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  For the life of him, Cody couldn’t have said which of them actually unbuttoned his shirt or pulled it from his shoulders and torso, tossing it aside in a bunched-up heap. Or, for that matter, which of them wound up disposing of the rest of Catherine’s clothing.

  It all occurred within an all-consuming haze, marked by sudden, hot arrows of passion that pierced right through him, reminding him what it meant to want a woman, to make love to a woman as well as with her.

  Catherine became all things to him at once, a revelation, a homecoming and a humbling novelty all rolled up into one.

  She had no idea what came over her.

  She’d never in her life reacted this way before, never wanted what she wanted at this moment before. The power within Cody’s kiss made her want to please him, to be desired by him.

  Be possessed by him.

  Her body had instantly heated when he’d touched his mouth to hers. Suddenly there were passions and desires erupting within her at an incredibly breathtaking pace. Catherine couldn’t think clearly, didn’t want to think at all, just experience all the wondrous sensations that were currently racing through her body, making it sing in a language she’d never known before.

  Never known before, but wanted desperately to learn.

  Being with Cody this way fueled an eagerness within her, an eagerness that made her almost rip off his clothes in her desire to touch and be touched. To press her naked skin against his equally bare torso.

  It seemed to her that Cody instantly conquered every place his lips touched, branding her. Making her his for all time.

  Her neck, her shoulders, her belly, the skin all but burned as his mouth passed over each and every area. She twisted and turned, her body eager to spread the sensation, to share it equally even as those sensations continued to explode all along her body.

  When Cody came close to her throat, she seized her opportunity, took hold of his face between her hands and kissed him so hard she thought her soul would crack from the impact.

  And still it wasn’t enough.

  She wanted more, craved more even though she had no idea where this rampaging need was coming from or how it was all going to end.

  Heretofore she’d been almost docile and had little to no desire to enter this fiery wonderland she was racing through now.

  But then, how could someone miss what they’d never known? The small handful of partners she’d had before had never even had the keys to the back door of this exquisite paradise.

  Now, however, she knew that when this was gone, she would severely mourn the loss.

  Moving by instincts she’d had no idea she possessed until just now, Catherine did her best to teasingly goad him on, silently entreating Cody not to hold back any longer.

  Her body ached for him.

  As did her soul.

  For his part, Cody knew that he’d come close to self-destructing if he didn’t take her now, this second. Rolling over so that she was beneath him, he watched Catherine’s eyes as he positioned himself over her. Even in this amped-up state, he was watching her eyes for any telltale sign of fear, of hesitation. For some indication that she’d suddenly changed her mind and wanted him to stop before the ultimate act occurred.

  But there were no signs, no silent entreaties.

  The exact opposite was true.

  His hands braced on either side of her, Cody slowly drove himself into her. Almost at the same time, he covered her mouth with his and pulled her close against him, his arms woven tightly around her, sealing the bargain completely.

  Ever so slowly, he began to move, to rock. But right from the very start, the pace instantly increased.

  And she matched him.

  Echoed each movement, returned each thrust until, evenly matched, they found themselves racing higher and higher along that rarified incline. And then, joined, they leaped off the peak together.

  Exhilaration seized Cody.

  He was breathing so hard, he didn’t know if he could ever successfully catch his breath again.

  Ultimately, he decided that didn’t matter. Because this one time, he’d been part of something that had been exquisitely perfect.

  Gradually, he became aware that her short, staccato breaths were lengthening in breadth and scope, as were his own.

  And after a few minutes, Cody found he had enough air in his lungs to enable him to form words. But, to play it safe, he took in a few more breaths before venturing to say something.

  Catherine hadn’t moved a muscle since they’d plunged off the cliff together—now an eternity ago. She remained tucked against him and he had his arm protectively around her.

  Turning toward her now, Cody felt he had to make something crystal clear in case he hadn’t before. “I want you to know I didn’t plan on this.”

  He could feel the small, guileless smile as it formed on her lips. Watched it as it entered her eyes, all before she finally said, “I know.”

  Cody raised himself up on his elbow, wanting to get a better look at her face. The smile notwithstanding, she seemed serious, at least about this.

  “You know?”

  She nodded. Again her eyes crinkled into a smile. “I could feel you struggling with yourself.”

  He sank back down again, trying to make sense out of everything that had just happened and how he was supposed to deal with it. The goalposts ahead seemed clear to him, but he wasn’t so sure how to put what he was feeling, what he wanted her to know, into words so that she knew as well.

  He began with something he’d already said, wanting to build on it and go from there.

  “I didn’t want you to feel I was taking advantage of you.” He got no further because he could feel her laughing softly. Was she laughing at him or something he’d said? “What’s so funny?”

  “Taking advantage of me?” she repeated, then reminded him of a very crucial fact in their coming together, “You didn’t exactly have to tie my hands and feet to a tree, you know.”

  “No,” he agreed, “but you might think that I seduced you.”

  Seduced her?

  The fact that she didn’t burst out laughing testified that she had developed huge restraint herself. Catherine congratulated herself.

  And then she smiled to herself again. Cody was incredibly sweet. She’d had no idea he could be this thoughtful, this sensitive about her feelings and reactions. Who knew that beneath all that solemnity beat the heart of a kind man who intentionally put her needs ahead of his own?

  “If anything, Cody, I seduced you,” she told him with a very straight face. And then her grin popped up as she continued, “You did your best to resist. By the way, a girl could get a complex from that, you know.”

  “A complex?” he repeated quizzically.

  “Sure. I started to wonder what was wrong with me if I had to all but rip your clothes off to get you to finally come around and make love with me.”

  “I came around way before you got started taking my clothes off,” he informed her.

  “Oh?” She grinned at him. “Really?”

  He couldn’t tell from her tone of voice if she was teasing him or actually surprised by what he’d just said. Or if she was saying that she didn’t believe him.

  All he could do was give her an honest reply. “Yes, ‘really.’”

  “And exactly what was it about me that made you come around?” she wanted to know, not sure if she believed what he was telling her or not. Cody seemed honest enough, but men were known to lie if it suited them.

  “Everything,” he answered without any hesitation.

  “You know, for a taciturn cowboy,” she marveled, “you really do have a way with words when you try.” Her eyes began to shine as she added, “But I have to admit that I like the fact that you don’t need words to get your point across.”

  It was his turn to feign innocence even though he knew exactly what she was referring to. “Oh?”

  Catherine shifted so that she was looking down at him, her long brown hair moving teasing
ly along his bare chest.

  “Yes, ‘oh,’” she repeated, mimicking his tone.

  Then, before any more dialogue could be exchanged, she moved seductively along his body, her bare torso singeing his.

  And then she kissed him as hard as she could, with every fiber of her being.

  And just like that, Cody found himself engaged in another exhilarating, mind-bending marathon—and loving it beyond words.

  Chapter Fourteen

  It was time, Cody decided.

  He’d thought on it long and hard these last few days and made up his mind that it was time. Time to move on. Time to have a talk with Catherine about what was on his mind.

  But he needed to take care of something else first.

  Looking for just the right words that he wanted to use, he didn’t notice Hank walking toward him as he hurried down the front steps. Didn’t really notice him at all until Hank all but planted his tall, wiry body in front of him.

  Hooking his thumbs through his belt loops, Hank asked with a wide, guileless grin, “Is it my imagination, boss, or is that a spring in your step I’ve been seeing these last few days?”

  The look on the man’s face was a cross between a smirk and something that looked like vicarious pleasure. Cody knew that if he allowed himself to get sucked into a conversation with his ranch hand, it would throw his schedule completely off. Hank, given half an opportunity, could talk the ears off a bronze statue. He was a damn hard worker, but he had a bad habit of never using five words if he could use fifty instead.

  “Your imagination,” Cody said crisply, deliberately moving around the man.

  Rather than take the hint, Hank fell into step beside him, staying closer to him than a shadow. “No, no, I think that’s a definite spring.” Hank pretended to take a second, long look at his boss to convince himself. “Yup, that’s what it is, all right. A spring.” Hank was definitely smirking now. “It wouldn’t have anything to do with that nice young woman you brought up to the ranch last week, now would it?” Before Cody had a chance to say “no,” Hank boasted, “I’ve got a keen eye for these kinds of things.”

  “It’s a shame you don’t use that keen eye of yours to focus on getting your job done instead of trying to figure out someone else’s business,” Cody said. There wasn’t even so much as a hint of a smile on his face or in his voice.

  A lot of men would have backed off. But Hank had worked for him since he’d bought the ranch nearly five years ago and he didn’t scare easily.

  “I can do both,” Hank volunteered, punctuating his statement with another wide grin.

  “Ask me, it’s about time,” Kurt chimed in. The second, younger ranch hand seemed to come out of nowhere. “Hank and me were starting to worry that you weren’t never gonna come around.”

  Stopping, Cody looked from one man to the other. “Is my personal life all you can find to talk about?” he wanted to know.

  “Ain’t been all that much to talk about until just now,” Hank answered. Thumbs still hooked into his belt loops, he rocked back on his heels. “I’d strike real fast if I were you, boss. That little lady isn’t going to be single for long. Not with that face and figure.”

  “I’m with him,” Kurt said, jerking a thumb in Hank’s direction.

  Cody frowned. He knew they meant well, but he wasn’t about to start a precedent by condoning this kind of talk from men who were working for him.

  “You two through gossipin’ like two little old ladies?” he demanded, looking from one to the other, his expression unreadable. “’Cause if this is what you want to be doing, I can hire two hands to take your place faster than you can say ‘mind your business.’”

  Hank held his hands up in the universal sign for surrender. “We’re just being happy for you, boss. No cause for you to go all ornery on us.”

  Kurt merely shook his head. “Ask me, I don’t think he knows how to be happy without acting like a wounded bear,” he said as if Cody wasn’t standing within three feet of him.

  Hank appeared to mull the assessment over. Both men began to walk away from Cody and toward the stable. “Well, that’s a habit he’s sure gonna have to change if he wants to go on keeping company with that pretty little shopkeeper. There’s only so much scowling a woman like that would be willing to put up with before she just walks away,” Hank estimated.

  Kurt was quick to agree with him. “Ain’t that the truth?”

  “If you two are through dissecting my life,” Cody called after them, raising his voice to be heard, “there’s a little matter of cleaning out the stalls to attend to.” Cody was doing his level best to sound annoyed, but at the moment, thinking about the life he pictured ahead of him, it was really becoming difficult to maintain a gruff exterior. Especially when everything felt as if it was all rosy inside of him.

  Hank stopped just short of the stall entrance. “You gonna go see her?” he wanted to know.

  Cody left that part unanswered. Instead, in case they had to come looking for him for some reason, he told the two ranch hands where he was going to be for the next half hour or so. “I’m going to the cemetery.”

  Kurt came out of the stable, a pitchfork for mucking out the stalls in his hands. He exchanged looks with Hank.

  Hank was the one who spoke first. “Uh-oh, you have a setback, boss?” he asked sympathetically.

  “Not that I’m aware of,” was all Cody would volunteer. With that, he slid into his truck and drove off, leaving both of the ranch hands staring after him, trying to puzzle out just what was going on.

  * * *

  It was too good to be true and she knew it.

  He was too good to be true.

  These last few days she’d spent with Cody had been as close to perfect as humanly possible—and it had her worried.

  Ever since Cody had whisked her away on that impromptu picnic, he’d been turning up at the shop, saying and doing things that absolutely made her heart sing. Cody Overton had turned out to be everything she had ever wanted in a man.

  Which, she was convinced, meant that it was all too good to be true. This was more like a dream than reality and everyone knew you had to wake up from a dream sooner or later.

  No dream went on indefinitely—did it?

  Dreams didn’t, but maybe a man did, she thought hopefully. Maybe what she was seeing was the real Cody—the one who was kind and considerate beneath that rough-hewed exterior.

  But, more likely, the real Cody had been temporarily sublimated and this was just an aberration, someone who would fade away all too soon once he tired of being like this.

  No two ways about it, Catherine realized that she was waiting for the other shoe to drop. And while she was doing this waiting, she kept looking at the clock on the opposite wall, waiting for Cody—any version of Cody—to come walking in.

  Because right now he was late, she thought. Not that Cody actually clocked in, of course, but for the last five days, he’d been turning up bright and early and it was no longer early now—and growing less bright by the moment.

  As a matter of fact, it was going on close to noon.

  Chewing on her lower lip, Catherine glanced at the phone by the register and wondered if she should try to call Cody.

  Would that seem too eager to him? Too needy? She didn’t want to come across as some clingy female, but if by any chance there was something wrong, she wanted to know.

  Cody would have called if he’d decided not to come, right?

  The question echoed in her brain as a dozen reasons—both pro and con—assaulted her. She couldn’t come up with anything definite on either side.

  Unable to talk herself out of it and growing progressively shorter and shorter on patience, Catherine hurried over to the phone and picked up the receiver.

  Just as she did, she heard the bell ring behind her. Swinging around to face the front of the store, she cried, “You’re finally here,” before she could think to stop herself.

  The new chef at the Gallatin Room in the Thunder
Canyon Resort, Shane Roarke, was surprised at the nature and tone of the greeting. His eyebrows drew together in obvious confusion.

  “I guess I am,” he murmured, not quite sure how to respond to the shop owner’s strange greeting.

  Embarrassed, Catherine flushed slightly. The man probably thought she was crazy.

  “I’m sorry,” she apologized. “I thought you were someone else.”

  “I’m sorry I’m not,” he said with a smile. Putting his hand out, he introduced himself. “Hi, I’m Shane Roarke.”

  “Catherine Clifton,” she responded, returning his handshake.

  “I’m new in town and I just bought a place that doesn’t have a stick of furniture in it. Someone at the Thunder Canyon Resort said that you’ve gotten some good, sturdy pieces for sale at decent prices so I thought I’d come in and look around.”

  Idiot! Catherine upbraided herself. She’d almost lost a customer, letting thoughts of Cody crowd her head and push everything else out. This was her livelihood she was jeopardizing, and if she wasn’t careful, she’d find herself losing everything. She was going to have to keep her mind on business and everything else was going to have to go on the back burner, including Cody.

  Easier said than done and she knew it.

  Out loud she said, “Please,” as she made a sweeping gesture with her hand, taking in most of the shop. “Look all you want. I’m sure you’ll find something here to your liking—and on the outside chance that you don’t, let me know what you’re looking for and I’ll see if I can track it down for you at some estate sale.”

  In the last couple of months, she’d gotten rather good at that, finding small, out-of-the-way places that had both furniture and vintage clothing that seemed to be all but waiting for her to come and rescue them for her shop.

  “Any piece in particular on your mind?” she wanted to know.

  Shane shook his head. “To be honest, it’s one of those things that I’ll know it if I see it.”

  Catherine nodded. “I know just what you mean.” And she did. An item had to appeal to her—to “speak” to her—before she made an offer to buy it. “So I’ll get out of your way and let you start looking around,” she concluded, giving her new potential customer her most accommodating, friendly smile.