Page 32 of Disarming The Rancher

Brax noticed the exact moment the air in the room changed. It went from light and fun teasing to crackling electricity in a heartbeat.

“May I kiss you?” he asked, looking into emerald eyes that glittered with what looked a whole lot like need.

“Thought you’d never ask.” She met him halfway.

When their lips touched, one word came to mind…home.

This situation was impossible. There was no future. But they had right now.

Brax was on his knees in two seconds, his hands cupping her cheeks as he drove his tongue inside her mouth. The dark roast taste was long gone but he didn’t mind.

She looped her arms around his neck and tangled her fingers in his hair, urging him to deepen the kiss. She nipped at his bottom lip, scraping across it with her teeth. All he could say was, damn.

Kissing her was right up there at the top of the best things in his life. It had nothing to do with her being a rising star. This was Raleigh from Lone Star Pass. A beautiful and intelligent woman who was sexy as all get out. A person who made him want things he probably shouldn’t as he dropped his hands so they could roam her incredible body.

She pressed her body flush with his and a tidal wave of need welled up inside him.

Before things got too out of hand, he pulled on all his willpower to break apart. He found her forehead with his and tried to catch his breath. He’d never gone from zero to a hundred and twenty before like he just had with her.

The whole situation left his body aching for more.

“Hardy’s still waiting,” she finally said.

“Then, we should go,” was all he managed to say.

Raleigh kissed Brax Firebrand, her childhood crush. Seriously? More than once today but that session in the loft just now was beyond hot. If only she could go back and tell her sixteen-year-old self this would happen…nah. Sixteen-year-old Raleigh would never believe it.

Plus, she’d spent most of her time daydreaming about a singing career.

Brax reached for her hand as they walked out of the barn, and then linked their fingers. There was something incredibly sexy about holding this man’s hand. Something that sent her stomach into a flipflop routine that would make any gymnast show a little respect.

At the back door of the main house, he let go long enough to open the door for her.

“I’ll return this to Corbin,” he said, holding up the guitar.

“Think he’d mind if I borrowed it for the rest of the night?” Being in the loft with Brax gave her a whole lot of inspiration for new songs. “I’m not ready to turn in yet.”

“You haven’t eaten dinner yet,” he pointed out.

“True. When I get in a zone, I sometimes forget the basics. Food. Water.” She couldn’t remember the last time someone noticed whether or not she’d had a meal. Normally, she was making sure the band had a pizza. The past few hours had been freeing on so many levels she couldn’t begin to unpack them all. What she could say definitively was that Brax Firebrand was good for her music.

“Why don’t we set up in the kitchen for a minute and I’ll heat a few plates,” he said.

“How about you let me help this time?” she asked.

“You’re a guest. No dice,” he teased.

“I’m practically family. I grew up here,” she countered.

“Fine. You get the drinks,” he said.

“Are you hungry, Hardy?” She should have stopped at some point while in the loft and told him to go eat.

“Mrs. Firebrand brought me a meatball sandwich,” he said. “I’m good to go.”

Of course, she did. The woman was Raleigh’s role model and superhero wrapped up in one adorable Italian package.

“Since we’re inside the house now and I have Brax here, why don’t you go power down in your room?” she asked.