Her body responded with a rush of moisture. She hadn’t meant to whimper, though. The needy sound erupted on its own.
His grip tightened and the balance shifted. Fine with her. She loved it when he went all in.
He was there, now. When CJ funneled all his manly energy into kissing her, she ran up the white flag. He was devastatingly thorough, a smokin’ hot cowboy in full command of his powers. He could have whatever he wanted.
She was at the point of dragging him inside when he slowed down long enough to lift his head. She tried to coax him back.
Gasping, he resisted. “No, Iz. I can’t kiss you anymore. If I do, we’ll be in your bed in five minutes.”
“Yes, please.” She struggled for breath.
“I promised we wouldn’t.”
“Some promises are made to be broken.”
“Not this one.” Slowly, with great tenderness, he released her. He made sure she didn’t topple over as he took back his Stetson.
Good thing, because she wasn’t all that steady on her pins. “I thought…” She pressed her hand to her heaving chest. “Didn’t you say you wanted…”
“It’s taking all I’ve got to back away.” His hot gaze started the fire all over again. “But I could ruin everything.”
“If I say it’s fine, then—”
“You could wake up in the morning and remember my broken promise. You can’t imagine how much I want to make love to you right now.”
“Oh, yes, I can. It’s written all over you.” She glanced pointedly at the fly of his Wranglers. “Especially on the area below your belt.”
“The kiss was my idea. I apologize for leaving you frustrated.”
“And you’re not?”
“Sure, but I expected to be. I made that bargain with myself because I couldn’t stand going another night without kissing you. I wanted a real one, not the socially correct gesture in the airport.”
“There was nothing socially correct about what happened just now.”
“No.” A slow, sexy smile appeared as he held her gaze. “Think of it as a preview of what we could have if we give ourselves a chance.”
“So you’re really not coming inside?”
He shook his head.
“I can’t decide whether to admire your restraint or punch you in your sculpted abs.”
“Goodnight, Izzy.” He touched two fingers to the brim of his hat and walked back to his truck.
She stood on the porch until he drove away. Any minute he’d come back because he couldn’t stand it. But he didn’t come back. Which told her a great deal about Cornelius Jasper Andrews.
Chapter Thirteen
Should he take Izzy up on her offer? CJ gripped the wheel and forced himself to keep driving when every instinct screamed turn around, idiot. You had her right where you wanted her.
Yeah, but he’d been fighting dirty. He’d brought up her last orgasm to find out if it was still as fresh and vivid for her as it was for him. In the soft, pre-dawn light, he’d been inspired to give her a goodbye gift.
Half-awake, her warm body relaxed and welcoming, she’d surrendered more completely than ever before. She’d been his to caress, to pleasure, to love. Then he’d left without taking anything for himself. He’d wanted their final connection to be all about her.
Noble? Hell, no. Selfish and prideful. He’d wanted to make a lasting impression, be better, more giving, than any guy before or since. He’d hoped she’d miss him. A lot. Possessive much, cowboy?
He hadn’t accepted the restrictions on their relationship back then, even though he’d believed he had. His sperm hadn’t accepted them, either. Those determined little swimmers had stormed the barricades to guarantee Izzy wouldn’t forget CJ Andrews.
Rafe’s truck was parked beside the bunkhouse, so the party must have broken up soon after he and Izzy left. When he opened the squeaky front door, the bunkroom was empty and a conversation was in progress in the kitchen. It abruptly ceased, which probably meant they were talking about him.
“Don’t let me interrupt,” he called out.
“Come join us for a cold one,” Rafe said. “We want a report.”
They deserved one, since they’d pitched in to help, but they didn’t need every detail. He walked in, grabbed a bottle of cider from the fridge and took his usual seat at the kitchen table. “First off, thanks.”
“Don’t mention it.” Nick grinned. “She and I bonded over the eating thing. Only problem was her tendency to talk about you all the time.”
“No kidding.” Rafe leaned back in his chair. “We were dancing pretty fast, but she still managed to get in some discussion of your Seattle plans. She’s against them, in case you needed to be reminded of that.”
“Yeah, no.” He twisted the top off his cider. “I’m aware.”
Garrett drained his bottle and set it on the table. “Since you’re back so soon, I assume you stuck with your program and didn’t go in.”
“That’s right.”
“But he got some mouth-to-mouth action,” Leo said. “Definitely some friction happened there.”
CJ sighed and ducked his head. Some guys could kiss a woman for hours and their mouth never got red. His always did.
“I was trying to be polite and not mention it,” Garrett said.
Rafe chuckled. “FYI, we’re not that polite around here. If one of us comes into the bunkhouse with make-out mouth, we’ll comment. Same deal if a shirt’s buttoned wrong.”
“And if you come home with your fly open,” Nick said, “you’ll never hear the end of it. Not that I know anything about that.”
“You sure learned your lesson, though.” Leo tipped his bottle in Nick’s direction. “It hasn’t happened since.”
“How can it when my social life is a barren wasteland?”
“You should ask Eva out,” Leo said. “Besides being good at cutting hair, she’s cute and funny.”
“And she’s stuck on CJ.” Nick turned to him. “You do know that, right? She’d go out with you in a heartbeat.”
“Not interested.”
“Not now, obviously, but—”
“We still haven’t heard CJ’s report.” Rafe glanced at him. “Did you settle anything on the drive
