“What?” She was all big-eyed innocence.
“This.” He leaned over and gave her what was meant to be a playful kiss. But as their lips clung, he felt her catch fire. He turned in the seat, using both his arms to mold her against him. He felt the little catch of her breath, the pounding of her heart against his as her mouth softened, lips parting, opening to welcome the thrust of his tongue.
A moan rose in her throat as their mouths played with each other, exploring, taking time. Her hands cupped his head, one finger circling the contours of his ear. The light contact sent a hot current pulsing through Conner’s body. He could feel the need, the mounting desire. He fought the temptation to slide a hand beneath her sweater and touch her in intimate ways, right here in the theater with the movie playing on the screen.
What was he thinking?
“Damn it, woman,” he growled. “If we don’t stop now, what you’re doing to me is going to get us in trouble.”
Flushed and breathless, she pulled away as he released her. Their timing was good. A family with teenagers, and what appeared to be elderly grandparents, filed into the theater and took seats a few rows in front of them. She gave him a smile.
“I think we’d better just watch the movie,” she whispered.
He leaned back with a sigh, caught her hand, and cradled it in his. Even that chaste contact of her warm skin with his was enough to send his senses spinning.
He might have suggested that they leave for the privacy of the Jeep, but Megan really seemed into the movie. He watched a tear trickle down her cheek as Jimmy Stewart came home to his family, saved at last, and the blasted angel finally got his wings.
“Thank you,” she said, stirring in her seat. “I’d forgotten what a wonderful story this is.”
“My pleasure.” Conner wouldn’t lie by saying he’d enjoyed the film, but he’d loved being next to her and watching her tender reaction. “What do you say we drop those chocolates off at the hospital and head for home?”
They held hands all the way to the Jeep, where he helped her inside. So far, things couldn’t have gone better. They’d agreed that they wouldn’t take more time at the hospital. Megan offered to stay in the vehicle while Conner ran their gift inside.
* * *
He took the elevator up and slipped into the hospital room, where he found Travis and Maggie both asleep. Maggie had pulled her chair close to the bed. Her head rested near Travis’s side. A smile tugged at Conner’s lips as he laid the gold-wrapped box on the overbed table and stole out of the room again. His partner was a lucky man. Now, if only he could find the same kind of luck—and love—for himself.
Megan could be the one. He loved her looks, her laugh, and her unselfish way of helping her family. The chemistry between them was sizzling hot. But he’d had chemistry before. What mattered every bit as much was honesty.
Before the accident that had ended his rodeo career, he’d been engaged to a beautiful, sexy woman. They’d broken up when he’d found out she’d lied to him about her past and about her whereabouts when she wasn’t with him. What she’d actually done had been forgivable. What he couldn’t forgive was the fact that she’d lied to his face, more than once.
To make matters worse, the breakup had happened the night before the buck-off that had shattered his hip. Had his emotions clouded his concentration? Or had the accident been a pure twist of fate?
Conner would never know. But he hadn’t trusted a woman since. The question now was, could he trust Megan enough to break free of the past and love her with all his heart and soul?
Megan had shown no sign of mentioning her secret identity. But maybe she just didn’t know how to bring it up. As he crossed the parking lot to the Jeep, he thought of a way that might encourage her. At least it was worth a try.
“I’ve got an idea,” he said as they headed homeward on the highway. “Let’s play a game. First I tell you something you don’t know about me. Then you can tell me something I don’t know about you. Okay?”
Did he detect a slight hesitation? “Sure,” she said. “You start.”
“Here goes,” he said. “I hate peanut butter. When I was little, I put this big glob of it in my mouth and almost choked to death. To this day, I can’t stand to eat the stuff.”
“Yuck,” she responded. “I can’t top that.”
“We’ll see. Now it’s your turn.”
She seemed to be thinking. Maybe she would finally tell him her secret.
“When I was little, I wanted to be a mermaid,” she said. “I used to lie in the tub with my legs together, hoping they’d grow into a tail. As you see, that never happened. What can I say? I was a weird kid. Okay, your turn again.”
Conner sighed. She wasn’t making this easy. “Sometimes at night, I dream that I’m back riding bulls. In the dream, it seems so easy, just like floating on the bull’s back. But then, I fall off and wake up.”
“I have road trip dreams,” she said. “I’m always driving on the same road. It starts easy, but then it gets harder and harder, until I’m driving up this steep mountain, scared of falling off the edge.”
One more try, Conner resolved. This time, he’d take the truth deeper. “I was engaged a few years ago. We broke up before my accident. She’s married now. No regrets. It would never have worked out between us.”
“Why not?” she asked.