The Cowgirl & The Unexpected Wedding by Sherryl Woods

Author:Sherryl Woods
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2017-12-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eight

The goodbye took forty-eight hours and it was the most bittersweet experience of Hank’s life.

Once he and Lizzy had slipped away from White Pines and Harlan’s smug glances, they had driven to his ranch, raced each other for the front door, stripping away clothes as they’d run. They had made love the first time in an urgent frenzy, right in the foyer, with Lizzy’s back braced against the wall, her legs wrapped around Hank’s waist.

Later there had been sweet, slow loving in his bed, lingering caresses just because they couldn’t stop touching and frantic, uninhibited sex so memorable that just the thought of it could make Hank’s blood heat.

For once Lizzy had stayed through the night, awakening in his arms with a sleepy smile and wicked suggestions that had touched off the passion all over again.

This morning, though, her imminent departure had cast a pall over them. They sat at his kitchen table with eggs and toast getting cold on their plates and coffee adding to the acid churning in Hank’s stomach.

Finally, he forced his gaze to the clock above the stove. “It’s about time, darlin’.”

She shot him a shattered look. “Already?”

“Afraid so.”

Her lower lip trembled. “I’m not sure I can do it.”

“You don’t have a choice.”

Her chin tilted stubbornly. “Of course I do.”

Hank grinned at the flaring of Adams defiance. “Not really.”

She regarded him with an unwavering look, then sighed. “I suppose not. I just didn’t know it was going to hurt this much.” She searched his face. “But you did, didn’t you?”

Hank nodded, because he suddenly couldn’t speak around the huge lump that was forming in his throat.

“It’s worse this time,” she whispered. “Much worse.”

Again he nodded. “Because now we know for sure. We’re good together, Lizzy. Really good. That ought to be the only thing that matters, but we both know it’s not.”

“We could make it the only thing,” she said with grim determination.

“No, we couldn’t,” he told her, reaching for her hand. “We’ve been over this a million times, and I’ve been over it a million more in my head. If I thought there was another way, I’d hold on to you and never let you go, but there’s not. You have to go back, and I need to stay right here. I wanted my own place my whole life. I’ve spent the last few years turning this old wreck into a halfway decent ranching operation. I can’t turn my back on it now.”

“I know,” she admitted. “But I’ll only be gone a few weeks and then we’ll have the whole summer. We’ll just have to concentrate on that.”

Obviously, she’d meant it as consolation, but Hank wasn’t sure he could bear the thought of summer’s torment, having her with him again, only to say goodbye...again. But telling her that now would only make today more difficult, and he wasn’t sure he could bear to see any more hurt in her eyes.

“Just a few weeks,” he echoed, and left it at that.

“Will you go with me to the airport in Dallas?” she asked.

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