Wild Texas Rose by Jodi Thomas

because she was somewhere she didn’t belong.
    He moved closer, stumbling slightly when he dragged his weak leg. With his movement in the cramped space, he inadvertently shoved her against the boxes stacked higher than her shoulder. The sudden contact stilled them both.
    For a moment, neither moved.
    “You’re not supposed to be here.” The nearness of her washed over him. He hadn’t been so close to a woman in years. To his shock, she seemed shorter, softer, and so much more vulnerable than he’d ever thought of her as being.
    “I’m just looking . . .”
    He could feel her stiffening against him as if preparing for battle. Her slight movements made him aware that she was a woman fully developed.
    “What are you going to do, Mr. Henderson? Arrest me?” Her voice shook a little as he felt her words close to his throat. “I think I have a right to look for my things.”
    If she planned to argue, Abe knew he didn’t have a chance. He wouldn’t get in a word much less make a point. Before he could think, he leaned into her and pressed his mouth over hers. For a heartbeat, he thought she’d jerk away and slap him, but she remained perfectly still. He could feel her drawing in quick breaths as the awkward kiss continued.
    He put his hands on either side of her, pinning her against a box as he moved his mouth an inch away from hers. “I think, Miss Norman, that I’m going to kiss you again.”
    She opened her mouth to protest and he silenced any argument. Her mouth tasted like heaven. He could feel her full bottom lip tremble. All she’d had to do was turn her head, but she remained frozen as if what he was doing was so out of the realm of possibilities, she had no defense.
    He took his time kissing her the second try, remembering how a woman felt from a time when he’d been far more boy than man and kissed a few girls behind barn dances.
    When she struggled against him, he broke the kiss. “Not a word. This is not open for discussion,” he whispered against her cheek, “or I kiss you again.” He couldn’t stand the thought of her sharp words after the wonder of kissing her.
    Abe stilled and watched her slowly straighten away from him. “Don’t come back in the storage room again unless you want this to continue between us.” Bracing himself for a slap, he didn’t move.
    He saw her nod slightly as he made room for her to pass. Her body brushed his as she moved away, and he felt the longing of her leaving as if in the few minutes they’d shared she’d become a part of him.
    She lifted her chin and stared at him as lightning flashed from the high windows. He’d expected to see fear or hate. He guessed she’d threaten to have him arrested. After all, one doesn’t go around kissing proper young women, and a schoolteacher was one step down from being a nun. If it went to trial, his only defense would be that a ghost told him to do it.
    But he saw no fear in her eyes, only anger, before she turned and stormed out of his store.
    Abe followed, moving easily between the displays in the darkness. He stood at the open door she’d left, wondering how he could ever face her again. She’d been a teacher for years across the street from his place and they’d never said a word that wasn’t necessary. Nothing beyond “good morning.” He’d had no right to kiss her, and to kiss her the way he had was probably unforgivable. If he had any sense, he’d apologize tomorrow. But how could he apologize for doing the one thing that had made him feel alive since the war?
    He didn’t sleep at all, thinking about what a fool he’d made of himself. When the mail came the next morning, he counted out her order and asked Henry to deliver it, even though the store was as busy as it had been the day before. “Tell her I’ll put up the blackboard tomorrow.” Sunday, he reasoned, the only day she never came to the school. The only day he could work without someone watching him.
    Henry raised an eyebrow, but as always he