Read Online Not Just a Cowboy (Texas Rescue) by Caro Carson - Free Book Online Page B

darkness, he stood very close, too close, the way he always did. Then he took it further, and put his arms around her.
    She shuddered. All her muscles shook with that relief, and she put her arms around his chest, needing to hold something solid, just for a second, until that shudder passed. She rested her head against him a little bit, her cheek on the top of his shoulder.
    “You were worried about me,” he said.
    “You smell like smoke,” she said, an accusation spoken into the side of his neck.
    She felt his ribcage expand, felt his breath in her hair. “And you, thank God, do not.”
    “I didn’t know what your call sign was. They kept calling for squad this and unit that, but I couldn’t remember what number was painted on your truck.” She picked her head up and glared at him. “I could hardly understand anything on that police radio. How can that be efficient communication in a situation that involves so many different agencies?”
    “Patricia,” he said, and he kissed her forehead. The bridge of her nose. Her cheek. “You were worried about me, and it’s about the sweetest damned thing I’ve ever heard. Now quit yelling at me.”
    He kissed her mouth, fully, gently, his lips covering hers as if he had all the time in the world. She felt his hand smooth up the nape of her neck to cradle the back of her head just below her pinned-up hair. His other arm stayed around her waist, holding her firmly against his body—as if she weren’t holding him tightly enough herself. Then his mouth lifted away for a breathy whisper of a second, and came back a little harder, at a different angle, nudging her mouth open to kiss her more intimately.
    Her knees gave way. Truly weak, she fell in a tiny dip of a curtsy, but his arm must not have been tired at all, because he kept her secure against his body. Still in no rush, he tasted her, tested the way their tongues could slide, teased her by lifting away again, just far enough to toy with her lower lip. He planted small kisses at the corners of her mouth.
    She wanted him to kiss her deeply again, to take all her weight against his body. It was beyond reason. She’d never needed a kiss before, but she had this terrible want. When he didn’t kiss her right away, she opened his mouth with hers and took the kiss she wanted.
    She could have cried at his perfect response, and she could have cried again when he broke off the kiss, the best kiss of her life.
    “Patricia, Patricia.” He murmured her name and lifted her against him so only her toes touched the ground. He hugged her, hard, then set her down again and stepped back, looking her over and reaching out to tug the hem of her shirt into place and brush some dust or dirt off her sleeve.
    She missed his kiss already, sorry it was over, because it could not be repeated. There was no place for this kind of helplessness in her life. There never would be. It served no purpose. She felt a little fuzzy about the exact reasons why, but she knew she had things to do, responsibilities to other people. Business entanglements. Family obligations.
    She gestured between the two of them. “This can’t be a thing between us.”
    He quirked one eyebrow at her. “A thing? Sweetheart, this is most definitely a thing.”
    “I mean, I can’t...I can’t be kissing you. I’m working. I’ve got things...”
    Luke stepped closer again, but he only rested his forehead to hers. “I know I’m filthy dirty, and I know you’re worn out from worry, so we’re going to call it a night. I know you’re always working. You are the boss around here, and you don’t want to be caught sneaking away to kiss a boy like this is summer camp. I respect that, but darlin’, do not kid yourself that I’m never going to kiss you again.
    “Now, take off while I’m being good and keeping my hands to myself. I’ll see you in the mess tent in a few minutes, because I could eat about a hundred pounds of mashed potatoes right now, and we’ll pretend