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“She worked too hard caring for others, and no one was there caring for her.” He still blamed himself for not being able to prevent what happened, but he wasn’t about to get into that.
“If it was a heart attack, then there was nothing you would have been able to do.”
“There are always signs.” He shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. I can’t change it now. All I can do is live like she would want me to.”
Sarah stopped her swinging. “I don’t think there’s any way that she wouldn’t be proud of the man you’ve become.”
His smile was wistful at best. “Thanks.”
She rose from her seat and closed the distance between them. “I mean it, Dax. I’m not just being nice. You’ve made a name for yourself here. Zeke trusts you with so much. And look at how good you are with the horses. If Eve were here, she would most certainly be proud of the man you have become.” Sarah poked him in the chest right over his heart. “What matters now is that you forgive yourself and accept that you’ve changed.”
Dax’s hand wrapped around her finger, holding it steady.
She stilled and looked up at him, lifting her chin to meet his steady gaze. Her warm brown eyes were like two pools of hazelnut he wanted to dive into. They were the kind of eyes he wanted to tell everything to. And one day he might.
At some point his body had decided it had waited enough. Dax’s breathing grew sharp and uneven. His heart beat at an irregular pace as he dipped his focus to her lips. Those luscious, pink lips were just begging for him to taste them.
Dax tugged on her finger, pulling her a step closer to him. “I don’t know if you feel what I’m feeling,” he rasped, “but I need you to know that I can’t get you out of my head, and I don’t want to.” He gave her a wry chuckle. “You are adoringly stubborn and exasperatingly exactly what I want in my life.”
She snickered. “And you have a way with words. Do I have Eve to thank for that as well?”
“Probably.”
Her lashes fluttered and her focus darted to the ground. “And if she knew that I had found someone who makes me feel this way, she wouldn’t want me to squander the opportunity.”
She looked up to meet his gaze. “The opportunity for what?” she whispered.
“For this.”
Dax lowered his face, his eyes closing as he lightly brushed his lips against Sarah’s. They tasted faintly of strawberry, and they were as warm as freshly baked bread. He released her finger and moved his hand to her waist, pulling her in for an embrace that sent fireworks rocketing through his entire being.
Each second that ticked by was another moment he locked away in his mind. Sarah was warm, inviting, and everything he could ever want. What had taken him so long to finally let down his walls?
Oh yeah.
All of those secrets.
21
Sarah
Stars and glitter exploded behind Sarah’s eyes.
I mean, of course she’d been kissed before. Her first kiss was when she was ten and little Michael from school had insisted they needed to at least try what all the big kids liked so much.
At the time, she’d absolutely hated it. Michael tasted like peanut butter sandwiches. She hated peanut butter.
But even after that failed attempt at testing the waters, Sarah had let several other boys kiss her throughout high school and even college. Kenneth was one of them.
She shut out that memory the second it appeared. Kenneth was in the rear view. Right now, she was with Dax. All she wanted to think about was the way it felt to have his strong arms around her, the way her stomach did a complete gymnastics routine as they deepened their kiss, and her reasons for not wanting this moment to ever end.
Dax broke off their kiss first. She let out a soft moan, her eyes not willing to admit that their little slice of heaven had ended.
He was an excellent kisser, but then that opinion could be due to her developing feelings for him. Sarah’s eyes fluttered open and locked on his bright blue ones. Another loopty-loop took place where her stomach had been.
Sarah took a deep, shivery breath, and an embarrassed smile touched her lips. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and looked away. Funny how even after they’d shared such an intimate moment, she found it hard to meet his gaze.
Did this mean he wanted an exclusive relationship?
