Currant Creek Valley. RaeAnne Thayne

wanted to grab hold of those big, gorgeous shoulders, shove him into her car and take him home with her....

      Something cold pressed against her back—the metal side of her car, she realized, vaguely aware that he had her caged in by all those muscles against her SUV and was kissing her as if his next mission depended on it.

      She couldn’t seem to catch her breath and felt as if she’d just leaped off the highest point of the mountain and was soaring, soaring out into space.

      Reality intruded in the form of a stray dog, who poked his head out the driver’s side door where they stood, with a curious sniff. At the feel of that nose nudging at her, Alex realized she was wrapped around a man she had only met a few hours ago while heat coursed through her like the propane torch she used to caramelize sugar for crème brȗlée.

      “Wow. Okay. Um. Wow.” She drew in a ragged breath and then another one. So much for casual, flirty fun. She couldn’t remember ever igniting so instantaneously, not even back with...

      Out of habit, she jerked her mind away from even thinking about the past, from that long-ago girl she had been who had given her heart so freely and so foolishly.

      “Yeah. Wow. Funny, that’s just what I was thinking.”

      She leaned a hip against the door of her SUV, fighting the urge to step back into his arms and stand here kissing him for a few more hours.

      Hadn’t she spent all evening reminding herself of all the reasons why she couldn’t afford this complication with him, no matter how tempting?

      She was apparently a weak-willed woman.

      “I should go. It’s late and I probably need to get Leo settled in for the night.”

      “And I’ve got to be at the work site bright and early in the morning. You never did give me a direct answer. When do you think we can do this again?”

      How about now? And then five minutes from now? And then ten minutes after that?

      “I didn’t, did I?”

      Despising herself for the cowardice, she gave him a quick smile and slid into the driver’s seat of her vehicle then quickly closed the door. Before he could protest or she could do something completely stupid like make another date with him, she yanked the gear shift into Drive and took off, leaving him standing on the sidewalk, looking just as dazed as she felt.

      * * *

      WITH DESIRE STILL PULSING through him, Sam watched her drive off in a sporty little SUV that probably came in handy during the cold high-mountain winters.

      He hadn’t intended anything more than a fast, polite kiss but then she had moved her mouth against his and heat had rushed in on a relentless tide, blasting away any chance he had of hanging on to his sanity or control.

      Alexandra McKnight, with her blond curls and those incredible green eyes and that smart, delectable mouth, was a dangerous woman. He couldn’t remember when he had smiled so much in an evening or known this effervescent sense of anticipation and sheer fun.

      He shook his head. This was not why he had come to Hope’s Crossing. A relationship was the last thing on his mind as he considered uprooting his son and setting up shop in a new town, away from his entire support system.

      The timing couldn’t be worse. He had more than enough on his plate right now, trying to build a new life here.

      The two of them stirred up enough sparks to burn down the whole town. Chemistry wasn’t everything, he reminded himself. The trouble was, he genuinely liked her, too. She was funny but not at the expense of other people. She had to be a kind, compassionate woman to pick up a stray dog and take him home with her.

      With a sigh, he headed for his pickup truck. He had to tread carefully here. She was obviously well-known in town. The short tour she had taken him on had illustrated clearly that every store in town had some link to her. Sisters, best friends, neighbors. Everyone here was interconnected.

      If he started something with the very appealing Alexandra McKnight and it went south, he had a strong suspicion he would automatically be blamed, by default. He was an outsider and in small towns like Hope’s Crossing, people tended to be quick to circle the wagons around one of their own.

      He wanted to build a life here, to start a business. How could he hope to do that if he managed to piss off half the town before he even had a chance to settle in?

      He would be smarter to take things slow, he decided. Back off, use his head. He would focus on keeping Alexandra happy with the work he did for her and avoid any more intimate evenings that reminded him just how very long he had been alone.