“Whatever you said he had coming to him.” Dallas dipped his head to meet her gaze. “You’re the most tactful, responsible person I know—in fact, you’re a superwoman.”
“Really? If that was true, I would have been able to produce dinner. I’ve been living like a single person, eating stuff like that outdated frozen entrée. You brought me the best meal I’ve had all summer. There wasn’t enough food in the pantry to feed four people tonight.”
“You didn’t know you’d have to.” He ticked off points on his fingers. “You run this house, do your job, help me with the rodeo and still look drop-dead gorgeous.” He paused. “Well, at this moment...maybe just drop-dead.”
She leaned over, weakly punched his upper arm. And her soft fist met his hard biceps. “Wow, amazing. Talk about superheroes. You’re like the Incredible Hulk.”
“Without a green face, I hope. Or his hair-trigger temper.”
“I hope not,” she agreed, and kept leaning. A second later, her head was on his shoulder, tucked into the curve of his neck, her voice barely above a whisper. “I gave you a hard time, didn’t I, at Clara’s?”
He let his fingers sift through her hair, soft and silky under his touch. His guilt aside about their kiss, he wanted another. “I know your situation’s way different from mine—”
Her voice took on a husky tone. “You’re a good guy, Dallas.” She sighed. “If I wasn’t the newly divorced mother of three rambunctious kids, things might be very different.” That was the most encouraging thing she’d ever said to him.
He waited, unsure if he should say this. “Even if you are, Lizzie, things can change.”
She smiled. “And if you keep calling me Lizzie, I just might get used to it.”
He shouldn’t say this either, but, “Maybe you’ve been Elizabeth long enough. Not my decision to make, though.”
She pulled back to look up at him. Remembering her ex, who’d hurt her, and the mother who disapproved of her? “It’s tempting. The kiss was nice too, Dallas. I didn’t mean to let you think it wasn’t.”
His heart turned over. But he had to be honest. “I’m still planning to ride out of town.”
“And I’m staying here.” Their gazes held, and his pulse did another dance. God, she was pretty, even this way with her hair a mess, her eyes teary...a second away from crying and the need for comfort, which Dallas had provided before, and for which she’d never forgiven him. But it wasn’t only how she looked that drew him. He’d meant what he said. He liked the person she was inside, even that starchy part. Maybe especially that side of her.
“Dallas...” She didn’t go on. Her gaze slid away as it had several times before when he’d thought she was hiding or omitting something he should know. She opened her mouth as if to speak, then pressed her lips together.
Dallas wrapped his arms around her, rested his forehead against hers for another moment and inhaled her sweetness before he drew back to gauge her expression. Still dewy, still...warm. And he ignored the voice within that told him to back off. To think of the circuit, his responsibility to his parents and the ever-present memory of his early years, which had haunted him since he’d found Hadley again. Dallas didn’t listen, and in that moment he didn’t care. Without planning what came next, he lowered his head, his lips met hers once more and he was lost. He didn’t just like Lizzie Barnes, and from the way she’d looked at him, he wondered if she felt the same way. Which could be bad news for both of them.
Gradually, he ended the kiss. “What are we going to do about this?” he asked.
Easing from his embrace, Lizzie gave him a sad smile. “I guess we stop right where we are.” She added, “And remember we’re not alone. Seth’s a sleepwalker, and Stella is my self-appointed protector. I’m not a free agent, Dallas. So,” she said, “about that charity we need to talk about...”
Dallas didn’t hear another word she said.
He no longer wanted to simply spend time with her this summer, to be friends or business partners as well as neighbors until he had to leave. In spite of his promise to himself that he’d avoid any serious relationship for now, and his vow never to hurt her, he already wanted that something more.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
“MAMA!” SETH CALLED from his room. “I don’t have any clothes.”
The next morning Elizabeth woke up feeling groggy. After Dallas had left last night, she’d tossed and turned before falling into a restless sleep. She couldn’t afford to be a slugabed now. Her children were home. Reality had intruded. She needed to be here for them, not in Dallas’s arms.
And yet, for a moment she didn’t answer Seth. She was enjoying Dallas’s temporary friendship, their mutual attraction, at the same time she was keeping a secret from him. She wondered if he’d seen that in her eyes last night. He hadn’t asked again but the question had been in his gaze. She needed to tell him, but how? That answer never seemed to come, even when she couldn’t hide the truth much longer. To be honest, she feared his reaction—not a good enough excuse. Feared losing that friendship, the only relationship they might have. Or was there something else, which couldn’t end well, going on here?
Could she be falling in love with Dallas?
She moaned aloud. What was she thinking? And what if she did
