Sara Orwig – Kissed by a Rancher (страница 7)

“Ready,” he replied.

Abby linked arms with Mr. Hickman and was aware of Josh moving to the other side of him. Josh held the door, and finally they stepped out onto the porch and walked around the house. Her guests were clustered there, some huddled together because they hadn’t bothered to get their coats. Some gasped at the wintry scene. The wind had finally died, and the snow had stopped falling. It was a cold, clear night, and an enormous moon hovered over the horizon. The moon was a huge white ball with gray patterns on its surface. Nobody had walked through the snow beyond the house yet, and it was pristine, glistening in the bright moonlight.

“Just a minute,” Abby said, releasing Mr. Hickman’s arm and walking to one side of the crowd. “Folks, we have an old Texas legend about the moon. If you’ll move over here on the porch where I’m standing, you can see two oak trees in the yard with entwined branches.” She waited a moment as the group clustered around her.

“The full moon shining on those oak trees sometimes casts a heart-shaped shadow. There’s an old legend here that if two people kiss in that shadow, they will fall in love with each other for the rest of their lives. If you want to see the shadow, you have to stand on this part of the porch, or if you’re in the yard, stand right in front of the porch at this place.”

“Has anyone who has stayed at the inn ever seen it and kissed in the shadow?” someone asked.

“Oh, yes,” Abby said. “Including my grandparents. My grandfather died very young, so my grandmother wasn’t married long, but she always loved him and has never remarried.” Talking softly, people turned to watch as shadows across the snow changed gradually.

“So, have you ever kissed in this shadow?” a deep voice asked beside Abby. She turned to glance at Josh, thankful for the darkness that hid a blush warming her cheeks.

“No, I haven’t. There—look, Josh, I think the shadow is forming,” she whispered, watching the shifting dark patterns on the dazzling white snow. The crowd became silent, seemingly transfixed.

There was a collective gasp when a heart-shaped shadow became visible. People began to call out about it and hold up their phones to take pictures. One couple ran down the porch steps to kiss in the shadow. Two more couples joined them, and little kids laughed and clapped. Someone whistled.

“We can’t waste that,” Josh said, taking her hand and hurrying down the steps.

“Josh—”

“It’s only a kiss,” he said, rushing to stand in the shadow of the heart and pull her to him.

“This is absurd,” she said, laughing, her own heart pounding wildly. “Suppose it comes true? We don’t even know each other. You’re tempting fate. We might not like each other—”

“We’ll find out,” he said, wrapping his arms around her and leaning down to kiss her. His mouth covered hers.

Shocked, excited, caught off guard, she thought this kiss was the craziest thing she had ever done in her quiet, ordinary life. And then she stopped thinking and was consumed by his kiss, which built a fire deep within her. She couldn’t get her breath. She became oblivious to the cold, the snow and the people around her, as well as the knowledge that she barely knew Josh. All she was aware of was his mouth on hers, his arms banding her tightly, holding her against his solid, warm length.

She had never been kissed like this, held like this. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him passionately in return. The reason for their kiss vanished. All she knew was Josh, his hard strength, his tongue that took her breath completely and stirred her desire to a level she hadn’t experienced before.

With Josh’s kiss, her world and her life underwent a change as subtle as the shifting shadows around her, but in another way, a change far more monumental. Desire burned hotly, enveloping her, permeating her being. She clung tightly to him, kissing him in a way she had never kissed any other man.

At some point she realized where she was and what she was doing. With an effort she stepped back. As they broke apart, people clapped again, laughed and whistled. She was thankful for the darkness, because her face burned from embarrassment as she tried to smile but couldn’t.

For once, Josh’s ever-ready smile didn’t appear. He stared at her.

“We drew a crowd,” she said quietly. “That shadow is long gone.”

“Yeah.”

She turned away. Josh caught her hand as people clapped again. “Bow,” he said. “We have an audience. Let’s join the fun, and the moment will pass. Sort of.”

She curtsied as Josh bowed again.

The crowd broke up. Kids were tossing snowballs, and several had started a snowman. The snow crunched beneath their feet as they walked back to the inn. They stopped to accompany Mr. Hickman.

“Josh is an enterprising young man,” Mr. Hickman said, laughter in his voice. “I shall try to prevail upon him to go fishing with me.”

“That would be nice,” she said, thinking Josh would never come back to Beckett, and he probably was too busy to fish often. When he did, she suspected he flew to Colorado or Idaho or some location where fishing was much more challenging and satisfying than a stocked pond in a small west Texas town.

They went inside and put away their coats. “Want to finish our game?” Josh asked Mr. Hickman.

“Yes, indeed, and then it will be my bedtime.”

“See you later,” Josh said to her, and the two men turned to go to their game. One of the guests stopped to ask her if they would be having cocoa later.

“Yes. Would you and your family like some now? I can make it now just as easily.”

“That would be wonderful. I’ll come help.”

“You don’t need to. I’ll announce it as soon as it’s ready. It doesn’t really take long.”

“Thank you, Abby. We all look forward to your homemade hot cocoa,” the petite blonde said. “I’ll tell my family and the others.”

Abby hurried to the kitchen, trying to focus on making hot cocoa for everyone and keeping Josh’s kiss out of her thoughts for now. She failed to stop thinking about him, but she had made cocoa so many times in her life, she could do what she needed to without much thought.

Finally she escaped to her room for a moment to catch her breath. As soon as she shut her door, she leaned against it. Remembering Josh’s kiss, she closed her eyes. Why did she have this huge reaction to Josh, of all people, who would go out of her life as swiftly as he had come into it?

Three

Abby crossed the room to look into the mirror. She should look different, but she didn’t. She felt different, as if Josh’s kiss had somehow in some subtle manner changed her permanently.

She knew she had lived a sheltered, quiet life, but she had no idea a man’s kiss could ignite a raging fire in her.

It was just as well he would soon leave. Occasionally men would stay at the inn who were charming and single. They would flirt and ask her out, and she had always turned them down. There had never been anybody she had particularly wanted to go out with, and she had never had a reason to cause any ripples in her relationship with Lamont. She had always felt secure, comfortable and reasonably happy with him, but was she cutting deep joy and fun out of her life? There were other nice guys in Beckett and areas close around. Answering Josh’s questions about Lamont made her realize her romantic relationship with her old friend was almost nonexistent. Had she let the hurt caused by her father influence her too strongly? She went out with Lamont because it was convenient and easy.

Josh had not asked her out, and she didn’t expect he would. Any day now he’d pack and go, and she would never see him again. How long would it take to forget his kiss?

Was that going to dim her relationship with Lamont, whose kisses were bland and far from exciting? Was she missing out on life, as Josh had accused her?

Was she settling for a dull, uneventful future with Lamont simply because it was safe and convenient? And was it even fair to Lamont?

Should she and Lamont date other people? If Josh asked her out, would she feel free to accept if she and Lamont didn’t have an agreement to see others?

For the first time, she wanted out of the arrangement she had simply drifted into with Lamont. With uncustomary impulsiveness, she called him on his cell.

“Have you got a moment to talk, Lamont?”

“I need a short break, so yes, I’ll take a minute. Why do taxes seem to have more rules each year?”

“I don’t know much about that. Lamont, I’ve been thinking about us, that we should start going out with other people. We’ve sort of wandered into a relationship that I’m having some second thoughts about.”

“Abby, we’re just alike, so we’re very compatible. And this is a terrible time for me to make major changes in my life. Maybe you should rethink this. I’m sorry if I’ve neglected you somewhat, but we don’t usually go out during tax season, at least not in late March.”

“I want to be free to date others, and I think it would do you good to do so, too. We may be in a rut.” There was a long period of silence. She hated to upset him, but she still felt she should break it off with him, at least for a while.