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As a kid, she had never been much of a gardener.In fact, she’d thought up any excuse not to help in the garden.But once in Nashville, she had missed Mimi’s flowers so much she couldn’t go by a nursery without stopping in to buy a new plant.Her bedroom and the small balcony off it were filled with all kinds of potted flowers.
Maybe she should get a job at a greenhouse when she got back to Nashville.She didn’t know if it was the thought of working at a greenhouse or the thought of returning to Nashville, but suddenly she felt extremely depressed.The depression turned to panic when she glanced up and saw the sheriff car heading up the road that led to the house.
She jumped up with every intention of hiding in the barn, but she was only halfway there when Decker pulled in front of the house and got out.He didn’t look happy.He looked determined as he strode toward her.
“Something wrong with your phone?”
She turned and tried to act like she hadn’t been running away.“Hi, Deck.And no, there’s nothing wrong with my phone.”
Her answer said it all and she hoped he would get the hint and not make her explain.She wasn’t that lucky.He stared at her for a long, unnerving moment before he walked over and hefted her up on his shoulder.
She would have yelled at him to put her down if all the air hadn’t left her body when her stomach met hard muscle.Luckily, her grandmother came running.
“Just what in tarnation do you think you’re doing, Decker Carson!”
Decker turned to face Mimi, swinging Sweetie like a rag doll.“Beg pardon, Ms.Mimi, but your granddaughter and I have some unfinished business we need to attend to and she’s refusing to attend to it.”
Mimi chuckled.“Well, in that case, I’ll leave you to it.”
“Mimi!”Sweetie yelled as Decker turned and headed to his car.But her grandmother didn’t answer as she disappeared around the corner of the house.
Decker deposited her in the back seat of his sheriff’s car.Once he slammed the door, she tried to jump back out, but she couldn’t get the door open.
“You let me out of this car right now,” she said as soon as he slid into the driver’s seat.
He put the car into drive and took off down the road.“Sorry, but like I told your grandmother.We have unfinished business and I’m not conducting it where we can be interrupted by your family.”
“Fine.”She sat back and crossed her arms.“Go ahead and conduct your business.”
His blue eyes looked at her from the rearview mirror.“What happened between last night and today?”
“I figured out we aren’t going to work.”
His shoulders tensed beneath the cotton of his western shirt.“Why?And don’t give me the same crap you threw at Jace—it’s you, not me.”
Her temper flared.“You want to know what happened?I’ll tell you what happened.I woke up and realized that starting something with you is a really bad idea.I’m leaving.Maybe not this week or next week, but once I get the ranch mess untangled, I’m out of here.And I don’t want anyone to get hurt.”
“You mean you don’t want me to get hurt.”
“Okay.I don’t want you to get hurt.”
“Well, thanks for worrying about me, but I’m not a little kid you have to watch out for anymore, Sweetie.I’m a big boy who can take care of himself.I get that this isn’t forever.I get that nothing is going to stop you from going back to Nashville and following your dream.”
“Then you should also get that it makes no sense for us to start something we can’t finish.”
He pulled up in front of his grandparents’ house.It had been a while since Sweetie had been there.It looked exactly the same.A time capsule of her youth and the times she had spent there with Jace and his grandparents ...and Decker.Decker who always stood on the sidelines silently watching.
He wasn’t standing on the sidelines now.
As soon as he parked, he hopped out of the car and opened her door.A second later, she was in his arms.
He kissed her like he always kissed her.Like she was his sun and his moon and his stars and his entire universe.When he had completely claimed every one of her brain cells with the hot slide of his lips, he drew back just enough to whisper.
“We already started something, Sweets.All we can do is finish it.”
ChapterSeventeen
Sweetie expected Decker to keep right on kissing her and take the decision out of her hands.But after he had turned her into a puddle of need with his expert lips, he released her and stepped back.
