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His mouth covered hers in a slow, cautious manner. Maybe he was giving her the opportunity to pull away since he clearly lacked the ability to do so.
She didn’t.
Instead, Tressa’s lips parted to accept his greedy tongue. He probed every inch of her wet, delicious mouth. For months, he’d longed for this opportunity again, ever since he’d kissed her in her best friend’s kitchen.
Then, just like that, he snatched his mouth away. What in the hell was he doing? She wasn’t available to him. Not yet. Not in the way he wanted and needed her.
Staring into her uncertain eyes, he said, “I should start the stew.” Amid great personal protest, he stood up and walked away, leaving her alone on the couch.
But being the sometimes-stubborn woman she was, Tressa didn’t allow the conversation to simply end there. Perhaps because he’d said a lot, but had left even more unsaid and she wanted—possibly needed—to know what.
How did he tell her that after only a day with her, he was falling harder and faster than he’d ever fallen before, and not sound insane?
“You or me?” she said.
Roth avoided looking at her, despite his confusion by the question. “You or me?”
“Less complicated for you or for me?”
“For the both of us, Tressa.”
“I see. Have you considered the possibility that this is truly simple, but we’re the ones choosing to make it too hard?”
“Poetic, but what’s real—”
“Are your feelings for me real?”
This brought his eyes to hers. His shoulders slumped, defeat fighting its way in.
“I thought they were. Mine are, too, Roth.” She sighed. “Maybe a week here is not such a good idea, after all. You’re right. This is complicated. We shouldn’t risk things getting any more confusing or complicated for either of us.” She stood from the couch. “I’ll be ready first thing in the morning. If you don’t mind, I’ll take the bed tonight.”
He stared at the back of her head as she climbed the stairs. Any more complicated? As if things between them could get any more complicated than they already were.
CHAPTER 6
The following morning Roth stared out the kitchen window and sipped his coffee. Just when he thought things couldn’t get any more complicated, things got more complicated. His eyes swept over the snow-covered landscape. At least six inches had fallen overnight, and snow was still falling. Six inches. How in the hell was this even possible? The snow wasn’t supposed to have arrived until tomorrow, not today.
Maybe Tressa had asked for a sign. He laughed to himself. Signs. This was a sign, all right. A sign that shit happens. And most of the time for the worst.
He massaged the tension in his neck. This was a complication. A colossal complication. Still, the snow was beautiful.
And speaking of beautiful things…
Tressa ambled down the stairs and he almost laughed at the sight of her in the floor-length grandma gown he’d purchased at the general store. The plaid fabric did little to accentuate her assets, which had been his intent. Since the air was already tense between them, he kept his amusement to himself.
Boy, had she challenged him the night before. And what had he done about it? Not a damn thing. What he’d wanted to do was race across the floor, snatch her into his arms and kiss the hell out of her again. Let her taste and feel him. It’d taken all his strength to fight it. But he had.
Their kiss had left him exposed and put his feelings for her out there. Though he hadn’t confirmed them, he hadn’t denied them, either. Lord, the balls on this woman. Yeah, she was the type of woman who could ruin him or cause him to ruin himself.
“Good morning,” she said, barely making eye contact with him.
“Morning.”
Picking up the Not Before My Coffee mug she seemed to be fond of, she said, “I’m all packed. What time are we getting on the road?”
“That might be a little difficult,” he said.
She eyed him for the first time since she’d come down and said, “Difficult?”
With a head tilt, he directed her to the glass door leading onto the deck.
When she slid open the thermal curtains, she gasped. “Oh. It’s snowing. A lot.”
