Marry Me at Christmas (Fool's Gold #19)(50)

He shifted in his sleep, releasing her. She listened to the sound of his steady breathing before sitting up and reaching for the robe she was borrowing. She pulled it on as she walked out of the master and down the hall to the guest room. Once there, she closed the door and turned on a light.

Her hands were shaking, she thought as she stood there, trying to catch her breath. She was shaking. Nerves, maybe. A reaction to what had happened. While she wasn’t a virgin, she hadn’t bounced in and out of bed with a lot of guys. Her relationship with Jonny was complicated. Her fan-girl feelings had given way to genuine emotions. Now they’d become lovers and she wasn’t sure what that meant to her heart. Being around him was easy—too easy. Falling for him would be dangerous. Now that they’d been intimate, she was going to have to start worrying about her heart.

But how was she supposed to resist him? It had been difficult enough before, when she hadn’t known what a temptation he was. But now, she not only had to deal with the fact that he was funny and sweet and caring, she also had to accept that the man was practically a god in bed.

The way he’d touched her, the way he’d kissed every inch of her, over and over again. How he’d caressed her breasts and the rest of her. The feeling of him being inside of her, holding her, breathing her name.

She crossed to the guest bed and sat down. Her mind whirled and images from their night together overwhelmed her. She felt foolish and hopeful and a thousand other emotions she couldn’t begin to name.

Her cell phone chirped. Who would be contacting her at five in the morning? She picked it up and saw the city alert system had sent out a text saying the roads were being plowed. She scrolled through the list and saw the road to Jonny’s ranch had been plowed around midnight. She was free to leave. Only she didn’t really want to, and even if she did, she didn’t have a car.

Knowing she had to keep busy or go crazy, she took a quick shower, then dressed. It was all of 5:25. Now what?

Her heart and her body wanted her to crawl back in bed with Jonny and go for round three. Her head was more wary. Had it been just a one-night thing? Were they now in a relationship? What happened when she stopped being able to hide behind the star-power excuse and had to face the fact that the tingles and zings were all about the man?

She was her mother’s daughter and Loretta often talked about the lightning bolt that meant falling in love. Tingles and zips were not the same thing...right?

Madeline flopped back on the bed and closed her eyes. Now what? What was she supposed to say over breakfast? On the ride back to town? They still had a wedding to plan together. She was pretty sure she could keep it together if she just had a couple of hours to herself.

She sat up and reached for her phone. There was only one person she knew who would be awake at this hour. Awake and willing to help out a friend. She dialed.

“Hello?” Shelby Gilmore said a second later.

“It’s Madeline.”

Shelby laughed. “What on earth are you doing up at five-thirty in the morning?”

“It’s a long story. I need a ride home.”

There was a pause. “From somewhere other than home?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Where would that be?”

Madeline bit on her lower lip.

“If you don’t tell me, it’s going to make picking you up more challenging. I’m sorry to say my telepathic directional abilities are not what they should be.”

An excellent point. Madeline sighed. “The old Konopka Ranch,” she said quickly, then braced herself for the reaction.

“The old what?”

Crap. Shelby hadn’t lived in Fool’s Gold very long. She would only know it as... “I’m at Jonny Blaze’s house.”

Silence.

“I know what you’re thinking,” she said quickly. “I know, believe me. It’s just... I don’t know. I need to get home. Please.”

“It’s fine. Stop talking. You don’t have to explain.” Shelby’s voice was gentle. “I’m picking up my keys as we speak. I’ll be there in about thirty minutes.”

“Thank you.”

Madeline hung up, then collected her things. There wasn’t much beyond the clothes she was wearing and her handbag. She retreated to the kitchen where she spent fifteen minutes writing a note. On her third try, she knew she wasn’t going to possibly get it right, mostly because she didn’t know what to say. In the end, she settled on “The roads are open and I caught a ride back to town. Thanks for everything.”

She wanted to say more. She wanted to mention how happy he’d made her as he’d held her in his arms. How his combination of gentleness and passion had helped her feel treasured and special. That usually the first time she was with a guy she couldn’t slip over the edge, but with him she’d been able to relax. That she’d liked how he’d held her after, and that they’d laughed over dinner and, well, everything.

Tingles, she told herself firmly. She was experiencing tingles. Not love. She refused to fall for a guy who was so afraid of losing yet again that he never offered his heart.

She walked to the living room and watched out the front window. When a familiar Subaru pulled into the circular driveway, Madeline let herself out of the house.

She hurried to the car and got in. Shelby, a petite blonde with the delicate bone structure of a fairy princess, looked at her.