Page 76 of A Rancher's Heart

Tamara struggled to move upright, Emma a lead weight pinning her down. He sat on the edge of the bed and curled an arm around her shoulders and help her to sit.

“Let me take her,” he offered softly.

She turned and Caleb reached for Emma, his hands brushing Tamara’s body. A small noise escaped her lips, and his system went tight as if he’d been poked with a cattle prod.

Somehow he managed to get to his feet. He stood there for a moment, arms full of his little girl as he stared at the woman in his bed. The sheets covered her, but every curve was there if he wanted to look. Soft shoulders, her hair tumbled down. Warm from sleep, vulnerable—

Sexy enough to make a saint want to dally for a spell.

Their eyes met again and he wasn’t imagining the heat in them. The need—the same urgent desire roiling in his gut.

She licked her lips, and they parted, as if she were going to say something when Emma wiggled.

“Daddy?”

All attention went to his little girl. “Right here, button. I got you.”

“I was scared and sad.”

“You’re safe now.

“Tamara cuddled me.”

“I saw that. You want to stay in my room with me?”

She shook her head. “Professor G needs me.”

Ahh. The stuffed monkey. “He’s in your room. You want to go cuddle with him?”

A sleepy nod.

She was nine-tenths of the way asleep again when he laid her on her bed. As soon as he tucked the stuffed animal under her arm, she breathed out long and hard and her eyes remained closed.

He sat with her for a minute, listening to her settle. Thinking about the small moments of conversation she’d slipped in.

The fact she’d accepted Tamara’s comfort blew his mind.

When he rose from the bed and stepped down the hall he wasn’t sure what he’d find, but he knew what he was hoping for.

Alas, it seemed angels only appeared in his bed once a night. The sheets were tugged back into place, and Tamara was gone.

He was ready to go after her—took two steps toward her room in fact before he realized he couldn’t. This didn’t change anything.

But he wanted to. He wanted to go join her so badly his entire body ached with it.

And when he crawled under the sheets and found they were still warm, the scent of her lingering, it pushed the madness over the line.

There was no ignoring the truth anymore. He wanted Tamara. She was a good woman, and a smart one. Strong and sexy and stubborn, and everything about her drew him in like a moth to a flame—

He would be man enough to admit it, at least to himself. He was scared shitless he was about to be burned all over.

Luke was right. This was something more than sexual craving. It was closer to what he’d felt at the beginning with Wendy, that hopeful tangle with longing for a great future.

But when did the potential formorebecome a dream? Relationships were a complete potshot in terms of lasting, and he didn’t know if he were strong enough to fail again.

He couldn’t ignore this situation, though, Caleb realized. At some point in the coming days he and Tamara needed to redefine their relationship. He’d have to be brave enough to decide which fork in the road to take.

But not tonight. Not this minute. Maybe not until the holidays were over…

As if setting a date released the pressure, he could suddenly breathe again. It was right to wait—there was too much going on, and changing anything before the holidays was out of the question.

But now that he was forced to look at the situation with his eyes wide open, Caleb acknowledged this could be a huge turning point.

He wanted Tamara. He trusted her with his children.

Why was it so hard to trust her with his heart?