Cowboy Retribution by Barb Han

Author:Barb Han [Han, Barb]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Barb Han

10

A.J. needed to power down the attraction that was fast becoming a runaway train. But with her lips pressed to his, it was damn difficult to think rationally.

He pulled back enough to rest his forehead on hers. He needed to catch his breath before they went inside and, based on her chest heaving in rhythm with his, she needed the same.

The devil of the situation was that they were neighbors. If she’d been a random person who lived in town, he could deal with dating and the inevitable breakup. He rarely ever went into town so interaction would be at a minimum.

Getting involved with Tess Clemente was basically shooting himself in the foot. They didn’t get along on a good day. Of course, that was before. Now, they’d established a tentative line of trust.

And what was he doing? Messing it up by kissing her. Technically, she’d kissed him, but he’d welcomed the move and who’d initiated it was beside the point anyway. Then there was that nagging voice in the back of his mind that kept telling him that he could really like Tess.

That was probably worse than not liking her, which he’d almost made a profession out of doing for the last decade. She’d become a bigger and bigger thorn in his side. Make her mad and he figured he hadn’t even seen the tip of the iceberg yet when it came to the trouble she could cause him.

He didn’t want it to matter that he hadn’t shared a kiss that intense in longer than he cared to remember. Making her laugh genuinely made his day.

Of course, her father hated him even more now despite the fact A.J. had literally saved the man’s daughter’s life. But then, Clementes and McGannons had been gasoline and fire for years. Getting along would take some practice and a whole lot of work. Plus, there were all the ridiculous Romeo and Juliet jokes he’d have to endure from his brothers and cousins.

Nothing was worth giving them that kind of material to work with.

Not even a kiss like…okay. He stopped himself right there. Maybe the kiss would be worth it.

Standing there, breathing in Tess’s jasmine and citrus scent, made A.J. blindly believe all the issues between them and reasons the two of them were a bad idea could be overcome and, somehow, magically everything would work out. Since that was about as practical as driving a tractor from Texas to Vermont, he shoved those unproductive thoughts aside.

When their breathing returned to a reasonable rate again, A.J. put Bear’s leash back on. “Ready to head inside?”

“Ready as I’ll ever be.” The flush to Tess’s cheeks caused his heart to take another hit. Much more of this and there’d be no recovering.

He linked their fingers and followed her inside the back door. The center had a row of offices, five on each side, with walls made of Plexiglas. The implication was privacy without being isolated. He was reminded of the possible dangers of doing this kind of volunteer work.

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