Home For a Cowboy Christmas(29)

The urge to lean over and kiss her was so great, Dwight had to fight the impulse. All the possibilities Victoria had put into his head nudged him to take a chance.





Chapter 14


She wanted him to kiss her. Emmy was drowning in his eyes, making the moment slow and stretch endlessly. She leaned toward him slightly. Her heart jumped into her throat when his gaze dropped to her mouth, and he moved closer.

With her blood drumming in her ears and her stomach fluttering, she closed her eyes, ready to press her lips to his. At that moment, Sam stood, knocking Emmy back. The dog barked and leapt from the sleigh as he took off running in the snow.

Emmy pressed her lips together, irritated that the opportunity for the kiss she had been about to get had passed. She glanced at Dwight to find him looking at his hands. “Should we go after Sam?”

“What?” Dwight asked as he looked up at her. “Oh. No. Sam is fine. It’s probably a rabbit. He won’t go far.”

“Okay,” she murmured and went back to watching the waterfall.

The heat that had filled her just a few moments prior was gone, leaving her chilled. She rubbed her hands together as her mind went over what had happened. Well, she knew what hadn’t happened—the kiss. Had Sam not stood, she would’ve kissed Dwight. She hadn’t been mistaken, had she? He had been leaning toward her, as well.

Now she was second-guessing herself. Maybe she had wanted it so badly that she had only thought she saw what she wanted. It was as if she expected to be attracted to Dwight. His rugged handsomeness had been something she’d noticed right off, but she’d been too terrified after what’d happened in Denver to give much thought to it. However, as the days passed and they settled into a routine, she hadn’t been able to think of much else.

Dwight was always there, steady and unruffled. He pushed her to think of new ideas, and he listened when she did the same. They talked, debated, and shared beliefs and opinions. Her favorite time of the day was evening, when the work stopped for both of them, and they spent time together.

The routine had helped her battle the PTSD, but she knew she still had a long road ahead of her. With her mind occupied during the day, the only time an attack came on was at night. Sam always seemed to know when she needed him. After she woke from a nightmare, he was beside her. His gentle encouragement unfroze her limbs and allowed her to eventually relax once more.

“You’re cold,” Dwight said and tucked the blankets tighter around her.

She laughed nervously. There hadn’t been any awkwardness between them before, but there was now. Or was it just her?

He leaned down and grabbed the thermos. “Do you like hot chocolate? It should help warm you.”

“That sounds delicious,” she admitted.

He poured some into the top of the thermos that doubled as a mug and handed it to her. Emmy took a sip and sighed as the warm liquid ran down her throat into her stomach, radiating heat as it did.

“Better?” Dwight asked.

She looked at him and nodded before taking another drink. Then she held it out to him. “Want some?”

When he took it from her, their fingers touched, though she couldn’t feel anything through their heavy gloves. Emmy didn’t know why she was getting all twisted up about Dwight. He might be gorgeous with a no-nonsense air that she liked, but it wasn’t as if she were going to live at the ranch for the rest of her life. This was only a temporary arrangement. She would be back in Denver soon.

If she lived through the trial.

Thought made all the hazy musings clear so she could see the truth of everything. All the doubt, all the uncertainty and reservations vanished.

Still, the nerves kicked in because she had never done anything like this before. Her breathing quickened, her heart pounding erratically. But she had to get the words out. “I need to say something.”

“All right,” he said as he poured more hot chocolate and handed the top to her.

“We both know there is a really good chance that I won’t live to testify.”

“Now—”

She held up a hand, stopping him. “Please. Let me finish.”

Dwight released a long breath. “Of course.”

Emmy looked down at the swirls of heat coming from the hot chocolate. She lifted the cup to her lips and drank. “Dalton was right. This ranch and you give me the best chance of staying hidden until the trial. I didn’t think I would live this long, but I have. That gives me hope that I might stay hidden long enough to testify. But there’s still the problem of getting from here to Denver and then to the courthouse for the trial.”

She paused and glanced to find Dwight staring at her, his brows drawn together. Emmy swallowed and took the chance that had somehow fallen in her lap. “Unlike most people, I’ve been given a timeline of when my life might end. I know there’s a chance I could live, but we both know the odds are not in my favor. Because of that, I want to live my life to the fullest. I want to do the things most people are afraid to do because they aren’t sure of the outcome. What I’m trying to say, badly, is that this time with you has been the most incredible of my life. I … I’m attracted to you. I could ignore it and pretend that it doesn’t exist and always wonder if something might have happened between us if I had just let you know. I don’t want to do that, though. I want to put this out there. You won’t hurt my feelings if you aren’t interested. We’ll never ha—”