Page 16 of Rocky Mountain Devil

“You know him?” Rafe demanded in a whisper as he hurried at her side.

“Later, Rafe,” she snapped.

Screw this. He tugged her around the corner behind the cookie-and-coffee tent, holding her in place as he caught her by the chin and looked her straight in the eyes. “Laurel. What’s wrong?”

Her mouth opened and then closed tightly, lips pressed together.

It was probably twisted and wrong, but he needed to dosomethingto snap her out of whatever was causing this reaction. His first instinct was hisonlyinstinct. The only thing he wanted to do.

He pulled her against him and kissed her.

Chapter Four

For a brief second, an entire battalion of emotions struggled for headline billing. Confusion, and disbelief—that couldn’t actually have been Jeff Lawson she’d spotted in the crowd at the Rocky Mountain House Fall Fair.

Frustration and guilt and old-fashioned anger joined the party as another bolt of agony shot through her, only…

Well, there was a whole lot of history she didn’t want to be thinking about, so it was a good thing she had somethingelseto concentrate on at that moment. Something like the fact that Rafe Coleman was kissing her senseless. Tall, solid and handsome Rafe, who she’d been dreaming about all summer even as she’d tried to settle into town.

It’d helped her work ethic not to have him around. She could now do her job at the library in her sleep, and she’d met new friends. Established some routines.

But the entire time there’d been an aching Rafe-sized hole in her life.

His mouth against hers was better than a dream because it was real. Firm and commanding, Rafe teased with his lips as his hands took control of her body. Laurel was pretty sure they weren’t supposed to be doing this. Not here, not now, but it was so very wrong, it was right.

He held her in his strong arms, one hand pressed to her lower back to bring their bodies together tighter. She regretted the layers between them even though she was hanging out in shorts and a tank, and he wore his typical jeans and flannel shirt. The thin layers were far too much. She wanted skin. Lots and lots of naked Rafe.

Scandalous, yes, but true.

If she wasn’t able to feel the finer details of his firm shoulder muscles under his shirt, she had nothing to complain about the connection between their lips. His other hand cradled the back of her head and held her in place as he traced his tongue over her lips and went in for another kiss. Tender, yet not. Careful, yet still on the wild side. It didn’t seem as if Rafe was worried about overwhelming her, but more as if he was holding himself on a tight leash.

Which, man-oh-man did she ever want to experience him going for it at one-hundred-percent.

He stepped forward, pressing one leg between hers. It felt like the most natural thing in the world to move in closer, when reality kicked in with a vengeance.

They stood only feet away from a whole lot of people who would not consider making out in public an appropriate activity for them. For her.

And that wasn’t even considering Jeff—

Oh no.Jeff.

She jerked her hands down to Rafe’s chest, pushing him away as she sucked in a deep breath of air.

His gaze darted over her face as he tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. Utterly calm and relaxed, as if there was nothing else he was supposed to do right then except hold her in his arms and kiss her.

She liked that idea far too much, which is why it surprised her when her words snapped out sharper than expected. “What’re you doing?”

“Kissing you.”

“I noticed that, but I meanwhyare you kissing me?”

Rafe leaned his shoulder against the post next to them, arms draped around her. “Because I wanted to. Because it looked like you needed it.”

“I can’t deal with this right now,” Laurel muttered, wondering if she had time to escape around the backside of the tent before Jeff found them. He had most definitely been headed her direction.

“Because of that fellow your dad was telling me about?”

“Who?”