Authors: Shiloh Walker
Catching her lip between
her teeth, she stared at him. Fire burned in his gaze. Fire,
need...and worry. Then he blinked, and everything disappeared, hidden
behind a cool, blank mask. “Hey there.”
Hmmm. So that's how he
was going to play it. Cool and calm, hoping she hadn't heard? Not
likely. “That was an interesting phone call.”
“
Ahh...you heard?”
“
I did.”
“
How much?”
Rocki smiled at him.
Closing the distance between them, she leaned against him. Carefully,
she rested her injured hand on the counter beside him and wrapped her
other arm around him. “Oh, I heard enough. Tell me, did you
mean that? Or were you just trying to get her to leave you alone?”
“
You know, a lot of
people would pretend they hadn't overheard a conversation that was
clearly intended to be private.” He tapped her on the nose with
the tip of his finger. “Even if they are going to eavesdrop.”
“
Yeah. I figure if
I'm rude enough to eavesdrop, then I'll be honest about it and not
bother pretending I didn't overhear. And you're sidestepping the
question.”
“
No, I'm not. I'm
just trying to figure out how to answer it without scaring you off.”
He stroked a hand up her back, curved around her neck. “I
really, really don't want to do that, Rocki.”
“
Maybe it hasn't
occurred to you yet, but I don't scare that easily. Give me some
credit, Stanton.” Man, she loved the way he touched her, loved
the warmth of his hands. Loved the way he looked at herâit
wasn't just like she was beautiful, although she really appreciated
that. He looked at her like she was something special,
somebody
special. He made her feel like she mattered. It made her heart turn
over. No, he wasn't scaring her at all. Easing closer, she pressed
her mouth to his. “Now answer my question. Did you mean it?”
“
Yeah, I did.”
His free hand closed around her waist, his fingers kneading the
muscles at the small of her back. “I know we've joked about
rushing things. And I know it's early. I'm not getting ready to pop
the question or anything. I just...hell, Rocki. You do things to my
head that I can't even describe. From the moment I first laid eyes on
you, I haven't been able to stop thinking about you. The more I'm
around you, the more I need to be around you.”
Then he groaned and
slammed his head back against the cabinet behind him. “And
that's probably not what you need to hear right now, considering what
happened yesterday. I swear, I'm not going all stalker on you.”
“
Cole, trust me.
I've had a stalkerâI know what they are.” Smiling, she
rested her head on his shoulder. “Besides, didn't we already
talk about this? If we start feeling like we're moving too fast, then
we'll slow down. Right now, I think we're moving along just fine.”
The hand massaging her
back stilled. “We are?”
“
I think so.”
Easing back, she lifted her head to look at him. “Everybody
kept thinking that all these years, I never got serious about anybody
because I was still mourning my husband. I do still miss himâand
you need to understand that part of my heart will always belong to
him. But I've never gotten involved with anybody else because I
haven't met another guy who could make my heart flip over.” She
reached up and touched the tip of her finger to his mouth. “Until
you. I took one look at you and everything stoppedâI was
aggravated as hell about it, because you were taken. But I'm
not kidding. One look, Cole...and everything just stopped. And it
feels right. If it feels right, how can it be too fast?”
“
Rocki. Aw, hell.”
He slid his hands up and cradled her face. “Everything logical
says otherwise. You know that, right?”
She smirked. “Screw
logic.”
“
Hmm. I like
that
logic.” His mouth brushed against hers. “So I guess we're
going to rush things, huh?”
“
Nah. It's
not rushing. We're just moving at our own pace.”
“
Now that sounds
good.”
As his mouth came down
more firmly on hers, Rocki wondered if she'd be able to talk
him into moving at their own pace to the bedroom...in a bit. Right
now, she just wanted to enjoy the moment. Wanted to enjoy him.
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About
the Author
Shiloh
Walker has been writing since she was a kid. She fell in love with
vampires with the book
Bunnicula
and has worked her way up to the
moreâ¦ahâ¦serious vampire stories. She loves reading and
writing anything paranormal, anything fantasy, and nearly every kind
of romance. Once upon a time she
worked as a nurse, but now
she writes full-time and lives with her family in the Midwest.
For
more information on her books, please visit her website at
http://shilohwalker.com
Blog
http://www.shilohwalker.com/website/
Twitter
http://twitter.com/shilohwalker
Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/shilohwalker
Other works: