Page 6 of The Texas Ranger: Saddled Up
“It seems appropriate.”
“Want another IPA?’ Wendi asked once she set Aasia’s glass in front of her.
“Make it a draft this time.” He shifted on the seat. “You wanted to talk to me about the kiss? Maybe you were hoping for another?”
That grin and his blatant flirting reached into her center and plucked her awareness strings. “I’ve had a long-standing rule to never kiss a man who smells better than my perfume. I broke that rule once. I can’t do it again.” She twirled a piece of her hair around her finger.
A slow, lazy grin spread his lips. So wide she thought his face might burst. His eyes were warm and deep green, a little rare and a little wild, offering her an invisible hug. His looks were dangerously sexy. His beard didn’t hide the angle of his broad jawline. The faded Wranglers stretched over his long muscular thighs in such a way that made her a tad envious. “Is that so?” His gravely drawl sent a shiver down her spine.
“Yes, that’s so.” She hid her smile behind her glass.
The intensity of his gaze could light a match. “I was thinking that kiss was the highlight of my year and should be replicated if possible. Over and over again.”
God, he knew how to make her nipples tingle.
She swallowed a bit of her whiskey, feeling the burn, but it didn’t come close to the scorching warmth between her legs. She tried a casual laugh to mask her awkwardness, but it came out as more of a snort. “It was definitely unexpected,” she admitted. “I just don’t want there to be a hovering unease between us.”
“Unexpected? Is that the only description you could come up with?”
“Can you come up with something better?” She stared.
“Breathless. Fevered. Electric.”
“Wow. Maybe you’re more romantic than I thought.”
“Be careful. Flirting led to something much more…unnerving last time.” His smile grew leaps and bounds. “I was kind of hoping that it might.”
Although the easy banter was delicious, she needed to be cautious. He affected her in indescribable ways. “Then you should heed your own concern.”
“Aren’t we past ignoring the obvious?” The light danced in his eyes.
She understood his meaning. They’d been skirting around an attraction for months, but until the kiss—that amazing, wonderful kiss—they’d kept things at an innocent flirtation, skipping over rocks but not jumping into the water. The kiss and her attraction for Bear was a big reason why when she and Bentley decided to start talking again she didn’t put the engagement ring back on. Honestly, she’d never liked the oversized extravagant diamond. She was much simpler than a two-carat ice rink on her fourth finger.
Aasia told him they needed time before they moved back into where they’d been before the breakup. Things were…different. She couldn’t just ignore that she’d kissed Bear and liked it. A lot. “Bentley and I…” She couldn’t finish the sentence. What were she and Bentley? Lost lovers? Oil and water?
Bear leaned in closer, bringing the scent of sagebrush with him. His gaze swept over her before coming back to her eyes. A quiet strength radiated from him. A calm she gravitated toward. “How are things between you two these days?”
“I might know if he ever stayed put long enough to have some questions answered.” She forced a smile to her lips but it felt exaggerated.
“It must be tough running for political office,” he said in a low rasp. “He should have chosen to be a cowboy. Cows don’t care if it’s Monday or Sunday.”
“Bentley and cows?” She laughed. “I can’t picture Bentley in a Stetson.”
Bear swiped off his hat and hooked it on his bent knee. His hair had grown to touch his collar since he’d moved to Fin’s Creek. The black mass was threaded with silver that set off the color of his eyes. “I don’t see the ring.”
Automatically she touched her bare hand. “You’re very observant.”
“It’s part of the job.”
“I’m sure a cowboy needs to rely on his instincts and senses.”
“Why are you and Bentley back together?” Bear eyed her, not with judgement but curiosity. “Are you a glutton for punishment.”
“News certainly does travel fast in this town.” She reached up and curled that mischievous strand of hair that didn’t want to stay off her cheek around her knuckle. “I wouldn’t say we’re back together.”
“Would Fletcher agree?”
She let go of that strand of hair and lowered her hands to the bar. “Bear, what Bentley and I share…it’s complicated.”
