The first touch of her lips is sweet and tentative. It’s the gentle brushing of flesh against flesh. My body shivers unexpectedly at the sensation.
Not wanting the kiss to end at just this, I cup the back of her head, tangling my fingers in her hair. This time the kiss is less sweet, less tentative. It’s possessive, dominating, sublime.
In the distance, a dog or a coyote or a wolf howls, but other than that, I block out everything that isn’t this strong and sexy woman straddling me.
I don’t know how long we’ve been kissing when she pulls away. Not long enough, if you want my opinion.
“Wow,” is the only coherent sentence I can say—which is telling, given it wasn’t even a proper sentence. But since my breath is coming in rapid pants, I’d say that even one word is pretty spectacular.
She rests her forehead against mine, her breath not much slower. “Wow is about right. I figured you’d be good. I just didn’t figure you’d bethatgood.”
I chuckle. “Right now, Kate, I think you’re my new favorite person. You’re doing a lot for my ego.”
“Something tells me your ego wasn’t at stake.”
“You’d be surprised. What you see on the outside isn’t necessarily what’s on the inside.”
She moves off me and pushes herself to her feet. I do the same.
“Why do I have a feeling that has nothing to do with the woman who broke your heart?”
“Because you’re smart.”
She snorts a laugh. “Too bad you’re the only one who sees me that way.”
“You have a college degree. How can people not think you’re smart? I thought you have to be smart to get in.”
“For the most part, that’s true. There are other ways to get into college that have nothing to do with your brainpower. But that’s not what I meant. I have a degree in art history. When you live in a family of overachieving men who have law degrees, medical degrees, and MBAs, my degree is considered cute. Nothing you take seriously.
“Even my cousin who works with my uncle on his…with his construction company has a college degree in structural engineering. His educational background has never been looked down on.”
“Well, I don’t care what your family says, I still think you’re smart.”
She smiles brightly at me. “Thank you. And whether you go to college or not has nothing to do with being smart. Not everyone wants to attend college or should go there. That doesn’t mean they’re not smart.” She reaches up and gently kisses me. “What did you mean by what’s on the outside isn’t necessarily what’s on the inside? I get the general premise behind the saying, but what does it mean toyou, Noah?”
I take hold of her hand and we begin walking again. “I told you that Charlotte helped me with my reading. There’s more to it than that. I guess people would now call what I struggled with a learning disability. But no one knew about those things when I was a kid. Or at least they didn’t know about them in Copper Creek.
“I struggled with reading so much that my grandfather would put me down in his own way. He’d make me feel like an idiot and worthless. The only future I had to look forward to was as a ranch hand. I wanted more than that—especially since I hated cattle. I didn’t want to spend the rest of my life stuck on the ranch.”
“So you left and became the incredible man that you are…”
I laugh. “That’s not what I was going to—”
She stops me before I can say anything more, her fingers against my lips. “I would. I mean, sure you drive me crazy whenever you call me Princess. But you’re sweet and considerate and extremely talented. You care about other people, and they care about you in return. Your friends and family love you.”
If there’s more to be said, she doesn’t get a chance to say it. My mouth finds hers again.
Have I met anyone like Kate before? Never.
She’s nothing like Samantha.
Yes, they’re both gorgeous and come from a different world than I’ll ever exist in: a world that revolves around wealth.
But that’s where the similarities end. Kate has a heart like no one else. A heart that some douchebag took a huge chunk out of when he cheated on her—with her best friend, no less. Kate won’t admit it out loud, and maybe she hasn’t even admitted it to herself yet, but his stupidity left a mark.
The way Kate kisses leaves me believing that not only was he a douchebag, he was a major dumbass, too.
She looks up at the sky. “Wow, I can’t believe how bright the stars are.”
