mouth. “Can’t wait to finish this,” she whispered.
“Neither can I,” he whispered back. “You don’t know what you’re doing to me. You don’t know what you did to me out there. You feel so good.”
He pressed her back against the door and made her boneless again, with his touch and heat and need, and she began to wonder how they were going to make it as far as the bedroom. Beneath his shirt, his body was hot and hard, smooth as satin except for the light scratch of hair on his chest. She pulled back enough to start on the buttons and he let her unfasten them all the way and then peel the shirt back and down his arms.
He shook it onto the floor, then took her hand and led her into the living room without turning on the light and there in the dimness they saw that the message light on his phone was blinking red, which brought the whole evening crashing to a close.
“I’d better listen to this,” he said. “I’m not on call tonight, or anything, but you never know. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t apologize. Of course you need to.”
But the message was for her.
“I’m calling for Kate,” her brother Rob’s voice said. “Kate, I left you a message at school at about twenty after five, but I guess you didn’t get it, and then I missed you at Grey’s Saloon and didn’t know where you’d gone next. Call home, can you, if you get this? Doesn’t matter if it’s late.”
“Oh, shoot…” Harrison said. He and Kate both recognized the panicky rhythm of Rob’s words.
She shook off her dreamy, satisfied state and called home at once. In the background, as she listened to the ringing tone, she saw Harrison retrieve his shirt and shrug it on. The action seemed too business-like and final, but it wasn’t his fault.
She reached Melinda, who said there was nothing to worry about, but sounded very upset all the same. “Jamie’s in the hospital,” she said. “You know how crazy he is about rodeo? He tied a flank-strap to Mickey so he would buck, and Mickey did, and Jamie came off pretty hard and hit his head.”
“Oh, Melinda, no!” The paint pony was only fourteen hands high, but that was still a very long way off the ground for an eight-year-old. “Is he okay?”
“He was unconscious for a couple of minutes, but he’s awake now. Thank the Lord. They’re keeping a watch on him overnight and they’ve done a scan. They say he’s going to be fine, but still… Kate, I so want to be with him at the hospital. Rob tried so hard to get in touch with you.”
“I know. I’m so sorry.” She remembered the message in the pigeonhole at school and cursed herself for assuming it would be something non-urgent and not checking it.
“He went with Jamie in the ambulance, but we couldn’t leave the kids here on their own. I’ve been a mess. I even tried calling Mom, but she’s out, too. If you could come home, then I can drive to Bozeman right away.”
“I’ll be there as soon as I can. Half an hour.”
Harrison didn’t need much of an explanation, after she’d put down the phone. “Go,” he said. “I can tell it’s a family emergency.”
Kate sketched out the detail briefly, and was out of his house without ever sitting down. He saw her to the pickup, and when she was seated behind the wheel she looked down at him. There was a kiss in his eyes and need in his face, but she couldn’t spare any time for it and he knew it. “I’m in court in Helena tomorrow,” he said. “An arson case dating from eighteen months ago. So I won’t be able to call you or see you.”
“That’s fine.”
“It’s not. Really wish I didn’t have to go.”
“It sounds like a long day.”
“You got that right! Might spill into Friday, too. But I’ll be back for prom, because I promised my nephew.”
“I’m at prom, too. We talked about that.”
“We did. Might see you.”
“Hope so. And then…”
“Next time,” he said, “we won’t end it this way.”
“Next time,” she promised, and
“Neither can I,” he whispered back. “You don’t know what you’re doing to me. You don’t know what you did to me out there. You feel so good.”
He pressed her back against the door and made her boneless again, with his touch and heat and need, and she began to wonder how they were going to make it as far as the bedroom. Beneath his shirt, his body was hot and hard, smooth as satin except for the light scratch of hair on his chest. She pulled back enough to start on the buttons and he let her unfasten them all the way and then peel the shirt back and down his arms.
He shook it onto the floor, then took her hand and led her into the living room without turning on the light and there in the dimness they saw that the message light on his phone was blinking red, which brought the whole evening crashing to a close.
“I’d better listen to this,” he said. “I’m not on call tonight, or anything, but you never know. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t apologize. Of course you need to.”
But the message was for her.
“I’m calling for Kate,” her brother Rob’s voice said. “Kate, I left you a message at school at about twenty after five, but I guess you didn’t get it, and then I missed you at Grey’s Saloon and didn’t know where you’d gone next. Call home, can you, if you get this? Doesn’t matter if it’s late.”
“Oh, shoot…” Harrison said. He and Kate both recognized the panicky rhythm of Rob’s words.
She shook off her dreamy, satisfied state and called home at once. In the background, as she listened to the ringing tone, she saw Harrison retrieve his shirt and shrug it on. The action seemed too business-like and final, but it wasn’t his fault.
She reached Melinda, who said there was nothing to worry about, but sounded very upset all the same. “Jamie’s in the hospital,” she said. “You know how crazy he is about rodeo? He tied a flank-strap to Mickey so he would buck, and Mickey did, and Jamie came off pretty hard and hit his head.”
“Oh, Melinda, no!” The paint pony was only fourteen hands high, but that was still a very long way off the ground for an eight-year-old. “Is he okay?”
“He was unconscious for a couple of minutes, but he’s awake now. Thank the Lord. They’re keeping a watch on him overnight and they’ve done a scan. They say he’s going to be fine, but still… Kate, I so want to be with him at the hospital. Rob tried so hard to get in touch with you.”
“I know. I’m so sorry.” She remembered the message in the pigeonhole at school and cursed herself for assuming it would be something non-urgent and not checking it.
“He went with Jamie in the ambulance, but we couldn’t leave the kids here on their own. I’ve been a mess. I even tried calling Mom, but she’s out, too. If you could come home, then I can drive to Bozeman right away.”
“I’ll be there as soon as I can. Half an hour.”
Harrison didn’t need much of an explanation, after she’d put down the phone. “Go,” he said. “I can tell it’s a family emergency.”
Kate sketched out the detail briefly, and was out of his house without ever sitting down. He saw her to the pickup, and when she was seated behind the wheel she looked down at him. There was a kiss in his eyes and need in his face, but she couldn’t spare any time for it and he knew it. “I’m in court in Helena tomorrow,” he said. “An arson case dating from eighteen months ago. So I won’t be able to call you or see you.”
“That’s fine.”
“It’s not. Really wish I didn’t have to go.”
“It sounds like a long day.”
“You got that right! Might spill into Friday, too. But I’ll be back for prom, because I promised my nephew.”
“I’m at prom, too. We talked about that.”
“We did. Might see you.”
“Hope so. And then…”
“Next time,” he said, “we won’t end it this way.”
“Next time,” she promised, and
Similar Books
