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“I’m sorry. He was your only family?”
Pickett nodded. “I’ll tell you all about it one day,” he said as Duffy came back to the truck, opened the door and stuck his head in to say he was going to get a ride with Ralph. “You should go on back. One of the sheriff’s deputies is on his way.”
Oakley didn’t hesitate. She turned the truck around and headed for Powder Crossing.
She was almost to town when Pickett cleared his voice and said, “I need to ask you something. You and Duffy...” He looked over at her, his gaze never leaving hers.
PICKETT’SQUESTIONTOOKOakley by surprise. She didn’t know how to answer it even though she knew exactly what he was asking. She swallowed before she dragged her gaze away, found a wide spot and pulled off the road.
She looked over at him and blurted it out, relieved the minute the words left her lips. “We kissed. While you were gone. It just...happened.”
Pickett nodded. “I know how these things happen.”
His look took her breath away as waves of electricity arced between them. He’d been a friend for years. But friendship was the last thing she was feeling as she stared at this cowboy sitting only inches from her.
Had he ever looked at her like this? Yes, the other night in the hallway right before he started to reach for her. Right before she thought he was going to kiss her. She told herself to breathe, but her body’s reaction to this Pickett had her heart beating like a jackhammer, so hard that she had trouble taking a breath.
“I know you’re thinking about kissing me.” Her thoughts were coming out of her mouth as if she had no control over them. “Do you have to think that hard about it?”
He smiled, that reckless, amused smile she’d always loved even as it sent a shiver through her. “If you know what I’m thinking then kissing you is the least of it.”
Oakley felt heat rush up her chest and neck to make her cheeks flame. Tilly was right. She had little experience other than short-term relationships. Often, she found herself being her crush’s best friend rather than his lover. With Pickett she felt as if she was entering uncharted territory.
“I really don’t have much experience at any of this.”
He chuckled. “Not to worry. I know what to do.”
She tried to swallow as he reached for her, wrapping one warm callused hand around the side of her neck. She leaned into his strong touch as his thumb caressed the tender flesh and his fingers worked their way into the hair at her nape.
Her body trembled as her eyes locked with his. She felt her lips part and the word, “Please,” escape.
Pickett’s dark blue eyes widened along with his smile as he leaned toward her until his lips brushed over hers. She moaned, closing her eyes as he drew her closer until she could feel the solid hardness of his chest against her breasts. He dragged her over onto his lap. She straddled him; her arms encircled his neck, wanting more, needing more. Her already hard nipples ached as he deepened the kiss.
She could feel his need. It matched her own. Duffy’s kiss had been nice enough, but Pickett’s kiss was a whole different rodeo. She wanted to ride this out no matter what happened. She’d never been reckless with her heart or her body, but Pickett made her want to throw caution to the wind. He thumbed the side of her breast, making her nipple pucker. Her heart thundering in her ears, her blood running hot as molten lava raced to her aching center.
He drew back, making her groan. “That’s just in case you don’t know how I feel about you,” he said. “I want you, Oakley. But I want all of you. For the long haul. You let me know. I’ll give you some time to think about it.”
She stared at him as he lifted her off his lap and back onto the seat. He motioned toward the rearview mirror. A vehicle was coming.
Her hands were shaking as she got her truck going. All she could think about was what Pickett had said. She didn’t have to think long about it, she told herself. She’d known the moment he’d kissed her. She wanted more and yet he’d said he wanted all of her. The thought had her shiver with desire. For the long haul?
They said nothing on the ride into town as if both lost in thought. Or was he reconsidering? Once there, she parked in front of her apartment.
“Also,” he said as if their conversation had continued all the way to town, “please don’t do anything about the new methane well drilling without me. I’m in this with you.”
She nodded, not wanting to doanythingwithout him. As Pickett started to get out of the pickup, she grabbed his arm. “I’ve thought about it.”
His gaze locked with hers as she leaned toward him and cupped his strong jaw to kiss him.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
“IDON’TUNDERSTAND,” Holden said into the phone not for the first time.
“It appears to be some kind of endowment,” his attorney said. “I wouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth, especially one offering this kind of money. With the interest on this alone, it would keep your ranch going for years. Or you could buy up the whole Powder River Basin.”
“And you have no idea where it came from or why I was chosen to receive it,” Holden said.
“Just what I’ve told you. You want me to dig deeper? Or just accept it and be grateful?”
