Before stepping out onto the porch, Tanner reached for Madeline’s hand, and for once, she didn’t protest. It was dark, after all. And gravel never mixed well with heels. And all sorts of wild animals lived in Texas.
And she wanted to hold his hand.
There, she admitted it. Sometimes a woman just wanted to hold a man’s hand. It didn’t hurt that Tanner was pretty much the definition of the word hot.
They strolled to her car lazily, as if they were wandering through a park. In the darkness, it was natural to savor the warmth of his hand and the firm length of his muscled arm against hers. The faint hint of his cologne traveled on the crisp night air, reminding her of the first night they had spent together. She swallowed, trying to be her normal sensible self but drifting closer to him with every step.
When they reached her car, neither of them made a move to open the door. The night was so quiet, she could hear when he drew in a long, slow breath as his thumb caressed her hand.
“Have you looked up since coming here?” he asked, his voice a gruff whisper.
She tilted her chin back, but her gaze didn’t travel any farther than the darkened planes of his handsome face. “New Yorkers don’t look up,” she said, her voice oddly breathy.
“I guarantee you’ll never see a sky so big anywhere else. Take a step outside of that box of yours and see what you’re missing.”
She already saw what she was missing. He was right in front of her, with tousled brown hair and eyes that betrayed his every thought. Why did they have to feel so right together? All logic said that they were incompatible, but here she was, feeling like she was exactly where she should be.
His lips tugged into a soft grin. Reaching up, he gently put a finger beneath her chin and tilted her head up.
Letting go of her conflicting emotions, she allowed her gaze to shift. The sky above them didn’t look real. It was like one of those enhanced satellite pictures of the Milky Way, with swirls of stars scattered like pixie dust across an indigo carpet. She breathed an appreciative sigh, as aware of the warmth of his touch as she was of the spectacular view of the heavens. “Incredible.”
He shifted, leaning back against the car and pulling her gently against him. “My thoughts exactly.”
Her heart kick-started in her chest. She knew he wasn’t talking about the view. When she dropped her gaze to his, he was watching her with a look that made her stomach flip. “I really should go,” she said softly, but didn’t move an inch.
“Yes, you should,” he murmured, but kept his place, too.
“I have work tomorrow.” She leaned the slightest bit forward, just enough that her hips met his, and her breasts grazed his broad chest.
“I’m sure you do.” His fingers tightened on her waist, sending a shiver down her spine. Slowly, deliberately, he pulled her more firmly against him. “So let me kiss you good-night.”
Tanner’s heart pounded as he waited for her to answer. He wanted her—God, did he want her—but he didn’t want any misunderstandings between them. Their relationship so far had been about as predictable as a tornado in December.
He loved the feel of her in his arms. His fingers brushed over the bare skin of her lower back, just under the hem of her shirt. It was impossible not to think of the night he had touched that same spot with his lips.
“I don’t know that we should,” she whispered, leaning in so close that he could feel the warmth of her breath across his cheek.
“I do. We definitely should.”
It was all he could do to hold still, to wait for her to make her decision. After a few suspenseful heartbeats, she smiled softly and said, “Maybe just this once.”
Thank God. Not waiting another second, he wrapped his arms fully around her waist and pressed his lips to hers. The soft sound of satisfaction she made went right through him. He hadn’t forgotten how well they fit together, how perfectly their bodies melted into each other.
He kissed her long and slow beneath the great big Texas sky. He took his time exploring, not wanting to rush a single moment. If she was giving him just this once, he would take the opportunity to change her mind. Because this kind of chemistry? It didn’t come along every day.
He nibbled, he caressed, his tongue tangled with hers again and again. And it felt so damn good. So right. They seemed to have the whole world to themselves.
It was several long minutes before she pulled away and looked up at him with those big eyes of hers. Despite the dim light, he could still see a glimmer of gold in their depths.
Licking her kiss-swollen bottom lip, she said, “I should go.”
He smiled. “Yeah, we established that already.”
She laughed softly and shook her head. “Right. Well, this time I mean it.” Looking back up to him, she gave him a little half smile. “Thanks for seeing me out. I’ll…talk to you later.”
He kissed her one last time, short and sweet, before she got into that fancy car of hers and took off. As she drove away, he was struck by how amazing she really was. She was brave enough to move halfway across the country on her own, to step into an intimidating job (though she’d played it down), and to make the most of an area she disliked by joining a book club and befriending an old woman.
He never intended for her to meet his family. None of the women he dated ever even saw his hometown, because he’d laid down ground rules on the subject years ago. But the thing was, weren’t rules made to be broken?
In this case, he was beginning to think they were.