He quickly pulled on his boots and walked over to Tara’s bedroom door. It was closed, so he knocked lightly. He listened until he heard her rouse. Then he cracked open the door just a bit, and called inside. “Are you awake?”
Tara sat up straight in bed and stared at the doorway. That same look of fright crossed her face until she recognized him standing there.
“Yes, come in.”
He opened the door fully and stepped inside. But stayed by the door. Seeing her sleepy and rumpled and intoxicatingly beautiful took his breath away. He loved her. Somehow, she’d crept under his skin and dug into his heart.
“I have to go,” he said.
Her eyes opened wide and she ran her fingers over them to clear them as she focused on him. “Oh, of course. Any other day and I would’ve been up and out to meet Norma at the shop.”
“I know.”
“You do?”
“I saw you at the shop yesterday, remember?”
“That’s right,” she said with a roll of her eyes. “How can I forget? You were there. Thank God you were there.”
The look of gratitude she had felt misplaced. “And Hunter. He was there too.”
“I owe the two of you my life.”
“Why don’t we just call things even? If we can.”
She looked down at her hands for a few seconds and then lifted her gaze to him. “Do you think that’s even possible?”
“It’s just a figure of speech. Things are never even.”
“No, I mean is it ever possible to move past one thing to another thing. You know what I’m talking about. There’s always going to be a history between us. But then there’s this thing. I know you know what I’m talking about.”
He drew in a deep breath. “I’m not a stupid man, Tara. I know what I see. And I know what I feel.”
She chuckled, yet it held no humor. “I’m glad one of us does. I’m just a big jumbled mess about everything these days.”
He wanted to touch her. He wanted to wipe the frown he saw in her expression away and replace it with that laughter he’d seen at her face when they’d run through the meadow. His mind kept going back to that moment. It was completely innocent. There was nothing wrong with what they both did or why they were there. And yet, every time he thought about that moment when he’d kissed her, it filled his heart with happiness.
“Are you going to be okay?” Brody asked.
She smiled. “You’ve done enough, Brody,” she said. “I really appreciate you coming here last night. I actually slept and I didn’t think I was going to.”
Then she placed her hand over her mouth and looked at him. “But you look like a mess. I’m sorry. That wasn’t a nice thing to say.”
He chuckled. “It’s honest. And true. You were right. Your sofa isn’t exactly the most comfortable thing for a six-foot plus cowboy to sleep on.”
“You wouldn’t let me give you the bed. I would’ve slept on the sofa. I sometimes fall asleep there watching television.”
“I’m a cowboy. And a gentleman. There is no way I would’ve let you take that sofa so I could be comfortable in your bed unless you were snuggled in that bed with me.”
Her eyes widened until he saw the most beautiful color of blue. He crossed the line. There was this thing between them. Unspoken until a few minutes ago. But whatever it was, he’d just cross the line.
“I wish you had been.”
Something kicked his gut with the thought of what she was implying. “I have to go,” he said.
He turned to leave and was just through the doorway when she stopped him with her words.
“You will come back, won’t you?”
Turning around, he couldn’t help but smile. How could he look at such a beautiful woman this early in the morning and not smile at her beauty.
“As long as you want me to, I’ll come back.”
She lifted her eyes to him and held his gaze. “Really?”
“Really.”
“Brody?”
“What?”
“How about forever.”
He stared at her for a long moment. His heart beat hard as if it would explode in his chest.
“Forever?” he asked, taking a few steps back into the room.
She threw the blankets off her body and swung her feet onto the floor. Then she met him halfway in the room.
“Yeah, forever.”
“You don’t mean that. You’re scared. I’m here for you as long as you need me.”
“Forever,” she said again. “I mean that. You make me feel alive, Brody. You make me feel safe. Why wouldn’t I want that forever?”
He reached out and touched her cheek. She leaned into it.
“I want to kiss you, you know.”
She smiled up at him. “That would really nice. I’d like that.”
“Forever.”
Her smile widened. “Forever. I think I’m in love with you, Brody Whitebear.”
“I know I’m in love with you, Tara Mitchell. It’s crazy, but it’s true. This is a new river for me.”
“And me.”
She wrapped her arms around him and he held her tight. Life was funny. The river couldn’t take you back to the source, but it could start anew and bring you to new places. Brody never thought he’d end up here. What a fabulous surprise.
Sweet Montana Secrets: Chapter One
There was something in the air. A certain stench of greediness that Julie Samuel could almost smell as she waltzed through the employee’s door of the Red Wolf Casino where she’d been working for more than six months as a bartender.
It was going to be a busy night. By the end of her shift, she’d have sore feet, burning eyes from
