“I say we go ahead and do it. Us kissing is the practical action since we’re both thinking about it,” Owen said.
“This I’ve got to hear. Why is it the practical thing to do?”
“What’s getting us wound up is anticipation and wondering.” His rough voice sent shivers darting through her as if he’d stroked her bare skin. His presence surrounded her, becoming incredibly intimate. “The fantasies we’re imagining are tossing leaves on a bonfire. But if we kiss, reality will replace our fantasies.”
“I amnotfantasizing about you,” she snapped.
Not this moment anyway. Now later? She intended to let her imagination run crazy until she wore herself out.
“Honey, go right ahead and say that, but we both know different. For me, you’re all I can think about, and I’ve had some damn fine fantasies about us.”
Desire, heady and potent, blasted through her at his heated words paired with the hoarse timbre of his voice. She wiped her hands on her jeans. How much longer could a gal who hadn’t had sex or even been kissed in over two years hold out before she melted into an embarrassing puddle of feminine need?
She’d lost her mind. Her trolley had derailed. Her common sense had moved and left no forwarding address.
For once she wanted to be wild and impetuous. She wanted to be in a man’s arms. Who was she kidding? Any man wouldn’t do.
As if sensing her need, Owen slid closer. His hands cupped her face. “One little taste, and then we can move on.”
Could he be right? One kiss. Simple. Innocuous really, and then she’d know.
She placed her hands on his broad shoulders. Despite his recent injury, his strength rippled through her. His eyes darkened to the color of Lake Hope at night, drawing her in with promises of what could be, but he held back, giving her one last out. Unable to resist, and reveling in being in charge, she pressed her lips against his. Her body melted against his hard frame, and passion exploded inside her, seizing control. She clutched his cotton shirt to keep from collapsing.
As Carly deepened the kiss, she realized three facts. One, kissing Owen again could be the biggest mistake of her life. Two, he’d learned a lot about kissing since high school, and three, she was in major trouble, because she’d never wanted a man this much.
Chapter Six
As Carly clungto Owen, her tongue slid between his lips teasing his. His strong arms wrapped around her and his erection pressed against her stomach, throbbing and insistent.
Somewhere in the barn something squeaked. Door hinges? Carly pried her lips away from Owen’s. “Did you hear that? Did it sound like the barn door opening?”
“It’s nothing.” His mouth covered hers again as his hand caressed her breast. This time she couldn’t contain her sigh of pleasure. Her knees threatened to buckle, and her hands clutched his biceps for support.
“Carly, you in here?”
At the sound of Dennis’s way-too-close-for-comfort voice, Carly jumped out of Owen’s embrace. Her body throbbing with need, she gathered her wits the best she could without a basket and a cold shower. “We’re in the tack room.”
A minute later, the slender middle-aged cowboy appeared in the doorway, glanced between her and Owen, and grinned.
Heat blasted into Carly’s face, and she grew lightheaded, as her future flipping burgers flashed before her. Her ears grew so hot, she expected them to burst into flames. Telling herself to calm down and quit jumping to conclusions, she insisted Dennis couldn’t have seen her and Owen kissing.
Kissing? More like losing every ounce of self-control and going at it like sex-crazed teenagers.
If she quit acting guilty, she’d be fine. Bluffing was her best bet.
“We were having trouble with Owen’s helmet. He thinks it makes him look unmanly.” Like that was possible. “But we’ve straightened that out.”
“No worries. I just started wondering if I had the time wrong,” Dennis said.
While she struggled to control her embarrassment, Owen stepped forward, cool, confident, not the least bit flustered, and shook hands with Dennis. Then she noticed his shirt hung open past the second button. Had it been unbuttoned that far before?
Oh, Lord. If it had been, she’d have noticed. A new wave of embarrassment flooded her system, remembering the way his ab muscles tensed against her palm when she’d caressed his bare skin.
“Good to see you. I didn’t know you helped out around here,” Owen said, his voice unflustered and even.
“This program is near and dear to me. It was here for me when I came home from the Gulf War. Besides, working around the stables and as a sidewalker gets me outta the house. Since Brenda gave up her part-time job at the church, my honey-do list is longer than my arm. If I didn’t volunteer a couple times a week, the woman would work me to death within a month.”
At the mention of Dennis’s wife, Carly clenched her fists. If she speculated about her and Owen, rumors would rip through Service like a Texas thunderstorm. And her board members would hear them. People she needed for references.
