, closed it and strode around the car to slide behind the wheel. They talked all the way to her ranch and then sat in the driveway talking for another hour. It was into the early-morning hours when he walked her to the door.

He entered with her and waited while she switched off her alarm and turned on the lights. “It’s been a great evening, Maddie. I’m glad you’re back, even if it’s temporary.” Stepping closer, he brushed another kiss on her lips. His mouth was warm, enticing, coaxing more kisses.

“Gabe,” she said, ending the kiss.

He looked over her head to the room beyond her. “This is a big house out in a remote spot. You’re accustomed to a big city, a house with neighbors, your mother close by. I’ll sleep down here on the couch.”

“Sol is not far away.”

“He’s about four minutes if he comes on a dead run. I can stretch out on the sofa and you’ll never know I’m here.”

“I’m not a little kid any longer. You don’t have to protect me and hover around.”

“I’ll be the one to decide about hovering and I know you are definitely not a little kid any longer. I’ve known that since you were seventeen,” he drawled in a softer tone that caused her belly to flutter.