Chapter 13 #2
“That’s a lot of shoulds.” The velvety night sky above us twinkled with stars. Thousands of them. More than that. Millions of stars. It took my breath away. “Wow. Look at that.”
“Yeah, it’s pretty amazing out here at night. Gigi and I call it nature’s show.”
“I think I just saw a shooting star!” I pointed like an excited child, renewed energy surging through me. “I’ve never seen one in real life before.”
“Really?”
“That was my first.”
“Should I tell you they’re actually meteoroids, not stars? They’re pieces of asteroids that collided with each other. When they hit earth’s atmosphere, they vaporize, and that’s what you’re seeing.”
“Huh…I can see why they renamed it. Vaporized meteoroids don’t sound as sexy as shooting stars.”
Matthew chuckled and tucked his hands behind his head. “No, I guess not.”
A truly chilling thought flashed through my mind. “The cows aren’t out here, are they?”
“Nope,” he said. “They’re in for the night.”
I sighed with relief before tensing again. “What about other animals like marmots and pronghorns?”
As if on cue, howling echoed in the distance.
“Oh my God,” I whispered. “Werewolves.”
Matthew belly laughed until I thought he was going to cry.
“Those werewolves are actually regular coyotes, nothing paranormal about them. They’re not looking to hurt us, I promise.
” I loved how patient he always was with people.
Even with a bar fight brewing, he’d kept calm and tried to defuse the situation.
I wriggled my body to inch my sleeping bag a little closer to his. “They didn’t sound harmless.”
“Remember that pronghorn on the road? We’re much more dangerous to the animals out here than they are to us. Keep out of their way and nine out of ten times they’ll keep out of yours.”
“Nine out of ten?” I squeaked. “What happens the tenth time?”
“I knew as soon as the words were out of my mouth that you were gonna say that.”
I rolled onto my stomach and fake-screamed into my makeshift pillow. “Just keep the flashlight on tonight. Then no animals will accidentally step on us, at least.”
“They’ll know we’re here,” he said. “They have much stronger senses than we do.”
“This conversation isn’t very reassuring. Do you camp under the stars like this often?”
He was lying on top of his sleeping bag, looking as comfortable as could be. Meanwhile, I had my bag zipped up to my chin to ward off the chill of the evening. Unless I was hot flashing, I was always cold.
“Not as often as I’d like,” he said. “I wish I could travel more, but the summer is high season here at the ranch and then there’s a lot that needs to get done in the winter.”
“Does the winter get lonely?”
“It gives new meaning to the word lonely. I’m not totally alone, though. Walt stays to tend the horses, and Tyler was here last winter, helping me out with projects.”
“Just the dudes.”
He turned his head to look at me. “Yep.”
I rolled onto my side in my sleeping bag, tucked my hands under my cheek, and stared back at him.
For a few moments, neither of us said anything.
We just gazed into each other’s eyes. I knew in that moment there was no kidding myself that this crush of mine was unreciprocated.
There was as much heat in his eyes as there was in mine.
Parts of me that had been dormant and gathering metaphorical dust for so long were coming back to life.
I wanted something to happen. I needed it to happen.
“Do you ever get lonely for female companionship?” I asked, knowing it was a loaded question.
“Of course,” he said. “Finding someone I wanted to date wasn’t easy before I took over the ranch.
Now it’s pretty much impossible. It’s not often a beautiful woman accidentally lands here instead of the fancy spa she was supposed to go to.
” He closed his eyes, his mouth drawing into a frown.
“I’m sorry. You’re married, and I shouldn’t say things like that to you. ”
“I get lonely too,” I said softly. “And I’m not married anymore.
” Matthew opened his eyes and waited for me to continue.
“We separated a long time ago, and we’re in the middle of a divorce right now.
The situation is complicated for other reasons, and I didn’t want to get you involved in all that.
” I showed him my bare left hand. “I don’t know why I was still wearing my rings.
Habit, I guess. Maybe protecting my heart a little, too.
” He narrowed his eyes like he didn’t understand me.
“Men leave you alone when you’re wearing a wedding ring, and that means you’re safe from re-entering the dating world. ”
He gave me a lopsided grin. “Except for this guy. I didn’t leave you alone. I told myself that flirting with you was harmless, but I was kidding myself.”
My heart thudded in my chest. “I flirted back, so it was only fair.”
Maybe the wedding ring had been the only thing keeping us apart until now. Why hadn’t that been obvious to me before? We’d both wanted this, and by removing the ring and telling him I was separated, I’d gotten rid of the only real obstacle standing in our way. Except for one more thing…
“For personal reasons that are very hard to explain, I need to keep my private life very private. Is that okay? Can we just pretend to be ranch owner and guest in front of everyone else? I imagine that’s better for you, too.”
Matthew propped himself up on one elbow and leaned over me. “That’s okay by me.”
As I stared into his blue eyes, time seemed to stretch before us like that huge Wyoming sky, endless with possibilities. We were alone out here and had the entire night ahead of us. Anything could happen if we let it.
His fingers traced their way down my neck, where he must have felt my blood pumping.
I certainly felt it. When he brought his lips to mine, my mind went as quiet as the darkness surrounding us.
All I could feel were his kisses. Tender.
Sweet. Delicious. As good as I’d imagined, which was such a relief I wanted to giggle.
But that would have sent the wrong message.
He pulled away, looking down at me with a dazed expression. “I’ve been wanting to do that for days.”
“Then do it some more.” I reached up to draw his head down toward mine. When he kissed me this time, it was with hunger, nothing tentative about it. Our lips parted and our tongues touched. It was slow and sexy, but hot. Sensual. Suddenly, I was burning up inside my sleeping bag.
Matthew smiled against my lips. “How do you taste like strawberries?”
“It’s lip balm.” And it was definitely gone now, after all that kissing.Was I sweating? It was about fifty degrees outside, but my skin was on fire.
“You’re edible.” He brought his mouth to my neck, his facial hair scruffing against my skin.
“I’m also ticklish!” I said through my laughter.
“Good to know.” He nuzzled into me, and I laughed harder. The happiness bubbling up inside of me was so pure I almost wanted to cry.
Taking his head by his ears, I redirected his mouth to mine, and the mood shifted from playful to heated again.
His kisses were intoxicating. I felt as if I’d done shots of whiskey at the bar.
We kissed each other deeply, wildly, until we had to break apart for air.
Then we went back in and kissed some more until, somehow, I’d rolled myself on top of him, sleeping bag and all, like a damn mummy.
Whoever invented these things assumed no one would want to fool around outdoors.
“Should I unzip myself?” I tossed my hair to one side, so it wasn’t hanging down in his face. “I’m getting really warm.” That was an understatement. I felt like a baked potato wrapped in tinfoil.
Matthew blew out a deep breath. “As much as I want to unzip that bag and take off all your clothes and do things to you that will make you blush from the tips of your painted toes to those adorable little earlobes, I feel like maybe you aren’t ready for that just yet.”
“Oh.” After that description, all I could feel was disappointment. Full body blushing sounded like exactly what I wanted. My body was still telling me to get naked and wild, but my heart…
In my heart, I knew he was right.
“This is the first time I’ve kissed a man other than my husband in about twenty-five years,” I admitted. “It’s a little overwhelming, but in a good way.” In a way that set me ablaze and gave me hope for my sexual future.
“How long can you stay at Silver Sage?” he asked. “A few more weeks?”
“At least one more week. Maybe more.”
“Then we have a little time.” He pulled my head down and kissed me again. “Let me romance you, Mrs. Wagonblast.”
Guilt prickled inside me, and I pulled back from him. “About that name. It’s—” An animal wailed in the distance and I gripped onto Matthew’s biceps, my eyes widening. “What was that?”
He laughed and gently rolled me back onto the ground, keeping one arm around me. “C’mere. I’ll protect you.”
And that’s how I spent the rest of my first night under the stars, kissing and snuggling in the strong arms of a very sexy rancher.