Cupid, Texas [1] Love at First Sight (13 page)

Do you think you could be overstating things a bit? You’ve been without a woman too long and you just forgot about how good it can be.

Yeah, that was it. Nothing cataclysmic going on here.

A kiss is just a kiss.

Unless it’s Natalie.

He opened his eyes and her eyes were wide open too, staring at him with awestruck wonder. He raised his hands to cup her face, traced his thumbs over the silky texture of her cheeks.

She sighed, soft and low and dreamy.

He got caught up in the heady sound, taken down like a swimmer trapped in an undertow. He shoved aside the doubts that had been eating at his brain, filed them under “Things to Think About Later.” He tightened his arms around her waist and deepened the kiss, taking her down the current with him.

Dade half expected her to break away. They were standing in the middle of the bar, amid good-natured ribbing and cheers. But she did not. In fact, she was running her palms up his bare forearms to his shoulders, reaching higher to thread her fingers through his hair and pull his head down lower as if she was starving for more.

She pressed her body flush against him, her pelvis arching up into him.

You got my attention, darlin’.

Her hips wriggled against his.

What do you want? Anything. Just name it. If I’ve got it, it’s yours. If I can get my hands on it, it’s yours. Want that mountain moved? I’m on it. Want the stars brought down from the sky? Let me go get an extension ladder.

Finally, they couldn’t keep up the kissing. Oxygen was needed. Lousy need to breathe. They pulled apart simultaneously, and, trembling, lips glistening wet, they stared at each other.

“Mmm, I think we took that a bit too far,” she murmured. Her nipples poked out, erect and alert, and her gaze tracked to his hard-on. “You’re in a bit of a pickle.”

“Hey, you caused it.”

“If you move away from me, everyone is going to notice your . . . er . . . situation.” Humor tinged her voice.

“Then I guess I’ll just have to stay right here with you.”

“Um . . .” she said, “wouldn’t that escalate the problem?”

“I don’t think I can get any more aroused than I already am,” he said.

There was no hiding how much he wanted her. No fooling anyone, not even himself. She had a way of making him face things he didn’t want to face. She was a straight shooter, honest and forthright, and he was living in her house under false pretenses, lying to her mainly because he didn’t have the courage to trust her.

She cocked her head and was studying him with an open, accepting gaze as if she were willing to take a chance on him if he would open up and take a chance on her, but she didn’t know him. Had no idea of his shadowy past, had no clue what he was capable of. She was innocent, undamaged by life, and he was both guilty and damned.

He wondered what she saw when she looked at him with those eyes so forgiving and optimistic. Couldn’t she see the darkness in him? Couldn’t she tell that he was flawed in a fundamental way?

“So what’s your . . . mmm . . . solution?” she murmured, running a hand over his biceps.

“Let’s just dance here for now. They’re bound to turn the lights down again soon.”

“You forget. I don’t dance.”

“You do dance. You already danced with me.”

“And you already warned me off.”

“I know.”

“So what’s the point?”

“This.” Dammit. He kissed her again. Couldn’t help himself. He kissed her as the lights dimmed.

It started out soft and sweet. The kind of kiss you were supposed to kiss in public, but it didn’t stay that way.

The sweet sigh that seeped from her lips cut straight through him. He felt her arms go around him. She squeezed him tight. Oh God, she felt so damn good.

She was kissing him right back, hot and hard and raw, not the least bit shy in spite of her adorable blushing.

He closed his eyes against the onslaught, fought his urges, but it was no use. He could not resist her.

Dade gave in completely. Surrendered. People were dancing around them, chuckling and intentionally jostling them with their elbows, but it was as if they were on an island of their own and no one could touch them.

How sweet if it were true.

Her tongue skimmed over his lips, tasting him like he was a sugary confection, and a foreign emotion pushed up from the center of his chest and into his head so quickly that his brain spun.

Jesus, what was she doing to him?

“Dade,” she whispered.

“Yeah?” His voice came out thick and husky.

“I’ve got something to tell you.”

“Uh-huh?” he murmured, sucking her bottom lip up between her teeth, his hands moving up her spine.

“You might not believe that you’re the man for me, but I hate to break it to you.”

“What’s that?” he rasped.

“I’m precisely the woman for you.”

“Oh really?”

She raised her chin. “Yes.”

“You really think you can handle me?” he drawled.

He shouldn’t be flirting with Natalie when he couldn’t mean it. By nature, he wasn’t a flirt, but flirting with her was so easy. She made him feel human again, and for a man who’d spent his life avoiding entanglements of any kind it was damn scary. He wished he
could
mean it. That this could lead somewhere, but she was entrenched in this town. Her family was here. Her livelihood. Her heritage.

Natalie studied him, her head cocked at a provocative angle, her face full of sass and curiosity. Her cheeks were pink and her eyes glowed. He wasn’t the only one feeling this attraction, but she probably wasn’t calculating the distance to the nearest available bed.

Knock it off, Vega.

“How come you’re here all alone?” he asked.

“I’m not alone. Zoey is with me.”

“I mean why doesn’t a woman like you have a date?”

She laughed. “A woman like me?”

“Sexy. Bright. Disarming.”

“Don’t forget crippled.” She waved at her leg.

“You use that as an excuse.”

“What?” She looked startled.

“The leg. You hide behind it.”

Her tone turned chilly. “You don’t know me well enough to make that assessment.”

“Sometimes it takes a stranger to really see
you.
”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Family can take you for granted. They see you the way they’ve always seen you.”

“True enough.” She looked pensive. “What do you see?”

“A woman who puts everyone else’s needs ahead of her own.”

She shook her head. “I’m changing all that.”

“Which is why you’re here tonight? To have your needs met?”

Her eyes held his. “Are you offering to meet them?”

Hell, yeah! She wasn’t the only one with unmet needs. It had been a long time since he’d been with a woman. Months. Lately, he hadn’t found anyone that interested him enough to make the effort, but all that had changed from the first moment he’d looked her in the eyes. He moistened his lips and let his gaze drift over her.

The green dress she had on was simple, but that’s precisely why it was so sexy. No frills or sequins or sashes to detract from the woman inside it. It had a V-neck that wasn’t too low, but revealed just a touch of cleavage, a sweet peek that hinted at so much more beyond the material.

The dress was sleeveless and showed off her toned upper arms. It clung to her body in all the right places, sharpened his desire. She wore those clunky sneakers and that plastic leg brace, but even so, it didn’t detract from the shapeliness of her legs. Her soft brown hair was straight as Cleopatra’s and it gave her an exotic look. She wore a gold heart-shaped necklace, and a pair of tiny gold earrings nestled at each lobe. Simple, understated, down-to-earth.

Ah, dammit. Natalie McCleary was kind and gentle and sincere. She was apple pie and happily-ever-after. Her family tree ran deep as mesquite taproots. She was the kind of girl you took home to meet the parents.

If a guy had parents. Too bad he was rootless, allergic to apples, and happily-ever-after wasn’t in his vocabulary. He was here for one reason and one reason only. To find out what had happened to Red.

So why, when he looked into the depths of those soft sky blue eyes, did he feel such a bone-deep craving for something he could never have? Why did he burn to take
this
woman to his bed and lose himself inside her forever?

Raised voices drew his attention to the other side of the bar where two guys were squaring off, fists raised.

“Duty calls,” he said lightly, and took off across the room to stop the altercation before it got started, feeling both relieved and cheated.

He separated the two men, grabbed each by the collar, and dragged them out the side door. “Fight in the parking lot,” he said. “But you better make it quick because I’m calling the cops.”

Both men snorted and glared and hightailed it for their respective pickup trucks. Dade dusted his hands together and went back inside the bar. Immediately, his gaze went to Natalie’s table, but she was gone.

I
’m precisely the woman for you.

Dear God, had she actually said that to him?

Back at the Cupid’s Rest, safe in her bed, Natalie cringed and covered her head with a pillow. After she’d made that ridiculous statement, Dade had laughed. Yes,
laughed.
As if it was the funniest thing he’d ever heard.

“Stupid, stupid.” She rolled over and punched her pillow.

She sighed and wished her mother were here. There were so many things she wanted to ask her about men, about falling in love.

This shouldn’t be so hard, right? If Dade was really The One, shouldn’t this be easy? Apparently, it was easy for everyone else. Did that mean that he was not The One?

That made her think about Shot Through the Heart. Falling in love at first sight had been the easy part for the letter writer. Making that love fit into her life was the hard part. No one ever mentioned that.

Natalie threw back the covers, got out of bed. She went over to the desk in the corner, took out a yellow legal pad and a pen. She sat on the window seat ledge in front of the window where Shot Through the Heart’s letter—now rippled and warped after drying out from its soak in the pond—lay spread. Folding her legs up, she bent them at the knees and created a makeshift table with her lap. She propped the notepad up and began to write.

Dear Shot Through the Heart,

She paused, and gnawed on the end of her pen.

Falling in love is the easy part.

She ripped the page out, crumpled up the yellow piece of paper, and tossed it to the floor.

Dear Shot Through the Heart,

There’s nothing more stimulating than falling in love at first sight. It takes your breath away. Steals your reason.

Natalie growled, ripped out that paper, and wadded it in her fist.

Come on. This woman is waiting for a helpful reply. Tell her something she can use. Not platitudes. Nothing vague.

Dear Shot Through the Heart,

While falling in love at first sight seems like such a blessing, as you’ve learned, it can cause a great many complications with your life plans. The question becomes which is more important to you? Love or the life path you’ve chosen?

Rip.

Crumple.

Toss.

She nibbled harder on her pen. She was not the least bit qualified to do this. She was a fraud.

Dear Shot Through the Heart,

I have no idea what I’m talking about.

Another piece of paper joined the others on the floor.

Frustrated, Natalie tossed the pad aside, got up, and tracked over to the framed photographs on her desk. She picked up the faded black and white picture of Great-Grandmother Millie with her bobbed hair, shapeless flapper dress, long strands of pearls, and blissful smile, standing beside a handsome young man with a Clark Gable mustache and devilish eyes. John Fant, Natalie’s great-grandfather. It was their engagement photo.

Natalie traced a finger over Millie’s face. “It wasn’t easy for you either, was it? I wish I could have known you. Wish I could ask your advice about what to do. This thing with Dade, well, it leaves me mixed up. I can’t sleep. I can’t eat. Isn’t love supposed to make things easier, not harder? Why does it all feel so perplexing?”

Millie’s eyes twinkled. She had found her true love.

So have you.

That’s what scared Natalie the most, the idea that Dade was indeed The One. She didn’t know if she was ready for that.

“How do I know it’s real, Millie?” Natalie whispered. “I think it’s real, but that could just be wishful thinking. The truth is, I don’t really know him. How can I be in love with someone I don’t know?”

You know him. Deep in your heart, you know.

The words popped into her head as loudly as if someone had spoken them. Natalie jumped, unnerved.

He is the other half of you.

Goose bumps spread up her arm. How did she know this to be true? It defied logic. In all honesty, these feelings were probably nothing more than powerful sexual attraction.

What should she do about it? That evening, she’d tried to find someone else to get lathered up over and it had backfired miserably.

You could always put your feelings to the test.

“How’s that, Millie?” she asked the voice in her head. Now she was turning well and truly crazy, talking to her long dead great-grandmother as if they could commune through a photograph.

Take him for a test drive.

Natalie’s cheeks heated.

Sex.

She should just have a red-hot fling with Dade. If this was nothing but sexual attraction, then the affair was bound to burn out. Anything that sizzled this hotly must cool down. It was a law of physics. Right?

Then again, what did she know? In school, she’d made C’s in math and science.

If she and Dade dared to feed the flames scorching between them, they might burn each other down, but what a way to go, huh?

Natalie gulped.