Savage Cowboy (Whiskey Valley: Bryant Brothers)

Our main courses arrive, and we both eat. I look around the restaurant and back at him. “I’ve ruined the whole night, haven’t I?”

He shakes his head. “No, you haven’t. I understand where you’re coming from, and I don’t want to upset you. We can take this as slow as you want to, Amanda. I’m not going anywhere.”

We eat the rest of the meal in silence. I don't know why I thought I could go on one date with him and that would be enough. I've had the best time tonight, better than I have in a long time. When I turn down dessert, he gets the check and pays it, and we walk back out to his truck. Without another word or trying to sway my decision about the movie, he starts to drive back to Whiskey Valley.

He's quiet until we pull back into town. "I'm going to talk to your father, Amanda. I understand that you don't want to upset him, but I'm sure that he wants you to be happy."

I turn in my seat. "Can we just not talk about it now? I don't want to ruin this evening."

When we get close to downtown, I tell him to pull around to the alley in the back. “I'll go up the back stairs to my apartment.”

He lets out a deep sigh but does as I ask. I know I'm asking a lot. Chance is not the type of man to hide anything. When we stop at the bookstore's back door, I get out of the truck and meet him around on his side. "Thank you. I had a really good time."

I go to walk past him, but he grabs my hand, stopping me. He pulls me against him and looks into my eyes, as if he’s searching for something. “I need a goodnight kiss, Amanda.”

I blink up at him as an overwhelming sadness fills me. “You mean a goodbye kiss?”

His hand caresses my cheek, and he smiles softly at me. “Does this feel like a goodbye kiss?”

I have no time to think before his lips press to mine. He holds me to him like he doesn’t want to let me go. There’s an urgency and heat in the kiss that should completely overwhelm me, but all it does is make me feel at peace. I could stand here all night in his embrace, but he pulls back, breathless. I’m not ready to let go yet, and I hug him. I lay my head on his chest, and my arms go around his waist, and I squeeze. He holds himself rigidly as if he’s trying to keep a distance from me.

Embarrassed, knowing that I’m throwing myself at him, I pull away and look up into his face and am surprised to see desire in his eyes. "Do you want to come up?" I blurt out. I know it’s crazy to ask him that, but he brings out a side of me that wants to throw all caution to the wind.

His hands tighten on my shoulders, and he shakes his head. "No. I mean, yes, I want to come up, but I shouldn't. I don't trust myself alone with you right now. And you shouldn't either."

I look at him, confused. "Why? You wouldn't hurt me."

He looks at me in wonder. His hands slide down my arms and then he puts one hand on each side of my waist. He pulls me forward so I can feel his arousal against my belly. "No, honey, I wouldn't hurt you, but I want you really bad."

He leans down and kisses me again, pulling me flush against his body. He’s hard all over, and I press my body flush against his. He groans and then suddenly he pushes me away. "Go on upstairs and lock the door when you get in."

I do exactly as he asks me. By the time I get inside my door, my body is still trembling from Chance Bryant.

Chapter 7

Chance

The next day, I start to think about things, and for a millisecond I think it might be better if I try to stay away from her. But that thought doesn’t last long. All I have to do is remember our kiss, our date, last night, and I know there’s no way I can just walk away. I can see a future with Amanda McCoy, but I can't help thinking about how my family is going to react to it. It's going to be an uphill battle. Hell, it's probably going to cause more of a feud between our two families. But the way Amanda makes me feel, I know she's worth it. I'm already picturing her at my house on the Bryant Ranch, waking up next to her. She's who I'm meant to be with.

I drive into town and begrudgingly park down the street from the bookstore. I walk past the bakery, look around, and then dip into the front door of Amanda's bookstore. I try to appear like I'm looking at the books on the shelf in front of me, but the other customers look at me, no doubt wondering what in the world I'm doing in there. I'm still dusty and dirty from work this morning, so I look like I belong more in the feed store than I do in the bookstore.