Page 15 of Rocky Mountain Devil

It was an honest answer. He had every intention of thinking on it, but he already knew the answer washell no.

Thankfully, one of the goats made a break for it. Rafe tipped his chin briefly then turned away to deal with beasts and babes.

It took a solid hour before the area was less noisy and most of the wiggling children had left, and Rafe had time to look around. There were people from the church as well as a lot of family and friends dropping in to take part in the picnic. Rafe counted no less than nineteen family members over the course of the afternoon.

Suddenly he was looking at an angel. He caught hold of the bale in front of him with both hands as if that would stop the instant response of his body.

Two months had been far too long, and he took in every detail hungrily. Laurel had left her long blonde hair down over her bare shoulders, the silky strands so pale in the sunlight she seemed not of this world. Jean shorts and a plain black tank top covered her curves, and her feet…

Shockingly pink runners that made him grin.

She wasn’t wearing anything too revealing, but his imagination was more than adequate to fill in the details. Imagination, and the fact he’d been daydreaming about her the entire summer. Small pert breasts and sweet curves were balanced over long legs that he’d woken up dreaming about far too often.

Yup. Rafe was one-hundred-percent fool when it came to Laurel Sitko, and it was about time everybody found out he was carrying a torch.

Their gazes met across the distance and—

He’d heard of people who’d been struck by lightning losing the ability to move, as if their feet were glued to the ground. It was like that for him. Nothing worked right, except his heart that took off into a racing tempo that left him breathless and lightheaded just looking at the woman.

She’d frozen the instant their eyes met. The sudden stop left her partially off-balance, and she had to scramble to keep herself upright. Rafe laughed, not at her, but with her, feeling the same stunned sensation that had obviously hit her.

Instead of returning his amusement, her tongue slipped over her lips, and her head tilted downward as her gaze stayed fixed on his. As if she were praying and her heavenly requests had come true.

The weeks and months and years they’d been apart vanished, and all he could think about was marching across the yard, sweeping her up and taking her back to his place to disappear for a few weeks.

His place—a one-bedroom apartment in his parents’ yard…

Oh hell, he hadn’t thought that part out very well.

Rafe kicked his own butt as he broke the eye lock between them and focused on the kids, animal-type, that were trying to eat his shirt.

Now that he knew she was there, their reunion was inevitable. He found himself checking on her as she paced through the crowd. They darted glances at each other, offering flirty smiles.

He was so ready to get rolling on the next stage—and not just fooling around. He’dmissedher over the past years, dammit.

Because he was being a busybody, Rafe spotted her father stepping away from a group of what had to be church elders, a well-dressed young man at his side. Probably the youth pastor he’d been told about. Rafe’s age, or slightly older. The fellow was handsome enough and held himself as if he might actually survive a day’s hard labour.

Not that Rafe was looking for a new best friend.

Only because he’d been watching so closely did he see it. Laurel’s gaze caught on the potential youth pastor.

Rafe shot to his feet, moving before he realized it. Even across the distance it was clear all the blood had drained from Laurel’s face. She swayed for a second before stumbling to the nearest upright post to clutch at it.

What the heck?

One broad leap took him over the low fence surrounding the animal pen as he raced toward her, the urgent need to protect screaming to the forefront.

Oblivious to his approach, she took one more frantic glance at the young man then turned her back, marching steadily toward the parking lot as if she’d remembered an urgent errand.

Rafe raced the final few steps to catch her by the arm and turn her toward him as he checked her over worriedly.

“What’s up?”

She didn’t answer, yanking herself free from his grasp then taking another couple steps.

“Laurel.” A masculine shout carried in their direction.

She didn’t glance over in acknowledgment. Instead, it seemed her pace increased, widening the distance between them as rapidly as possible.