Chloe drew her horse to a halt and looked around, realizing that Miles had dismounted some way back. She laughed and turned her mount and trotted back toward him.
“Sorry, I was away with the fairies.”
“Should I be worried you could forget me so easily?”
Miles came over to stand beside her horse and helped her dismount. As she slid from the saddle, her body grazed against his and bursts of heat ignited at each point they touched. She turned and found herself wrapped in his arms.
“No, not worried. I can’t remember the last time I felt this relaxed, and that’s all because of you. Thank you.”
She spoke from the heart and she could see her simple words had struck him, too. He leaned forward and kissed her. At first a simple touch of lips, as if he wanted no more than that for now, but then it was as if he couldn’t hold back and his hold on her tightened, crushing her to him as his kiss became more demanding, the pressure of his mouth on hers firmer than before. Chloe welcomed his hot, hungry possession and returned his kiss with equal fervor.
She raised her hands to his shoulders, and beneath her touch she could feel the tension in his body ease and relax a little. Well, most of his body anyway. There was no doubting his arousal, and she felt an answering need beat steadily within her as his tongue dipped and delved into her mouth. Eventually, Miles pulled back and loosened his hold on her.
“I so needed that,” he said before letting her go completely.
“Bad day?”
“Helluva day, to be honest.”
“Then I’m glad I could help in some way,” she murmured.
“Oh, you have no idea how much.”
Chloe looked up at him under half-closed lids. “You want to show me?”
“Let me secure the horses and grab the blanket.”
He was back at her side in seconds and, taking her hand, he led her to a secluded nook where they would not be immediately visible to anyone. Over his shoulder, Miles had a leather saddlebag, and from it he pulled a blanket and two long-stemmed glasses together with a bottle of champagne.
“We’re celebrating?”
“Hell yes, we’re celebrating,” Miles said with a smile as he tossed her the blanket to spread out on the ground.
“Care to tell me what, in particular?”
“Is the fact that we’ve managed to get some quiet time to ourselves not enough for you?”
“Sure, I’ll drink to that.” Chloe laughed and smoothed the blanket out on their patch of privacy at the edge of the lake.
“And, I’d like to show my appreciation to you, too.”
She arched a brow. “Your appreciation? For what?”
“For not running straight back to Chicago when I had to abandon you today.” He poured two glasses of the sparkling golden liquid and handed her one. “You’re quite a woman and I am very glad I met you.”
Chloe’s mouth and throat dried, and she found it hard to speak. He was being so lovely. In fact, he was being everything she always told herself she ever wanted in a man. And she was deceiving him. Or was she? She hadn’t actually taken
any steps to disclose their family secrets, yet. Not that she truly knew anything in any detail, but she had the feeling that it wouldn’t take much digging to find the kind of dirt she needed to steer the media in the right direction with respect to the DEA involvement with the family’s business. It wouldn’t take much to overturn the necessary stones that would do the most harm. And then her mother would be vindicated, wouldn’t she?
No.
She couldn’t do it.
She couldn’t cheat on the trust this man had placed in her. She couldn’t destroy the family he loved. She couldn’t destroy him. And it would surely decimate their growing relationship if she followed through on her plans. She didn’t want to do that. She’d felt as if she had been alone for the last twenty years or more. Oh sure, she’d been with her mom, but her mom had depended on her so much and had been so wrapped in grief that Chloe had learned from a young age to shelve her own needs and wants and desires. Now it was her turn. Her time. Hers and Miles’s.
She clinked her champagne glass to his and took a long sip, letting the fizz travel over her tongue and down her throat. Imbibing the liquid as though it was her new truth. The seal on her new direction. This thing with Miles, it may not go anywhere, but she owed it to herself to find out, didn’t she?
“This is such a beautiful spot,” she said, looking out over the water.