“I had a good time until your brother was hurt.”
Massaging the back of her neck, she gave him a tired smile. “I’m glad. So did I.”
“Turn around.”
“What?”
“Your neck is bothering you. Let me massage it for you. I’ve been told I’m pretty good at it.”
She would just bet he was. “I tensed up while we were waiting to hear about Steven.”
He was already scooting her around. “You overdid it today.”
“Not really. Just got a little overwhelmed.”
“Understandable.”
“I was so scared when I heard that Steven was hurt. Seeing him being driven away in that ambulance...” She shuddered.
“He’ll be fine, Shelby. I was thrown from a horse at my uncle Jared’s ranch when I was a teenager. Concussion, broken arm, a few cracked ribs—similar to your brother’s injuries. I healed without any repercussions. The arm’s as strong as ever, and if there was any permanent brain damage, no one would be able to tell the difference, anyway,” he finished with a laugh.
“Funny.” But his reassurances did make her feel better.
He tipped her head forward. She’d tied her damp hair into a loose braid after a fast shower before dinner. His thumbs pressed against her neck beneath the braid, rotated slowly. A moan of pleasure escaped her. “Feels good.”
He slid his hands down to the junction of her neck and shoulder, and squeezed, working the tense knots he found there. “With everything that went on today, I didn’t have much time to spy on my neighbor.”
Her head down, her eyes closed, she felt her muscles stretch, go slack beneath his skilled hands. “You are very good at this,” she murmured. “And to tell you the truth, I’d forgotten all about your neighbor.”
His breath was warm on her skin when he spoke, his head bent close to her. “You mean you didn’t come in to peek out my kitchen window?”
She laughed softly. “No, that wasn’t why I came in.”
She felt his lips brush the back of her neck and she shivered in response, her smile fading. “Nice to know,” he said.
Drawing a long, deep breath, she turned on the couch to face him, resting one hand on his chest as she looked at him. His lips were curved into a faint smile, but his eyes had darkened with an intensity that reflected her own mounting desire. So much had happened in the past couple of days that her emotions were right under the surface. And she’d never been able to hide her feelings well. Aaron had to see how attracted she was to him.
She couldn’t read him nearly as easily as he probably could her. Yet she saw the reciprocal awareness in his expression when he slowly lowered his mouth to hers. His lips moved hungrily against hers, his tongue teasing her lips apart to allow him access. She never even considered resisting. Burying her fingers in his hair, she crowded closer, craving more contact.
His right hand swept her back, tracing her through the thin mint-green top she’d donned after her quick shower. His left hand rested on her bare thigh, just below the hem of her khaki shorts. Heat radiated from his palm, spreading from her thigh upward to the now-tingling core of her. She pictured his hand moving upward, inward, and her stomach clenched. His other hand was already beneath her shirt, gliding against her back, sliding around her waist to rest thrillingly close to her breast.
The kiss grew more urgent, deepened until their mouths were fused, their tongues intimately tangled. Aaron’s toned muscles were rigid beneath her seeking hands, and she could only imagine how hard the rest of him must be. She found out for certain when he leaned back and drew her with him so that she was lying mostly on top of him.
He wanted her. That knowledge was so heady, so overwhelming, that she trembled with it. She’d never burned quite like this, never wanted anyone quite so desperately. It was almost as terrifying as it was exhilarating. Too much, too soon, too risky. It had stung when Pete had bruised her pride; it would be so much worse if she let Aaron break her heart.
Swallowing hard, she peeled her lips from his and planted her hands on his chest, pushing herself a couple inches away from him. “I have to—” think, she almost said “—breathe,” she substituted.
A long curl had escaped her braid, dangling into her face. Aaron reached up to tuck it gently behind her ear. “Oxygen is overrated.”
She laughed unsteadily. “Still.”
He kept his eyes on her face when he said in a low voice, “You know, I’d bet you could see the cabin next door very well from the window in the bedroom.”
She shook her head at him, both amused and somewhat shaken by the suggestion. He wasn’t pressuring her—but the significance behind his teasing comment had been clear enough. “The only two windows upstairs are at the front and back of the loft, facing the road and the lake. You can’t see Cabin Seven from there.”
“My mistake.”
“Right.” Still smiling, she scooted a little farther away from him, straightening her clothes with hands that were still shaking. “It’s been a long day.”