Page 284 of The Cowbears of Curvy Bear Ranch

“Totally not awkward,” he said in a self-deprecatingtone.

“I liked it,” shewhispered.

“What?”

“Kissingyou.”

He swallowed hard enough to make his Adam’s apple bob. As he bent to sip his coffee, he looked at her over the rim of the cup. His sudden shyness only added to hisattractiveness.

They finished their drinks in silence. She noted his sidelong glances but didn’t comment on them. He was so skittish that she didn’t want to scare him away. Even though she wanted to fling herself into his arms, it was out of thequestion.

When they returned to the snowmobile, he turned and looked at her with such hunger in his eyes that her knees trembled. He stepped closer until less than a foot separated them. She tilted her head up to meet hissmolderinggaze.

As he cupped her cheeks with his gloved hands, she shivered. The intensity of his movements underscored the sensual longing that brought them together. When his lips found hers, she moaned. He spread fiery kisses across her mouth until she couldn’t catch her breath. Every brush of his lips only served to deepen the kiss, to claim her, to draw her into an abyss of sensual desire so endless that she thought she might die if he ever lethergo.

The relentless kiss didn’t stop until he’d pushed past her lips and explored every inch of her mouth with his tongue. Heat pooled in the space between her thighs. She wanted to drag him into the building and peel off all the layers of clothing that kept themapart.

He eased out of the kiss with finesse, leaving her weak and trembling. He stepped back and smiledsoftly.

“Ready to go?” heasked.

God, yes! Take me to bed, she wanted toscream.

“Sure,” sheresponded.

“If you need me to stop for any reason, just tap my shoulder three times,”hesaid.

For a second, she wasn’t sure if he was still talking about the snowmobile trip, or if he was giving her a safeword signal. Shereallyneeded to stop reading so many naughtybooks.

“Got it,”shesaid.

As she climbed up behind him, her heart pounded against her ribcage. She had no idea what was happening between them, but she didn’t want to question it too hard. He still knew nothing about her—not even her real name of Cindy—and once he discovered her secret, he’d run theotherway.

Chapter6

Drew’s cockached worse than his first case of blue balls. Bouncing around on the snowmobile only exacerbated the problem. His lips still tingled and his heart pounded as he tried to concentrate on the turns. As the road to Mammoth Hot Springs wound alongside the Gibbon River, he tried to calmhisbear.

Mine. Mine. Mine.His bear chantedincessantly.

No, Bear. She’s not yours,orours.

He couldn’t afford to start thinking about her as anything other than a guest at the ranch. If he fell for her, it would prove his sister-in-law was right. Damn her for putting him through this. If only Sharon wasn’t soirresistible.

As he took a sharp corner, the snowmobile skidded across a patch of ice. She gripped his waist. The pressure shot straight to his groin and a shock of desire raced up his spine. He pushed against her and groaned into his helmet. At least she couldn’t see his pain. But if she could, would she do somethingaboutit?

She hadn’t resisted his kisses either last night or today. Of course she’d been primed by Madison to fall for him, so it couldn’t be real. She was just reacting to him based on Madison’s portrayal of him. It didn’t meananything.

The trip to Norris didn’t take long, so he continued without stopping. He passed a sign that read21 Miles toMammoth.

As they passed over a bridge, the meandering river shifted to the left side of the road. A small valley opened up on either side of the river. When he spotted a pack of elk, he crossed the road and pulled into a turnout. After turning off the snowmobile, he flipped up his visor. Shefollowedsuit.

“I spotted some elk,”hesaid.

“I saw them too and was hopingyou’dstop.”

“We can’t stay more than a minute or two, but let’s take a look,”hesaid.

He took her hand and walked to the edge of the hill overlooking the valley. One of the elk raised its head and looked straightatthem.