She wished her girlhood crush hadn’t risen from the depths of her soul to torment her, but she liked him more than ever. After she was safe and they parted ways, she’d have to wait another decade before seeing him again or risk making an ass of herself.
Everything about the man appealed to her from the way he wore his Stetson pulled low over his eyes to the way he drawled certain words. And don’t get her started about that moment when he’d cupped her face.
She couldn’t make out his reason for doing such a thing, and her insides still fluttered from the impact of the look in his eyes.
When she reached for the box of blueberry bars again, she found a lone bar in the bottom. She started to unwrap it and drew it to her lips. Ross opened the driver’s door and wind blasted in.
He glanced at the bar in her hand. “Got one for me?”
She swallowed hard. “Uh…this is the last one.”
Dropping into the seat, he slammed the door and stared at her. “You ate the whole box?”
“It was a small box.”
“But you ate them all.”
“You said staying hydrated is most important.” She knew she wasn’t making sense, and her argument was trash.
His eyes widened, and the green depths burned her to the seat. An inferno rushed into her belly and settled between her thighs.
“Gimme a bite.” The command came off with those drawled syllables she’d started asking herself if she could live without.
She held the bar out of his reach.
Or so she thought.
Ross had long arms—long enough to swipe out a hand and pluck the bar from her fingers. A squeak of surprise escaped her as she watched him bring it to his lips.
Either hunger kicked in or an extreme sense of competition. She threw herself at him. He moved the bar, but not in time—she closed her jaws over it, ripping off the top half.
“You little…” He gaped at her in shock while she chewed. He was so distracted that hardly an eyelash flickered as she took the bar from his hand and stuffed the rest in her mouth.
Jaw gaping, he shook his head. “Who knew you’d ever battle a man for the last blueberry bar?”
“I was hungry. You don’t want to see me when I get beyond hungry. It’s not pretty.” She offered him a smile but that fell away as he lunged for her again.
He trapped her against the passenger door with his big body looming over hers. A wall of heat and strength pressed her down. When he looked into her eyes, she sucked in a breath.
In a swift move, he stamped his lips on hers.
It wasn’t a quick, chaste peck but a hard demand of his lips. Need flooded her. She started to gasp, but he withdrew two inches, still staring at her.
“Wh…what was that for?” she whispered.
His eyes creased in a smile. “I at least wanted a taste.”
He plopped into his seat again and gripped the wheel. During the night, a plow had cleared some of the snow on the road, and while flakes still fell fast, they were smaller and the wind wasn’t blowing as much.
As they pulled onto the road, she gaped at what Ross had just done. Wanted a taste? Of the blueberry…or of her?
The latter had her core coiling with desire and her pussy squeezed in response.
After all these years of crushing on Ross Wynton, she’d finally gotten her kiss.
Staring at him for several miles didn’t offer her any clues as to why he’d done it. She wished she knew what was going on in his head.
If she had another bar, she’d tempt him a second time.
Being on the road for the umpteenth hour reminded her how grungy she felt. She hadn’t brushed her teeth. And squatting on the roadside to relieve herself after ‘staying hydrated’ didn’t count as using a bathroom.
“How far until the next stop?”
“Twenty miles or so. There’s a gas station at the bottom of the mountain.” He tossed her a look. “You still hungry?”
“I might be.” Though she’d never been sassy in her life, Ross drew it out of her.
His dimple was her reward. As was the tingle lingering in her lips from his kiss.
She analyzed the shocking caress for the entire ride, replaying it over and over and wondering if she’d reacted in a way that put him off or egged him on.
By the time she spotted the stop with a gas station and diner, relief struck that she could spend a few minutes away from Ross. He plucked at her nerves—heartstrings too—until she chimed with a melody of confusion and desire, neither of which she knew how to handle in such close proximity to the cowboy bodyguard.
“I’m surprised so many people are out today.” She pointed to the full parking lot.
He slowed but stopped short of the commitment to turn in.
“Aren’t we stopping?”
“I don’t like the crowd there.”
The road zipped by. “Well, how far until the next stop?”
“Two hours barring we don’t hit more bad weather.”
The thought of waiting two more hours for a real restroom facility where she could wash her face and brush her teeth made her groan internally.
“I’m sure it’s safe. Nobody attacked us back at the last truck stop.”
“You attacked me,” he said.
“Because you were skulking around the bathroom door!”
“First you said I was lurking. Now I’m skulking. If you really need to stop, wait ’til you see the level of protection I provide in this place.”
What had she gotten herself into?
He parked at the end, farther from all the other trucks and SUVs in the lot. She started to get out, and he told her to wait.
So she sat there like a child waiting for her parent to come unbuckle her from the car seat. When he opened her door and helped her down, she discovered just how stiff her muscles were from being cramped in a truck all night.
“Okay?” He took her elbow.
She nodded. “I just need to stretch my legs.”
Two people exited the convenience store, and he reached around his back. A shiver of awareness took hold of her—he carried a weapon.
He led her the long way around the lot, which gave her a chance to walk the stiffness out of her legs, but she got a feeling he was doing it to keep her safe.
When they located the restroom, fear suddenly surged inside her. She stared at the closed door.
Ross placed his mouth to her ear. “You don’t think I’m going to let you go in alone, do you?” After dropping that bombshell, he shoved the door open and swept a look over the room like one of those cops she saw on TV.
One other stall door was closed and the tinkling sound of the woman peeing reached Pippa.
“You can’t come in,” she whispered hotly. “It’s an invasion of privacy!”
“Your safety comes first.”
She’d been attacked in a restroom in a crowded public place. Maybe Ross was right. She didn’t relish the thought of someone coming at her again.
He remained frozen to his spot. It was either use the facilities with him standing there or go along the roadside again, this time with cars driving past.
She looked him in the eye. He arched a brow.
In a huff, she whirled and strode to the stall. She slammed it a little too hard and locked it. When she heard the other woman in the restroom issue an exclamation, she knew she’d encountered Ross.