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“Hey,” he murmured, inching closer still. “It’s not abadthing.”
She let out a watery laugh. “You’ve literally been telling me how awful I’ve been to do just that. I’m only now understanding… what it does to people.”
Elijah closed the distance between them fully. He reached out and took her hand, because doing anything else felt strange. He didn’t have the words he knew she probably needed to hear. Telling her that she was fine just the way she was wouldn’t go over well, because Scarlett had never liked it when people beat around the bush anyway. She’d probably call him a liar and cite every instance of him telling her exactly what he hated about her.
Instead, he placed his free hand over the top of the other one and patted it. “I’m sorry I didn’t leave you a note.”
She laughed again. “You don’t owe me anything.”
Didn’t he? They’d kissed last night—a kiss that could only be considered magical. It had woken something inside him that had been buried so deep he hadn’t even known of its existence until she had touched him—or he had touched her.
Scarlett ducked her head, fidgeting all the while, not lifting her gaze to meet his. She gnawed on her lips and then laughed again, but this one was more strained. “I should probably thank you for the coffee, huh?”
“Yeah,” he whispered, “that’s usually the etiquette when someone gives you a gift.” Inwardly, he begged for her to look at him, to bestow on him her beautiful dark gaze that had managed to capture his heart so unexpectedly.
The deep brown color of her eyes reminded him of the rich soil in his fields. It was soft and strong, just like she was. But until she gave him any indication that she wanted something more, he wasn’t sure what to do. The last thing he wanted was to make her feel trapped.
“Then, thank you,” she whispered, still not looking at him.
He waited, wishing for her to mention the way things had shifted between them, and at the same time, praying she’d leave it alone so he had an excuse to do the same. Then she looked up at him, lashes fluttering.
“What are we going to do now?”
“Now?” he wheezed.
“Now,” she repeated. There wasn’t a hint of a smile on her lips. She didn’t appear to want to elaborate, so all he could do was assume she was thinking the same things he was.
“You mean… about us.”
She nodded. It was a short, sharp nod, one that spoke far more than anything she might have said verbally. “What about Annabel?”
And there it was. The clue he’d been looking for that changed everything. She wasn’t thinking about herself. She was thinking about his sister—her best friend. And he should have been doing the same.
The guilt was unbearable and he knew exactly how to respond. “We should probably pretend that this never happened.”
No arguments. She didn’t voice a single reason why he was wrong.
“We need to head out,” he muttered. Elijah dropped her hand. They had to get out of there if they hoped to get any work done on their properties. Love wasn’t in the cards, at least not right now. He turned away, refusing to let her see any evidence of his disappointment.
Elijah made it halfway across the room until something stopped him. He shook his head, frustrated with himself. He’d rarely done anything for himself. He’d gone about his life consistently thinking about others and their feelings. He’d tried to keep Lucas away from Scarlett to keep the peace at home. He played the dutiful brother who pulled more than his fair share at the ranch.
He deserved this.
Spinning on his heel, he crossed the room in three long strides and pulled her into his arms. This might be the biggest mistake of his life, but right now he didn’t care. Something about Scarlett spoke to him on a level that was unreal.
She gasped initially but didn’t pull away from him. Her arms draped around his shoulders, tugging him closer though it was impossible. Each minute reaction to his touch, his kiss, fueled him to press forward. They had to be the most unlikely couple that had ever attempted something, and yet the idea thrilled him far more than any rodeo ride ever could.
Scarlett was trouble, and he was ready to take her on despite it all.
Whether it was the kiss or the buzzing sound on the nearby bedside table that rattled him to his core, he wasn’t certain. Elijah was still the first to withdraw from their embrace. It felt like static electricity connected every nerve ending in his body, and he wouldn’t have been surprised if his hair stood on end.
Scarlett blinked once, twice, then smiled before she slipped over to the table. Her eyes widened and her flushed skin paled slightly. “It’s Annabel. She wants to know when we’re going to be headed home.”
18
Scarlett
“It’s fine. She doesn’t know.”
