A Home of Her Own (Dundee, Idaho #4)(51)
Author: Brenda Novak

He grabbed her arm. “Lucky.”

“What?”

“Come here.”

“No.”

“Yes. Sleep with me for a little while.”

“I don’t need that,” she said. “Please don’t feel you have to stay for me.” The last thing she wanted from Mike Hill was his pity.

“I’m not doing it for you.” He ran a finger down her arm. “I’m doing it for me.”

MIKE BREATHED DEEPLY, taking in the fresh clean scent of Lucky’s hair. The sunlight inching across the bedroom floor made him all too aware that he needed to get up and see to the horses. Fernando was off for Christmas. But it was Christmas for him, too, and he didn’t want to leave Lucky.

Sliding his hand up her bare stomach to cup her breast, he leaned over to see her eyes flutter open.

“Is it morning already?” she asked, blinking up at him.

“Yes.”

“I didn’t think you’d still be here.”

He hadn’t planned on staying the whole night.

“What’s the matter?” Lucky murmured, gazing up at him.

He was frowning at some red marks on her neck, probably from the chafing of his whiskers. But he couldn’t help admiring the disheveled look of her hair, the endearing sleepiness in her face. Her expression was about as unguarded as he’d ever seen Lucky in daylight. “A certain saying.”

“What saying?”

He kissed her neck to make up for the redness. “Between a rock and a hard place.”

Her eyes narrowed. “And I’m sure that has nothing to do with me.”

“Nothing whatsoever,” he lied and rolled onto his back, taking her with him.

“You never moved your truck,” she said, resting her chin on her hands and looking down at him.

Chuckling, he toyed with the ends of the long, thick hair that had swept over his body, as soft as silk, when she’d kissed his chest and then his stomach before moving lower…. “You kept me too busy.”

She gave him a wicked grin. “Don’t blame me if you get caught.”

“But it was your fault. I didn’t have the strength to leave. It’s hard for an old guy like me to keep up with a young woman like you.”

Her brow furrowed. “Young woman?”

“Excuse me. Woman.”

“Don’t,” she said.

“Don’t what?”

“Young woman? Old guy?” she repeated. “Where’s that coming from?”

“I’m nearly forty, Lucky.”

“Oh! I didn’t know.” She feigned shock as she sat up and drew the sheet over her. “Maybe you should’ve said something sooner. Last night probably never would’ve happened had I known what an old man you are.”

He sat up, too. “I’m saying that fifteen years is a lot.”

“You’re saying it’s too much.”

Did it matter what he was saying? A great deal more stood between them than age. He thought about Senator Holbrook’s offer, and rubbed a hand down his face. “It is too much.”

Her expression turned to one of disgust as she shook her head. “You’d better go before someone sees your truck.”

Just like that, Lucky had thrown up the invisible barrier that separated her from everyone else, including him. After last night, he needed to put her on notice that what they’d shared couldn’t last. It would be unfair, maybe even cruel, not to do so. But he hadn’t expected her to withdraw so quickly and completely.

“Lucky…”

She resisted when he tried to pull her to him. “Give me some credit, Mike,” she said. “I know what you’re trying to do—I understand the situation.”

She was going where he’d been trying to lead her and yet he was the one who seemed to be having trouble adjusting. “Last night was…incredible. I didn’t want it to confuse you.”

Her bare shoulders lifted in a slight shrug. “I’m not confused. Last night was Christmas Eve.”

“What does that mean?”

“It was a nice fantasy.”

They’d shared some pretty intimate moments, moments of pure reality, but she obviously wasn’t willing to acknowledge them right now. Mike almost said so, then realized he’d switched sides. Evidently he was more confused than she was. Instead of explaining all the reasons they’d be crazy to attempt a real relationship, all the people they’d hurt if they continued seeing each other, he wanted to kiss her until she slipped her arms around his neck and brought him down on top of her.

What the hell was wrong with him? He’d always kept a cool head with women, always been capable of letting go easily.

But a cool head was easier when he had a lukewarm heart.

Wait a second. His heart wasn’t really involved in this, he told himself firmly, and got up to gather his clothes. Lucky was young and beautiful, misunderstood and misjudged. She incited his passion and his protective instincts. That was all. He’d make Senator Holbrook’s offer, just not today. Today he’d go home and gain some perspective—somehow. But pounding at the front door surprised him before he could even pull on his pants.

LUCKY FELT the glower slide from her face as the knock downstairs came again. “What should I do?”

Mike started moving more quickly, trying to get dressed. “Who do you think it is?”

Anxiety joined all her other mixed emotions. “I have no idea. The only person who ever comes over is Mr. Sharp. And he’s off until after the first of the year.”

He zipped his pants but didn’t bother to button them because he was in too much of a hurry to find his shirt.

“Maybe if I don’t answer, whoever it is will go away,” she said, but she knew that wasn’t very likely when another knock sounded, more insistent than the last.

“Go ahead and answer it,” he said.

“What about your truck?”

“I have several trucks. Say you borrowed it.”

“Okay.” She could tell Mike didn’t believe that the excuse he’d given her would fool anybody. Neither did she, but she couldn’t come up with any better excuse for his truck to be parked in her drive. She certainly didn’t want anyone to know they were sleeping together. Mike had always been respected and admired in Dundee. She didn’t want to leave town knowing she’d changed all that.

Grabbing her robe, she pulled it on and hurried from the room.

“I’m coming,” she called as she neared the door.