Free Cassie's Cowboy Crave: Witness Protection - Rancher Style (Sweet Montana Bride Series) by Kimberly Krey

sigh.
    Those sweet-looking lips were just a breath away, a breath he inhaled as he moved in. Before meeting her lips with his, Shane ran the length of his jaw along her smooth, warm cheek, melting as she sighed in response to the feel of it. He breathed her in again, placed a gentle kiss there beneath her earlobe, and grazed over her cheek once more with the stubble on his face. Gently, back and forth.
    When their eyes met, he tilted his head, asking for permission with the lift of his brow.
    She nodded slightly – a silent response – yet the best thing he’d heard in weeks – Yes.
    He pressed his mouth against hers, taunted by the silky warmth of her timid kiss. He kissed her again. And then again, encouraging her lips to part for him. He wanted more. Wanted to taste the sweet chocolate on her tongue, inhale the flavor on her breath. At last her lips parted, just slightly, as she released a soft noise of pleasure. And though he was certain her cup of cocoa had been as cool as his, all he could taste was the heat.
    Shane tilted his head, deepening the kiss. Yet just as he did, Cassie seemed to tense in response. Her hands slid from his shoulders to his chest where she pressed herself away from him.
    He’d gone too far. “Sorry,” Shane said, voice no more than a raspy whisper. He could barely open his eyes to see her, so hypnotized by the heat between them. “I didn’t mean to…”
    Cassie’s eyes were wide, nearly terrified. “I have a boyfriend,” she blurted, climbing off the couch.
    “You do?” It took him a moment to digest it. A boyfriend. She had to be kidding. “I didn’t know,” he assured her, coming to a stand.
    She was pacing now, the pink draining from her cheeks. “I can’t believe I just did that – let you kiss me that way.”
    Shane stepped around the coffee table, reached out and took hold of her wrist. He didn’t want her to think he was a predator. “Listen, I wouldn’t have done that had I known. I’m usually pretty good at reading people, not women, maybe, but still. I could’ve sworn you were…” He let the sentence die, knowing it would sound like he was blaming her for the whole thing. Though it was her fault, the way he saw it. Heck, she’d given him the okay. Was practically asking for it.
    “You know what?” he said. “It’s late. We’re both half asleep and doing things we wouldn’t normally do. Let’s just go to bed and forget about what happened.”
    Cassie stood staring at him. And though her blue eyes seemed to be pasted on his mouth, they were burdened with regret.
    He strode past her, turning his face away, unwilling to utter another word. 
    Shane closed Cassie’s side of the door before tearing off his tee shirt and flinging it across the darkened room. He stepped over to the only source of dim light gleaming beyond the large window and used the drapes to shut that out as well.
    What the hell had he been thinking? And what had she been thinking? Cassie was the one in a relationship. Scooting all close. Looking at him that way. Heck, the woman had wrapped her arms around him. He hadn’t read her wrong, and he was half-tempted to march back in there and tell her so. But he thought better of it. Doing a thing like that wouldn’t make the situation any better. What he needed was a good night’s sleep.
    His family’s silly scheme wasn’t going to work, just like he’d said. Cassie was a pretty little thing, he’d give them that, and she was more his type than he thought possible, considering where she was from. But she didn’t belong to him, and she never would. He’d just focus on keeping her safe until the danger passed. ‘Sides, she had a boyfriend waiting back home who’d be anxious to get his hands on her when it was all said and done. He might not know a thing about the man, but already Shane hated him.

CHAPTER ELEVEN
    Forget about what happened? Had he really said that? Cassie ran her trembling fingers over her still-moist lips, knowing