Page 30 of The Cattleman’s Unforgettable Love: Ford and Amelia (MacFarland Ranch #11)

There was no missing the flash of desire in his eyes when he slid his hands under her ass and pulled her to the edge of the counter so that.

.. She let out a little sigh at the feel of him.

The way his hard cock pressed between her legs made her want to end the conversation right here and now so that she could drag him upstairs.

She pressed a quick kiss to his lips and said, "And in case I'm not making myself clear, with you, it's right."

He rocked his hips, sending waves of desire crashing over her. "Am I making myself clear enough?" he asked, his voice sounding even deeper and more gravelly than normal.

She had to swallow before she could answer. "Absolutely," she told him.

He brushed his thumb over her lips again – she loved the way he did that – then he traced it down over her throat. Her eyes had drifted closed, and she was lost in the moment, but they popped open again when he paused, his thumb tracing the now tiny scar on her neck.

"The surgeon did a good job, but it was impossible to make it disappear completely," she told him.

Ford closed his eyes briefly. "I wasn't thinking about how it looks; I was thinking how brave you are."

She shook her head rapidly. "I was scared stupid."

"Of course you were. I would have been too, but just because you were scared, that didn't stop you, did it?"

She shrugged. "I didn't do much. Sierra was the one who saved the day."

"No," he said. "You both did. If you hadn't tried to take Jared down, Sierra wouldn't have had the time to grab his gun, would she?"

She shrugged again and reached up to run her fingers over his cheek. "Maybe not, but..."

He gave her a rueful smile as he said, "Yeah, sorry. Way to ruin the moment, me bringing that up."

"It's okay. I don't mind, but I'd rather enjoy being here with you in this moment than spend time talking about that – or about anything else," she added.

He nodded, but she knew that the moment had passed, and there was no point trying to recreate it.

But that didn't mean she planned to let it get too far away from them.

So she smiled. "And for the record, I could eat pizza every day of the week.

I love it. So how about we get it in the oven?

And then what do you want to do this evening?

Do you want to go out and walk? Do you want to stay in and chill?

" She raised her eyebrows. "And I'm talking about before we go to bed. "

The look he gave her made her squirm in her panties. "Or we could forget everything I just said and go now."

He chuckled. "We could, and you have no idea how tempted I am.

And if we were anywhere else, you can bet your ass I'd have scooped you up and had you halfway to my bed already.

But I can almost guarantee that if I tried that right now, at least one of my brothers would come by needing something.

" He let out a short laugh. "Knowing my luck, probably all of them would come by for something or another.

So..." He leaned in and kissed the tip of her nose.

"Let's have dinner and we'll go from there. How about that?"

She nodded happily. "That sounds like a fine plan to me."

~ ~ ~

Ford enjoyed every moment of their evening together. He had to keep adjusting his pants, but other than that, he felt more relaxed and at ease around Amelia than he could remember ever feeling around a woman before.

They worked side by side to prepare a salad while they waited for the pizza. They shared a beer – he smiled – at first, she’d said that she didn't want one, and then she'd kept swiping his bottle from his hand while they talked.

Then they'd come out here to the back deck to eat.

It was a beautiful evening; his breath caught in his chest – he was spending it with a beautiful woman.

He glanced over at her. They were sitting side by side on a big wicker sofa.

Neither of them had said anything for a while, and what she'd said about companionable silence came back to him. That was exactly how this felt.

She glanced over at him. "Are you doing okay?" she asked.

"I am. I was just thinking how much I'm enjoying this."

She smiled. "Me too."

"Do you want a drink or anything?"

"Are you going to have one?"

"I am," he said as he pushed to his feet. "This has been a great evening, and the only thing that could top it off –" He chuckled and rolled his eyes at her when she laughed. "I didn't mean that," he said. "I was talking about a drink. I'm going to get a brandy. Do you want one or something else?"

She cocked her head at him. "You don't think that taking each other to bed would top this evening off perfectly?"

He bent down to rest his forehead against hers and looked into her eyes. "I do, but it's not time to go to bed yet."

She smiled. "Okay, then. I'll have a brandy with you – as long as you don't think that I need alcohol to convince me."

He frowned. "If I thought alcohol would convince you, I wouldn't give you any. When I take you into my bed, I want it to be because it's what you want."

Her hand came up to cup his cheek. "I know. Sorry. I was only joking, but it was in poor taste, wasn't it?"

He nodded. "It was. I don't work that way. I would never try to get a girl drunk to get her into bed."

"I know. I'm sorry."

He felt bad that he'd killed the moment, but it was important. He kind of knew that she'd only been joking, but those kinds of jokes came from somewhere. He pushed back. "You want a glass of Remy with me, then?"

She nodded. "Please. I'd love one."

He paused when he reached the door and glanced back at her.

She looked sad as she stared out at the shadowy mountains.

Maybe he should have phrased it differently.

Maybe he'd been too harsh. But then, that had always been his problem.

He just hoped that Amelia wasn't too fragile to put up with his ways.

He didn't mean to be an asshole, but he didn't know how to be anything less than forthright either.