Page 15

DOYLE

Holy shit.He wasn’t expecting her to throw herself at him, but he sure as hell wasn’t going to stop her either, not when she threaded her hands through his hair, knocking his hat off, or when her tongue grazed his teeth.

Her body fit right against his like a puzzle piece, and the length of her felt like heaven as he lifted her around the waist and tilted his head to allow her deeper access. A soft moan came from somewhere in her stomach as he swept his tongue along hers, tasting her like he’d imagined doing since she shot that mountain lion. Maybe he really had fallen and hit his head and this was all a dream. If so, he was in no hurry to wake up.

But when she slid one hand down and over the bulge in his jeans, it convinced him of the reality of the situation. Holy fuck, he saw stars as she squeezed and rubbed her chest against his.

What about Teddy? He could come back out any minute. And what about the timeline? What if she somehow got pregnant despite him being on the pill, and he became his own great grandfather? Or whatever the fuck could happen?

Doyle pulled away from her mouth to suck in some air and think straight. But that sent her nipping at the crook of his neck and shoulder and ripping open his shirt. Buttons popped and scattered all over the dusty earth.

Long fingers slid up over his chest, dragging her nails lightly through the dusting of curls and setting his nerve ends ablaze with desire. He could throw her up against the side of the barn and…

“We can’t,” he grumbled, pressing his eyes closed, even as his hands smoothed over her back where he was reminded that she wasn’t wearing a bra or corset or whatever the hell they wore in 1888.

Sadie stilled, head nuzzled in the soft space at the bottom of his throat. The only sound that remained was their hot breath. Wally finally regained control of his faculties when she licked the sensitive skin below her lips, causing tremors of need to roll through him, tightening the hold of his jeans to an almost painful point.

“Sadie,” he said, this time gently pushing her away. “If you don’t cut that out, I don’t trust myself to be strong enough to stop you.”

“That sounds like a challenge, Wally.” She grinned with moist and swollen lips.

“Not a challenge, no. I have a job I have to do. One hundred people counting on me, remember? Believe me, it’s not like I don’t want…this.” He gestured to all of her. “But I can’t.”

“What happens when you find your thingamajigger?” she asked, tilting her head so that her hair, now loosed from her braid, spilled down over her shoulder.

Satisfied she was in a more manageable place, Doyle sighed. “I take it back to my…the people I’m staying with and send it back to Washington.”

Sadie set her hands on her hips. “Then what?”

“I go home,” he said softly, brushing a hand back through his mess of hat hair. “I don’t belong here. I’m sorry, Sadie.”

Sadie laughed. “Don’t be silly, it’s not like I was proposin’. I just thought maybe we could get to know each other better and see what happens. You said you wanted to be friends.”

If that was how she treated friends… Doyle shuffled his feet, kicking up a minor dust cloud. “I can’t.”

“Why not?” she challenged, narrowing her eyes and stalking toward him in a way that made him back into the fence.

“Because…because I am only here a very short time, and I can’t talk about what I’m supposed to do.”

“Why not?” she said again, this time at chest level with arms folded.

“It’s top secret. You know, government work.” Doyle wanted to kick himself. What else could he say, though? He shouldn’t even still be here. What if he’d distracted her from going into town and meeting someone that would fall in love with her and become the great grandfather of someone important? As capable as she seemed, being a single mother in this time period was, as far as Doyle knew, not a good situation, and judging by everything he’d seen, she’d have no trouble taking her pick of a new special someone to help out.

He flinched, imagining someone else with their lips on hers.

Sadie hitched a hip and tapped her chin, thinking. “What if you can’t find it?”

Wally blew out a long slow breath, almost making a whistle. “That would be catastrophic.”

Sadie’s eyebrows shot skyward. “How so? Wait. Never mind, you can’t tell me, can you?”

Doyle shook his head, then realized he still didn’t have his hat on, and the speakers were still live. McGovern must’ve been throwing a shit fit when he didn’t respond. Doyle spun around, trying to locate where it landed when Sadie had knocked it off his head. He honed in on the location after she started laughing hysterically.

The mule chewed on the brim, staring at him from across the fence.

“Give that back!” Doyle grabbed for it, but the beast moved faster than he’d known a mule could move, and he ended up snatching at air.

“Darcy is not gonna respond to demands,” Sadie said through giggles. “Come here, girl. That ain’t yours. I’ll get you some hay instead, how’s that sound for a trade?”