Page 37 of One Texas Night...
“Just the opposite,” she said. “And my brother Chad was like Mom. He was the life of the party, always fun, always could cheer anyone up. He had loads of friends, and my mom was invited to a lot of parties, and she had loads of friends. They just seemed to wring more out of each moment of their lives, which was good because their lives were cut short,” she added. “I’ll always miss them.”
He hugged her lightly. “Sorry. I know you will. That hurt dulls, but it never stops.”
“I don’t ever again want to lose someone I love because of something needless and risky.”
“I understand that, but life was meant to be lived. You can’t crawl into a bubble and shut away the world, so you might as well get out there and live. Watch out, Allison, you don’t want to wake up someday when you’re seventy years old and filled with regrets over the things you were scared to do. It’s too late then. For a different reason, that was what happened to my dad.”
“That won’t happen to me.”
“I hope not. I think you’re missing out on life. You’re observing, not living.”
“So you think I’ve been an observer tonight?” she asked in slow breathy words while she drew circles on his flat stomach with her finger. He inhaled deeply and slid his arm around her waist.
“No, not tonight. Tonight you were thriving on life and its excitement. Aah, Allison, this is paradise. Maybe we can take an extra day or two to stay in Wyoming. I’ll work on that. Perhaps if I occupy your time just right, you won’t even get around to work for the next few days.”
“You have tonight. That’s for certain,” she said lazily, trailing her fingers back and forth slowly over his muscled chest. “So what do you do in the rodeo? Calf roping, bronc riding?”
“I will ride a bull.”
“Why did I even ask? You’re thirty. Aren’t you getting too old for that one? That’s really a rough sport.”
He grinned. “Come watch me and then decide whether or not I’m too old.”
“Your confidence will get you through it, I’m sure.”
“Challenges are exciting. If I can do it, then it gives me satisfaction, a sense of power, a feeling of accomplishment.”
“A feeling of accomplishment, a challenge,” she repeated. “I get that from identifying a piece of furniture in the correct century. That’s not quite the same as risking your life riding a one-ton bull or climbing up the side of a mountain in a blizzard.”
“I like physical challenges. I like a lot of physical things,” he said as he rolled on his side and looked down at her. His eyes drifted slowly over her features as he studied her, making her heart beat faster. “I can’t get enough,” he said and his gaze lowered to her mouth.
Her lips parted. She slid her arm around his neck and pulled his head closer to kiss him. The minute he kissed her in return, her heart drummed and desire rekindled.
* * *
Dawn spilled into the room. Allison lay in the crook of his arm, Jared sleeping beside her in his massive bed, and gazed into the dying embers of the fire. They had made love repeatedly through the night. Each time probably locked her heart more securely with his. The night had been folly, yet something she no longer wanted to stop from happening.
What had last night meant to him? Another challenge met? Excitement, lust, fulfillment? Had it meant anything?
She turned slightly to look at him and his arm tightened around her waist. She expected his eyes to open, but they didn’t. Was she in love with him already? She studied his features that still made her certain he was the most handsome man she had ever known. Also, he had turned into a friend. At the moment it seemed impossible to think that when she finished this job, she would tell Jared goodbye and not see him again. Right now she couldn’t accept that, and today, she simply wouldn’t think about it.
She ran her hands across his chest, pulled the sheet over them and closed her eyes, certain they would make love again before many hours passed.
It was noon when they returned to their task of deciding what might go into his house. She focused on the job, trying to bank desire and avoid thinking about their night or touching him now. He constantly flirted, sometimes lightly touching her, a casual brush of his hand, but after their lovemaking, the slightest contact was difficult to ignore.
Each time he distracted her she got back to business, until six o’clock in the evening when he took her iPad out of her hands.
“You’ve whizzed through this house and we’ve marked things to bring up here. Now it’s time to quit for tonight.” Before she could answer, his cell phone rang, and he took the call, walking out of the room as he talked, but she heard enough to guess it concerned business. She picked up her iPad and continued making notes.
To her surprise, he didn’t come back for a while, and she moved on to a large dining room, taking a picture and making notes. Working alone, without discussing possibilities with him, she moved faster, going from room to room and getting enough done that she saw they could finish tonight if they went through the rest of the house after dinner. As far as she could see, there weren’t as many things to go into the Wyoming home as there would be in the Dallas house.
She was in a bedroom when he finally appeared.
“Sorry, that was business. There’s a company we’ve been trying to buy. They’ve made a counteroffer. I think we have something we can work with to get what we want, but it means I have to talk to some people right now. The kitchen is filled with food, so just help yourself. I’ll have to put my dinner on hold.”
“Want me to fix something for you?”
He shook his head. “I’m not hungry. I’ll get something when I am.”
