Page 106 of Second Chance Saloon

His eyebrow quirked up. “Is that so?”

“Always.”

Linking her pinkie with his, the way they had done countless times, without much thought, she looked him in the eye, hoping to freeze this moment in time for a little while. Or even better, to be told next month that she was fine. That she didn’t have the big, scary number of stupid CAG repeats, that she didn’t have the gene, and she wouldn’t get Huntington’s. Her subconscious shut down whenever she thought about it, refusing to process the possibility that she shared more than looks with Weronika.

Mitch stood, leaning over the table to plant a quick kiss perfectly in the middle of her forehead, his finger linked with hers. “Always.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

Jackie

Gus and Lina were fine—that was what she kept telling Mitch, trying to get him to leave the sandy barn. His care and compassion for them, and for all animals, grabbed her by the heartstrings that were already branded with his name. All they needed was a little bit of dusting off, and voila: the voices reminding her what a bad idea all of this was went eerily quiet.

Now, they were driving back to the hotel, and her blood ran so hot, it was as if someone had filled every vessel in her body with gasoline and dropped a lit match.

Jackie glanced sideways at a rattling tin, filled with a fresh batch of cocadas, in his lap. “You realize these aren’t all for you, right?”

Mitch hugged the tin, pushing it further away from her. “Estrella gave them to me. As a thank you for, you know, saving their horses. Two of them.”

Biting back a smile, she rolled her eyes. “She said you need to share with me.”

The lid opened with a pop. He took one cocada out, waving it near her face. “You want it?”

Jackie glared at him, hitting the blinker to turn onto the hotel driveway. “Not if you don’t want to share.”

“I was thinking we can have them as sustenance after all the things we talked about.”

Slutty butterflies took flight in the pit of her stomach. She switched off the engine and twisted in her seat to face him. “I really hope you back all this talk with real action when it comes to it.”

His green eyes darkened. “Have I ever disappointed you in bed?”

She swiped her tongue over her upper lip, lust bleeding into her irises. “In bed? Never. But on some other surfaces—”

Before she could finish, he grabbed her waist, pulling her into his lap.

Her thighs parted to accommodate his legs, eyes as wide as flying saucers. “We can’t have sex in this Jeep—it isn’t even mine.”

Mitch chuckled, his fingers sliding under her dress, traveling up to her hip bones. “Whose Jeep is it? We can clean it afterward.”

“It’s a hotel Jeep—the hotel manager can use it.”

Both his hands found the edge of her swimsuit, and he snuck one forefinger inside. “How about fingering? Is that allowed?”

Jackie gasped as one finger became two, and he drew slow circles around her entrance. Her nails bit into his shoulders, leaving marks in his T-shirt. “That one isn’t covered in the staff handbook.”

He bucked his hips, drawing her body to his. His lips found their way to the top of her breast and his free hand pushed the cleavage of her dress down, exposing her swimsuit. He groaned. “I hate this one-piece. You look sexy as hell in it, but two pieces are so much easier to take off.”

“Maybe I can be persuaded to wear a two-piece sometime.”

He smiled. “A red one?”

Jackie cupped his cheeks, drawing his face upward so he would look right in her eyes. “The red one.”

He growled, pulling her lips to his and kissing her hard and fast. The energetic zip of lust transferred between their tongues, sparkles at the ready in every nerve ending of her body. “You didn’t get rid of it?”

Jackie drew back, balancing on his muscular thighs. Her gaze not leaving his, she slid down her straps. “How could I? It was your favorite. I tried it on the other month, just for fun, and it still fits.”

His hands were on her breasts in an instant, pulling the fabric down to release them both. “And you think there’s anything you could say or do to make me want to leave you … Not a chance, love.”