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His instinct was to pull her back into his arms and kiss away her worries, but something told him that wasn’t what she needed just yet. “Talk to me, Lexi. What aren’t you saying?”
“I’ve extended my trip here longer than I’d intended, and now my father is insisting I wrap up this deal and return to New York as soon as possible.”
Her announcement came as no surprise, but it didn’t lessen the blow of knowing that she would be leaving Whistle Stop. He didn’t know why it should hit him so hard. After all, her life was in New York which might as well be the moon as far as he was concerned.
“We both knew you’d have to go back.” Try as he might, he couldn’t find a way to put a positive spin on it. He already missed her, and she had yet to pack her cute cowgirl hat and boots.
“I promised my father I’d quit stalling—”
“Stalling? Is that what you call what we’ve been doing?” Cord couldn’t help but feel as though she’d diminished their relationship. “And why have you been dragging your feet?”
“Because I…I care about you.” Her watery gaze peered at him. He steeled himself, resisting the growing urge to kiss her. She glanced away. “Because being here at the Brazen H is comfortable and relaxing. And…and most of all, because I’ve been waiting for you to change your mind about selling. You can’t give up all of this.” She waved her hands around. “It’s too much of a sacrifice even if it’s to save Haggerty. You have a little piece of heaven on earth. Why would you even consider letting the bank take it?”
“You care, huh?” He didn’t even bother fighting the grin that pulled at his lips.
She elbowed him. “Is that all you heard?”
“Oh, you said more? I must have missed it.” He’d heard her, but none of it mattered as much as knowing that she felt the same way about him. He reached out to her. They’d done enough talking—it was time for something more.
She sidestepped him and crossed her arms. When she tilted up her chin and her gaze narrowed, she reminded him of that businesswoman he’d met on her first day in town. “I promised my father I’d hammer out this agreement with you. Tonight.”
He sighed and raked his fingers through his hair. “Do you honestly think there’s anything left to say that would convince me to go along with your plan to develop my ancestors’ land into some amusement?”
“Everyone has a price. I just haven’t found yours yet.”
He leveled a hard gaze at her. “And you won’t either. I’m not selling.”
“If you won’t do it for yourself, do it for me. Help me save my father’s company and keep him from ever knowing how close we are to declaring bankruptcy.”
The pleading look in her eyes tore at him. For a moment, he almost caved in. He wanted so much to help her. In the next heartbeat, he realized he’d been in this situation before. Well, not exactly the same situation, but one quite similar. It had been a beautiful woman in a bad situation—his ex-wife. And look how that had turned out.
“Lexi—”
She held up her hand to stop him. He wrapped his fingers around hers. Her hand was small and soft. It easily fit inside his, and he never wanted to let her go.
“Don’t say a word now,” she said, as though with more time, he’d change his mind. “I want you to come to the town meeting tomorrow night and hear my proposal.”
He shook his head. The last thing he wanted to do was be stuck in a room with a bunch of townsfolk who were going to turn on him and try to strong-arm him into selling Haggerty. “Lexi, you’re asking too much—”
She pressed a finger to his lips, silencing him. She was right. They’d done more than enough talking. His immediate reaction was to stick out his tongue and suckle her fingertip, to give her a sample of what she was missing out on. His gaze caught and held hers. There was definite interest there. The temptation grew within him. What could it hurt? Maybe he was moving too slow, being too cautious.
Throwing caution to the wind, he parted his lips and swiped the tip of his tongue over the pad of her finger. There was a distinct inhale of breath, and her eyes dilated. Before he could wrap his lips around her digit, she pulled her hand away.
Color rushed to her cheeks. “I…we…um…think about it.”
“I am.” His voice was low and deep, filled with desire.
She clenched her hands together. “I meant think about attending the meeting.”
She didn’t fool him. She was turned on, too.
“I’ll think about your proposition if you promise to think about mine.” Her eyes widened, and he couldn’t resist chuckling. “I meant about you buying the acreage I have for sale and settling down here. I might even be persuaded to share Midnight Star with you.”
There was a glint of temptation in her eyes. “I’ll think about it if you’ll seriously consider my request.”
“I said that I would.” He walked over to the fridge and pulled the door wide open. “Now what should we do about dinner?”
“I don’t know.”
