Page 26 of Rancher to the Rescue

“Requesting permission to kiss you now,” he said.

“Permission granted.” She pushed up to her tiptoes and met him halfway.

He pressed his lips to hers gently.

“I think you’re incredibly brave,” he said, his mouth moving against hers.

She brought her hands to his arms, digging her fingernails in as she teased his tongue inside her mouth.

He pulled back enough to say, “And beautiful.”

In that moment, he realized he was in too deep.

9

“Are you upstairs, Adam?”

Sheriff Lawler’s voice cut into the moment happening between Adam and Prudence. With great effort, she pulled back first. He opened those incredible coral-sea blue eyes, and she knew she was in trouble.

“Coming,” he said, and his voice was gruff.

“Go on down and talk to him. I’ll be right there,” she said, needing a minute to pull herself together.

Adam leaned in for one more kiss and it literally curled her toes. Talking to him about her family had been so freeing, like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders.

“I’ll fill him in on the medication combination,” he said. “Do you want me to take her downstairs?”

She nodded, needing time to catch her breath there too. Her mind had been filled with images of her, Adam, and Angel living together as a family, and that wasn’t going to happen. Angel already had parents out there. Prudence would never try to stand in the way of a reunion.

Adam disappeared down the stairs as Prudence tried to will her pulse back to normal. Her heart beat against her ribcage, hammering out its own frantic rhythm. Breathing was already difficult, so when she thought about the inevitable moment they would hand Angel over to Sheriff Lawler, pain tightened her chest.

Angel deserved to be with her parents no matter how attached Prudence was becoming. She needed to get a grip. Moving into the bathroom, she stopped at the sink to splash cold water on her face.

There, she was already feeling better. She teased a comb through her kinky hair as best she could. Lot of good that did and there was no time to straighten it with an iron. In times like these, it was best to embrace the curls. She dabbed gel on her hand before rubbing her palms together. Slicking it through her hair helped.

She grabbed her small tin of tinted lip gloss. She tapped her pinky finger inside and then circled her lips a couple of times—lips that were still swollen from Adam’s kisses. The man was a good kisser. Beyond good. In fact, that was the most electric kiss she’d ever experienced.

Dating had been tricky given her background. Prudence had powered through the first couple, checking her watch every time her dates looked away. Just like anything, time and practice helped her improve. Meeting new people had always been a trigger. Maybe it was because she knew Fallon, but Prudence felt nothing but comfortable around Adam despite how the air crackled from their chemistry.

A few deep breaths and a little eyeliner made her feel human again. She resisted the urge to change clothes since the ones she had on were clean. She wanted to get downstairs and hear what Lawler had to say.

Lawler and Adam were standing in the kitchen when she joined them. Deputy Smithfield must have gotten what he needed because he was nowhere to be seen. Relief washed over her that none of her valuables were missing.

Except her car, purse, and cell phone.

With her laptop, her cell phone would be easy enough to track. If she were lucky, she’d hit the jackpot of locating all three.

“Morning,” Lawler said.

“Same to you.” Prudence didn’t like the look on his face. “Would you like to sit down? I can fix a cup of coffee.”

“No, thanks.” He held a shaky hand up. “I’ve had four cups already. Any more and I’m afraid I’ll cause an earthquake.”

She smiled.

“I’ll take you up on the offer to sit, though.” He walked over to the kitchen table and pulled out a chair. “Adam just filled me in about the medication interaction.”

“It’s such a relief to know and be able to stop the blackouts,” she admitted, taking a seat in front of her laptop. Was that also the reason for her new bravado? It was a bravado she planned to hang onto.