Page 49 of Where She Belongs

Another groan of embarrassment burst out of her and she shook her head as she tossed her washcloth to the side. No more making a fool of herself. This was the wake-up call she needed. Rylee had come to Rocky Ridge to find herself, not to lose herself to someone else.

She combed her fingers through her hair before picking out a pair of cozy pajamas. It had gotten colder on her walk back to her house. And when she’d glanced at the sky before entering the house, she wondered if Jason had been right after all.

If he was, then that meant it was the perfect evening for a book, hot chocolate, and building a fire in the fireplace. So that was what she would do.

Rylee ended up skipping the hot chocolate and changed it out for some herbal tea. Her nerves were a mess and she couldn’t stop obsessing over the look on Tate’s face. Disinterest? Nerves? No, he couldn’t have been nervous. She’d been the one to surprise him. She’d been the one to put herself out there.

She squeezed her eyes shut as if it would help fight off the embarrassment that was quickly turning into the strangest form of heartburn. No more of those thoughts.

Tea. Book. Fire.

The second she settled into her seat and flipped the book open on her lap, lightning flickered outside her window. Rylee startled and stared out the glass into the darkness. A few seconds later, thunder rolled. She tightened her hold on the book and snuggled deeper into the cushions. The storm reminded her of that first night when she’d been stuck in a house without power. Thankfully, that wasn’t going to happen again. Not after they’d figured everything out.

As hard as she tried to focus on the western romance in her hands, Rylee’s thoughts kept going to her real-life cowboy. While she was definitely attracted to him, Tate was just a friend. He’d made that clear enough. Why would she want to jeopardize that? Doing so would only end up with one or both of them hurting.

When she realized she’d read the same paragraph three times without letting any of it sink in, she tossed the book aside and closed her eyes. Rain pelted the windows now, making the perfect form of white noise. Her eyes drooped.

There was one good thing that came out of this embarrassing evening. She hadn’t confessed her feelings outright. She hadn’t told him that she thought he was handsome and sweet. And he hadn’t outright turned her down.

Man, that would have been mortifying. Especially after the girls got her all worked up.

All Rylee had to do was keep her distance until the middle of next week and then she could pretend that awkward situation never happened. Hopefully Tate was denser than she’d made him out to be.

A knock on the door had her startling so much she yelped and pulled her blanket tighter around her. Rylee peered across the room toward the door and waited for the knock to happen again. The rain was really coming down now. And from the sound of it, the wind had picked up. No one in their right mind would be out and about in this weather unless it was an emergency.

She sighed when nothing happened, but she wasn’t able to close her eyes again. Her focus flicked to the fire, and she wondered how hard it would be to put it out so she could go to bed.

Then another knock pounded on her door, this one like the person on the other side was slamming a fist against the wood. Rylee scrambled to her feet, her blanket wrapped around her. Then she headed toward the door, her nerves through the roof.

When she reached it, she peered through the peephole and gasped. Standing out on the porch, dripping wet, was Tate Dennison.

She yanked open the door. “Tate! What are you doing?”

He braced himself, each hand on either side of the door frame. His head hung low, and he lifted it only when she was done speaking. Rivulets of water dripped down the sides of his face, but it was the fire in his eyes that stole her breath.

Rylee blinked several times and nothing came. All she could manage was one word. “Tate?”

At first, he didn’t move. Then he dropped his hands to his sides and stepped back. “Do you mind if I come in?”

“Um, sure. Of course.” She nodded, then turned to watch him walk in, pressing the door shut behind her with a quiet click.

Tate paced in front of her.

Back and forth.

Back and forth.

He was breathing heavy as if he’d run the whole way here and based on how drenched he was, she wouldn’t have been surprised if he admitted to doing just that.

“Tate, are you okay?” she finally managed to ask when he didn’t speak right away.

He stopped short and she gasped again. She knew he wouldn’t hurt her. She wasn’t scared of him. And yet the way his frantic gaze continued to find hers made it impossible not to believe that something had happened. “Is it your brother? Sisters? What’s going on?”

Tate seemed to hesitate. Then that indecision slipped away and was replaced with a fierce determination. In three swift steps, he ate up the distance between them. Then he took her face in his hands.

His large palms were cool against her flush cheeks, stealing the heat from her body and giving it back doubled when his lips met hers. Sparks went off behind her closed eyelids and her body went stiff for a moment with that jolt of surprise.

Then all at once, her body melted. A quiet moan escaped her lips as she leaned into him. Her fingers curled into his wet shirt and she tugged him closer, allowing herself to get lost in him—get lost in this moment.