"Here Comes Trouble" - читать интересную книгу автора (Kauffman Donna)

Chapter 18

Kirby carted the last load of quilts and bedspreads through the screen porch and out to the backyard where she’d resurrected the old rotating laundry line. It was still warm and the air fresh and dry enough that she thought it would be nice to give them all a good airing before her guests started arriving that weekend.

So, she might have shaken them loose with a bit more force than was absolutely necessary, but it was a harmless enough way to burn off excess energy. Energy she’d been hoping to burn off another way entirely. Except it didn’t appear as if Brett had come back last night. Or if he had, he was already up and out early this morning. He never made his bed and she hadn’t done his room yesterday assuming she’d get to it this morning. After they got up. Together.

She snapped out another blanket. Of course it was her fault. She’d told him to go be with his friend, hadn’t she? And she’d meant it. But that was when she’d thought he was coming back, when she could serve him the dish she’d kept warm in the oven for him, share a late-night glass of wine, and then maybe carry the bottle upstairs with them.

She swore under her breath as she flipped the heavy quilt up and over the line, then some more as she tugged it so it laid smoothly over the laundry cord. Would it have killed him to have at least called? She’d been all dreamy and thinking about their future after he left and then…nothing. She turned around, ready to shake out another blanket, only to discover she’d done them all. She picked up the basket and propped it on her hip, giving the linens a final look over.

Great. “Now what in the hell am I supposed to do?” she muttered.

“Well, they look kind of dry to me already, so you’ve got me.”

She swung around and wished she was slightly less thrilled to see him, that her heart hadn’t done a little twist and leap inside of her chest, and that her body hadn’t gone on full-tilt alert the moment she laid eyes on his smile. Because it would have been a hell of a lot easier to be at least a little put out with him, or at the very least, more believable.

“I’m airing them out,” she said, striving for complete indifference. But well aware that the thin, long-sleeve T-shirt she had on, and the complete lack of bra, was probably making it clear she was anything but. Maybe she could blame it on the breeze. If there was one.

“Do they need monitoring, or could I pull you away?”

Every particle of her being shouted “Pull! Pull!” She didn’t even try pulling off the bluff. Brett was definitely not the guy to try that with. “Pull me away where?” Her thoughts had already strayed up to his bedroom, and it was only a miracle of will that her gaze didn’t follow.

Then she realized he was holding something behind his back. Which turned out to be a motorcycle helmet. Her particles sank a little.

“I was hoping I could convince you to come on a ride with me. Up in the hills.”

If that last part was supposed to reassure her, he had missed the mark. “Why the sudden urge for a road trip?”

“I want to show you something. Two somethings, in fact.”

Then it clicked into place. She’d been so busy pouting and being put out by his not coming home to her last night that she’d forgotten all about the thing he’d started to tell her about. “Does this have something to do with the house you started to tell me about?”

He nodded. “Everything to do with it. Come on, I’ve been dying to show you, to tell you all about it.”

Could have fooled me, the pouty part of her still wanted to say. Fortunately the mature side of her brain prevailed. “Couldn’t we take my truck? Then we could talk on the way and you can tell me about it.” She cocked her head. “Are you…pouting? Did I just see you stick your bottom lip out?” Like he needed to be more adorable.

He lifted the helmet. “I don’t want to tell you. I want to show you. And besides, on my bike I can have you all wrapped around me.”

Her body leapt right on board with that suggestion. But her body was shallow. Her body wasn’t the part that was going to give her nightmares about suffering a road rash fatality. That was her head. The same rational part that was going to turn his suggestion down. Flat.

“You can duck your head behind mine. Close your eyes. But I honestly think once we turn up the mountain road you’re not going to want to hide. It’s nothing like riding through town or in traffic.” At her continued mutinous expression-okay, okay, maybe it was more dubious by then because her damn body wasn’t backing down-he added, “If you hate this ride, I won’t ask you to do it again. The truck will be the automatic default vehicle.” He held up his hand in some configuration, changed it a few times, and then grinned broadly and said, “Scouts honor. At least I’m sure they would honor my word. If I’d been a scout.”

She couldn’t help it; she laughed. “Okay. But this will be it for me, just saying that up front.”

“Wait until you see a mountain sunset from the back of a bike; you might change your mind. At least try and keep an open one.”

“Why don’t we start with open eyes and go from there?” she said, then added, “Will we be gone that long?”

“I know you have a million and one things to do, and we could postpone until after-”

“No, it’s not that. Actually, I’ve been ready for days now. I’m at the point where I’m rearranging every piece of furniture and second guessing dried flower arrangements-do purple heather or marigolds strike just the right accent with the wedding ring quilt-that kind of thing. Getting out of here for a day would probably be the best thing for me. You’d never know I handled fully booked international resorts in my day. It’s silly to be so nervous-”

“Not silly.” He set the helmets aside and took the laundry basket from her arms and set that next to them. Then he cupped her elbows, drawing her hands up to his shoulders before pulling her into his arms. “That was a corporate-owned entity, and even if you were part of that corporation, it’s not the same. Here you’re inviting people into the place you created, the place you call home. It’s personal. And I think it shows how great an innkeeper you are that you’re so concerned about the details.” He tugged her closer to him. “In fact, it’s your very attention to detail and your good eye that I’m hoping to exploit.”

“Really,” she said, her brows quirking. “That’s a new approach.”

He laughed. “That wasn’t sexual innuendo. In that case, I meant it straightforwardly.” He tipped her chin up to his. “However, I’m not above-or beneath-a little innuendo if it will get me in tight with the innkeeper.”

She smiled up into his dancing eyes. “Now there’s an innuendo.”

“Isn’t it, though?” he murmured, and captured her mouth.

It started as a simple, sweet kiss, with all that banked steamy stuff that was always below the surface with them, just simmering along. But then she might have sighed a little, possibly moaned when he pulled her tight against him so his hips could rock against her stomach. And the kiss dipped right past sweet and dove straight into that carnal place. She definitely moaned then.

Her nails dug into his shoulders and he held her face in his wide palms with more determination, his mouth slanting more heavily over hers as he sought out what he wanted…and got it.

She was considering the merits of distracting him from his proposed motorcycle ride with another, far more enjoyable ride, when he broke the kiss and laughed.

That caught her up short. When her eyes finally came back into focus, she said, “What was funny? Did I miss something?”

“No, it was…it was us, this. Not a ha ha laugh, more an amazed laugh.” He pulled her up into his arms so her feet barely touched the ground, and kissed her mouth, then the tip of her nose, and as he let her slide back down his body-making them both suck in a quick, shuddering gasp-he kissed her forehead, too. It should have felt patronizing, or…something. But it was endearing and sweet and made her feel a little…cherished. Which might have been silly, but there it was anyway.

“Amazed at…?” she led, knowing she shouldn’t fish like that, so blatantly, but she’d been giving a lot of thought to what he’d said before, about staying, about finding something that had sparked his interest-beyond just a fling with the local innkeeper.

And she’d dared, on occasion, when she couldn’t shore up her defenses well enough, to think about what it would be like. If he stayed. And the picture that painted was too good, too perfect, too…exactly what she wanted most, to allow herself to wallow around in it. Staying in the moment, and enjoying it, were one thing. Planning a future with a guy who had no mapped-out future…not so smart.

“What’s amazing is this. You. Us.”

There’s an us? she wanted to ask. Which sounded obtuse, for, as far as she knew, there wasn’t anyone else and they clearly were voluntarily staying connected to one another.

“I won’t lie to you, Kirby. I’ve never felt this before. That kind of instant connection. And time is going on, and it feels so new and fantastic, but also like I’ve been right here, in this place, with you, forever. It’s that comfortable. And comforting.” He laughed again, but it was with a definite self-deprecating edge. “You’re probably wondering how in the hell to tell me that it’s just a fling for you. And tell me, Kirby, if that’s what this is. Or all it can be, for you.” He tipped her chin back up, lowered his mouth again. “And tell me soon. Because I’m falling here. And I really, really like where I’m landing.”

Her heart started pounding so hard she didn’t know if she’d survive it and another passionate kiss from him. She felt like it was going to pound right out of her chest. “I-” She broke off, and his mouth hovered just above hers. In that split second, she wanted to pour out all the confusing and wonderful and terrifying feelings she was developing for him. After all, hadn’t he just handed her the perfect opening, backed up with his own admission? What more did she want? A guarantee her heart wasn’t going to be decimated a week from now? A month? A year?

Half her head was telling her to backpedal, to buy more time, to see where things were going when they weren’t all caught up like this. Problem was, they were always caught up like this. Even when they were two floors, or half a town, apart. This…connection, between them, existed all the time. Which was why half of her heart was telling her to jump, take the risk, what the hell.

“There isn’t a thing I’d trade, or change, about this.” Except maybe being more certain about where it was going. And that it was going. But she didn’t say that part.

His smile stayed, but his gaze took on a more probing look as he used his powers of people reading to look deep into hers. It should have unnerved her, used to. Not so much anymore, she realized. She liked that he got her, that he didn’t have to ask a million questions, or just guess. He looked at her. And he knew. It was a little daunting. But it was also a huge relief. Because then she didn’t have to find the words.

“You’re not sure of me, are you,” he said, not making it a question. “I understand that. I do. But if that’s all you’re worried about, come with me. Up into those hills. I have something I want to show you, something I want to ask you. And maybe then you’ll see that I’m not a man of flowery speeches and given to jumping on a whim. But know this, Kirby Farrell. I am a man who takes his time figuring things out when the hand’s not clear…but when he knows that what he has is a winner, he totally goes for broke.” Then he grinned again, and that light was fully back in his eyes. “And when I play like that, I pretty much always win.”

He leaned down and took her mouth in a kiss that was both a confident claiming-and he had every reason to believe he had because she certainly kissed him back with equal passion-and felt a lot like a promise.

Then, while she was trying to figure out how to handle all of this, he reached down and plucked up the helmets. “Come on,” he said. “Ride with me.”

She took the helmet, thinking that climbing on the back of his bike and wrapping herself around him while they flew up the side of a winding mountain road was probably not the smartest thing to do with her head spinning like it was. And her heart tilting. But then she was putting it on and walking around the corner of the house, and a minute later, holding on for dear life as they rolled down the long driveway…then took off like a shot toward the outskirts of town.

She was just about to jerk on his shoulder and motion for him to pull over so she could see her life flash before her eyes while sitting still, when he took a turn off the main road, past the edge of town, and suddenly they were in a totally different world. A narrow lane, no houses, no other vehicles zooming past, just trees and more trees as the road wound its way up and around and through them. There were glimpses, on the turns, of the town below on one side, and valley that stretched out below that on the other. She didn’t even realize that she’d kept her eyes open until she caught herself craning to look around him, waiting for that next overlook, to see the view.

She slid her arms farther around him, and as they leaned to one side, then the other, as the road became twistier, she started to get the feel of the road, the movement, and they way they wound their way through each bend and turn, their bodies moving as one unit, along with the bike. And…she realized she was liking it. A lot.

As they kept climbing, her grip on him went from one of panicked determination to one of desired connection. She liked having him between her legs like this, she realized, with the power of the bike thrumming beneath them. It was rather…visceral.

She smiled privately to herself and wondered what she’d say to him when they got to wherever it was they were going. Maybe he already knew, from the way she was holding him, that she’d changed her mind about riding. He always knew.

And that’s when it kind of all clicked into place for her. He knew her. Bottom line. He got her, honestly, completely, without reservation. He listened, and he asked, and he talked to her and with her, and it all came so naturally, so easily. There was no effort being made to try, no need to impress or go out of his way-or hers-to do or say things intended to elicit a certain result. They were just being themselves. And that’s when she realized that she’d never really been herself in her relationship with Patrick. Not all of herself, anyway. She’d kept a lot to herself, things she didn’t think he’d understand, or wouldn’t want to hear, thinking that was just the compromise of any partnership.

What she’d failed to see was that she and Patrick really had a partnership only. Yes, it had been both personal and professional, even intimate, but it was a partnership only. With Brett she not only felt those same connections…but they also had, were developing anyway, a very wonderful friendship. She could, in all honesty, tell him anything. In fact, for the most part, she had. Certainly more than she’d revealed to anyone else. It could have been because she thought he was transient, so what she divulged wouldn’t matter in the long run, but that hadn’t been it at all.

Their connection was true and unavoidable, really. She supposed it was possible after all to click with a person. Or not. And they definitely clicked. On levels that far surpassed the lust and even intellectual chemistry. It was easy because it was right. And maybe that was why she’d been so scared. It was hard to accept that it could be this right, this simple, so quickly.

And now he was telling her things that made her believe he wanted more, too.

How could she not take that chance?

Because if you think Patrick shattered your heart, you’re going to be in for the mother of all apocalyptic destruction if you let yourself fall the rest of the way…and he turns and walks away, her little voice prodded.

They took another turn, and she didn’t even have to think, or tighten her hold on him. They just relaxed into the turn, perfectly in sync. Which is exactly what they were. With each other. She supposed the remaining question she had was how did he think he’d be in sync with all the rest? Was he willing to walk away completely from all aspects of the only life he’d ever known? Not just the poker, he’d already walked from that. But the rest, too. Vegas was home to him. He had people he cared about there. Could his sudden interest in the wilds of Vermont…and a certain innkeeper…keep his attention long haul?

She had no doubt that he thought he was in it to win it, but could she trust that instinct? Trust him?

And then they were slowing down before reaching the next peak and turning up a dirt road.

“Hold on,” he shouted back. “It’s a bit rutted.”

Like she was going to go “look ma, no hands.” But hey, any excuse to snuggle up a little closer…she wasn’t on the fence about that part.

She winced a few times as they bounced in and out of ruts and went around and alongside a few more. She might have had her face buried behind his back for most of the last run up the hill, because she had to lift her head to peek when they finally rolled to a stop. She breathed a sigh of relief when they weren’t inches from a death drop or anything. In fact, they were still deeply in the trees. Then she looked past his shoulder in front of the bike and saw the clearing. And the house.

He turned off the bike and they both climbed off and removed their helmets. He saw she was looking at the house, not at him, and let her look before he said anything.

It was an old log cabin, and not the prepackaged type. This one looked like the logs had been hewn and set by hand. It was still in decent shape, and a decent size as well. Unique, too. There were two plank wood dormers, painted green it looked like-at one point anyway-set equal distance apart in the roof, and there were chimneys rising at both ends. She’d guess it was at least thirty or forty years old, possibly more. A beautifully crafted front porch had been added at some point. Kirby walked a few feet across the front of the lot and saw that there had been an addition put on the back, as well. Also hand-hewn logs, but the color and age were different. It looked either like a small lodge or a big home. Nature had taken the yard over some time ago as there were pines growing almost right up to the porch and no drive or walkway that was clearly determinable anymore.

Brett walked over and stood next to her. “Well, what do you think?”

“Old, still has good bones. If they’re not chewed up by termites anyway. Unique structure for a cabin. I like the porch. I’d say it hasn’t been lived in for a very long time, so who knows what’s on the inside.” She shifted her gaze up to him. “So…what’s the deal?”

He reached in his pocket and pulled out a set of keys. “I bought it. This morning, actually.”

Which explained where he’d been all day, but…wow. “Um. Bought it?” She looked at the house again. “Just like that? Have you been inside?”

“I’ve tromped around it enough. And if it’s not salvageable, then I’ll put something else on the lot.”

“Okay,” Kirby said, because she wasn’t sure what else to say.

“I like the view, the location. Entrance road needs work, but the whole thing will be a huge project, so that’s not a huge obstacle. Mostly I got it for the house, though. I hope it’s sound.”

She half laughed, half snorted. “Me, too. Are you in the habit of just buying things on impulse without doing any research?” All her previous concerns about him rushed right back in. Maybe he was just a compulsive doer. She had no idea if he was as good at finishing what he started, however.

“No, actually. I just knew this was the right first step. I saw the dormer windows glinting in the sun, way down below, when I was out riding.”

“Yesterday, right? In one day, you just-”

He turned then and swung her into his arms; then he made her squeal when he spun them both around. “Sometimes a day is all it takes.” He plunked her feet down but kept her caught up in his arms. “You know what I mean?”

His eyes were so full of joy, she couldn’t help but get pulled in. “Yeah,” she said. “I think I know exactly what you mean.”

He kissed her, and there was something else there this time, along with the passion and instant ignition of need and want. He wasn’t rushing, wasn’t pouring himself into it, he was…steadied, grounded, like he had the rest of his life to keep doing exactly what he was doing.

And damn if she didn’t want a float in that parade. A real big one.

When he finally broke the kiss, he was still grinning, like a kid with a new toy, which, in a sense, he was.

“So, what are you going to do with it once it’s rehabbed?” She tried not to hold her breath, waiting for the real answer she wanted to hear. He’d said she wouldn’t doubt his intentions after coming up here. Did he really plan to move here? Permanently? She tried in vain to keep from leaping to any assumptions. Maybe it was just a part-time property, that he planned to visit. Occasionally. Maybe he thought that would be enough.

Kirby asked herself, in those very few seconds before Brett responded, whether occasionally was going to be enough for her. And her gut response, before she had time to manage her feelings-or shield her heart-was no. She wanted it all, dammit. All in. Wasn’t that what poker players said when they shoved all their chips to the middle of the table? Well, she wanted to shove chips. Mountains of them.

What worried her was that she’d accept occasionally. Like she’d accepted the half-life she lived with Patrick. And they’d been under the same roof. Hadn’t she said she’d never do that again? Settle for less? Compromise herself right out of what mattered most?

She hadn’t thought she could ever feel…what she was feeling now? It made anything she’d had before pale in comparison.

“Kirby,” he said, more soberly, making her realize that she’d completely gotten lost in her thoughts.

She looked up again, into his eyes. Eyes that saw so much. And wondered what he saw in hers now.

“I jumped in, both feet, with this house. I know it seems reckless to you, but it was the right thing for me. I know what I want now. I know what I want to do next, with my life. I’m excited about it. And I want to share it with you. I want you to be part of this. It’s all wrapped up together for me. The only regret I have is that I should have maybe brought you up here before I got the keys, made you part of that, too. But-”

“But you can afford to jump impulsively; I can’t. If you’re that excited by this, then maybe it was better that you just went for it. I don’t know what I’d have advised you to do if you’d asked. It wouldn’t have been my place to make that decision for you.”

“I want it to be your place. I mean that literally, too.”

She looked at the house again. “Wh-what?”

“I’m going to renovate the house, Kirby. Then I want to decorate it, furnish it, and turn it over to a management company to run.”

“Whoa, whoa, wait.” She stepped back, out of his arms, as that loaded piece of information dropped like a bomb into her brain. “So…you’re not going to live here.”

He laughed. “Well, it will feel like it while I’m working on the place. I plan to be involved in every step, hiring out what I can’t do. But, if you mean afterward, no.”

Her heart squeezed into a tiny little ball. “Then you want to rent it out…I’m guessing to skiers, or vacationers.”

He grinned like it was the best idea anyone had ever had. “It’s going to happen here, Kirby. The snow will come, this season, next season, whatever. And Pennydash will grow. Cabins, chalets, time-shares, will be in increasing demand. I want to be in on the ground floor of that, but I want to design and offer one-of-a-kind, unique locations. Like your inn does.”

She crossed her arms over her chest, feeling suddenly cold. To the bone. “So…you’re going into business to compete against me. More or less. You’ll have to pardon me if I’m not exactly thrilled with that idea. I mean, you’re right, it’s going to happen, but-”

He reached for her, but she took another step back, purely instinctive, and tried not to feel bad when hurt flashed across his handsome face.

“Kirby,” he said, “I don’t want to compete against you. I want to do this with you.”

She let that sink in for a second and then spoke from her heart. “I just want to run my own inn. I don’t want to run multiple properties or get back into any kind of-”

“Management companies will run the places. I don’t want to run them and you have a place to run. Your place. I just want the challenge of finding and reworking interesting old places, possibly designing my own as well. But I need your help with that. Or, I want your help with that.” He lifted his hand. “Yes, it means more places that offer guests a night’s stay, but trust me, you have the foot in the door there. You can only take so many guests and I’m offering houses, not rooms.”

“So you want me to run my inn and help you run…whatever it is you’re going to be doing? Brett-”

He stepped forward and tugged her arms from their crossed position. “Come here. Please,” he added when she dragged her feet a little.

“I don’t think as clearly when you have your hands on me.”

He wiggled his eyebrows. “You’re on to my evil plan then.”

She couldn’t help it, her mouth twitched a little.

“Kirby, I wouldn’t do anything to hurt you, you know that.” He leaned down to make direct eye contact with her. “You do know that.”

“I want to know it,” she said.

“This is what I was thinking. The bulk of your business is fall and winter. I can only do what I do during spring and summer. I help you during your high season, and you help me during mine. I’ll use my off season to research, look at property, work on design ideas, and you can use your more relaxed guest booking times to help me finish the places off when I’m done. If you want to. No pressure.”

She laughed. “Right.”

He did smile. “Okay, maybe a little. It’s not something you have to decide in this exact instant. It’s a long ways off before I’m at that stage. I just…I want to share this with you. It’s partly because of you, because of this place, the mountains…I don’t know. It’s like a whole new beginning, what I’ve found here. I couldn’t imagine you not being part of it. You’re such a huge part of it already.”

So he was making a commitment. To Pennydash, anyway. Which put him in her world…permanently. Or at least for the immediate future. Far more of one than she thought she’d have with him. It was hard to let herself go and embrace that…she felt like she was waiting for the other shoe to drop. It was almost too good to be true. And those things usually were.

“You’re still not sure of me, are you?” he asked.

“Are you of me?”

“I’m sure that when you commit to something, you do what you set out to do. I trust your word. I trust-yes, I trust you, Kirby. I know people.” Something flickered in his eyes then, and she wondered if he was thinking of his friend Dan. “I know enough to be comfortable with my decisions, anyway. Just think about it.”

“Okay, I will,” she said, knowing she had a hell of a lot more to think about than just whether or not she wanted in on his business venture.

“When do you plan to start?” she asked.

“It will depend on what the weather decides to do over the next few months. There’s a ton of preliminary work to be done before any actual work takes place. I’ve got plenty to keep me busy until spring.”

She debated for about five seconds before just blurting out the crux of what was holding her back. “Will you be doing this preliminary work here? Or are you going back to Vegas?”

“Here,” he said, clearly surprised at the question. “I meant what I said when I asked about me staying. I am staying, Kirby.”

She took a steadying breath. But her heart was already off to the races again. “What about home? Your friend Dan? Vanetta?”

“I tried to talk to Dan about it last night, see if he wanted in on the building phase, but…things there…” He trailed off, and the sadness and confusion was clear on his face. “I don’t know what the hell is going on there, to be honest. But I’m working on that, too.”

“So…you really are staying.”

He reached out to tuck a stray hair behind her ear. “That was my plan.” He took her hand, tugged her closer. “Good plan or bad plan?”

“Good plan,” she said somewhat distractedly, still trying to sort through the onslaught of questions and emotions this sudden turn of events had set to swirling around inside her head. Along with all the ones she already had. But one thing she knew. “You staying is very good.”

“I can move out of the inn, if that makes it better.”

“Makes what better?”

“Whatever it is about this that has you feeling…I don’t know. Trapped? I didn’t mean for it to be like that. I know I’m excited about this, and there’s no way I can hide that; I don’t want to, even if I could. But don’t let my enthusiasm for this make you feel crowded and pushed into a corner. I don’t-”

“No, it’s not that. I think it’s pretty fantastic that you’re excited about this. I don’t know what I feel about my part; I have to think about that. I haven’t even decently launched my own place yet, so-”

“So, don’t worry, or even think about it. It’s months away.”

“Months,” she echoed, trying to imagine having months with him. It was everything she wanted. And his excitement about having her be part of it was flattering and not a little thrilling. Except-

“Tell me what’s going through your mind, right now. Uncensored.”

“Okay. I was thinking that I’ve already had a relationship with someone I worked side by side with, and to be honest, it makes me a little nervous to think about-”

“Listen, just scrap what I said, okay? We don’t have to mix business with pleasure. I’m not going to risk what we’re starting for that-”

“I didn’t say no. Just that…it’s all part of the stuff going through my head. You’re not Patrick. And this situation is far, far from that. Just…give me some time. To get used to it.” To get used to the idea of him being around. Of letting herself want the impossible. Again.

Because it seemed so…so very possible, right now. It was scary. In a very good way. Also in a completely terrifying, “run for the hills and protect your heart” kind of way.

“You can have all the time you need.” He caressed her cheek, urged her face to tilt up to his. “You sure you’re okay with the me staying part, though? Be honest with me, Kirby. I didn’t come here to cause you trouble. You deserve the life you’ve carved out for yourself. I just want to be part of that, and build my own while I’m at it.”

“The problem is I want it too much,” she said, baldly honest. That was the one thing with Brett that made this entirely different. He made bald honesty not only easy, but pretty much mandatory. “It scares me. How much I want what you’re offering. How much I want you.”

All in, indeed.

His pupils flared at that, and he might have made a little growling sound in the back of his throat. “That…” He stopped, ducked his head, and cleared his throat. “Wow,” he managed. “I had no idea how badly I needed to hear you say that. Until you just did.”

She smiled a little then, no less terrified, but realizing that she wasn’t the only one dancing on a dangerous ledge made facing the terror that much easier. “Kind of scary, right?”

“You forget. I like high stakes.”

Her smile spread, and the very beginnings of allowing herself to accept what might be possible started to bloom inside her heart. And her head. And…every-damn-where. “You’ll have to teach me to play. Poker, I mean. I want to understand more what it is you do. Did. Whatever.”

“Deal.” Then he laughed and swung her around again. “You feel like taking the inaugural peek inside? We can come back another time-”

She shut him up by placing her hands on either side of his face and pulling his mouth to hers. For once, she was taking the lead. And as soon as she kissed him, and felt him immediately relax, and soften, and take her so easily and perfectly and naturally…she understood as she never had before what true power there was to be had in a complete partnership. And it didn’t consist of one leader and one follower.

This was nothing like before. This was…new. And it was hers to decide what to do with, and how she wanted it to be. At least to work for her. She wasn’t surrendering control. She was taking on a new challenge. And damn, but maybe she was up for it after all. Because, the reward, if she pulled if off, was priceless.

When she broke the kiss, she lifted up on her tippy toes to hug him, and he swept her up so they could hug good and proper, everything aligning so perfectly. She kissed the side of his neck and felt his pulse thrumming, which set hers to thrumming, too. “Okay,” she whispered in his ear. “I’m all in.”

Then she snatched the keys from his unsuspecting grip and wriggled out of his arms. “Come on. Let’s go see what you’ve gotten us into. Last one to the front door is a rotten poker player.” And she took off toward the house.