Page 14 of The Cowboy’s Secret Lover

“Elated,” said Kurt. Yet, he couldn’t miss the fact that she was upset.

“I should go.” She turned from him and strode toward the door.

Kurt caught up to her in two strides. “Hold on,” he said, reaching for her arm. “You don’t need to leave yet. You just got here.”

“The way I figure it,” said Faith. “Now that you’ve gotten what you wanted you don’t need me around anymore.”

“You can stay for a little bit, can’t you? I can fix you a drink or something and we can catch up.”

“Don’t you think that we’re reacquainted by now?”

Kurt wasn’t about to plead with Faith to stay, even though he didn’t want her to leave. Then again, he knew that there was really nothing he could say. As teenagers, he and Faith had more problems beyond her going to college and him staying in Bear Creek.

In school, she’d been a strict follower of rules.

For Kurt, rules were made to be broken.

She was the daughter of the district attorney and her mother was the President of the local Junior League.

Kurt’s dad skipped town before Kurt started school. To make ends meet, Kurt’s mom worked the midnight shift at the local gas station and cleaned houses during the day.

Faith had good grades. She sang in the church choir. She was captain of both the cheer squad and the Science Olympiad team.

Kurt on the other hand, was a poor kid, living in a small house a mile outside of town. He barely passed any of his classes and didn’t have a direction until he was hired as a part-time field hand on the Radford’s ranch. Mable Radford treated Kurt like one of her own and Mathew introduced him to the rodeo.

Even then, Kurt had been a hellion. But the rodeo was a good a place as any if you’re going to raise a little hell.

Sure, years had passed. But maybe nothing much had changed.

Besides, hadn’t she walked out of his life once? Wasn’t it best to let her leave again?

Why then was he moving toward her, reaching for her arm. “Stay,” he said.

His fingertips grazed her shoulder and she stopped. “Why?” she asked.

“Because.” Kurt cursed. He knew what he felt but didn’t know what to say. “Because,” he tried again. “I won’t let you walk away from me a second time.”

“I never walked away from you,” she said, poking a finger into his chest.

Kurt moved forward, crowding Faith. She backed up, stopping when she was trapped between Kurt and the wall. Placing his hands on either side of her shoulders, he leaned forward. Her scent washed over him, and his pulse began to race. He remembered the feel of her firm breasts beneath his palm, the quiver of her thighs, and whatever he wanted to say left his mind. He leaned forward, drawn to her as if she were a magnet. Her neck was long and graceful. Her cheeks were smooth and pink. Her lips were full and the color of spring’s first blooms.

For the briefest of moments, Kurt was seventeen again and Faith was his entire world.

Yet, he was no longer a kid, unsure of who he was and what he wanted.

And Faith? She’d become a complete woman.

“What are you doing?” she asked, interrupting his reverie.

“You smell nice,” he said.

“I smell like the hospital—soap and disinfectant. That’s hardly nice.”

“You smell like sugar and roses,” he said. “Just like always.”

“I doubt you remember much about me,” she said. His eye was drawn to the pulse that fluttered at the base of her throat. “I’d almost completely forgotten about you.”

A slow smile spread across Kurt’s lips. “Liar. Your heartbeat is racing.”