Page 13 of Love’s Silver Bullet

Definitely no kiss on the cheek!

That was the moment he discovered he was a bit more than man enough to respond like any red-blooded American male would. Especially one who craved the very woman—no, dad-burn-it, little girl!—who delivered the kiss that singed not only is body, but all good intentions as well.

Sweet, soul-saving mercy! If one could even call it a kiss at all! Jake’s body had melted into a puddle, no desire to do anything but yank the woman—little girl, dad-gummit!—closer to respond in kind. Blue smoke of Hades, where in the devil did she learn to kiss like that? She hadn’t been out of his or her brothers’ sight since she turned sixteen, when Finn had laid down the law. Only it hadn’t been the law laying down when she’d kissed him, it’d been him, flat on his back before he’d finally come to his senses—and his consciousness—enough to push her away and rail on her but good.

“Are you crazy?” he’d shouted after he disarmed her with a quick roll, pinning her to the ground to keep her from doing anything like that ever again.

“I … am crazy, Jake …” she’d said in that quivery, little-girl voice that had always wrapped him around her little finger. “And I think you’re crazy for me too.”

Oh, he was crazy, all right. Crazy enough to lie to the blasted woman—dash it all, little girl!—telling her he wasn’t attracted to her when he knew darn good and well that he was. But he’d never been a good liar because he was too partial to the truth, and yet he didn’t want her—or anyone in Nevada—to know his true feelings.

Yeah, good job with that, knothead! He was surprised his blasted nose hadn’t grown like that Pinocchio character in the fairytale story his mother used to read to him, letting Sheridan know the minute he’d lied.

Only it wouldn’t be the nose that labeled him a liar, but this blasted kiss he craved to lay on her right now, taking over from where she’d begun after flipping him—and his heart—flat for a second time. Forbidden fruit that was busting his hard-practiced restraint like a bronc out of stall, kicking and stomping all the way.

Well, that was exactly what he’d intended to do right now, he thought as he hovered over her wild-eyed, his biceps as strained as his self-control—first “kick” himself, then “stomp” this deadly attraction to dust before it could go any further.

Right after I finish this kiss … Dropping down, he’d had no power over the groan that escaped as he lost himself in the stuff of his dreams, deeper and deeper ...

God, please give me strength—my heart can’t take this …

“I knew it!” Shoving him back, Sheridan sat up, rudely interrupting the kiss that had pert near brought him to his knees in his mind, ready to propose. “You are attracted to me, Jake Sullivan, and I defy you to deny it!” She thumped a fist on his chest and slapped her arms into a tight fold, that cute little chin nudging up while those lips—now swollen to a glossy pink—clamped tight, slamming the gates to heaven tighter than if he’d been the devil himself.

He silently winced. Which wasn’t far off given his abominable lack of control.

“I’m not going to deny anything, Half-Pint,” he said with a heavy sigh as he slowly lumbered up, desperate to restore his dignity, his promise to Finn …

His blood pressure to normal.

Slapping the dust from his denim work pants, he extended a hand to help Sheridan up, the aches in his body near as bad as the one in his chest. He let her hand go the moment she was stable on her feet, which was saying a whole heck of a lot more than his heart. “But I’m not going to admit it either, Sher, because you’re a sister to me, so this can’t ever happen again.”

She stomped her foot, reminding him a lot of that adorable little girl who’d demanded he marry her for her eighth birthday. “I am not your sister, Jake Sullivan, and you don’t have to admit it because your kiss did it for you and then some.”

Heat blazed up the back of his neck like a dad-gum prairie fire, all the way to the tips of his ears, torching his temper. “Yeah, well that tends to happen when a girl looks and acts more like a painted gal at The Silver Pistol than the proper daughter of the mayor.”

Her catch of breath was so harsh, it almost echoed over the lake, telling him he’d taken it a step too far. Water instantly welled in those blue eyes while the rose in her cheeks bled into her face, a poor complement to the whisker burn that now pinked her jaw. But when her lower lip began to tremble and a single tear slithered down, he knew he was a goner.

Crack!

Especially when she hauled off and slapped him clean across the chops. Eyes glazing over, he wobbled like a tree about to topple.

“Don’t you dare compare me to those women at The Silver Pistol, Jake Donovan,” she said through a choked heave while more of those blasted tears rolled down her cheeks, quivering as much as that pert little chin.

“Aw, Sher …” Huffing out a sorrowful sigh, he bundled her close in a protective hug, heartsick over causing her any pain at all, even if it was the only way to nip this infatuation in the bud. “I’m sorry for hurting you like that, Half-Pint, but the truth is if you go around kissing men like that, you’re in for a whole passel of heartbreak, and I sure hate to see that, darlin’.”

“But I d-don’t go around k-kissing men like that,” she said with a sniff, her tone nasal from congestion, “only you because you’re my first kiss ever …”

Well, thank God for that anyway! He fished a handkerchief from his pocket and handed it to her with a tender smile. “Well, as much as I appreciate that honor, darlin’, this can’t happen again.”

“But why? You liked it, I know you did.” She peeked up with red-rimmed eyes, wearing the same woe-begone look as when she’d skinned her knee at the age of six and asked him to kiss it.

Only the kind of kisses she was looking for now were way too dangerous to consider.

He cuffed the back of his neck with a gruff clear of his throat, desperate to remain calm and rational. After all, he was the adult here. His conscience squirmed. Although, you couldn’t have guessed that from a few moments earlier. “Well, because I’m almost eight years older than you for one thing, Half-Pint, and you’re too young to fall in love.”

“Ha! Tell that to my heart,” she said with a wobble in her voice, punctuating it with a loud blow of her nose that coaxed a smile to his lips.

Yeah, and while you’re at it, my body as well, he thought with a sprint of his pulse, his smile fading considerably when he realized how serious this was.