was momentarily stunned by the intensity of her feelings. What she’d first thought was just attraction suddenly seemed so much more.
She liked him…. She really liked him.
This is a good man, a tiny voice inside of her said. A good man with a dazzling smile and integrity oozing from every pore. A man who made her feel safe when she’d believed no man would ever make her feel that again.
How did she resist? She wasn’t sure she could. She wasn’t sure she wanted to.
But … to feel again? Where did she find the courage to do that? If she let herself care for him … she would also have to let herself care for his children. She had to allow them inside and into her heart. Into her heart that was only barely glued together these days.
“Callie?”
She realized she’d been staring at him and dropped her gaze. “Yes?”
“Would you like to dance?”
Instinct screamed no. “I can’t.”
“Yes, you can. It’s just a dance.”
It wasn’t just anything … she knew it as surely as she breathed.
“I really—”
“Come on,” he urged and took hold of her hand. Before she could protest further he’d pulled her gently from her seat and led her toward the dance floor.
She’d always liked the idea of dancing but had never been all that good at it. Craig had complained it was a precious waste of time when there were horses to train and competitions to prepare for.
The band played covers of popular tunes, and just as they reached the dance floor the beat changed to a much slower number. Callie didn’t move at first. At over six feet Noah was considerably taller than her, and she tilted her head back to look at him. Everything about him drew her in. The white collared shirt he wore emphasized his broad-shouldered strength and as she curled her fingers into the soft fabric and felt the hard muscle beneath, every ounce of blood in her veins surged. She hadn’t been this close to a man for so long Fiona greeted. “Good to see and never one who’d affected her so powerfully.
The music was slow and they moved well together. One hand lay gently against her hip and he held her free hand in his. She felt the intimacy right down to her toes.
She took a deep breath. “Noah …” Saying his name set off a surge of feelings inside her. Her body tensed and she knew he felt the sudden shift.
“Yes, Callie.”
“Don’t expect too much.”
He looked at her oddly. “Are we talking about your dancing skills or something else?”
“Something else,” she admitted on a sigh and wasn’t sure where the words came from. And she wasn’t sure she wanted to know. She felt like the worst kind of fraud by denying the obvious and refusing to admit to the feelings running through her.
She was suddenly paralyzed by the realization. It was impossible. She had no room in her heart for anyone. Not him. Not his children. “I have to go,” she said a moment later as she dropped her hand from his shoulder.
“I’ll drive you home,” he said quietly.
Callie stepped back, oblivious to the music, oblivious to everything other than Noah and her furiously beating heart. “I have my truck.”
“Then I’ll walk you to your truck.”
“That’s not necessary.”
“Yes, it is,” he said and continued to hold her hand.
By the time they’d left the dance floor their palms were pressed intimately together. Callie didn’t pull away. Deep down, in that place she’d switched off and never imagined she’d switch on again, she found she liked the sensation of his fingers linked with hers. She liked it a lot.
Her truck was parked midway down the car lot and the walk took a few minutes. It was dark and there were a few couples hanging by their vehicles. Callie spotted one pair kissing madly, another simply holding each other. The entire scene screamed of the kind of intimacy she hadn’t felt in a long time.
The kind of intimacy she suddenly craved.
She knew it was foolish to want it. She had nothing to offer him other than the fractured pieces of her heart. And for a man like Noah, she knew that would never be enough. He’d want the whole Callie. The Callie she’d been before her world had been shattered … before she’d been shattered.
And that woman simply didn’t exist anymore.
Once they reached her truck she twisted her fingers from his. “Well, good night,” she managed to say and shoved a hand into her small bag for her keys.
She found the keys, pulled them out and accidentally dropped them at her feet.
Noah quickly picked the keys up and pressed them into her palm. “Good night, Callie.”
She looked at him and saw desire burning in his eyes.
He wants to kiss me …
The power of him drew Callie closer, until they were barely a foot apart. She felt her lips part, felt herself move and felt her skin come alive with anticipation. He leaned in and kissed her cheek so softly all she really felt was breath.
Not enough…
Callie instinctively reached up, grasped his shoulders and pulled him toward her with all her strength. Driven by instinct, she planted her lips on his mouth and thrust her tongue against his. He tasted good. He felt good.
No … more than that. He tasted … divine. And her lips, denied for so long, acted intuitively. She felt her blood heat, felt her skin come alive, felt desire uncurl way down, igniting the female part of her that had lain dormant since forever.
Callie felt his rush of breath as he started to kiss her back. She got the barest touch of his mouth, the barest taste of his tongue. She waited for more. She longed for more. But then he stopped. He pulled away, kissed her cheek again and straightened. Callie released him and stepped back on unsteady feet.
Air crashed into her lungs, making her breathless. She looked at him, felt the burning red-hot gaze. I know he wants me…
She knew it, felt it and tasted it in the brevity of his kiss.
“Good night, Callie,” he said. “I’ll see you Sunday.”
Callie got into the truck and started the engine. She wasn’t sure how she drove home. All she could feel was the tingle on her lips, the heat in her blood. All she could think was how she had just kissed Noah Preston.
And how her life would never be the same.
