Mel looked up at Dallas, her heart nearly melting. He was looking away and blushing furiously.
When he saw her staring at him adoringly, he cleared his throat and looked away again, seemingly determined not to meet her gaze.
“Modest as always,” Reno said, grinning. Then he held up the water pitcher. “More water, Mel?”
“Yes, please,” she replied, holding up her cup.
But Reno never got to fill it as Dallas growled and grabbed the pitcher from his hands, topping off her glass himself.
“I’ll do it,” he said.
Mel just laughed in surprise. Had he been jealous of Reno for going to refill her water glass? It was an odd reason to be jealous, but she had to admit that it was kind of hot.
Possessive, sexy, quiet, and adorable with kids? Could he be any more perfect? She wanted to kiss him right now, at the table, but that wouldn’t be appropriate, not in front of his friends.
Just like a lot of other things that she had thought about doing with him over the last few days.
Silence ensued for a minute or two until Clancy picked up the slack to tell another story, but Mel wasn’t really listening. She was too busy checking out the gorgeous man next to her.
When dinner was over and everything had been cleaned up, Dallas took her by the hand and nodded toward the back door.
“You want to go outside?” she asked.
He just nodded, pulling the door open and gesturing for her to follow him out into the crisp evening air. The sun had just gone down, and its last rays were reaching across the sky.
“What did you want me to—” She gasped when he moved out of her way, giving her a full view of the yard behind the main ranch house.
Well, it wasn’t really a yard. It was a full, lush garden, beautiful and in full bloom. Fireflies floated around, mingling among the flowers, giving them a magical glow.
She blinked up at him, mouth agape. “Did you do all this?”
Dallas just nodded, taking her hand and leading her down into the garden.
Mel still couldn’t believe it. This huge, sexy man could lay a searing beatdown, then turn around and be kind to children and tend a garden.
Perhaps this place was more his home than he wanted to admit.
And it was a full garden with all kinds of vegetables and beautiful flowers. Roses, tulips, daffodils, hyacinths—you name it; it was there.
She leaned in, breathing deeply through her nose and enjoying the floral cascade of a thousand wonderful blooms.
This was something she would never experience in the city, that was for sure.
Without saying a word, he knelt down and tenderly picked a few flowers, gathering them into a bouquet. When he was done, he stood back up and held them out to her, his eyes warm and expectant.
Her heart nearly overflowing, Mel reached out and took the flowers and held them close. She didn’t think she could go any longer without telling him how she felt, just how wonderful he was.
“So,” she said, clearing her throat nervously, “about last night…”
He watched her, silent.
Mel gulped, feeling everything reaching a boiling point. She had to tell him now. If she didn’t, she was afraid she’d never have the chance to again.
“I can’t stop thinking about you,” she blurted out. “Ever since that kiss, I’ve been wanting you, needing you. I know I came here for work, but I feel something for you that I’ve never felt before. I want to be around you all the time. I want to be close to you. I want to spend every moment in your arms, and I want to tell you all my secrets.”
Dallas listened, taking it in silently.
Before her nerve could fail her, she continued. “Ever since that first day when you pulled me out of the road, I’ve felt something deep down for you, and I’m tired of holding it back, Dallas. I can’t fight it anymore. Please tell me if you feel the same.”
He opened his mouth to speak, then closed it again and paused.
And paused.
The longer the silence prevailed, the more her heart began to waver. Had she misunderstood things? Was he not interested? He probably wasn’t. She was just some reporter from the city, chasing a story. She wasn’t here permanently, although she’d been wondering more and more if she might want to be.
His expression seemed to change in a million nearly imperceptible ways over the course of a minute, as if he didn’t know what to say. But as the seconds passed and her heart started to feel like it was going to drop off a cliff, she decided it was best for both of them if she didn’t complicate things more than they already were.
Maybe she had just been imagining things.
She made for the door leading back into the house, her fingers quaking as embarrassment flooded her insides while she grabbed the door handle.
But before she could even open it a centimeter, a huge hand stopped the door from opening, and she whirled around to see Dallas looming over her.
His eyes were wide, staring down at her fiercely, as if Mel even making to leave had flipped a switch. In the darkness of the evening light, his face was shaded by his Stetson, making it look like his irises were glowing with interest.
No longer did she see interest warring with caution in those amber depths.
It was pure molten want in the way he looked at her. Lust that she felt too, so strong it was like a windstorm about to knock over all her inhibitions.
Then he surprised her even further by leaning down to kiss her with all the intensity of an apex predator chasing its prey. The second their mouths connected, zings of pleasure shot through Mel, and she parted her lips so he could explore deeper.
And oh, did he ever. He was more expert with his tongue than he was with a knife, twisting and sliding across sensitive areas of her mouth she hadn’t even
