“He was a bit much, wasn’t he?” The sound of Fin’s delightful laughter sent a wave of heat streaking from the top of his head all the way to the soles of his size 13 boots.
Travis nodded as he touched the silky strands of her auburn hair with his index finger. “Old Ornery crossed the line between providing good service and being a pain in the butt.”
When he moved his hand to lightly stroke the satiny skin at the nape of her neck, he felt her tremble. It was only the slightest of movements, but there was no mistaking that she was feeling the same overwhelming pull that he was.
As he watched, she closed her eyes and leaned back into his touch. “You know what Jessie was up to this evening, don’t you?”
Putting his arm around Fin’s slender shoulders, he pulled her closer to his side. “Our daughter is trying to set us up.”
“That would be my guess.” Fin’s voice was softer than usual and she sounded a little breathless.
“Jess has been after me for quite a while to improve my social life.” He chuckled. “Before she moved here, she even hinted that I’d been hiding out on the ranch ever since my wife died.”
Fin nodded. “I’ve been accused of using my career to avoid becoming involved with anyone.”
“Have you?” Realizing that she might be offended by his question, he shook his head. “It’s really none of my business.”
“I don’t mind.” She opened her eyes to look at him. “I haven’t been using my career as an excuse. I’m just not good at relationships.” She smiled. “As long as we’re being honest about it, what about you? What’s your excuse?”
He wasn’t sure how to answer. It had taken him a few years, but he’d finally moved past the grief and accepted that he and his wife, Lauren, had been robbed of growing old together. But getting back into the dating pool seemed a little ridiculous at his age. And to be truthful about it, he hadn’t really wanted to expend the energy to try.
“Some people might call it hiding out.” He shrugged. “I think it’s been more a case of not knowing how to be single again. I met my wife when I was nineteen years old and we were together until she passed away a few years back. If I have any dating skills left, they’re pretty rusty. And besides, the rules of the game have changed quite a bit over the past thirty years.”
She smiled. “Some of us were never good at the rules to begin with.”
When his gaze met hers, he seriously doubted that Fin had any problems with dating protocol or with men asking her out. She most likely had them lined up from one end of the city to the other just waiting for any indication she’d be willing to grace them with her companionship.
“You’re probably a lot better at it than you think, sweetheart.”
Staring into her beautiful emerald eyes, Travis couldn’t have stopped himself from leaning forward to press a kiss to her perfect lips if his life depended on it. But instead of the brief, friendly peck he’d intended, the feel of her lips as she kissed him back sent a wave of longing all the way to his soul and he didn’t think twice about taking the kiss to the next level.
When Travis’s firm masculine lips moved over hers with such tenderness that it brought tears to her eyes, Fin felt something warm and inviting blossom deep inside of her. The feeling quickly spread to fill every corner of her being.
Never in all of her thirty-eight years of life could she remember a kiss being as enchanting, as compelling, as his gentle caress.
Without a thought to the consequences or the fact that they were playing a game that could very well end in disaster, not to mention destroy her newfound relationship with Jessie, Fin didn’t so much as hesitate to move closer and wrap her arms around Travis’s broad shoulders. Is was totally insane, but she wanted to feel his strength surrounding her, needed to once again savor the taste of his masculine desire.
When he traced the soft fullness of her lower lip, she felt as if the blood in her veins turned to warm honey and she opened for him on a ragged sigh. Every detail of their night together in Colorado came rushing back as he tasted and explored her with tender care, and Fin felt her body tingle to life as he coaxed her to respond.
She’d never thought of herself as a sensual being, but in Travis’s arms she felt more sexy, more alive than she’d ever felt in her life, and she tentatively met his demands by stroking his tongue with the tip of her own. His deep groan and the tightening of his arms around her was her reward. Feeling more feminine and powerful than she had in a very long time, she pressed herself to his wide chest. Heat flowed through her from the top of her head all the way to the tips of her toes as he stroked the tender inner recesses of her mouth. Fin could have no more stopped the insanity than she could stop her next breath.