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He kissed that spot behind my ear, and I tingled in response. “No. It’s never a bad thing.” His lips found that same spot again and this time I couldn’t control my body’s response. “But that doesn’t mean I can’t do two things at once.”

My eyes that had closed from his kisses snapped open at his words. In his free hand he held what I had been sleeping with for weeks now. His shrewd gaze flicked between the shirt and me. “Just say it.” I wanted to sink into the bed at that moment. God only knew what kind of thoughts he had running through his mind.

“I was wondering where this had gotten to.” He grinned. “Tell me, have you been wearing it to bed? Have you been thinking about me when you do?”

“You’re so sure of yourself, aren’t you? Who says it’s anything more than me simply forgetting to give it back to you?”

He rolled off me and sat on the bed instead. Shrugging in a somewhat nonchalant manner, he said, “All good. I’ll take it with me and throw it in the wash then.”

What? He couldn’t do that. It smelled of him and that comforted me. It was the most selfless thing anyone had ever done for me—literally giving me the shirt off his back—he wasn’t getting it back.

What I wanted to do was to simply tell him that he couldn’t take it away, that it meant something to me. But do you think I could act rationally around this damn cowboy?

Nope.

Of course I couldn’t.

Instead, I once again launched my entire body at him, knocking us both off the bed and onto the floor with a loud thump. Reaching out, I snagged the shirt from his grip and jumped up to stand over the top of him with it clenched close to my chest. “Don’t even think about it, cowboy. It’s mine now and I’m not giving it back. Ev-er.” I emphasized the word, turning it into two syllables.

“It’s my favorite shirt you know.”

My grin stopped in place for half a second. “Really?” It was quickly becoming one of my favorites too.

“Yeah, but you can keep it.” When he got to his feet, he slipped his hands into the back pockets of his jeans. “Any chance I might get to see you in only my shirt?”

“Do you want to?”

Coming closer, he took my face in his hands as he looked down at me and nodded. “Because the thought of you wearing something of mine makes me want to do so many naughty things to you. It must be a primal thing,” he mused, “to see a woman in a shirt you own, like you need to protect her, love her. Make her happy.”

Swallowing, I felt my cheeks beginning to color with another blush. “Well, you never know what the future holds.” Leaning up on my tippy toes, I kissed him quickly on the lips. “Now let me get ready, cowboy.”

“Fine.” He let me go and headed toward the hallway. I quickly went back to the bed and tucked the shirt underneath the pillow, where it belonged.

“I’m taking you boot shopping.” I turned and saw him leaning against the door frame. His hands held the top of it, lifting the shirt just enough that I could see a sliver of his abdominal muscles.

“I’ve got boots already,” I threw back as I pulled my boots on. As the material of the shoe slipped over the bone, I grimaced at the sharp pain shooting out from a certain spot just beside my ankle.

The easy smile fell from his lips, and he was across the room and kneeling before me a moment later. His large, calloused palms landed on the naked flesh just above my knees where he hem of my skirt rode up a little high while I sat. They slowly slid down my calves, to the place where my hands were pulling my boot on, halting the process. “Hey, you shouldn’t be trying to push your feet back into these shoes. You were wearing them yesterday when you injured your ankle. I can promise you that this ankle is swollen and won’t fit just by looking at it. Perhaps some slippers would be more comfortable.”

Slipping my boots free of my feet, he set them on the floor beside his knees. “I’m fine,” I told him, not wanting to succumb to the doubt I saw in his eyes.“Really. I’m good.” He raised his eyebrows, apparently not believing me. I crossed my arms in protest and rolled my eyes.

“Once we get you some proper footwear, I’ll believe that. There will be no more injuries from inappropriate boots.” He nudged them before softly cradling my ankle and moving it around, evaluating the injury.

“Hey!” I exclaimed, but winced and uncrossed my arms as he discovered a particularly painful spot. “I’ll have you know those boots are my favorite pair of shoes, and it wasn’t their fault.” I hissed as he prodded the spot again before standing.

He leaned around the bedpost and his hands disappeared into my bag on the camphor chest at the base. When they reappeared, he was holding my black Jimmy Choo ballet flats. “These could also work for now. They also look like they will be much easier for you to get off when you try boots on too.”

“They are slip ons,” I told him.

His hands took hold of my ankles again and his fingers slipped under the soles of my feet. His thumbs worked their way up the center of them, relieving some of the stress I was holding there, along with the pain. He did it a second time and a totally unladylike moan escaped my lips. It felt bloody good.

His hands stopped moving. “Darlin’, you keep making sounds like that and I’m going to lay you back on this bed and—” He paused as footsteps approached from down the hall.

“Okay, I’m heading off to the bar now. You’re both still swinging by later, yeah?” Kenzie’s voice came from the open doorway.

Ryder cursed softly. I placed my hands on his shoulders, while trying my hardest not to laugh. His family certainly had the worst timing. I shook off what he was about to describe to me, instead getting to my feet and toeing my flats on.

A second later, he was at my side, his hands wrapping around my waist and pulled me back flush against his chest. “Yes, Dolly. We will be there a little later. First, I have to take this woman shopping for some boots.”