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Molly and the kids sometimes stayed there too, while Hunter worked in the city, and Gerty had learned that the housing conditions here on the farm were a touch more fluid than she’d prefer. She wouldn’t want anyone living in her house while she was out of town, but Gray and Elise didn’t seem to mind at all.
Gerty brushed something that didn’t exist off the counter and wondered if she had time to put together a salad to go with the pot pies. She’d brought a truckload of groceries with her, and she could definitely throw something together quickly.
The front door opened, and Gerty turned away from the fridge. “I can open my own door, Momma.” Mike did not sound happy, and Gerty curled her fingers around one another.
“I know,” she said. “I just wasn’t sure if it was locked.”
“Why would it be locked?” He entered the cabin at a normal stride, his right arm in its sling. It was a navy blue, and it wasn’t as bulky as the one he’d worn before the surgery.
She smiled at him as their eyes met, and he softened. “Welcome home,” she said.
“It smells good in here,” he said.
“I made lunch.” She watched as his mother gave her a smile and left the cabin. She closed the door gently behind her, and Gerty couldn’t help wondering if Mike could remove that sling and kiss her while holding her face in both of his hands.
“You are my favorite person on this farm,” he whispered as he closed the last step to her. He sure looked and acted like he was going to kiss her right now, and she put one palm against his chest.
“Whoa, what is happening here?”
“You make turkey pot pie,” he said. “Cleaned my cabin.” He slid his hand along her waist. “Brought me a new blanket. Got rid of my momma.” He swayed with her, bringing her close to him. “I’m going to kiss you.”
“Mm, I don’t think so, cowboy.” She ducked her head and played with the collar on his shirt. “You set the rules, and now you have to live by them.” She couldn’t stop smiling, especially when he started to chuckle.
The timer on her pot pies sounded, and while she didn’t want to step out of the circle of his arms, she also didn’t want to burn their lunch. “Hold that thought,” she said.
She turned to get the pot pies out of the oven, and she slid the tray onto the stovetop. “I didn’t make a salad, but I can, if you want me to.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever asked for a salad,” he said. “I mean, if it’s there, I might eat it, but it’s fine.”
“All right.” She turned around and found Mike draping his sling over the counter. Alarm pulled through her. “Hey, hey. Can you take that off?”
“Sure,” he said easily. “I need to do my therapy.” He started to lift his right arm. “I have to make sure I use it sometimes, but it does need to be in the sling to heal too.” His arm went all the way up, and then he lowered it out to the side. He lowered it to his side, puffing out his breath like the motion hurt.
“Mike,” she said.
“I’m fine.”
“Your face is turning a little red.”
“That’s because you’re so pretty.” He smiled, but it didn’t quite cut through the pain.
“Mike.”
He stepped closer to her, using both hands as he took hers in his. They didn’t stay there, but drifted up her arms to her shoulders, then her face. “You are really pretty,” he whispered.
Gerty’s world swayed, because there was no barrier keeping them apart anymore. Her eyes drifted closed as Mike drew closer, and the anticipation of having his lips against hers again nearly overwhelmed her.
His hands radiated heat, and she was just about to open her eyes to see what was taking him so long when his breath whispered against her lips. Then his touched hers in a gentle, kind kiss.
She pulled in a breath, and Mike changed the kiss into something beyond soft. Hekissedher, and Gerty had never been kissed with as much passion and feeling as Mike poured into his touch.
She did her best to hold on and keep up, because her cinnamon roll of a wanna-be cowboy had just turned into the military alpha hero she imagined he’d been when he’d gone down in his helicopter, injuring himself in such a way that had prevented him from kissing her like this for so long.
* * *
A few days later,Gerty sat in a swing with Mike, her feet curled beneath her as her cowgirl boots lay on the front porch. Her riding lessons had just ended, and because his parents were leaving in the morning, they were having a family dinner at the generational house that evening.
She was starving, and she had offered to help his momma in the kitchen. Allison was still here, however, and Bree had shooed Gerty back outside with Mike. He toed them back and forth, the view in front of them one of Gerty’s absolute favorites.
