It Takes a Cowboy

She skillfully evaded his hands. “No.”

“No?”

“No. It was an impulse. The natural outcome of a cozy, late-night conversation over fudge ice cream. It won’t happen again.”

Hands on his hips, he lowered his chin and looked at her through his lashes in a pose she was beginning to recognize. “Never?”

“Never.”

“Why?”

“Why?” She realized she was blankly parroting him. Swallowing, she tried to regain command of a situation that had rapidly gotten out of control. “I think it’s obvious that this isn’t a good idea. We’re here because of Jeffrey, and that’s the only reason. I’m not interested in anything else.”

“You seemed very interested a few moments ago,” he murmured.

“Yes, well, that was a mistake.”

“Kissing me was a mistake?”

“Would you please stop repeating me? Yes, it was a mistake. It won’t happen again. You aren’t interested in a long-term relationship that would interfere with your adventuring, and I don’t indulge in short-term flings. Even if I didn’t have an impressionable child to be responsible for, that isn’t my style. There’s really no point in letting something like this happen again.”

“So why did you kiss me, Blair?”

After a momentary hesitation, she gave a slight shrug. “Let’s just say I have an occasional fantasy of my own.” And had Jeffrey not been sleeping so close by, she might very well have indulged herself, she realized with half-guilty regret.

Scott lifted his head, and a glimmer of what might have been amusement appeared in his eyes. “You be sure and let me know if there are any other fantasies I can fulfill for you.”

“I’ll do that,” she answered coolly.

For some reason she couldn’t begin to fathom, he was suddenly in a cheerful mood again. He made an expansive gesture toward the doorway. “Allow me to escort you back to your staircase.”

Eyeing him suspiciously, she moved ahead of him and resisted the impulse to run. She didn’t look at him as she started up the stairs. “Good night, Scott.”

“Good night, Blair. Pleasant dreams.”

She’d made it almost to the top when he spoke again, his voice a deep rumble in the shadows. “Blair?”

She paused. “Yes?”

“You’re deceiving yourself if you think that’s not going to happen again. And next time, you won’t push me away.”

He’d disappeared into his bedroom before she could think of the words to adequately express her disagreement with his outrageous prediction.

She never should have given in to her curiosity, she told herself with a muffled groan. It had been a mistake to give an inch to a man who never hesitated to take a mile.

*

IT WAS NO SURPRISE that Blair hardly slept a wink during the remainder of the night. She tossed and turned, dozed, then woke to replay Scott’s kiss at least a dozen times in her mind. She worried that something similar would happen again—then feared she would regret it if it didn’t. It was almost dawn when she fell into a restless sleep, which meant that it was a bit later than usual when she woke. Dragging a hand through her tangled hair, dreading that first moment when she would see Scott again, she stumbled into the bathroom to make herself presentable. She quickly showered and dressed, thinking it better if she didn’t go down in pajamas this morning.

Scott’s bedroom door opened just as Blair reached the bottom of the stairs. He stepped out, yawning, looking as though he’d managed little more sleep than she had. He paused when he spotted her. “Good morning.”

“Good morning,” she replied, not quite meeting his eyes.

“Sleep well?”

“Very. You?”

“Oh, yeah. Great. Looks like Jeff’s sleeping in.” He nodded toward the closed door of the other bedroom.