What we had was stronger than sex. Stronger than romantic love. Those kinds of feelings wither and die. Friendship was forever.
It could be worse. Lennon had terrible taste in men—her one flaw. Thankfully, I was here to help her. But Jeremiah wasn’t so bad, for a cowboy. I had always liked him.
It would be a shame if I had to hurt him.
16
LENNON
The stars had fadedinto the purple-gray dawn by the time Jeremiah ventured to my cabin. I had lingered longer this morning, hoping he’d show but bracing myself for disappointment. It had been quite the mindfuck yesterday to wake up giddy over this man only for those feelings to slowly fizzle away as the hours crept by with no sign of him.
Whatever business he’d had with the sheriff, it hadn’t taken all day. He’d been back by late afternoon. He could have found me feeding the goats with the other ranch guests, but he hadn’t. He could have found me in the dining hall at dinner, but he hadn’t. He could have swung by my cabin after nightfall. I’d left the lampon so he’d know I was awake if he happened to come my way. But he hadn’t.
Men came in all sizes, shapes, and attitudes, but this much had always held true: they didn’t do shit they didn’t want to do. If Jeremiah had wanted to, he would have. Clearly, he didn’t want to.
But I stood under the cold, dark sky anyway, becauseIwanted to. Because that kiss wasn’t enough. I wanted more.
And now here he was, and my heart gave a little jump of hope that he wanted more, too.
He stopped when he saw me. “Hey.”
My lips parted, but no sound came out. Literally no sound at all. I couldn’t push a single syllable out through the sudden dryness of my mouth. I cleared my throat and swallowed. “Hey.”
He crossed the yard. My heart picked up speed with every step that brought him closer to me.
Shit.Shit.
I couldn’t remember the last time I’d had an actual crush on a man. But that was exactly what this was. Rapid heartbeat. Sweaty palms. Giggling and kicking my feet. I was crushing harder than a fourteen-year-old girl meeting her best friend’s older brother.
How fucking embarrassing.
“I thought you were avoiding me,” I blurted out.
His head tilted as he studied me in the dawning light. “What made you think that?”
“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe the fact that youwereavoiding me?” I teased.
I figured he’d deny it, maybe smooth over the awkward moment I had created with a pretty compliment and then let me down easy.
But he chuckled softly under his breath. “All right. But in my defense, I didn’t know what to say.”
“Heyseemed to work pretty well,” I pointed out.
His lips quirked under his mustache. “True. Maybe I’ll try it again sometime.”
I was wearing his coat unzipped—it was warmer this morning—and he grabbed the placket and tugged me closer.
“You don’t have your earrings in,” he remarked as he locked the hems together and slowly zipped me up. Oh, god. There was that awful, embarrassing, fluttery feeling in my chest again. “Did you find the missing one?”
“I looked around the cabin in case it fell out when I was changing or something, but no luck. It could be anywhere. I think it’s a lost cause.”
He checked his watch. “I have a few minutes. I’ll see if I can find it.”
“Right now?” My eyebrows pinched. The sky was streaked with pink and gold, but the sun hadn’t crested the mountain ridge yet. “It’s barely light outside.”
“I’ll find it.” He wrapped his arms around my waist, and before I knew what was happening, he’d lifted meoff my feet and marched up the path with me. “I have a theory.”
“What’s that?” I asked breathlessly, arms looped around his neck, because where else would they go? My mouth hovered near his temple. The strangest urge came over me to kiss him there, on that cluster of golden-brown freckles along his hairline. My stomach felt all swoopy even thinking about it.
