and quick caresses that left her aching? That she wanted him to make love to her?
It was the truth, but even if Colleen hadn't shown up for breakfast this morning, Megan wasn't sure she could have found the words to ask Kel Bryan to become her lover.
He'd told her that it would be up to her to let him know when she was ready to take the next step between them. After that incendiary encounter when he'd taken her riding, he'd promised not to push. The decision would be hers, he'd said, made without pressure.
He'd kept his word. She could hardly count kissing her as applying pressure, not when she'd be^ such an eager participant in those kisses. The fact that she'd spent the last two weeks in a state of tingling arousal wasn't entirely Kel's fault.
But it was definitely his fault that his self-control never faltered. Well, faltered, maybe, but never weakened to the point where he forgot all about his stupid promise to let her decide when they should take the next step.
Last night, for example, they'd been in his den, with the door shut and no one to bother them, and she'd been stretched out on the sofa with her blouse half off, Kel's big body—his very aroused body—pressed along the length of hers. There'd been nothing to stop him
from taking her right then. Certainly, she wouldn't have whispered so much as a word of protest.
But he'd stopped, damn him. Even though he must have known she wasn't going to ask him to, he'd stopped. He'd pulled her to her feet and hooked her bra, buttoned her blouse, even stroked some semblance of ord^ into her tangled hair. She'd stood there like a stick figure, feeling as if she'd just been spun by a hurricane, her thoughts tumbling one over the other in her head, moving too quickly for her to grab hold of any single one.
"You tell me when you're ready, Megan," he'd said, his voice raspy, his green eyes hungry.
She was ready. More than ready. She'd had plenty of time to think about it, to decide that this was what she wanted—to be Kel's lover, even if it was only for the summer.
But she hadn't been able to find the words to say as much. It was one thing to slide under the spell of passion he so effortlessly wove around her. It was something else altogether to stand there, flat-footed, and ask him to make love to her. But after a nearly sleepless night, she'd made up her mind that she was going to do exactly that. And Colleen had to choose this morning to get up early.
Megan sighed and released her hold on the post. Stepping off the porch, she bent to pluck a stalk of lamb's-quarter that had sprung up in the flower bed. She wandered down the path to the gate, plucking leaves off the plant as she went.
She considered herself a mature woman. She'd been traveling on her own since she was eighteen. She was
accustomed to making her own decisions, taking responsibility for her own choices. In this case, it wasn't the decision that was hard to make. In a way, she'd made that particular choice when she'd come to work for Kel. It was just finding a way to tell him that was giving her fits.
Damn him for being such a gentleman, anyway.
Megan tossed aside the shredded lamb's-quarter and scowled at nothing in particular, her expression as gray as the clouds building to the north. She was about to turn back to the house when she noticed some of the ranch hands lined up along the rails of the fence that marked off the corral next to the bam. They seemed to be watching something inside the corral. Needing a distraction, Megan pushed open the gate and started across the packed dirt of the yard.
In the weeks since she'd come to work here, she'd gotten to know most of the men. The Lazy B was similar to the small town she'd first compared it to, and it wasn't possible to Uve in such a small community without becoming acquainted with its members.
An elderly and highly temperamental man by the name of Zeke did the cooking for the men, and Kel had warned her that Zeke was jealous of his status as
It was the truth, but even if Colleen hadn't shown up for breakfast this morning, Megan wasn't sure she could have found the words to ask Kel Bryan to become her lover.
He'd told her that it would be up to her to let him know when she was ready to take the next step between them. After that incendiary encounter when he'd taken her riding, he'd promised not to push. The decision would be hers, he'd said, made without pressure.
He'd kept his word. She could hardly count kissing her as applying pressure, not when she'd be^ such an eager participant in those kisses. The fact that she'd spent the last two weeks in a state of tingling arousal wasn't entirely Kel's fault.
But it was definitely his fault that his self-control never faltered. Well, faltered, maybe, but never weakened to the point where he forgot all about his stupid promise to let her decide when they should take the next step.
Last night, for example, they'd been in his den, with the door shut and no one to bother them, and she'd been stretched out on the sofa with her blouse half off, Kel's big body—his very aroused body—pressed along the length of hers. There'd been nothing to stop him
from taking her right then. Certainly, she wouldn't have whispered so much as a word of protest.
But he'd stopped, damn him. Even though he must have known she wasn't going to ask him to, he'd stopped. He'd pulled her to her feet and hooked her bra, buttoned her blouse, even stroked some semblance of ord^ into her tangled hair. She'd stood there like a stick figure, feeling as if she'd just been spun by a hurricane, her thoughts tumbling one over the other in her head, moving too quickly for her to grab hold of any single one.
"You tell me when you're ready, Megan," he'd said, his voice raspy, his green eyes hungry.
She was ready. More than ready. She'd had plenty of time to think about it, to decide that this was what she wanted—to be Kel's lover, even if it was only for the summer.
But she hadn't been able to find the words to say as much. It was one thing to slide under the spell of passion he so effortlessly wove around her. It was something else altogether to stand there, flat-footed, and ask him to make love to her. But after a nearly sleepless night, she'd made up her mind that she was going to do exactly that. And Colleen had to choose this morning to get up early.
Megan sighed and released her hold on the post. Stepping off the porch, she bent to pluck a stalk of lamb's-quarter that had sprung up in the flower bed. She wandered down the path to the gate, plucking leaves off the plant as she went.
She considered herself a mature woman. She'd been traveling on her own since she was eighteen. She was
accustomed to making her own decisions, taking responsibility for her own choices. In this case, it wasn't the decision that was hard to make. In a way, she'd made that particular choice when she'd come to work for Kel. It was just finding a way to tell him that was giving her fits.
Damn him for being such a gentleman, anyway.
Megan tossed aside the shredded lamb's-quarter and scowled at nothing in particular, her expression as gray as the clouds building to the north. She was about to turn back to the house when she noticed some of the ranch hands lined up along the rails of the fence that marked off the corral next to the bam. They seemed to be watching something inside the corral. Needing a distraction, Megan pushed open the gate and started across the packed dirt of the yard.
In the weeks since she'd come to work here, she'd gotten to know most of the men. The Lazy B was similar to the small town she'd first compared it to, and it wasn't possible to Uve in such a small community without becoming acquainted with its members.
An elderly and highly temperamental man by the name of Zeke did the cooking for the men, and Kel had warned her that Zeke was jealous of his status as
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