Vivian Arend - Rocky Mountain Heat

Damn, she had to ask that question. His body knew what it wanted, but he didn’t think that was what the answer should be.

“I’ll bring you flowers and chocolates if that’s what you want, only I’ll bring them to the door of the guest cabin. You’re going to move out of the house, and I’ll move back in. You’ll have more privacy there, and yet you’ll be close enough Ma can call you if she needs you.”

Jaxi protested and he laid a finger on her lips. “We can go to the movies, or we can go fishing. We can enjoy long rides and fix fences together, as long as I don’t have to sit in the dirt after every fence post.”

She snorted for a moment, her smile returning.

Blake stroked his hand over her cheek, smoothing her skin, tangling his fingers in her hair before he dropped his lips to hers again. The kiss was deep and needy, a joining together of hearts and souls. Not desperate and hard but desperate and soft. Lingering, caressing and more meaningful than any kiss Blake had ever given or received in his life.

They both drew back at the same time, breaths mingling as they remained inches apart. Blake reached deep for the strength to finish the job he’d begun. “I can’t promise I won’t touch you, but let’s try to keep sex out of this. We don’t have any troubles in the physical compatibility department. We need to see if we’ve got everything else it’s going to take to last forever.”

His thumb stroked her lips tenderly, sweetly. She kissed it and nodded acceptance with little jerks of her head.

Their foreheads rested together, and Blake breathed in her scent, storing the sensation of that moment for the days ahead.

A sudden realization struck him and he snorted. “So, Slick, in the kitchen you made me promise I wouldn’t throw any punches tonight. You planning on explaining that right cross to Travis’s jaw?”

The twinkle returned to Jaxi’s eyes, and she shrugged mischievously, one brow rising high. “You never made me promise not to hit anyone, now did you, Blake Coleman?”

He stood and lifted her, swinging her in circles as their laugher rose to the heavens.

Wooing. What the hell did that mean when every time he looked at her his body lit up and his brain shut down?

Blake gave himself a mental smack. That’s exactly why they were doing this. Because it was more than the sexual attraction between them that he wanted to play with.

He pulled to a stop in front of the fanciest restaurant in town and winked at Jaxi. “You stay right there.”

She giggled. Honest to God giggled, and he fought his own amusement. Yeah, this had been plenty of fun—to take the time to build on their attraction and let themselves move one step further. Heading to a lonely bed each night when he wished he was curling up next to her was the rough part. But learning new things about Jaxi had been delightful and intriguing. He didn’t want to just ask her what she’d been doing and learning over the past years, he wanted to find out as they went along.

They’d gone for walks. Sat on the banks of the creek and fished. And now, a week into the wooing, it was time for a little high-class experience.

He tugged open the truck door, and she slipped out before he could catch her. “You’re supposed to let me help you down.”

She lifted her chin, mischief all over her face. “Oops. Okay.”

Before he could say another word, she was back in the cab, sitting forward and blinking expectantly at him. “Oh, my hero. What a big truck you have. I’m so so far up in the air.”

“Stop that.”

She grinned. “Would you assist me, dear sir? I’m afeared that it’s too far a journey for my delicate little self.”

Delicate little self—horse hockey. That from the woman who had helped muck out stalls for three hours the previous day in addition to her house chores? “You’re looking for a spanking, miss.”

“Yeah, but since you said that was out of the question for a while, I figure I’m safe.”

Minx. He offered his hand, and she took it, spinning her legs toward him and delicately lowering herself to his side. He couldn’t stop staring at the long length of skin showing. “You wore that miniskirt on purpose, admit it.”

She blew him a kiss as she tucked in her shirt and smoothed the skirt. The twinkle in her eyes increased as she shimmied closer. The tight shirt emphasized every curve of her body, the deep scoop of the neckline showing off the perfect swells of her breasts.

He opened the restaurant door and led her into the dark elegance. All eyes turned their way, accompanied by some smiles, some frowns. The flurry of attention their direction hadn’t died down yet. One of the joys of small-town living—any new match-up was an attention getter, and Blake had been single for long enough he figured the biddies would have a heyday for a good two to three months, not to mention that it was Jaxi he was squiring around.

They were seated in front of one of the fireplaces, Jaxi’s chair to his right. They picked up their menus even though Blake knew exactly what he wanted. This wasn’t his usual stop for a meal, but the few times he had come in he’d discovered the steaks they served were thick and juicy. His favourite, outside of barbecuing himself.

Jaxi wrinkled her nose. “You sure you want to eat here?”

She stared at the menu as if there was something disgusting on the page. Blake leaned to see if she had something different than him. “You don’t see anything you like?”

“Well, I’m kinda distracted by the rather large numbers down the side of the page screaming at me.”

“Oh no, don’t you even look at that part.” He snagged the menu from her. Damn, it was like taking his parents out. Skinflints, the lot of them. “If you’re going to do that, you’re ruining the whole idea of going out to a fancy place.”

“But I can cook just about everything on that menu. And for a lot cheaper.”

“You can, but then we can’t visit and talk, and there’d be dishes to do afterward. This is supposed to be talkin’ time, not complaining-about-the-cost time.”

“But it doesn’t make any sense—”

Blake leaned back and crossed his arms. Jaxi’s chin lifted in the air as she cut off in mid-sentence.

“I want to take you out for a meal, and I don’t want to hear another word about ‘this costs so much’ or ‘I could cook that’. Then pick something you can’t cook—that would work, right?”

Jaxi nodded slowly. “Do I get to pick for you too?”

Damn. There went the steak he’d been drooling over. The garlic mushrooms—he could almost smell them as they floated away. “Of course. Why don’t you pick something you can’t make, then for our next date I’ll pick something we can cook up together—we’ll set up a restaurant back at the ranch house. You good with that?”

Mischief streaked her face. “You sure about this?”

He hesitated. He’d never looked that close at the menu before, going straight to the steaks and eight-ounce burgers. “What kind of frou-frou stuff you planning on tormenting me with?”

Jaxi straightened her face and held out a hand for the menu. “Oh, I think I can come up with something we can both enjoy, if you’re willing to be a little flexible.”

Blake stared at her as she opened the folder and her gaze raced over the page. Every now and then she smiled, or frowned, and he fought to keep from twitching.

“I don’t think I can listen to this.” Blake stood as the waiter approached. “You order, I’m going to wring out my kidneys.”

Jaxi licked her lips and waved him away. “I changed my mind. This is going to be fun.”

Fun. Yeah, like the time they’d been castrating and the snippers slipped and nearly took off more than he’d intended.