Leaning against the barn stall, I sighed. Keith hadn’t texted or called in almost a week. I wasn’t worried but, then again, I was. I knew he’d be back next week, and I’d have to give him an answer. I wasn’t ready. I needed more time to think. To understand my feelings. I stood up and walked back to the tack room. What I needed was a ride.
I WAS WALKING Tiny out of the barn when I stopped suddenly. Walker was headed straight for me. Shit. Shit. Shit. I turned Tiny and began walking him the opposite way.
“Liza!”
“No,” I said under my breath as I walked faster. “I’m not ready to see you.”
“Liza!” Walker called out. He whistled and Tiny stopped on a dime, about pulling my arm out of its socket. “Traitor,” I whispered as Tiny jerked his head.
Walker ran up. “Hey! Long time, no see.”
I smiled politely and nodded. “I was about to go for a ride, so…”
“Want some company?”
I stepped back and said, “No.” What I wanted to tell him was that I couldn’t think straight when I was around him.
His eyes filled with hurt. “Oh, um, okay. We just haven’t seen each other and—”
“I can’t…I can’t keep doing this.”
His eyes became something I’d never seen before. “Doing what?”
I pointed to the space between us. “This. Us, I mean. Keith deserves more than this. I’m…I’m…well, I’m going to be moving to Dallas with him.”
I watched as Walker’s face dropped. “Why?”
I laughed. “Why? Well, because we’re going to get married. Maybe. And that’s what couples do. I need you stay away because when we’re together I...”
I watched as the muscles in his neck flexed. He took a step closer to me, making me take a step back, smacking into Tiny’s side.
“I need to stay away from you…why?”
I swallowed hard. “You know why.” I said, narrowing my eyes at him.
Walker took another step toward me. “No, Liza, I don’t know why.”
He was inches away and I could feel the heat between us. “I can’t do this, Walker. Please don’t make me do this.”
“Do what, Liza?”
“Walk away from us again.”
He took another step closer and put his lips to my ear. “Don’t walk away, then. Stay.”
Stay.
I closed my eyes and put my hands on his chest. His warmth raced through my body.
“Walker, I—”
The moment his lips smashed against mine, something happened. I lost all sense of reality and let my heart take the lead. My hands moved up and around his neck. He lifted me up and I wrapped my legs around him as our tongues explored each other. It had been forever since I’d been kissed like this—since the last time Walker kissed me.
“Oh, God,” I whispered as we broke for air.
My hands were in his hair as I pulled him to my lips. Walker walked us to the barn and into an empty stall. He pushed me up against the wood and the pain both excited and scared me. He reached a side of me that I didn’t understand. He slipped his hand into my shirt, pushing up my bra. He twisted and pulled my nipple as I moaned into his mouth.
“Liza, I need you,” Walker whispered behind my ear. “Please, stay.”