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He’d died and gone to sensory-overload heaven. Logan pulled Skyler close, splaying his hand along the small of her back. What he’d meant to be a playful kiss went deeper because he suddenly couldn’t get enough of the taste of her. Her curves fit nicely against him, and his blood pumped faster at the thought of seeing all those curves the way they were meant to be seen.
She broke the kiss but didn’t back away. He took that as a good sign, that and the drugged look in her eyes.
“Hey, everybody!”
Skyler jerked back a step as her attention spun toward the stage. Her friend Elissa stood at the microphone.
“We’ve got a big birthday in the house tonight.”
“I’m going to kill her,” Skyler said under her breath.
He leaned close to her. “You said that already.”
She glanced up at him. “Well, this time I mean it.”
“We’ve got a special surprise for Skyler Harrington if she’s not too busy,” Elissa said, eliciting a few laughs from the crowd.
He chuckled, too, at the teasing look on Elissa’s face.
Skyler thumped the back of her hand against his upper arm. “Cut it out. You’re already on my list.”
“Depending on the list, I might want to be on it.”
Skyler’s fair skin betrayed her as a blush crept up from her neck to her cheeks.
“You’re even prettier when you blush.”
“Hush.” The way she said it with her gaze averted made him believe that she actually liked the compliment but didn’t want to admit it.
He’d never claim to be an expert on women, but he couldn’t help thinking that Skyler just might be worth the effort to learn more. She may try to hide it, but he got the feeling there was an entirely different Skyler Harrington simmering below the surface.
Movement at the edge of the stage turned out to be another woman carrying a birthday cake complete with lit candles.
“Okay, everybody together now,” Elissa said, then launched into a rousing rendition of “Happy Birthday.”
Even as Skyler’s cheeks flamed redder, Logan joined in. Thank goodness it was a short song or Skyler might actually combust. As the song ended, everyone clapped and Skyler was urged to the stage. She walked as if she were heading to the gallows. He couldn’t decide if he wanted to laugh or wrap her in his arms and hurry her away from the crowd that was making her so uncomfortable.
Well, wasn’t that a gallant thought, so unlike him. He wasn’t a jerk when it came to women, but he’d never been a knight in shining armor either.
Gradually, the crowd filled in the space between him and Skyler as she accepted a piece of cake and was surrounded by her friends. After a couple of minutes, the music started up again and he made his way to the bar. He’d barely gotten his beer and turned around to see if he could spot Skyler in the throng when Verona stepped up next to him.
“You and Skyler seemed to be having a nice time,” she said.
“We were.”
“That’s good. She needs a night where she can loosen up a little.”
Logan didn’t respond beyond a grunt that indicated he’d heard her.
“You think you’ll be staying long?”
“Just till the rodeo’s done.”
“Oh, that’s too bad. Blue Falls is a nice place to settle down. You could ask Liam about that. He seems to like it.”
“I’m not much of the staying-in-one-place type, ma’am. Can’t make much money riding bulls if you don’t go where the bulls are.”
“I guess not.” Verona sounded as if he’d shot the air out of her very pretty balloon.
He glanced in her direction to find her scanning the crowd. He got the oddest feeling she’d stricken his name from a list and was already seeking out a new potential mate for Skyler. And damned if that didn’t make him angry.
Not for himself. What he’d told her was the truth. He was just annoyed on Skyler’s behalf. If she was the least bit like him, she didn’t like other people trying to carve out her life for her. Before he slipped and told a woman old enough to be his mother to mind her own business, he took another swig of his half-finished beer and set it on the counter behind him.
“If you’ll excuse me.” Before Verona could respond, he pushed his way into the crowd, intent on finding Skyler. The night was young, with plenty of time for more dancing and hopefully a few more kisses.
But by the time he made it to the middle of the dance floor, he noticed she was no longer near the stage. He searched the faces around him and finally spotted her heading out the front door as if the place was on fire.
Something told him he should let her go, that if he followed her, he would be getting in over his head. That thought was still repeating in his mind as his feet carried him toward the exit.
* * *
WHEN SKYLER STEPPED outside the music hall, she inhaled deeply and let it out slowly, what felt like the first true breath she’d taken since arriving. Between the crush of people, kissing Logan and then having every eye in the place turned toward her, she’d felt more and more of her breath stolen with each passing moment.
She still couldn’t believe she’d kissed Logan, someone she’d met only hours ago, right there in the middle of the dance floor. And it wasn’t just a peck either. It’d been a mind-melting, blow-her-shoes-off type of kiss. Whatever else she might say about Logan Bradshaw, the man could kiss. When his arms had pulled her close against his hard body, she’d wanted much more than kissing. Honestly, her body still hummed with that insane longing. For a crazy moment, she’d wished she was the type of carefree person who could indulge her yearnings without thinking it to death.
“Making a getaway before they spring another surprise on you?”
The sound of Logan’s voice sent a little extra jolt to that hum within her, kicking it up a notch.
She glanced toward where he stood leaning back against someone’s pickup truck. “That obvious, huh?”
He held up one hand with his thumb and forefinger nearly together. “A touch.”
“Did they send you out here to drag me back in?”
“Nope. I’m chasing you because I still intend to buy you that ice-cream cone.”
“I just had cake. The last thing I need is ice cream.”
“Don’t tell me you’re worried about your figure. Because from where I’m standing, you’re an entire ice-cream factory away from having to worry about it.”
Though it wouldn’t be visible out here in the half light of the parking lot, Skyler’s face heated at his compliment. Despite the fact that compliments probably rolled off his tongue easily because he had a lot of practice, there was a ring of truth behind his words. It might be a line, but it wasn’t a lie, at least not from his point of view. That made her stupidly happy.
Logan pushed away from the truck and walked slowly toward her. “Come on, you know you can’t resist the siren call of ice cream.”
Skyler laughed. “You’re used to getting whatever you want, aren’t you?”
Logan smiled, and it made her heart do a funny little flip.
“Good things come to those who go after them.” He leaned toward her and lowered his voice to a whisper. “And just so you know, right now that good thing isn’t the ice cream.”
“What is?”
His eyes took on a wicked gleam, the kind of wicked that tempted you to do things you’d never normally consider, not outside of your imagination, anyway. “I think you know.”
Her breath caught trying to escape her lungs. He was going to kiss her again, and oh how she wanted him to do exactly that. Only he didn’t. Instead, he slid his fingers through hers and started leading her down the sidewalk.
She searched frantically for something to say but came up empty. Was she being totally nuts, walking off into the night with a stranger without telling anyone where she was going? But it was as if a part of her that never revealed itself was in charge, telling her to enjoy the moment, the feel of his strong hand wrapped around hers, the high of having a good-looking man showing interest in her.
Sure, she went out from time to time, less than Elissa but more than India ever had, but this felt different. Electric and breathless and exciting. She had a good life, one she enjoyed, but this type of excitement never made an appearance in her safe, ordered life. She’d never known she yearned for it. Part of her still believed none of this could be real, that she had to be dreaming.
When they reached the Ice Cream Hut, Logan led her to the window. “Get whatever you want.”
Mari Brewer, the teenage daughter of Larena Brewer, the inn’s head chef, saw Skyler first. Then her eyes widened when she spotted Logan. It seemed to take a good bit of effort for her to shift her gaze back to Skyler.
“Hey, happy birthday. Sorry I couldn’t make it to the party.”
“Thanks, and don’t worry about it. I just made a quick getaway.”
“Don’t blame you.” The way Mari looked at Logan, it was obvious she would have chosen time alone with the hot guy over a building full of people, too.
“Blue Falls is growing on me.” Logan placed one hand along the lower part of Skyler’s back but propped the other forearm along the ledge outside the serving window. “Seems every woman I meet here is pretty.”
Mari smiled and laughed a little.
“Cut it out,” Skyler said, and nudged him in the ribs with her elbow. “We’re here for ice cream, not for you to hone your flirting skills.”
Instead of behaving, Logan leaned closer to the window and Mari. “Sorry, beautiful, but I think she wants me all for herself.”
Skyler rolled her eyes. “You are impossible. Mari, can I get a scoop of blueberry, please?”
“Sure.” Mari looked at Logan. “And for you?”
“Vanilla.”
When Mari turned to scoop the ice cream, Skyler faced Logan. “Vanilla, really? You don’t seem like a plain vanilla sort of guy.”
He shrugged. “Maybe I’m sweet enough without all the fancy flavors.”
Skyler snorted. “Sweet is not the word that comes to mind.”
“Then what word does?”
Skyler accepted her ice-cream cone. “You can just keep wondering about that one.”
A stream of words scrolled through her mind, but three stood out brighter and bolder and truer than all the rest. Sexy...as...sin.
But he knew that, so she wasn’t about to pad his ego by admitting her thoughts out loud. Instead, she left him waiting for his ice cream and headed toward one of the benches that sat next to the lake. The moon was rising, its reflection glittering on the surface of the water.
When Logan joined her, he sat close enough to put his arm around her. Part of her told her to shift away, but that was the part that was always so careful. Though she couldn’t explain it, tonight she wanted to pretend she was someone else, someone who wasn’t so wrapped up in the “right” way to do everything.
“This is nice,” he said after several moments went by.
She took a deep breath of the cooler night air. “Yes, it is.”
“More your speed than jumping out of airplanes?”
She smiled and glanced at him. “Understatement of the century.”
“Bet you never expected to enjoy it.”
She refocused on the water and really thought about it. Skydiving wasn’t something she would have done on her own, too many things that could go wrong, but was she glad she’d been forced into it?
“No. I still get nauseated when I think about actually doing it, but the view was incredible.”
He bumped his shoulder into hers. “See, not so bad living a little.”
“I live just fine, thank you.” She took another bite of her ice cream, hurrying to keep it from melting down the sides of the cone and all over her hand.
“That right? So what do you do on days when you’re not jumping out of planes?”
She wiped her mouth with a napkin. “I own the Wildflower Inn.” She pointed across the lake at the lights of the inn.
“That right? How many beds there?”
Skyler looked up at Logan just as he licked his ice cream. Good grief, that action made her sizzle all over. “Um...” What was she trying to remember? Oh, yeah, number of beds at the inn. She imagined Logan lying on one of those soft fluffy beds.
The lights on the Ice Cream Hut went out, cloaking Skyler and Logan in darkness. It was enough to jerk her out of her careening thoughts, ones so unlike her it was as if she’d suddenly discovered another personality inside herself.
“Thirty,” she finally remembered to say. “Well, thirty rooms. Some are singles, some doubles, a mixture.”
Logan chuckled. “I do make you nervous.”
“Yes.” Way to go, admit it again, give him even more ammunition. Make yourself look like more of a ninny.
Unable to sit still, she jumped to her feet and walked toward the garbage can to toss her trash.
“What, you don’t like cones?” Logan asked.
“No. I like to eat ice cream out of them but don’t like the cones themselves. I know, weird quirk.”
“We all have them.”
“Oh, yeah? What’s your quirk?”
He took the crunchy last bite of his cone, chewed slowly, making her nervous as he watched her without answering, then swallowed. “I like redheads.”
She laughed. “And blondes, and brunettes.”
