Free Rocky Mountain Match by Pamela Nissen Page B

positioned here and there in an order all their own. The quaint little valley nestled in between the mountains.
    “It must be a beautiful day,” he said. “The sun’s already bearing down and it can’t be past ten o’clock. How ’bout if we find some shade so you don’t get too hot?”
    “I don’t mind the sunshine if you don’t.”
    Slowing his pace, he came to a stop, turning her toward him. Tenderly slipping his fingers down her slender arm,lightly covered in soft cotton fabric, he grasped her hand—so petite in his, so smooth, so perfect. When he held her hand, his nerve endings hummed to an altogether different awareness. He could hear her breath catch in her throat, could almost feel her pulse pounding a rapid beat at her wrist. Threading his fingers through hers, he gave her hand a gentle squeeze, thankful for her presence today.
    “No…I don’t mind sunshine at all.” Joseph’s throat had gone thick and suddenly raw. “Sunshine.”
    Every moment spent together made him desire her brightness in his life all the more. As much as he wanted to rein in his heart, he felt helpless to hold it back. He may as well have been trying to lasso the wind. Like warm embers glowing to life by a gentle breath, his feelings for Katie sparked brighter.
    Was he playing with fire? What if he’d never see anything more than dim shadows for the rest of his life? He wouldn’t strap a woman with that—especially not Katie. Even though she was used to being around blind people, he wouldn’t think to saddle her with that until death do them part. She deserved a whole man, not half a man. No matter how seemingly normal she said his life could be without sight, he’d never be a whole man, able to see trouble before it came, able to protect the ones he loved, able to provide an adequate living.
    No. He’d have to bat down his heart until he knew what his future held. If his vision was restored, there’d be nothing stopping him from pursuing Katie. But if his vision didn’t change, he’d have to settle for simple friendship with her.
    Shrugging off the pain searing his heart at the thought,he released her hand and reached down to ruffle the fur on Boone’s boxy head. “Come on, boy. I intend to enjoy the sunshine while I can.”
     
    Katie’s hand still tingled from his touch. It felt as though his long, work-worn fingers lingered there, entwined in hers still, even though she and Joseph had been settled beneath the majestic tree for nearly an hour already. She brushed her fingertips across her lips. However gentle and tentative his grasp, the contact had affected her far more than she could’ve imagined.
    And far more than she could allow to happen again.
    She had to remain professional. She couldn’t allow her emotions to wander about, unchecked. It just wasn’t safe. Not when everything within her felt a strange pull to this man.
    She stared down at the colorful scrap quilt where Joseph had stretched out on his back, hands stacked beneath his head. Her gaze roamed to his lips. The smile she’d glimpsed there the past few days had warmed her from the inside out. Her gaze lingered on his defined chest muscles stretching taut his cotton shirt. What would it be like to rest in the strong protection of his embrace? He was beautiful and honorable. So masculine and so…so taken!
    She slammed her gaze down to where she’d clasped her hands in her lap. He obviously had an attachment to Miss Cranston that Katie would never be able to figure out. Why a humble man like Joseph would be attracted to a woman like Julia Cranston—so full of herself and thoughtless—was beyond Katie. She’d dismissed the possibility in the past couple of days, thinking perhaps therelationship was just one-sided, but after seeing the way he’d embraced Julia this morning, Katie’s certainty crumbled like a day-old biscuit.
    She was so confused. Had she read more into Joseph’s touch and his sentiments than he’d intended? She must