Their friendship was officially over and the fear of losing it along with him weighed heavily on her as their bodies cooled later.
“I’d better get back home. Oliver probably needs out,” she said, feeling a pain in her chest.
Nick shifted until he was looking down at her. “Nothing has changed,” he said, before kissing her. “I still want you.”
She nodded, holding back the tears. “Yes.” She tried to smile and was thankful it was too dark for him to see her face clearly.
He seemed to understand her need to retreat and rolled from her. By the time she sat up, he was there with a T-shirt for her to slip on.
“Here, you can wear this. Our clothes are still downstairs,” he said with a smile.
“Thanks.” She pulled on his shirt and was surrounded by his sexy scent. She instantly wanted to keep wearing it when she left.
She followed him downstairs and slipped on her jeans and boots while he pulled on his own jeans and the shirt that he’d tossed off.
She tucked her shirt under her arm along with her bra and socks.
When she turned, Nick was watching her. Then he moved over and kissed her.
“I’ll be over at your place in the morning,” he said softly against her lips.
She wanted to argue. To tell him he didn’t have to bother. That she could take care of the place by herself. But the truth was, she wanted to see him again.
“Okay. Thanks for dinner,” she said as he walked her to the front door. “Wow, it’s really coming down now,” she said after they opened the door. “I thought we were going to have at least a week without snow.”
“Yeah, we’re supposed to have about a week of this stuff.” He stopped her from walking to her truck by pulling her close again. “What are you doing for Christmas? I mean, with your folks gone and all.”
“I’m not sure. My stepbrother and his family spend Christmas in Hawaii.” She shrugged. “I know my folks are going to be in Paris and plan on celebrating with a trip to the Eiffel Tower. I was thinking about going over to Liz’s place and spending it with her and her family.” She frowned. “What are you doing now that…” She felt her heart sink.
“I’m not sure.”
“We could… spend it together?”
He smiled. “I don’t want to ruin your plans with Liz.”
“I haven’t officially made any,” she admitted.
He sighed and then pulled her close and kissed her until she melted against him. “Kara, go home,” he said against her neck before he pulled away.
On very unstable legs, she walked through the snow to her truck, drove home, and then let herself into the house, where Oliver was waiting at the back door to be let out.
She was too wired to go to bed and decided to make banana nut bread for breakfast instead. Halfway through preparations, however, the energy she’d had melted and instead of baking the bread that night, she put the mix into the fridge for the morning.
She headed into her room, showered, and pulled on the warmest pajamas she had before crawling into bed.
Seeing the text message from Nick when she pulled her phone out of the bag of rice had her smiling.
“Hope your phone works again and that you got tucked into bed okay. Miss you already.”
As Oliver jumped up on the end of her bed and did circles to get comfortable, she texted him back.
“Yes, phone is okay. Me and Olly are all snuggled in. You?”
“I’ve got Lenny and Squiggy in bed with me. Wish you were here too.”
“Same.”
There was a long pause before his next reply.
“Assure me that we’re not moving too fast. We have known each other for over thirteen years.”
“No, we’re not moving fast.” She snuggled further into bed. “Goodnight, Nick. See you in the morning.”
“Night. Dream of me. I know I’ll be dreaming of you.”
Chapter Twelve
Early the next morning as Nick was getting ready to walk out the door and head to Kara’s place, the phone rang, and he ended up having a half-hour conversation with Stephen McKinney. The lawyer had an update on the paperwork that Wilbert had given the dealership to get the loans for the three vehicles.
The document was an obvious fake. Stephen had assured him again that the deed to the ranch was still in Nick’s father’s name. He’d even emailed him copies of both. The one that his uncle had given to the dealership didn’t even have a state seal on it.
His uncle was getting sloppy trying to get his hands on the place. Which meant that he and his cousin wouldn’t hesitate to keep trying.
When Nick stepped outside, he had to answer a few questions from Daryl and a few of the other employees. Most of them would be spending the day checking the fence lines and repairing parts of the hay barn, which was in serious need of repairs.
Nick had talked to his father last spring about rebuilding it, but his father’s health had taken first priority and the task had been put off for another season.
It was almost lunchtime by the time he parked beside Kara’s truck and got out. Oliver was napping on the front porch, lying in the sunlight, and when he stepped up to pet the dog, he realized there were some really good smells coming from the open front door.
“Come on in,” Kara called before he had a chance to knock on the door.
“Something smells good in here,” he said as he and the dog stepped inside.
“I started making banana bread last night and when I woke up, I had the urge to bake even more,” Kara said from the kitchen. She had flour on her shirt and on the tip of her nose.
He walked over and pulled her into his arms and kissed her. He instantly felt better.
“There, I’ve been thinking about doing that since you left last night.” He pulled back.
“Is something wrong?” she asked, pulling back to run her eyes over him.
“No.” He smiled. “Just a busy morning.”
“More problems?” she asked as she turned back to mixing something in a bowl.
“No.” He leaned against the counter and watched her. “Is any of that for me?” He motioned to the covered containers sitting on the stove.
She smiled. “That depends.” She walked over and uncovered a pan. “Do want banana bread or pumpkin bread?”
He felt his stomach growl. “Can I have both?”
She laughed. “Yes, sit.” She motioned to the table. “I’ll get you a plate.”
He walked over and took a seat. She set a plate of bread in front of him, a dollop of melting butter on each, along with a cup of coffee, which made him realize that he hadn’t even had a cup that morning. No wonder he was in a bad mood.
Sipping the coffee and digging into the bread, he felt a little steadier and glanced up to watch her slide a pan of cinnamon rolls into the oven.
“Tell me I get one of those when they come out.” He felt his stomach growl even more at the thought of it.
She laughed. “If you’re still hungry, you can have as many as you want.” She turned the blender on to mix the frosting.
He liked watching her bake. Liked that she seemed to enjoy it as much as he enjoyed working in the kitchen himself.