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“I guess Mother Nature doesn’t always cooperate.” His mouth curved in understanding.
Her soft, answering laugh was dry with resignation. “Rarely. But that’s what makes it so challenging and rewarding.”
“I’ll have to take your word for it.” His smile became more pronounced; his gaze never left her face. She felt absorbed by it, as if nothing and no one else existed. It made her feel incredibly unique and special.
He tipped his head to one side. “So what’s next on your agenda?”
“Nothing, really.”
“Good, because there’s something I want to talk to you about,” he stated, something serious creeping into his tone.
“What’s that?” She tensed up a little, not at all sure what to anticipate.
“When are you scheduled to fly out of here?”
“I have an early morning flight. Eight or nine, I think. I’d have to check my reservations.”
“Is it mandatory that you have to leave tomorrow? Could you push your departure back a few days?”
“I don’t suppose a day or two delay would mess up my schedule very much. Why?”
“It just seemed to me that since you were this close, it would be a shame not to spend a few days at the Triple C.” He seemed to choose his words carefully, giving them a casual sound, yet there was an intensity to his gaze that was far from casual. “I’ll be driving back right after everything winds down here. You can ride with me.”
Her first impulse was to agree, but her practical side surfaced. “What about my rental car?”
“We can turn it in now, then swing by the motel so you can pack and check out, and still make it back here in time for the first events.”
“I suppose we could,” Sloan murmured while making her own mental calculations.
Trey misread her hesitation. “Look,” he began, a gravity in his features and a stark need in his eyes. “It feels like I’ve been waiting for you my whole life. I’m not going to let you get away from me now.”
“I want this to be real, too—something that can last,” she admitted. “But nothing ever has for me.”
“That’s because it was never right until now.” The shine in his eyes and the certainty in his expression were dazzling.
“I want to believe that, Trey.” But experience made her wary.
“Believe it,” he stated with a warm firmness and cupped a hand under her chin, framing and tilting it up.
A deep tenderness ran through his kiss, creating an intimacy beyond mere passion. Life, in all its vitality, seemed to fill her with its heady glow. He was solid and strong. The smell, feel, and touch of him livened all her senses.
They were slow to separate. A breath feathered from her that was not a sigh but a reaction to the glory she had glimpsed.
“You still haven’t given me an answer.” Trey stood close, close enough that her body tingled with its awareness of him. “Are we going to turn your car in?”
“We are.” The decision made, Sloan was determined not to look back.
“Then let’s get it done.” Trey wasn’t about to give her any chance to change her mind.
Roughly an hour later Trey loaded her bags in the pickup and headed back into the motel. Sloan turned away from the registration desk, creasing the receipt in precise folds, when he entered the lobby. But the sound of a familiar voice coming from the hall drew his attention away from Sloan’s approach.
“All set,” she told him and slipped the receipt into one of the vest’s pockets.
“Just a minute.” He lightly took her arm and turned her back toward the desk. “There’s someone I want you to meet.”
He felt the touch of her curious glance, but his own gaze focused on the hall entrance as his mother walked into view, followed by Laredo.
“It’ll be good to get home,” Jessy said to Laredo, then noticed Trey in the lobby. The beaming look on his face and the proprietary way he tucked a hand under the arm of the woman beside him immediately shifted her attention to the brunette.
