Tempting Love (Cowboys & Angels 3)

“Why in the fuck do you assume I’m not ready to open my heart? And why in the hell can you not give me a chance before you run your mouth off?”

Spinning on my heel, I stared at him. “Run my mouth off?”

“Yes! You jump to conclusions and accusations before you even let me speak. You’re acting like a teenage girl, creating drama for no reason. I brought you here to show you this house for a reason.”

“Why? What’s your reason?” I shouted back.

“Because, damn it! I want to share this with you, Corina. I want us to be together and I don’t know…maybe someday we can fill it with kids and dogs and all that…stuff.”

I was stunned. I hadn’t expected Mitchell to come back at me with those words. He thrust his fingers in his hair. “I don’t know what in the fuck I’m doing anymore. Let’s just leave.”

We hadn’t even seen the house yet. I glanced back at it and didn’t move.

“Corina.”

“I want to see the house.”

“Yeah, well, the mood’s kind of ruined, don’t you think?”

My chest ached. Why was it so hard for us? It shouldn’t be this hard. At least, I didn’t think it should be. Was it because I was keeping Mitchell at arm’s length—because I didn’t believe him?

Wrapping my arms around my chest, I stared at the house. It was perfect. Old, yet in beautiful condition. The wraparound porch was my favorite. I could see us sitting in rocking chairs, getting a baby settled, as we looked over the land. Finding our places in this world, together.

Was that what Mitchell pictured when he looked at this house? I desperately wanted to ask him.

I made my way back to the truck. Mitchell was already sitting inside. It was clear the Parker men had short fuses. I’d witnessed Tripp losing his cool a time or two—never with me, but with other people.

I shut the truck door, reached for my seat belt and waited for him to drive off.

He took a deep breath and let it out. “I’m sorry I hurt you. I didn’t know how to deal with my feelings for you then, and I’m not doing a bang-up job of dealing with my feelings now. A million and one things race through my mind when I think of us together.”

I stared at my hands while he spoke.

“I don’t know if I can make you happy and give you the things you want, Corina.”

My eyes met his. “What if all I want is you?”

He swallowed hard. “My job…”

“Is dangerous. I know. I’ve understood the risks of falling for you from the very beginning. And it didn’t stop me.”

The corners of his mouth lifted slightly as he reached for my hand and ran his thumb across the top of it. Crackles of fire danced across my skin as he swept back and forth. “I want to show you I’m serious about making us work and that I’m not filling your head with bullshit to get in your pants.”

I raised my brows.

His smile grew bigger and his dimple popped, causing a pull in my lower stomach. “Okay, correction, I want in your pants more than you could ever fucking know, but I want more than that. I want to make this work…but I don’t know how to go about doing that.”

My teeth sank into my lip. “So if I said I wanted to sleep in your bed tonight, but no sex, what would you say?”

“I’d say okay.”

“Really?”

“I’ll do whatever I need to do, dove.”

My entire body became hyperaware of Mitchell. Each breath he took. Where his eyes traveled, the way his lips parted slightly. When he ran his thumb over my hand, an electric jolt started there and raced through me.

My voice sounded like I had a frog stuck in my throat. “Do you mean that, Mitchell?”

He gently kissed the back of my hand. “I’ve never said truer words before in my life.”

My stomach fluttered, and I knew the words he’d spoken were the truth.

Our eyes were locked on one another. “What do we do from here?” I asked with a grin.

Mitchell laughed. “You want to go get something to eat?”

I replied with a flirting grin, “I am hungry, but I was hoping for something else.”

His eyes danced with a brilliant light before he opened the truck door and got out.

Good grief. He thinks I want to see the house. I need to work on my flirting skills more.

He walked with purpose as he rounded the front of his truck. I opened the door and went to get out when he grabbed me and gently drew me to him.

Moving from the door, he pressed me against the truck. Cupping my face with his hands, Mitchell pressed his lips to mine. It didn’t take long for me to relax into the kiss. Opening my mouth to him, his tongue explored mine in a perfect, rhythmic dance.