Stranger in Cold Creek (24 page)

Chapter Seven

A
NNA
WISHED
THERE
were some kind of anticry shot she could take. Even one that worked for just an hour or so would do. She figured she'd do plenty of crying after Heath had left, but she didn't want any tears shed in front of him.

Or in front of her brothers.

She wanted Heath to remember her smiling. Or maybe naked, since that's how he'd seen her for a good portion of the night. It was certainly how she wanted to remember him.

With that reminder/pep talk still fresh in her mind, Anna left her bedroom and went in search of Heath so she could give him that smiling goodbye she'd practiced in the mirror. But he wasn't in his bedroom. Or the living room. Or the kitchen. In fact no one was, and she figured they'd all cleared out to give her a chance to have a private goodbye with Heath.

Or maybe they'd cleared out because Heath was already gone. She had several moments of panic when she sprinted to the back porch to make sure his rental car was still there.

It was.

And so was Heath.

He was at the fence pasture, looking at some cows that'd been delivered that morning. He made a picture standing there with his foot on the bottom rung of the fence, his cream-colored cowboy hat slung low on his face.

He must have heard her approaching because he turned, smiling. It looked about as genuine as the one she was trying to keep on her face. Until he reached out, pulled her to him and kissed her.

Then the smiles were real.

“How soon before you leave?” she asked.

“Soon.”

That reminder made her smile waver. Anna wasn't sure how far to push this part of the conversation, but there was something she had to know. “Are you feeling any better about the instructor job?”

“I've accepted it. Sometimes, that's the best you can do with crappy lemonade. Sorry,” Heath added when she frowned. “It was just something Riley said. An analogy of sorts.”

Riley not only needed a new threat, he needed new analogies, as well.

Since their time together was about to end, Anna reached into her pocket and took out the “gift” she'd gotten him on her shopping trip the day before. She hadn't wanted it to be a big gift because that would have made this goodbye seem, well, big.

Which it was.

But she didn't want it to feel big to him.

She took his hand and dropped the smashed penny in it. “It reminded me of your dog tags, and it's supposed to be good luck.”

He stared at it, gave a slight smile. “Thanks.”

“I was going to give you the red panties,” she added, “but I thought it would look strange if the TSA went through your luggage.”

Now she got the reaction she wanted. A bigger smile. A bigger kiss, too.

“I have something for you,” he said. He took out a silver heart locket. It was similar to the other one he'd given her nine and a half years ago. Very similar.

Right down to the Be My engraving.

Anna checked to make sure she had on the original one. She did. And she was shaking her head until Heath opened it, and she saw what was inside. Not pictures of him and her.

But of her parents. Her dad on one side of the heart. Her mother on the other.

“Della got the pictures for me,” he explained. “You said sometimes you forget their faces, and this way you won't forget.”

Oh, God.

She was going to cry.

No matter how hard she blinked, the tears came, and they just kept coming.

“I'm sorry.” Heath pulled her back in his arms. “I didn't know it would upset you.”

“It doesn't,” she said, sobbing. “It's a good kind of upset.” Still sobbing. “Thank you, Heath, thank you.”

He held her while she sobbed, and it took Anna several long moments to stop.

“I got you something else,” he added.

Anna couldn't imagine getting anything better than the second locket. It was even more precious to her than the first one. But Heath must have thought “the more the better” because he took out a wad of lockets from his coat pocket.

“I went to the jewelry store this morning and bought every locket they had.”

She had no doubts about that—none. There was another silver one, one gold and another in the shape of a cat's head.

“They're, uh, beautiful.” Though she couldn't imagine needing that many lockets. Or the ugly one with the cat's head.

“I had them engraved,” he added, “and this time I watched to make sure they did it right. You can choose which one you want.”

It took her a second to realize he'd finished his sentence. Not “which one you want
to wear
.” Not “which one you want
to keep
.” Not “which one you want
to remember me by
.”

Heath turned over one of the silver ones, and she saw the engraving there. One word.

Lover
.

He put the Be My locket next to it, and she got the message then. Be my lover.

She laughed. “Does this mean you want to see more of me?”

“Well, I've already seen more, but I'd like to see more of you more often.”

That dried any remnants of her tears, and she blurted out an idea she'd been toying with for days. “I could look into transferring to a law school in Florida.” And she held her breath.

No smile from him. “I don't want you to sacrifice going to a school that maybe doesn't have as good of a reputation as the one you're in now.”

“No sacrifice. There are a couple of really good ones. And besides, I was transferring anyway. Might as well transfer so you can—” she held up the two lockets to finish that thought “—Be My Lover.”

Anna tested his neck again with a kiss. And her tongue.

“Keep that up, and you'll be my lover again right now,” he grumbled.

“If that's supposed to make me behave, then it won't work. Not with the hayloft so close. How much time do you have before you need to leave for your flight?”

“Not enough time for the hayloft.”

She kissed him again, and he seemed to change his mind about that. He started leading her in that direction.

“Not enough time for the hayloft unless we hurry,” Heath amended.

Good. The kisses were working.

Since she'd already put her heart on the line, Anna put the rest of herself out there, too. “I don't want a fling.”

“Good. Flings are overrated.” He kissed her again. “And temporary.”

She released the breath she didn't even know she'd been holding. Heath didn't want temporary. Nor a fling. He wanted sex.

That was a solid start since she wanted that, too.

“I'm not done,” he said. “Remember, you pick the locket you want.” He held up the next one, the gold one, and it also had a single word engraved on it.

Woman
.

As in Be My Woman.

Yes, they were so going to that hayloft, and then she was going to the university to start that transfer to Florida.

“Can I wear both the
Lover
and
Woman
?” she asked. Because she wanted both.

“You haven't seen the third one yet.”

And she probably couldn't see it before the next kiss crossed her eyes. Along with singeing her eyelashes.

Still, he put the locket in her hand just as her butt landed against the ladder. Anna backed up one step at a time, which wasn't easy to do with Heath kissing her like that. And he kept on kissing her until they made it all the way to the top of the hayloft.

But Anna froze when she saw what was engraved on the tacky cat's head locket.

Love
.

“Be My Love,” she said, putting the words together.

Putting
everything
together.

“The
L
word?” she asked.

Heath nodded. “Sometimes it's the only word that works. What about you? Does the
L
word work for you?”

Anna had to catch her breath just so she could speak. “It works perfectly for me.” She kissed him. “Does this mean we're going steady?”

“Oh, yeah,” Heath confirmed. “That, and a whole lot more.”

* * * * *

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ISBN-13: 9781488005411

Stranger in Cold Creek

Copyright © 2016 by Paula Graves

The publisher acknowledges the copyright holder of the additional work:

What Happens on the Ranch
Copyright © 2016 by Delores Fossen

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