Chapter 10 #2
He looked startled, then laughed. “No, I don’t.
My mother tried teaching me, but I just don’t have the patience to learn.
” He held up his hand and wiggled his fingers.
“I could never get them to do what I wanted. The keys always seem so small.” He moved away from the piano to stand in front of her.
“Preston, my brother, plays very well. Almost as good as my mother.”
She looked up at him, saw the humor dancing in his unusual tiger’s eyes and all at once, she wanted to kiss him—right now—not on the cheek as she’d done before, but his lips, though she’d never kissed anyone.
She wasn’t even sure she knew how, nor how to ask for what she wanted, like Barrie said.
Shaking off her thoughts, she returned to the subject at hand. “I could teach you, if you’d like.”
“That would be nice, but I’m afraid I’m all thumbs.” His smile widened. “Besides, I’d much rather hear you play.” He held out his hand. “Are you ready?”
With butterflies flitting about her belly, she gave a quick nod and slipped her hand into his. “I am.”
He opened the door like a gentleman. “Just a word of warning. My mother and Royce are at the house, so be prepared for questions.”
That made her stop short halfway down the steps to his buggy. “Questions? What kind of questions?”
“Oh, you know, the kind of questions that could possibly embarrass you. Don’t worry too much.
My mother will probably regale you with stories of my indiscriminate youth.
Believe me, there are a lot of stories. My brothers and I had a tendency to find trouble, and if we couldn’t find it, we made it.
” He laughed and the sound went all the way to her heart.
“All in good fun, mind you. Nothing harmful or hurtful to anyone. Mama wouldn’t have tolerated that. ”
He helped her into the buggy, then climbed in himself, shook the reins and started the vehicle moving out of town.
Sheridan sat back against the cushions and watched the way he skillfully handled the horses and an idea formed in her head. “Someday, would you teach me how to drive a rig?”
He glanced at her, his smile wide. “Of course. We could start right now if you’d like.”
“Could we?”
He didn’t answer, simply brought the buggy to a stop in the middle of the dirt road.
“Take the reins and hold them like this.” He moved a little closer to her, his body pressing against hers, and put his arm around her, then demonstrated exactly how she should hold the reins between her fingers.
“If you want to go left, you tug lightly on this side. If you want to go right, tug on this side. Goliath and Black Star will know what to do.”
He spoke so close to her ear, his voice smooth and silky like honey, that goosebumps rose on her skin and excitement tickled her belly.
“Are you ready?”
“I think so,” she said, but truthfully, she could hardly think with him so close, the smell of soap and cloves surrounding her.
“Start off slow. Give a small shake, like this.” He demonstrated with his hands holding hers to guide her.
Sheridan did as she was told and the horses started moving, slowly gaining speed.
“You don’t want to go too fast for your first time. A nice steady speed is what you want.”
Again, he showed her what to do. She felt the strength of his muscles as he guided the horses to the right when they came to a fork in the road, and it wasn’t long before they turned into the driveway of his ranch.
“I loved that!” She laughed, so pleased with herself as she pulled the rig to a halt in front of his house.
“You did well for your first time.” He let go of her hands then scooched along the seat to exit. “Just wrap the reins around that hook there.” He pointed to a large metal hook in front of the seat then stepped out of the buggy and came around to her side. He held out his hand to help her.
“I did, didn’t I? It wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be.”
He said nothing, but his gaze swept over her before he led her up the porch steps, then stopped in front of the door. She felt the heat of that gaze all the way to her toes and that little tickle started in her belly once more.
“May I kiss you?”
She looked at him, surprised, wondering how he’d read her mind. She glanced at his mouth before her gaze rose up to his eyes and thought that if anyone knew how to kiss, it would be this man.
“I’ve never been kissed before,” she admitted, a little sheepishly. What twenty-six-year- old woman had never been kissed? “I don’t know how.”
A soft smile lifted the corners of his mouth.
“Let me show you how it’s done.” He moved closer and tenderly reached out to caress the side of her face with his thumb, then lowered his head to brush his lips softly against her own.
As far as kisses went—her very first one—it was pleasant.
Sweet, even, but she didn’t see what all the fuss was about. Her toes didn’t curl at all.
“How was that?”
Startled that he would even ask, Sheridan felt a blush rise to her to face. How could she tell him she wasn’t impressed without hurting his feelings? “It was nice.”
“Just nice?” One dark eyebrow rose as a wicked gleam came into his eyes. “Let me try again.”
He drew a little closer, his body pressing up against hers, his hands cupping both sides of her face. He slowly lowered his head, but instead of just brushing her lips with his, he pressed a little harder, his mouth moving over hers, patiently, expertly.
And there it was. Her toes curled and her heart seemed to jolt out of rhythm before resuming with a painful thud.
He broke the kiss but didn’t move. She could feel the warmth of his body, smell the light aroma of soap and cloves. “Better?”
She nodded, suddenly embarrassed. Here she was judging him on his kissing technique even though she had no experience at all. Never in a million years did she think she’d ever do that.
“Let’s try one more time.” He laughed softly. “Just to make sure I’m doing this right.”
And he did. This time, he moved his hands away from her face and wrapped her tightly in his arms just seconds before his mouth descended on hers.
This was no light brushing of his lips to hers.
This was a slow, deliberate assault on her entire being, making her feel things she’d never experienced before.
When the kiss deepened and suddenly his tongue was stroking hers, she froze for a second, then relaxed as more feelings cascaded through her.
That tickle in her belly tripled and became something more and undeniable.
He broke the kiss and pulled away, his gaze searching hers, but for what, she didn’t know. “Well, what do you think?”
She was amazed. Dumbfounded. She couldn’t speak.
Her heart was pounding too hard…and she had no words, but she did know she wanted to feel that again.
She rose up on her toes, wrapped her arms around him and kissed him this time, her lips moving over his like he had shown her.
And it was wonderful. Beyond wonderful. It was heavenly.
He didn’t let her go when she broke the kiss. Instead, he held her a little tighter. “I think you liked it.”
She finally found her voice. “I did. I do.” And just to prove it, she did it again, then pulled away, her face heating. “I’m sorry.”
“No apology necessary.” He laughed softly. They stood there for a heartbeat, staring at each other. Then he stepped back reluctantly and swung the door open. As they stepped inside he called out, “Mama! Royce! We’re here.”
He turned toward her.
“Let me take your cape.”
She unbuttoned it and handed it to him seconds before a black and white ball of fur came barreling out from the kitchen and ran straight for Wyatt, his joyous barks filling the parlor as the dog danced around his legs.
“This is Duke. Don’t be afraid. He’s very friendly.”
Sheridan reached out a hand and tried to pet the dog, but he was too excited, running circles around them both now, his short yips and squeals of welcome showing his happiness.
“Duke! Sit! Say hello to the lady like the gentleman I know you are.”
The dog obeyed immediately. He sat in front of Sheridan, though his tail continued to thump the floor, and lifted his paw to shake.
Sheridan grasped the dog’s paw. “How lovely to meet you.”
A moment later, Delilah and Royce came out of the kitchen, too, both wearing bib aprons dusted with flour, though Royce had more of the white stuff on him. There was even some flour in his hair, but there was a big smile on his face.
“Sheridan! So nice to see you again.”
“Hello, Mrs. Cabot.”
“Oh, it’s Delilah, please.” Wyatt’s mother came forward, a touch of mischief sparkling in her light brown eyes. “Come into the kitchen. I just made a nice pot of tea, and the scones should be done in a minute or two.”
“We tried something different.” Royce laughed as he held out his hand to shake hers, then thought better of it, noticing that there was flour on all of his fingers.
He quickly wiped his hands on his apron, but that only seemed to make it worse.
“An experiment, if you will. Delilah doesn’t think it’ll work.
She’s not thrilled with the flavor combination.
” He grinned, then, despite his flour-dusted self, tucked her hand into the crook of his arm. “Do you like chocolate?”
“I do.”
“And peppermint, perhaps?” Delilah asked as she took her other arm.
Sheridan smiled. “Absolutely.”
Royce patted her hand. “Good, then you shall have both. Come taste what Delilah and I created.” They escorted her into the warm, cozy kitchen. She heard the dog follow, his nails making a click-clack sound on the hardwood floor.
Sheridan turned her head to look at Wyatt, who remained where he was, hands on his hips, a big, dumb smile on his face as he watched them. He shook his head, slipped out of his coat and hung it up, then followed, his grin remaining in place.