Smokin' Hot Cowboy Christmas by Kim Redford

Author:Kim Redford
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sourcebooks
Published: 2020-07-13T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 20

Belle sat beside Rowdy at the kitchen table. They were so close together she could feel the heat of his body and smell the smoke on the fabric of his singed jeans. He’d placed both hands on the tabletop with palms turned upward. They were red with only a few small blisters along the edges. He was quiet, his breathing easy as she gently cleansed dirt and debris away with a soft cloth.

She felt tenderness well up in her, a softening of her heart and her entire being. She’d felt desire before…strong and willful when her body tried to overpower her mind, but this with him was so much more than passion. She didn’t understand quite how it had happened. Sometimes she felt as if it’d been instant attraction, but other times she felt as if she’d been coming to him for her entire life.

Now that they were alone in her house with everything and everybody that could distract them outside, she felt almost shy in his presence. It was so unlike her. Still, he brought out aspects of her that usually remained hidden or dormant or out of reach. He simply had a profound impact on her. Perhaps because he had so many facets, as if he were a stone that had been cut and buffed into a precious gem that glittered no matter which way she turned it and yet at its heart remained its original solid, indestructible core.

Trust. She’d come to trust him, as she had no one else but her family. When she thought about it, he felt like family…her very own family. She couldn’t imagine ever being apart from him.

Love. Had love snuck up on her or arrived full-blown? Was this what it felt like to not just want to be with someone but to need to be with them to feel complete and happy? At the thought of love, that tenderness in her heart bloomed like a flower unfolding its petals in the warmth of the sun.

Life. She wasn’t sure she’d ever felt as alive as she did with him…each moment to be savored like fine wine. Every little twinkle in his eyes when he looked at her with so much happiness. Every little smile that was just for her and revealed the delightful dimple in his cheek. Every little moment when he appeared to be on the edge of offering so much more to her.

And yet she actually knew little about him, even as she felt she knew everything she needed to know about him. She might be wrong. She might be wearing her heart on her sleeve. She might be putting her trust in the wrong man. But for tonight, she wasn’t going to back away. She’d take a chance. And so she turned her mind back to the current situation.

“Do you want me to put anything on your hands?”

“Check in the EMT kit for the blue tube of antimicrobial ointment.”

“Okay.” She opened the kit, found the tube, and squeezed out the soft, white cream.

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