The Rancher's One-Week Wife by Kathie DeNosky Page B

and he went his.
    Besides, giving into his need for Karly wasn’t going to get him any closer to finding out what had changed her mind about them. That’s why he was going to do his best to ignore the fact that she still turned him on like no other woman ever had and concentrate on showing her the beauty of his ranch and the wonderful life they could have shared. In the bargain, he hoped to learn more about the woman he’d married and would soon let go.
    “Karly, this is Suede,” he said, forcing himself to smile as he led the mare over to where she sat. “She’ll be your horse for as long as you’re here at the ranch.”
    “She’s awfully tall,” Karly said, slowly rising to her feet. He noticed she was careful to keep him between herself and the gentle mare.
    Trying not to laugh, he handed Karly the reins. “While you two get acquainted, I’m going to saddle Boomer.”
    “You’re going to leave me alone with her?” she asked, sounding alarmed.
    “Trust me, Karly,” he said, trying to make his tone as reassuring as possible. “If I thought there was even the slightest chance you would get hurt, I wouldn’t let you get anywhere near this horse.” Before he could stop himself, he reached out to cup her cheek with his palm. “I promise you’ll be just fine, sweetheart.”
    As she continued to stare up at him, he felt the ever so slight sway of her body toward his. That was all it took to send his good intentions right out the window and before he could stop himself, he leaned forward to cover Karly’s mouth with his. Soft and every bit as perfect as he remembered, her lips molded to his and when her mouth parted on a soft sigh, Blake’s heart took off like a racehorse out of the starting gate. He couldn’t have stopped himself from deepening the kiss if his life depended on it.
    Tracing her lips with his tongue, he slipped inside to reacquaint himself with her silky inner recesses. Every one of his senses sharpened and his lower body came to full arousal faster than he thought was humanly possible. Her taste and the tiny moan that she couldn’t quite stifle caused him to groan with frustration. They were in a barn holding a horse by the reins. Not exactly the ideal situation to start something he knew damn well he wouldn’t finish anyway.
    When he felt himself fighting the urge to pull her into his arms and kiss her until they were both utterly senseless, he dropped his hand and took a step back. “You trust me, don’t you?”
    Apparently as stunned by the intimate moment as he had been and just as reluctant to comment on that kiss, she stared at him for several long moments before she finally nodded. “Y-yes. But if you’re wrong about me and this horse, I swear I’ll come back and haunt you.”
    He laughed out loud as much to relieve the tension gripping him as at the humor of her threat. Her quick wit was one of the things that he’d found so damn attractive about her. And he took her humor now as a good sign; she was becoming more relaxed with him again.
    “If you want to score points with Suede, scratch her forehead and talk to her,” he said as he turned to go get Boomer out of his stall. When he returned, he was glad to see Karly had graduated to patting the mare’s neck.
    “I think we’ve come to an understanding,” Karly announced as Blake saddled the gelding. “I’m not going to upset her.”
    When she paused, he smiled. “It sounds to me like you’ve worked things out.”
    Nodding, she added, “We’re both going to blame you if I do make the mistake of doing something she finds offensive.”
    “Now, why doesn’t that surprise me?” he asked, grinning as he led Boomer over to where she and the mare stood.
    “Probably because you’re the one insisting that I have to ride a horse,” Karly retorted as he handed the gelding’s reins for her to hold as well as the mare’s.
    “Wh-what are...you doing?” she asked, her voice filled with panic once again.
    “Don’t