by Em Petrova
Lilah slumped with fatigue. Her early morning was catching up to her. She’d been up at dawn and working, and looking for the lost girl had exhausted the last of her reserves.
She took one of the purple cookies and bit into it. Maybe some sugar would give her the lift she needed to drive home.
“Hey, you’re not sharing those?”
She turned at the familiar voice, her mouth full of crumbs and frosting. “Sure.” She held out the plate, offering Easton one.
He took it and bit into it, his hard lips working as he chewed. She looked away from his mouth and caught his wink.
At her.
“You’re not messing with little Lizard Lilah anymore.”
He skated his gaze down over her shoulders to her breasts, waist and hips and then slowly made his way back up. By the time he centered on her face, her cheeks were hot and other parts hotter.
“I know what you are, Lilah.”
She straightened, suddenly not tired at all. “What am I?”
“Your determination amazed me tonight.”
She swallowed the cookie and looked down at the soiled knees of her jeans. “You’d do the same with a calf. Check the low spots for places it would hide.” She admired his physique, imagining him straddling a horse with a calf thrown over the saddle before him, his hat tipped so perfectly low and those squint lines at the corners of his blue eyes.
A shivery sigh left her.
He held up a finger and went back to the cookie table. He leaned in and pecked Emma on the cheek and then nabbed a couple more cookies. He reached Lilah’s side again and gave a flick of his head.
“Walk with me.”
Her heart gave a wild beat, too trippy to be normal. “Okay,” she said faintly before following.
He bit off the second cookie and offered her the other, but she still held a half-eaten one in her hand, forgotten. These feelings he was inspiring in her were pure insanity on her part. She had to get a grip—he was just being nice, probably still trying to make it up to her that he’d been such a jerk in grade school.
“I’m glad the evening ended on a high note. For a few minutes, I wasn’t sure if we’d find Ginny.” She shuddered to think of it.
“Same. Susannah would have never forgiven herself.”
“Me either. I’ve helped Suz with that girl, and I don’t know what I’d do if we hadn’t found her right away.”
Easton’s steps were slow, meandering. He wasn’t in a hurry to stop talking to her. He headed toward the vehicles, and she kept pace. Whether she wanted to admit it or not, she liked being in his presence as well. It was nice to have male attention—she hadn’t had enough of the good kind in a while. Working with all men usually resulted in her having to keep a stern façade to run them off.
Not that some wouldn’t be nice to date. She was just so focused on her career and her spare time was spent here helping with Susannah’s program, she didn’t have much time left for herself. She still managed to catch her favorite sci-fi shows, though.
If she was honest, having attention from a man like Easton trumped all the looks or flirting she got from all other men put together.
An idea hit her—maybe she just didn’t have time for those other guys because only one had ever interested her in her whole entire life.
She shook the thought off and finished the cookie for lack of anything better to do with it.
Easton threw her a long look and then stopped and faced her. “Lilah, I’ve got to tell you something important.”
Oh Lordy. Don’t let it be something that steals my heart. I’m already half in love with you again, Easton.
She looked up at him and smiled.
“You know what I’m about to say?” He smiled back.
“No. I’m smiling at the purple frosting on your face.”
He ran his knuckle over his mouth, completely missing the frosting clinging just under his lower lip.
“You didn’t get it.”
“Well, let’s see if you can get that googly eye off your upper lip.” He stared at the feature.
She raised a hand and scrubbed it over her face, feeling nothing. “I do not have a googly eye.”
“Sure ya do. Right here.” He ran his fingertip across her mouth, sending liquid warmth through her limbs. He stood so close, his broad chest nearly brushed hers.
“You’re lying.”
“It’s right…” He tipped closer, his cowboy hat lowering. “Here.” He pressed a soft kiss to her face, just shy of her mouth. The misplaced caress had her nearly screaming for him to do it right.
Shaking, she said, “Stop teasing me, Easton.”
“All right. No, you don’t have anything on your face. But you’ve got the prettiest lips I’ve ever seen.” He swooped in and kissed her properly this time. The crush of his mouth—hard, soft, hot, firm—stunned her just as much as it had at the age of ten.
Except this was the kiss of a man who knew what he wanted. He brought his arms around her, drawing her against his steely form. If the heat from his body had dizzied her before, now it blasted her. Every thought left her mind except for kissing back.
She angled her head, and he groaned, running his fingers up her nape to cradle her head as he deepened the kiss. Softly at first and then pressing his tongue at the seam of her lips for entrance.
She pulled back. “What’s the bet this time?” Her sass was back in her tone, thank God. She needed something of herself back, an armor she’d spent years constructing around herself.
His blue eyes were sad as he searched hers. “No bet, Lilah. This is me, a man, looking at a woman asking her to forget the past.”
“Even the nickname?”
“Even that.”
She sighed. “I don’t know, Easton.”
“Then let me try to convince you.” He snaked an arm around her again, pulling her flush to him and crushing his mouth over hers. Immediately delving his tongue between her lips and leaving her with the taste of cookie and man and desire. Or maybe she was imagining the last part.
There was only one answer to her dilemma—remain in his arms and let him kiss her or push away and steer clear until he left Paradise Valley.
As he probed her tongue with his, she anchored herself with a hand on his shirt front. Twisting as he took the kiss to a whole other level.
* * * * *
The feel of Lilah in his arms felt so damn good, so damn… right. She clutched at his shirt, which only ramped up his need, and his Wranglers were bulging at the fly.
Slanting his tongue through her mouth, he garnered a soft moan from her. The flip of her tongue over his sent his body and mind into overdrive, and he planted a hand on her ass to yank her closer. The softness of her body cradling his dragged a throaty groan from him too.
His mind dizzied with images of stripping her and laying her down in his bed with his palm behind her head. One kiss led to another and another, and soon she lifted her hand to tangle in the longer hair at his nape. His hat tumbled to the ground, forgotten as Lilah fed his kiss back to him stroke for stroke.
His heart gave a stutter. Who knew this woman was all passion bottled up in a slender frame and topped with red-gold curls? He pulled back briefly, stared into her deep eyes and then slammed his mouth over hers again.
He pressed her to him, and damn if she didn’t grind her hips.
“Jesus,” he bit off, tearing from the kiss.
She followed him.
God, that was the hottest thing he’d ever experienced. He grabbed her again.
His lips barely skimmed over hers before she pulled free. Chest heaving, she met his stare. Liquid heat pooled in the sea green of her eyes, seeming to darken the hue.
“I-I’m sorry,” she muttered. Without waiting for a response, she turned and strode to her truck.
He followed and reached her side just in time to see her slam her little balled fist off the metal door.
“Dammit!”
Confused, he caught her elbow and spun h
er to face him. “Baby, it’s all right. Don’t get upset about what just happened. I lov—”
“It’s not the kiss, cowboy. Somebody rolled up my window and now I can’t get in this way.”
He swung his gaze from hers to the door. “Still haven’t fixed it.”
“No,” she snapped, “when would I have gotten a chance since you last asked?”
He didn’t know whether to chuckle at the crease growing between her arched brows or smooth it away—with his lips.
She started around the front of her truck, and he went around the back, his longer legs reaching the passenger’s side faster than she could.
She stopped in her tracks and drew a deep breath. “Easton, we don’t have to do this. We can easily forget that kiss and go our merry ways.”
He blinked. He didn’t want to forget the kiss. He liked it. In fact, he’d be hard-pressed to find a wink of sleep tonight, replaying that caress over and over in his head.
His gaze skipped over the crease in her brows to her beautiful eyes begging him to do something. “What is it you want me to do, Lilah? You really want me to forget what happened?”
She reached past him for the door handle. “Yes.”
“But…” he ran his fingers through his hair, remembering his hat back somewhere among the parked vehicles, “why? Was it a terrible kiss?”
He knew damn well it wasn’t—he just wanted to hear her say it.
She threw him an exasperated look. “Please stop talking about the kiss.”
“So that’s it. You’re afraid you’re going to find out I was put up to it.” He grasped her waist and turned her back into his arms. She let out a soft gasp a split second before he claimed her mouth again.
The heat inside him exploded upward and poured out with each stroke of his tongue. He walked his fingers up her spine to cradle her head, and she relaxed all at once, going soft and pliant in his hold. A harsh grunt left him and he pinned her to the door.
Using his thigh, he pressed hers apart and when she rubbed her pussy on his leg, he stopped breathing. He lifted his knee, digging in between her legs and finding a needy spot that had her crying out.
“Oh my God, Easton. No, stop. I can’t do this.” She pushed against his chest, and he stumbled back a step, more turned on than he’d ever been in his life. Definitely not as a horny teenager and not even when he’d finally gotten Katie into bed had he been this hard and wanting.
But Lilah was worth waiting for.
“We can put the brakes on if you’re not ready.” His voice came out gravelly.
Even in the fading light of the day, he could see her cheeks sporting a pink glow. He raised his knuckles, skimming them over her cheekbone.
She jerked from his touch. “The brakes are on, Easton. Full stop.”
He stared at her, struggling to keep from lunging for her mouth again. He couldn’t quite ignore her body heat that had seeped into the thigh of his jeans, though.
“Lilah. I know you’ve spent a decade of your life thinking I’m an ass, and that’s because I was. But I’ve grown up since then.” He spread his arms for her to look at the body of a man she’d just minutes ago ground herself against in wanton need.
She yanked open the door and threw herself across the seats to pop the door on the other side. Which only gave him a prime view of her round little ass poking up in the air, just begging for him to grab.
Restraining himself, he fisted his hands and waited for her to climb back out. But instead, she wiggled behind the wheel, putting distance between them.
What was a man to do besides get in too? He sank to the passenger’s seat and quietly closed the door.
She clutched the wheel, not looking at him. “Easton, we both know this can’t go anywhere and won’t end well.”
“I don’t know that.”
“I do.” She looked at him, and her eyes burned with pain and distrust. A blow to his chest. How had he put that look in her eyes?
He sat there a long minute, mulling over things to say and discarding them. Finally, he reached for the door handle. He got back out of the truck but didn’t close the door right away.
“Guess I’ve got my work cut out for me, getting you to see I’m not out to hurt you. I’ll see ya, Lilah.”
He closed the door and jammed his hands into his pockets, hunching his shoulders as he walked away. He paused once to grab his hat and settle it low on his brow as the sound of Lilah’s engine filled his ears.
* * * * *
Lilah’s last glimpse of Easton walking away from her still had her heart doing stupid stutters. He looked so… broken.
Well good, part of her said. Let him have a taste of rejection like she’d experienced not only from him way back when but from so many other boys who’d come to view her as Lizard Lilah. Nobody wanted to risk going to homecoming dances with a girl who was known to wear green scales.
As she took the back roads leading from Paradise Valley to her own home, she couldn’t help but replay every single minute of those kisses. More than once she’d gotten carried away, wanting to loop her arms around his neck and wrap her legs around his waist as he probed her mouth with his hot tongue. She’d also kicked herself back into line and backed away from Easton.
The desire to drive back to him was strong. So strong that she had to lock her hands on the wheel and stare straight ahead at the road to keep from wheeling around.
He’d wanted her.
No, it was just him toying with her emotions.
Except he didn’t know her emotions—she hadn’t told him.
The internal arguments continued on until she pulled into her driveway. The road was bumpy and her truck needed shocks as well as the door fixed.
That led to another thought of her scrambling over the seats to get away from Easton when really she’d wanted to drag him by the shirt into the bed, straddle those broad cowboy hips and see just how heated things could get between them.
Those kisses… God, they were the definition of foreplay and in the dictionary, there would be a photo of her riding his hard thigh.
Tingles shot through her lower belly, and her panties were soaked. But the most apparent thing about her body’s reactions to Easton Dalton was what was going on in her heart.
Whatever crush she’d had as a kid had become something bigger since seeing him again. Now they were the first pangs of her heartstrings.
She was falling for him.
All the more reason to steer clear of Paradise Valley. Sure, she’d go through some withdrawals, but it was necessary. Long ago, she’d scribbled out her initials entwined with his on her diary, and now she had to etch the man out of her heart before he dug in too deep.
She pressed her fingertips to her lips. They still burned from his kisses and the scruff of his beard had scorched her cheeks.
Slamming the door on the thought, she got out of the truck and closed the door before realizing she’d forgotten to roll down the window and would have to climb over the seats again.
Inside her house, she heard the TV in the living room and knew her parents would be there watching the crime shows they loved. Her two brothers still lived at home, or at least part of the time when they weren’t staying with various women. She just hoped neither Cody or Jake were here tonight. She wasn’t in the mood for their brotherly teasing.
She peeked into the living room to say goodnight to her parents and dang if Jake wasn’t sprawled out on the floor, head propped on his hand watching TV.
She threw a wave. “I’m home. Going to bed now.”
“How was the maze, dear?” her mother asked.
There was a maze? All she could remember was an inferno of kisses and a big, strong cowboy pinning her to the truck.
“Uh, fine. We had an issue where we lost a child but found her quickly. All is fine. ’Night.”
Jake got to his feet and stretched. “I’m heading up as well. I’ve been up since dawn and I’m sure the horses will need feeding at the same time tomorrow.”
Lilah hurried toward her room but Jake overtook her, looking far too closely at her face.
“You okay, sis?”
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
“Because your face is red. What’d you do?” He narrowed his sea green eyes.
“Nothing. Get out of my way, jerk.” She shoved at him, but he was so bulky, he didn’t budge. Her little brother had grown into a giant of a guy and it was no wonder women threw themselves at him.
He ducked his head to peer closer. “Your lips are swollen.”
“Why are you looking at my lips? Weirdo. Go to bed.” She shoved him again, and he stumbled into the wall.
“Hey!” their father called from the living room. “Don’t bust through the plaster again!”
Laughing, Jake went into his room, flashing a grin at Lilah. She shook her head and went to her own room.
As soon as she closed the door, she rushed to the mirror hanging over her dresser and leaned in to stare at her reflection. Sure enough, her lips were swollen. Her heart gave a short blip of emotion, and then she whirled from the mirror.
No. Absolutely not. She wasn’t smitten with Easton. So they’d shared some moments—it was nothing.
So what if he’d looked at her with such longing in his blue eyes that she could still feel the warmth?
Who cared if he actually was a good man now if he was only in Paradise Valley for a short while? The bottom line was she wasn’t willing to put her heart on the line again—even if the first time could be dismissed as baby stuff.
Pushing out a harsh breath, she grabbed her pajamas and headed for the shower. A cold shower would wash the man from her thoughts. She could only hope.
Chapter Six
Easton leaned against the fence rail and pulled a granola bar from his back pocket as he watched Ford and Case working on breaking horses. They’d been at it since sunup, and Easton had completed his barn chores while they worked.
He unwrapped the granola bar and took a big bite. The oats and honey didn’t do much to satisfy his need for food, but his stomach could hold onto its hat for another few minutes before the breakfast bell rang.
