A Country Affair(88)

“I couldn’t reach the trophies.”

“Couldn’t you have asked me to get them for you? Why do you have such a difficult time accepting help from me?”

“I don’t know,” she admitted softly.

Still he held her and still Kate let him, trying to resist the comfort she felt in his arms. Her hands were braced against his powerful shoulders, but then she relaxed, unconsciously linking her fingers behind his neck.

Neither moved for a long moment.

Slowly Luke ran a provocative finger down the length of her cheek, and Kate’s eyes drifted shut. She felt herself drawn inexorably toward him. Her lips parted and trembled, awaiting his kiss. When she realized what she was doing, she opened her eyes and broke away from him so quickly that she would’ve stumbled had his hands not righted her.

Embarrassed now, she stepped back. Luke brought down the trophies and handed them to her, but she saw that his eyes had become distant and unreadable.

“That’s enough packing for tonight,” she murmured, her voice breathless even while she struggled to sound cheerful and bright.

He nodded slightly, then without another word stalked from the room. Kate didn’t know what possessed her to follow him, certainly the last thing she should have done.

“Luke?”

He stopped halfway through the kitchen and turned toward her. His eyes were steely and intense, and just seeing that harsh edge drove her to take a step backward in retreat.

“You wanted something?” he asked when she didn’t immediately explain.

“Just to say...” She could barely talk coherently. It occurred to her to ask if he loved her the way a man loves his wife, but she lacked the courage. “I thought maybe, I mean, I wanted to know if there was anything I could do for you before I left the house. Paint the living room...or something?”

“No.”

Briefly she toyed with the idea of following him outside. For all his words about wanting her to stay, he couldn’t seem to get away from her fast enough. The thought of not having Luke for her friend anymore felt crippling. Her pride was the problem. Luke had told her repeatedly that she needed him, and she knew now that she did. But not in the way he meant. Not just as a friend who was willing to offer her the protection and peace of marriage, a friend who felt obliged to take care of her.

“I don’t want you to move from the ranch,” he said.

Her heart was begging him to give her a reason to stay—the reason she longed to hear. “Luke, please accept that I’m only doing what I think is best for my life.”

“I know that, but dammit, Kate, why are you being so stubborn? Why do you resist me when all I want is to make things easier for you? We could be married, and you could settle down in the house, and nothing needs to change. Yet you insist on causing all this turmoil in your life.”

There wasn’t anything Kate could say.

“You can’t tell me we aren’t physically attracted to each other. The electricity between us is powerful enough to light up Main Street.”

“I...know.”

“Say it, Kate. Admit that it felt good when I held you just now.”

“I...”

Luke reached for her then, and Kate felt as if she’d lost some strategic battle. When his mouth found hers, her stomach tightened and fluttered wildly. Against her will, her lips parted, and before she understood what was happening she slid her arms tightly around his hard, narrow waist, wanting to hold on to him forever.

Luke moaned, then suddenly tore his lips from hers. She felt a tremor go through him before he raised his head and gazed tenderly into her face, his eyes dark and gentle.

“Is it so difficult to say?” he asked.



Nine


“This is the second bedroom,” Mrs. Jackson was saying as she led Kate through the vacant rooms. From the moment she’d walked in the door, Kate had known that this apartment would suit her needs perfectly.

“I can’t understand why you’d be wanting a two-bedroom place, but that’s none of my business,” Mrs. Jackson went on. Her hair was tightly curled in pink plastic rollers. To the best of her ability, Kate couldn’t remember ever seeing the woman’s hair without rollers.

“What did that Rivers fellow say when you told him you were moving into town?” She didn’t wait for a response, but cackled delightedly. “Frankly, I wasn’t sure you’d show up this morning. My friend Ethel and me talked about it, and we figured Rivers would tie a rope around you and hightail it to Nevada and marry you quick. Offhand, I can’t remember who’s got money on November.”

“You said to be here before noon,” she murmured, ignoring the other comments.

“Well, if Luke didn’t stop you, I expected that snowstorm would, the one the weatherman’s been talking about for the last two days.”

“Do you really think it’s going to snow?” Kate asked anxiously. The sky had been dark all morning, and the temperature seemed to be dropping steadily. Normally Kate wouldn’t have chanced driving into town by herself with weather conditions this uncertain, but if she hadn’t come, she might have missed getting the apartment.

“If I was you, I’d stick around town for a while,” Mrs. Jackson advised. “I’d hate the thought of you getting trapped on the road in a bad storm.”