“I’d cut in quick if I were you.”
“I don’t think Flynn would appreciate my doing so.”
Decker shrugged and walked away.
I had every intention of doing as he’d suggested, just not right away. Waiting, though, made it more difficult. When one song ended and another began, someone else cut in before I had a chance.
Most didn’t bother me. It was only Saint’s gaze, that never seemed to leave her, that made me angrier by the minute. Flynn was an innocent young woman who he would devastate if he came at her in the way he was known to do. At the very minimum, I had to warn her.
I stalked over and tapped her current dance partner, Razor, on the shoulder. When he took a gentlemanly step back, I pulled Flynn into my arms. Her cheeks were flushed, and she was smiling.
“You’re having a good time,” I said, shuffling my feet from side to side and wishing I was a better dancer.
“To be honest, my feet are starting to hurt,” she said, laughing. “I haven’t had a chance to break these boots in.”
I looked down at the cowboy boots I remembered her wearing the night we went to the Flying R. The first night I held her in my arms.
“You look very pretty, Flynn.”
She looked away. “Thank you.”
“I…um…wanted to warn you about one of the guys here tonight. He’s got a reputation as—”
“Oh my God.” Flynn wriggled from my arms and stalked away, but I stayed on her heels.
“Wait. Please.” Given I was taller, had a longer stride, and wasn’t wearing boots that hurt my feet, it was easy for me to get in front of her before she stormed out the door.
“Paxon, you better just get out of my way.”
“Only if you’ll let me finish.”
36
Flynn
“Why? Why should I let you finish? Don’t you realize…never mind. You couldn’t possibly understand.”
“Understand what?”
I stomped away, but Irish followed. I was almost to the front door of the main house when he grabbed my arm.
“Understand what?” he repeated.
I knew I’d soon be in tears, but what I was about to say needed to be said. “I thought maybe—just maybe—this would be the year I’d finally have a man interested in me. You said I was pretty. You danced with me, held me in your arms.” My eyes filled with tears, and my voice was too clogged with emotion to go on.
He turned my body so my back was up against the porch rail. “I am interested in you, Flynn. I told you that.”
I rolled my eyes and wiped my tears with my sleeve. “Right. So interested in me that when I kissed you, you couldn’t move away fast enough.”
He cupped my cheek with his hand. “I’m sorry, sweetheart. I know it doesn’t make a lot of sense, but I explained that too.”
“I just—” I started crying again, unable to go on.
“Just what?” He stroked my skin with his thumb and rested his forehead against mine.
“I just wanted to know how it felt to be kissed by a man. You wouldn’t do it, and now you’re warning me about other guys—”
When Paxon’s lips touched mine, my mind went blank. He held the side of my face and pressed his tongue against my mouth, and I opened to him.
His kiss was soft at first, then harder when he angled his head. His other arm went around my waist, and he pulled my body into his.
Paxon stared into my eyes. “I’ve wanted to do that since I met you. I should have. I’m sorry I waited.”
Before I could respond, he kissed me again, and it was heavenly. His lips were soft, but the tip of his tongue was hard as it went deeper into my mouth. I pressed my body against his, and the vibration of his moan traveled from his chest into mine. When I tried to back away, he held me tighter.
I got lost in the feel of his mouth on mine, so when he stopped abruptly, it threw me.
“What?” I asked, noticing he was looking over my shoulder. I turned my head and saw someone watching us. “Is that who you were warning me about?”
“Yes,” he said, shifting us over.
“I’d invite you inside, but my brothers…”
Paxon studied me.
“What?”
“I don’t want to say good night, but I don’t want to return to the dining hall either.”
“We could go to your cabin.”
“Would you be comfortable going there?”
For a second, I thought he was joking, but the look on his face hadn’t changed.
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
“Being there alone with me?”
“I’ve been there alone with you before, Paxon.” I reached into my pocket, pulled out the key to my truck, and put it in his palm. “Let’s go.”
I kept my head down as we walked from the porch to my vehicle, so I didn’t know if the man was watching any longer or not. When Paxon opened the passenger door but kissed me again before I could climb inside, I guessed he probably wasn’t.
“Come over here,” he said once he got in the driver’s side. I scooted to the middle, loving that my old truck didn’t have bucket seats. Paxon draped his right arm across my lap and pulled me even closer. Before putting the truck in gear, he kissed me again. He pulled back. “Am I making you uncomfortable?”
“That’s the second time you’ve asked me a similar question. Why do you think you would be?”
He kissed me again. “Because now that I’ve started, I don’t want to stop.”
“I don’t want to stop either.”
“Flynn…”
“Whatever you have to say, we can talk about when we get to your cabin.”
He put the truck in gear and drove away from the dining hall.
When we got to the cabin, he cut the engine but didn’t open his door.
“Is everything okay?” I asked.
“I think so.”
“Why aren’t you getting out of the truck?”
“I want you to know that I meant what I said earlier. I’ve wanted to kiss you since the moment I met you. I know it sounds like a line, but I felt an immediate connection.”
“I felt it too.”
Paxon turned to face me. “You did?”
I nodded. “Can we go inside now?”
He laughed. “Sure.” He opened the door, climbed out, and held out his hand. When I jumped down, he put a hand on either side of me and kissed me one more time before leading me inside.
37
Irish
It had been a long time since I’d been with a woman, not that I had any intention of being with Flynn tonight. However, things had changed between us, and I needed to be mindful of what I now knew was her complete innocence.
“Can I get you anything?” I asked.
“Water would be nice.” She rubbed her arms.
“Are you cold?”
“A little chilly. I can start a fire if you’d like.”
I thought about telling her I’d do it, but she’d probably been the one who put the logs in the fireplace to begin with.