Fool's Gold Collection Volume 3: Almost Summer / Summer Days / Summer Nights / All Summer Long

Somewhere during the first flash of confusion, she closed her eyes. In the darkness, she felt his mouth moving against her. Instinctively, she leaned toward him, raising her arms to his shoulders. His shirt was smooth, his muscles hard. His hands dropped to her waist. She felt the pressure of each individual finger.

Against her mouth, the kiss lingered; heat grew. She told herself to pull back, that Rafe was dangerous to her on more levels than she could count. That, in any circumstance, he played to win, and she rarely played at all. Yet she couldn’t seem to get the message to her body. Maybe because being close to him felt so good. She gave in to the inevitable and tilted her head, then parted her lips.

He swept inside, claiming her with a deep kiss that stirred long-dormant needs. Her blood moved more quickly. Her breasts began to ache and between her thighs a telltale throbbing pulsed in time with her heartbeat.

As his tongue danced with hers, he moved his hands up and down her back. His touch was part caress, part promise. She got lost in the sensations, wanted him to touch other places, to cup her breasts and maybe slip lower.

He broke the kiss, then pressed his lips against her jaw. From there, he trailed his way to her neck, then her collarbone. Lips teased, teeth scraped, each action making her shiver and ache and need. Wanting grew, until she was ready to grab his hands and place them where she wanted them most. Right at this second, being really stupid sounded like the best plan ever.

She’d barely moved her arms to grab his wrists when his phone rang. She heard the shrill sound, felt the vibration in his shirt pocket and jumped back. Her eyes flew open.

Rafe pulled out the phone. She saw his thumb hit the ignore button, but not before she saw the name on the screen.

Nina.

“Girlfriend?” she asked into the silence that followed.

As usual, Rafe’s expression was unreadable, his dark gaze steady as he looked at her.

“No.”

She waited. Whoever the woman was, she was important enough to be in Rafe’s contact list. While it was too late for Heidi to take back the kiss, it wasn’t too late to find out how dumb she’d been.

“My matchmaker.”

She wasn’t sure if that was better or worse than a girlfriend. Better, she decided. He wasn’t involved. He was looking to get into a relationship, but not with anyone like her, of course. Which was fine. She wasn’t interested in him, either. Despite the evidence to the contrary.

She managed to stand and step back onto the porch. She crossed to the screen door and opened it.

“You should call her back,” she said, pleased her voice was so calm. “It might be important.”

CHAPTER SEVEN (#ulink_79015759-1269-5f98-b30a-4e502ab27bf5)

RAFE HEARD HEIDI HEADING DOWN the stairs. He didn’t have to glance at the clock to know it was still early. The pale light at the edge of the curtains warned him that most people were still sound asleep. He waited until he heard the back door close, then got up and quickly dressed.

It had been three days since he’d kissed her. Three days of her carefully avoiding him, and his mother watching, as if aware there was a problem. He hadn’t mentioned the kiss to May, and he would bet money Heidi hadn’t said anything to her grandfather, either. But still, May had guessed something had happened. He made it a point to avoid talking about his personal life with his mother, so he had a problem. The only way he could see to fix it was to get things back to normal with Heidi.

He walked down the stairs, through the living room and kitchen, and out back. Heidi was already in the goat house. As he crossed the yard, he saw three cats scampering in front of him. They slipped through the partially open door, and he followed.

Heidi was already milking Athena when he arrived. The three cats were sitting, watching her.

“When did you get cats?” he asked.

Heidi didn’t look up from the rhythmic movements of her hands. Milk flowed steadily into the gleaming metal bucket.

“They’re not mine. They show up when I milk. I don’t know how they know.”

He studied her movements, wondering if he could master the art of goat milking. Not a lot of call for that skill in his world.

“Can I help?”

She snorted. “I don’t think so.”

He counted the goats obviously waiting for their turns. There were only six. “You’re not milking all of them?”

“Two are pregnant. No milking then.”

“How often do they get pregnant?”

“Generally once a year.”

He knew this meant there was a fair amount of nonmilking time with each goat. “That cuts into your cheese making.”

“I know. I need to expand the herd a little more, but not so much that it’s unmanageable.”

He wanted to ask if she’d thought about their conversation, the advice he’d given her. He might not know much about goats, but he did know business, and the principles of selling were universal.

“Will you keep any of the kids?” he asked.

“Probably not. I’d rather expand the bloodline. I know a few breeders. I might be able to work a trade.”

She finished with Athena. The goat stepped away. The next took her place. Heidi carefully washed the udders before starting to milk again.

“If you still have the name of that guy, I’m willing to sell the steers,” she said, concentrating on her work.

“I’ll call him. He was available to come by this week.”

“Good.”

Heidi worked efficiently, neither of them speaking. What had happened before—the kiss—hung between them.

He wasn’t sure why he’d done it. He wanted to say it was because she’d been there and he hadn’t had anything better to do. But he knew that was a lie. He’d wanted to kiss Heidi. He’d wanted to know what she felt like in his arms. He’d wanted to touch her and taste her. Now that he’d kissed her, he wanted more. Which was why he’d called Nina back and confirmed his date. Because Heidi wasn’t part of his plan, and he doubted she was the type to have sex because it felt good. She would want more, and he’d given up on more a long time ago.

“About the other night…” he began.

Her hands slowed, then picked up speed.

“I didn’t mean to make things awkward between us.”

“Too bad,” she said, still not looking at him. “Because if that had been your goal, you could be happy now.”

“You’re pissed.”

“No. I’m confused. Tell me about Nina, the matchmaker. Did you really hire someone to find you a wife? Do you know what century we’re living in?”

“I hire the best. She’s the best.”

She turned to him. “You can’t get your own girl?”