AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Her nose wrinkled in confusion. “All the scowls. The put-downs. Why would you do that?”
“I was scowling at everyone who looked at you too long.” Exasperated, he lifted his arms with a shoulder shrug. “And if I sniped at you, it was a misguided effort to keep reprobate cowboys from trying to get you alone.”
For long moments, the crackling fire was the only sound in the room while Fleur seemed to play this over in her mind.
“You told me to end things with Colin because of that?” The questioning look on her face said how she still didn’t buy into what he’d shared. “Because of some unrequited feeling—”
“Absolutely not.” He let her hear the unequivocal truth in the words, allowed them to sink in before he continued. “I didn’t handle the situation as diplomatically as I should have because of my feelings for you. But either way, I would have still counseled Colin to think twice about marriage when you hadn’t even gone to culinary school yet. You hadn’t had a chance to live your dreams. It wouldn’t have been fair of him then—of anyone—to tie you down.”
Shocked at Drake’s revelation, Fleur didn’t know how much time had passed afterward when he rose from the seat beside her.
“The rain has let up. I should get going.” He paced away from her and the couch where they’d kissed, his sock feet silent on the hardwood floor. “I’m sorry if I’ve overstepped tonight.”
He was leaving?
Her whole body still hummed from the heat he’d aroused with his touch. His mouth.
And she didn’t want to regret leaving things unsaid. She needed them to talk this through.
“You didn’t overstep.” She sprang to her feet, too, not sure what she wanted to say or what should happen next. But she knew that him leaving wasn’t the best option. Not when she was in a muddle with her feelings and desire for him still weighed heavy in her limbs. “I’m just trying to make sense of what you said and...what it means.”
She found it difficult to believe that this man who’d always pushed her away had—at times—wanted to pull her closer. And she couldn’t deny that what he’d said about not wanting anyone to tie her down before she’d had a chance to pursue her dream had made her feel...seen.
Drake Alexander, her longtime nemesis, had understood things about her that no one else had taken the time to discover.
He paused near the fireplace mantel, his gaze going to a framed photo of her on graduation day from her culinary school. It wasn’t a professional shot, just an image a friend had taken of her jumping for joy—tennis shoes visible under her graduation gown—near a downtown bridge close to the campus in San Antonio.
“It means that I’ve tried hard to do the right thing where you are concerned, but that I have a special knack for falling short.” A self-deprecating smile curved his lips. “If you need help with the land improvements, you know where to find me.”
He moved closer to the front door as if to leave, but she darted to stand in his path, her heart hammering against the wall of her chest.
“What if I need something else?” She didn’t know what she was doing. Her brain hadn’t mapped out a plan; she was just moving on instinct.
Because she recognized deep in her gut that she didn’t want Drake to leave. Not with her lips trembling from the pressure of his mouth on hers. Her breasts aching from the exquisite pleasure of the kiss he’d given her there, too.
Desire flared hot in his dark eyes. It wasn’t just the reflection of the flames from the hearth in his gaze. She could clearly read the same hunger she felt.
“That would be madness.” His harsh words didn’t deter her.
Especially when his nostrils flared, his breathing deepening the closer she came.
This man had been trying to send her running for as long as she’d known him. Yet tonight, he’d given her an insight into his behavior that she wouldn’t soon forget. The heat behind all those old feelings was rooted in something more complex than simple enmity.
Something she wanted desperately to explore.
“You can’t scare me off that easily anymore.” She laid her palm on the warm wall of his chest. She felt the racket of his heart beneath her hand, the beating as strong and erratic as her own. “Especially not now, when I know what it’s like to be the center of your attention.”
Where she got her boldness right now, she had no idea. She only knew that if he left here tonight, she might never have the opportunity to delve into the attraction beneath his cool exterior again. And she craved that chance. Too many people in her life had overlooked her. Written her off.
Having Drake look at her this way now, like he wanted to devour her more than he wanted another breath, stirred a need in her that she couldn’t ignore.
He dragged in a deep breath, and something in his expression told her he was going to push her away. Make some excuse about not touching her because of her brief, ill-fated engagement to his brother before he bolted for the door. But Colin had never looked at her like this. Colin never tied her in knots the way Drake did with just one heated look.
So she didn’t wait for another argument. Even as a cool draft from the rainy evening filtered through the drafty door at her back, she wound her arms around his neck, pressing herself to the warmth of Drake’s strong, hard body.
“Just one more kiss,” she urged, speaking the words over his mouth before she let her lips graze his.
The growl of agreement he made rumbled through his chest and into hers, vibrating along her spine. A thrill shot through her, pleasure like a drug in her veins.
