Looking into his eyes, she slowly moved her lips to his, barely touching. She felt his warm breath and smelled the faint remains of cologne.
Her heart beat fast and she had to take more breaths. She hadn’t anticipated this—a real reaction to him as a man. She should have. Hadn’t she just recalled all those daydreams she’d had of him? He’d admitted to having them, too.
His hands slid around her. They singed her with each inch they traveled from her waist to her back. Heat ignited and spread.
He pressed his mouth more firmly to hers and they fell into a moving kiss. As his lips caressed, hers answered. It felt so good she couldn’t stop. She vaguely heard their harsher breathing.
His tongue probed for entry and she allowed it. From there a hungry feasting ensued.
His hands roamed down to her rear and she instinctively lifted her leg, needing more. He reached for the hem of her nightgown and, in doing so, his elbow moved back and bumped into his coffee cup. The cup tipped over and coffee spilled.
Demi stepped back and Lucas turned to right the cup. For a moment she could only stand there and watch coffee spread over the counter and drip over the edge.
What had just happened?
Snapping herself back into a semblance of control, she went to the paper towel holder and retrieved enough to mop up the mess.
“I’ll get it.” Lucas took the paper towels from her and began wiping up the spilled coffee.
His declaration that he’d never fall in love or get married gnawed at her. So did her lack of trust. This man would see to it she was arrested. She’d kissed him, and the chemistry taunted her. Attraction she expected but this...this was far beyond anything she’d ever imagined.
Lucas spent an awkward day with Demi. The snowstorm had gradually relented by midday and he was itching to get out of here. Another storm was forecast for later so they didn’t have a long window of time. He also needed to get moving rather than be confined in this small space alone with her. Demi had always been bold, but he couldn’t believe she’d pressed herself against him like that. Kissed him. Even more, he could not rationalize the punch it had packed. He’d thought of kissing her many times before but he had never anticipated such intense passion.
He wanted to stop it from cluttering up his mind. Unlike other women, she wouldn’t leave him alone in his thoughts. She’d spent her morning with Wolf, feeding him and bathing him and dressing him. After she’d put him down for a nap, she’d come out into the living room and sat on the sofa with a book, her glances wary and sometimes sultry.
“We should get going soon,” he said.
Raising her eyes from the book, she sent him one of her distrusting looks.
“We can’t stay here with Devlin out there. It’s stopped snowing. He’s going to be back.” They should have left as soon as the snow let up this morning. Now the afternoon was growing late.
“Give me your keys, then.”
He had kept them in his pocket to prevent her from leaving without him. “I’ll drive you.”
“Why should I go with you?” she asked.
“We can go to my cabin. I have a security system. Devlin won’t be able to get at us there.”
“Us.”
“You and Wolf will be safe there.”
“For how long? Until you convince me to go to town where I’ll be arrested?”
“You won’t be arrested.”
“The evidence hasn’t disappeared, Lucas. Police have enough to throw me behind bars until they’re positive Devlin is their guy. But seeing me in jail is what you really want, isn’t it?”
“No.” Frustrated, he stood and paced to one side of the room and then went to the window next to the Christmas tree. It was still cloudy but there was no wind and no more snow fell. Drifts rolled across the landscape from the cabin to the trees. He saw no tracks and had gone outside to check for signs someone had prowled. There were none. They didn’t have much time to waste.
He faced the room and Demi’s cautious eyes. “You can stay at my cabin for as long as you like. I won’t tell anyone you’re there. My colleagues all know I went looking for you. I’ll tell them I didn’t find you. You can bring your disguises and we can search for the missing weapon used in Bo’s murder. You can stay hidden until we find it and we have something concrete to clear your name.”
Several seconds passed while she considered that. “Why would you do that? What reason do you have to help me? You think I’m guilty.”
“I don’t think you’re guilty anymore.”
“Still. Why help me? I’d be more inclined to believe you’d use my arrest as a convenient way to get rid of me professionally.”
He scoffed. She sure had a low opinion of him. Well, her body certainly disagreed.
“I’m not that much of a shyster. Thanks.”
She averted her eyes and he knew by her reaction that she saw his point.
“I owe you, anyway,” he said, bringing her eyes back to him. “Not only for doubting your innocence, but for saving my life.”
When she didn’t seem to recall the incident to which he referred, he said, “Remember that bounty we both went after? The robbery suspect? He drew on me and you appeared behind him and stopped him from shooting me.”
“I didn’t save your life.”
“He would have shot me.” Lucas was sure of it. “I was so intent on getting him before you that I rushed too much. I went out into the open too soon. I didn’t know where he had gone. I didn’t see him go into that alley. You did, and you positioned yourself behind him.”
Again, several seconds passed as she contemplated what he’d said. “That almost sounds like a compliment.”
He hadn’t said she was a good bounty hunter but he supposed he’d implied it. She was good. He had never admitted that, though. He had always been too driven to outmaneuver her.
“Please, Demi. Come with me to my cabin. It isn’t safe here.” She had to see that.
Her gaze went to the Christmas tree. “I don’t like the idea of spending Christmas in hiding.”
“I have a Christmas tree in my cabin.”
Her eyes moved back to him.
“And exterior lights. You don’t have those here.” She only had the tree.
Still, she hesitated, but he felt her begin to sway.
“Aren’t you tired of running?”
She let out a heavy sigh. “Of course I am. I miss my home and my friends.”
“Then go pack. Let’s get out of here while we still can.”
At last she nodded. “All right.” She stood and walked to the back of the cabin.
Lucas was immensely relieved and a little amazed that he’d actually gotten through to her. She’d agreed to go with him. She never would have done that before she’d been accused of murder. Their rivalry had been too strong. Add to that the fact that she was a Colton and he was a Gage and their feud only grew more intense.
Now, in the short amount of time he’d been alone with her, he began to sense a thaw between them. Certainly that kiss had melted a sizable chunk of animosity. He wasn’t sure it was right to call it animosity, though. Maybe on the surface. Underneath, he had always thought their competition held more playfulness than that. He had teased her, after all. Now he had to face the fact that his attraction to her presented more of an issue than anything else.
What if you end up falling in love despite