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He hesitated, his eyes searching mine, and for a moment, I thought he might say no. But then he breathed out, “Yes.”
“Okay,” I remained calm, although everything inside me screamed at the thought of walking away.
“What?” His confusion was unmistakable, as if he hadn’t expected me to agree.
“I just need to get my goodbye kiss,” I said, and before he could respond, I reached out, grabbed him by the hood of his coat, and pulled him closer. He was a breath away, and I released my hold and waited for him to step back or punch me. He did neither. He stared at me, his expression unreadable. “You can stop me,” I murmured, kissing him and waiting.
His hands were on me in an instant, gripping my arms as he kissed me, then holding me as if he couldn’t get enough. The kiss was rough and desperate, leaving me breathless and aching for more.
I let my hands wander, wishing I could feel the solid muscle I knew was beneath his coat, desperate for the heat of his skin beneath my fingertips. He would be so warm, and I wanted to lose myself in him, to forget everything except how he made me feel. But as quickly as it started, he pulled back, breathless and confused.
“That was some goodbye kiss,” I said, my voice barely above a whisper, and then I turned and walked away, the rain swallowing the sound of my footsteps.
As I left, I could still taste him on my lips, feel the press of his body against mine.
What was I playing at?
And why couldn’t I stop?
Chapter Ten
NEIL
It had beenfive days since that kiss on the porch and a week since the storm, but the evidence of both still circled me. For some reason, Connor was staying away, and it confused me, irritated me, and left me relieved at the same time.
The storm’s powerful impact remained, particularly to the west of town. The roads bore the brunt of the damage, and the crew from Wyoming Roads and Highways were out fixing whatever they deemed an emergency, which meant the main road out of the town was blocked. Drivers had to take a detour that extended their journey from one mile to fifteen miles, and the office phone never stopped ringing with complaints about the inconvenience. There wasn’t much I could do as sheriff except reassure people that everything was scheduled as much as possible, considering how badly other towns had been hit.
If I wasn’t avoiding the phones, I was avoidinganywhere Connor might be. This meant no visits to the diner and no decent breakfast or coffee, leading to one grumpy sheriff. It was shit that I didn’t see him, and I still couldn’t get him or his kisses out of my head. What was wrong with the man?
I was the sheriff who kept everything in order. But Connor? He was chaos incarnate, and right now, I needed control.
Which is something I didn’t have whenever Mom called.
“I get that, Mom,” I said for the tenth time in this conversation. Dad was ornery—her words, not mine. He couldn’t understand why he couldn’t drive to visit his buddy Clive in Collier Springs.
Clive, who’d died five years ago.
“I don’t know what to do…” She started to cry, and my heart hurt for her and my dad, but in a different way. He and I might not have been close, but I was his family, and it hurt that he was slowly becoming less than he wanted to be. “I don’t know how to stop him from leaving!”
“All the doors are locked, right?”
“Of course, I’m a prisoner in my own home!” Mom snapped and then sobbed. “I’m sorry, sweetheart. I’m sorry. This isn’t on you.”
“It’s okay, Mom, I love you. Have you tried putting onM*A*S*H?”
“That was the first thing.”
“What about his phone?”
“It’s charging. I can give it to him in a moment.”
“That will help.”
“It’s at fifty-three percent. Is that enough?”
“Sure, Mom.” I made a mental note to buy some backup phones so this charging issue wouldn’t happen again.
“It’s not fair, Neil. We were supposed to travel.”
