Free Montana Midwife by Cassie Miles Page A

face, he reminded her of that iconic image of the perfect man she’d seen on that night so long ago when he was walking his dog. “Whatever happened to Reilly?”
    “My border collie? Oh, man, I loved that dog.” His mouth relaxed into a smile. “I miss good old Reilly. He died last year and I buried him up on the hill. Why do you ask?”
    She really couldn’t say. Standing this close to him had turned her into a tongue-tied sixteen-year-old with a heartrending crush. “I don’t know.”
    With the back of his hand, he smoothed a wisp of hair off her cheek. “We’ve been through a lot together, Tab. But I hardly know you.”
    Her chin tilted upward. The intense focus of his gray eyes warmed her. A trembling heat rippled through her body. “What do you want to know?”
    His hand nestled on the nape of her neck under her braid, and he held her in place. When he leaned closer, she knew he was about to kiss her, and the anticipation was almost more than she could stand. Her knees turned to jelly. For years, she’d dreamed of this moment.
    His lips touched hers. The light pressure intoxicated her. This is it. This moment was something she’d waited for and imagined and cherished. She wanted more, and she couldn’t hold back. Her level of excitement surged off the charts, and her heart raced madly. If she’d been hooked to a monitor, the machine would have exploded. She pressed her mouth harder against his. Their gentle kiss became fierce and passionate.
    Her arm flung around his neck. Her body molded to his. She wanted to feel him in every fiber of her being. His arm snuggled around her waist and yanked her so tightly against him that her breasts crushed against his hard-muscled chest.
    This kiss was as wonderful as she had imagined. Better, it was better because it was real and not the fantasy of a lovesick girl. In his arms, she was a woman.
    Gasping, she ended the kiss and tucked her head into the crook of his neck. When her eyes closed, a tear squeezed through her lashes and slipped down her cheek.
    “I’ll stay the night,” she whispered.
    Tonight and tomorrow and the next day, she wanted to stay with him, even if it meant she might get hurt. Some risks were worth the pain.

Chapter Eight
    As they walked toward the house, Aiden’s mind was a thousand miles away. His instincts told him to fling Tab over his shoulder, carry her back to his cabin and make love to her real slow. The rational side of his mind reined him back. Too soon, it was too soon. He probably shouldn’t have kissed her in the first place, but he was glad he did. For a woman who acted so professional, she sure as hell had a wild side and a sexy energy that bowled him over. That wasn’t a friendly little kiss. It was foreplay.
    “Aiden,” she said, “are you listening?”
    “I drifted off for a moment.” He shook off his fantasies and dismissed the image of her lying in her bed with her long black hair spread across the pillows. “You were saying?”
    “When Misty was talking to the sheriff about her wristwatch, she was holding something back.”
    “She was lying?”
    “Not lying, but not telling everything. It had something to do with a party.”
    With an effort, he tamped down his desire. “I gave her that pretty gold watch, and I thought it meant something to her. I’m surprised she lost it.”
    “She didn’t misplace it,” Tab said. “She argued with the girl who was murdered, Ellen Jessop, and ended up throwing the watch at her.”
    Pitching a tantrum sounded exactly like something Misty would do. Not only did she have a temper but she often acted in haste without considering the consequences. “Did she ask for the watch back?”
    “Not according to her.”
    Approaching the wide porch that stretched across the front of the house, he noticed that the sheriff’s vehicle was still there. “I’m guessing that the sheriff talked to her while we were gone. She’s got to tell the truth, but I hope that being honest won’t