Page 56 of This Time Around
Nineteen
Cooper
After Rebecca’s friends left and I saw her head out to the pastures, presumably to check on the calves, I went into town.
Halfway there, I removed my wig and pulled my hat farther down.If people recognized me, I quit caring.I no longer wanted to hide out on Rebecca’s ranch.I wanted a chance to see where our attraction could take us.I couldn’t do that if I was constantly looking over my shoulder.
So screw it.People recognized me, my location got out…I’d deal with that fallout.
I’d half-expected Rebecca to call me or find me and cancel dinner after her day.It was a huge step for her.I headed toward her place, knowing at any moment, I could open that door and she could turn around and close it in my face, telling me she wasn’t ready.
Instead, she met me at the back, pulling open the screen door as I was almost ready to knock.
My hand holding the bottle of wine I’d grabbed at the liquor store was frozen in the air as she filled the doorway.
“Hey,” she said, that bottom lip disappearing between her teeth.
Jesus.She stole my breath.Her curled hair framed her face and the curls bounced as she stepped back.I had the childish urge to tug on one of them, just to watch them bounce again.
But it was her smile, hesitant but determined, and her damn body in that dress that held my attention.
It swooped down low, barely concealing her full breasts and then clung to her slim waist, hugged the flare of her hips just as nicely, if not more so than the rest of her body, before draping to the floor.
Classy, beautiful, but simple.She gave off the same vibe in that dress as she did when she was in cut off jeans and boots.
The dress was still a thousand times better.
“You look incredible.”Her shoulders jerked back as I barked it out.
I hadn’t meant to sound so harsh, but I couldn’t contain it.My hands stung with the need to have her hips in them, where I could run my thumbs along the soft flesh inside her hip bones.
“Thank you.”She stepped back, bringing the door with her.“You clean up nice, too.”
I’d wanted to look good for her, show her how much this invitation meant to me.I hadn’t expected her to do the same.A burn swelled inside my chest as I stepped inside.“These are for you.”I handed her the flowers and that burn spread as she brought them to her nose, closed her eyes and inhaled.
Pink stained her cheeks and her eyes fluttered open.“Lilies are my favorite.Thank you, again.”
Her sweet pink lips spread wide.
“You’re welcome, I saw them and thought of you.”Delicate, pure, elegant but classic.I’d almost rammed into the car in front of me in my hurry to swing into a parking spot in order to buy them when I saw them in a window shop in town.
She had stepped back but still hadn’t given me enough room to enter.I stepped over the threshold, directly in front of her.It gave me enough space to hold the wine in front of me.“I also brought you some wine, but you’ll have to invite me in to get it.”
“Right.Of course.Come in.”
“Because I have wine?”I teased.
Her hand ruffled her curls as she gave me room to enter.“Well, yes.I might need it.”
I walked into her kitchen and as she closed the door and turned, I was right there.Her hip landed right against my palm.“Oh.”
“Relax, Rebecca.It’s just dinner.”I pressed my lips to the top of her head.She shivered in my hold as I kissed her and that burn in my chest continued to spread.“This can be as relaxed as you want it to be.”
I let her go and moved farther into the kitchen.
Holy crap.My eyes popped open.The spread of a Mexican fiesta all over her counter wasn’t dinner, but a feast.“Did you invite the whole town?”
“No.”She slapped my bicep as she passed, laughing.“I guess I got carried away.”
