Million Dollar Cowboy (Cupid, Texas #5)(47)

Shoot.

She heard footsteps behind her, hoped it wasn't Ridge, and ducked deeper into the shadows around the side of the barn. Stood with her back and arms plastered against the wooden wall, trying to catch her breath and make sense of the emotions whirling around inside of her.

"Snap out of it," she scolded. "You're overreacting. Letting your imagination go wild."

She stood panting, and after a while, when she could finally draw in a deep breath, she slipped into the darkened chapel and climbed the steps to the overhead loft. She would hole up in here until people started leaving and she could get her truck out. She couldn't go back to the party.

Couldn't let anyone see just how much dancing with Ridge Lockhart had unraveled her.





Chapter 14




Puzzled, Ridge waited a minute before following Kaia into the chapel. If she needed space, he would give it to her. On the other hand, if she was upset, he wanted to ease her troubled mind.

Thing is, he wasn't sure what he'd done to upset her. One minute they'd been dancing and having a good time; the next, she'd looked completely panic-stricken and couldn't get away from him fast enough.

Was it the fact he'd gotten an erection? He'd tried not to press right up against her when they'd been dancing, but the dance floor had been packed, necessitating close contact.

And how did a guy go about apologizing for that. Sorry you're so hot I got a boner? No, definitely do not say that.

It was a lot to take in. The fact that he wanted to bed his best friend's kid sister more than he'd ever wanted to bed anyone. It felt disloyal, taboo, and incredibly hot.

The chapel was dark save for the party lights shining in the windows. The band started up a rendition of "You Are the Best Thing."

Ridge pulled the door closed behind him and sauntered inside. Heard his boots scraping against the floor, inhaled the dry smell of wood and hymnals, felt the boards creak under his weight.

He walked the aisle, looking down each row to see if Kaia was skulking in a pew. She wasn't on the first floor, but he'd seen her come in here. She had to be in the loft.

Should he leave her be or go to her?

His brain told him to split, but his body, his bones, his blood, pushed him up the ladder to the loft.

His pulse quickened with each step and he realized it had been quite some time since he'd been this excited. She was not playing hide-and-seek. He'd scared her. He should go away and leave her in peace.



       
         
       
        

Smart thought. He would do that.

He didn't.

The loft platform was so close to the roof that he had to duck his head as he stepped off the ladder. He could see her sitting in the open window surrounded by wedding gifts, knees drawn to her chest, bridesmaid dress hugged around her legs, gazing out at the party below, the moon glow casting her in silhouette.

"Kaia?" he murmured. "Is it okay if I sit with you?"

"It's your family's chapel," she said. "I can't stop you."

He paused. "Do you want me to go?"

She didn't say anything for so long he was already backing down the ladder when she spoke. "I don't mind if you stay."

Not a rousing "yes, sit down, take a load off," but he would take what he could get.

He eased over, careful not to rise up and whack his head on the beams. He sat next to her, not touching her, stretched out his legs to dangle them out the wide-open hayloft-style window.

"Hey," he said, trying not to sound breathless. Why was he breathless? Had to be the heat. He wasn't used to it anymore.

"Hey, yourself."

"Will you get irritated with me if I ask how you're doing?"

Her mouth curled into a half smile. She sat looking sexy in a fancy dress and bare feet. He wondered if she had any idea the effect she had on him. "I'm not irritated."

He sat with her, saying nothing, a cocoon of darkness and silence surrounding them. It was as if they were on a completely different planet than the people at the party in the barn across the way. Just the two of them, snug and warm.

Intimate.

Crazy how intimate.

In a little more than thirty-six hours, Kaia Alzate had turned his world upside down. Kaia of the sexy laugh, sweet smile, and rocking hot bod.

"I made a mistake," he said.

"What mistake?"

"Waiting so long to come back home. I didn't realize . . ."

She inhaled audibly, her chest lifting, those gorgeous breasts rising high and pert. "What?"

"Never mind." How could he begin to tell her he regretted not being here to watch her grow into womanhood? Regretted all those moments they could have had together that they could never get back. Regretted he hadn't realized how much she truly meant to him until now.