Free Beau (Remington Ranch Book 4) by SJ McCoy Page B

out as he approached.
    “Are you all right?” he asked. His eyes were full of concern.
    She nodded. “I am now I know it’s you. You had me scared silly for a moment there.”
    “Did your car break down?”
    “No. I’d just stopped to watch the sun go down.”
    “I see. Well, I’m sorry I scared you, but you scared me, seeing your car sitting there like that. I wondered what had happened.”
    She smiled. He really did seem relieved that she was okay. “I’m fine, like I said, I just stopped to take it all in for a few minutes. What are you doing out here anyway? I thought you lived up in town.”
    “I do.” He looked shifty. “I came after you.”
    “Oh.” She didn’t know what else to say to that. “Why?”
    He dug in his pocket and held out her cell phone. “You missed this when your things fell out of your purse.”
    “Oh, wow! Thank you! I didn’t even know I didn’t have it.”
    “I’m glad. When I saw your car parked there, I was worried that you’d broken down. I was just praying that you were still in the car and hadn’t wandered off to find help since you didn’t have your phone.”
    Corinne shuddered at the thought. It wasn’t too far back to the cabin, but it wasn’t a walk she liked the idea of taking at this time of night by herself.
    He held out the phone and she took it from him. She looked up in surprise as their hands touched. She felt the same rush of heat, the same fluttering of her insides as she had every time he came close, but the touch of his hand intensified everything a hundred fold. Oh, he could be dangerous! Especially to a sex-starved woman living alone in the middle of nowhere!
    From the look on his face he felt it, too. He smiled down at her. “I’m sorry we got off on the wrong foot.”
    She nodded. So was she. Looking up into his big brown eyes, she wished he was the kind of guy who loved kids and would enjoy hanging out with Ruby.
    “Maybe we could try again? Start over?”
    She sucked in a deep breath as he stepped closer. What exactly did he have in mind? He put his hands on her shoulders and looked down into her eyes, leaving her incapable of words, incapable of doing anything other than lifting her lips to meet his. It was the briefest kiss, a mere touching of lips before he lifted his head, but it left her senseless. His closeness eclipsed common sense, any sense at all. She stood there, looking up into his eyes, wishing he’d do it again.
    One corner of his mouth lifted in the hint of a smile. “So what do you say?”
    “To what?” She couldn’t even remember what the question had been.
    “To us starting afresh. To you forgetting what I said about Ruby.”
    Oh, damn! If only he hadn’t mentioned Ruby! That had gone and broken the spell. She shook her head slowly.
    “No?”
    “There’s no point, Beau. I like you, you like me. That’s all well and good. However, I love Ruby and you can’t stand her. That’s not a recipe for anything good to happen, is it?”
    “I’m not asking you to let me into your lives and become a permanent fixture or anything. I just thought we could see each other sometimes. Just you and me.”
    She raised an eyebrow at him. Was he suggesting what she thought he was? And was her heart beating so fast because she hoped he was? “What are you saying?”
    He shrugged. “That maybe you’d like a grown-up night now and again.”
    She still wasn’t sure that he meant what she thought he did. There was only one way to find out. “Are you suggesting we just…”
    He held a hand up before she could finish. “Stop.” His tone was so commanding that she did.
    He stepped toward her and the look on his face made her take a step back. Now she was trapped between him and the car. He closed his arms around her and held her close to his chest. She wanted to moan and melt in his arms, his presence surrounded her, engulfed her. His lips came down on hers. There was nothing brief about this kiss, it was deep, and long and thorough