He angled back, his brown eyes almost black with emotion. "You're beautiful. I've fantasized about what your hair feels like so many times."
Then he cradled her hips in his palms again and shifted her off his lap and onto the sofa. Were they going to take things further out here? She opened her mouth to suggest they go to her room when she realized he wasn't sitting down again.
She reached up for him, ready to follow him wherever. He took her hand and pressed a kiss to her palm.
His eyes held hers. "Thanks for an amazing day. I look forward to tomorrow." He squeezed her hand once before letting go. "Goodnight, Megan. See you in the morning."
Cool air chilled over her flaming face. The first time she'd kissed him she could write off as an accident and save her pride. But not now. And he'd clearly been turned on and into the moment. So why the rejection?
Damn it all, she didn't have time in her life for games. Anger took root inside her, fueled by frustrated desire. As far as she was concerned, he could take his mixed signals and stuff them.
She would communicate with him on a professional level for the animals. But beyond that, she was done throwing herself at Whit Daltry.
* * *
As Whit landed his plane on the runway back in Royal, he couldn't help but compare this journey home to their flight out to Colorado. Yesterday's trip had been full of chatter and fun. The whole day had been one of the best he could remember. And he wanted more of them-with Megan and with Evie. Which meant he had to stay the course. As much as he'd wanted to follow through on Megan's invitation last night, he sensed she wasn't as ready as her kiss indicated.
So today, he sat up front alone at the plane's helm, while Evie stayed in the back napping beside her mom. The craft glided along the runway, slowing, slowing, slowing. He taxied up to the small airport that serviced their little town, the only place that had ever felt like home.
Megan had stayed quiet all day for the most part, giving only one or two answers to his questions about her work. Had he offended her last night? He'd only intended to ramp her interest, to take his time rather than rush her and risk her bolting. And now she'd bolted anyway after one of the most explosive kisses of his life. Only a kiss, damn it.
A cinnamon-scented moment.
The memory of that instant with her had him hard and wanting her now. But from the steely set of her jaw and straight spine, another kiss wasn't welcome. He had some serious backpedaling to do.
He steered the plane into the appointed parking spot. His employees converged outside to service the plane, unload the luggage and all the empty animal crates. He opened the hatch and lowered the steps while Megan unbuckled her napping daughter. Megan hefted Evie up into her arms and paused by Whit, her eyes scrubbed free of any emotion.
"Thank you for everything," she said with a careful smile.
He touched her elbow. "It was a good weekend."
"I should get home to relieve the pet sitter. Evie and I need to tackle washing before Monday hits." She nibbled her bottom lip, anger flickering in her eyes.
Well, hell. That cleared up any questions. He didn't have to wonder if he'd upset her by giving her time and space. And in the process, he'd denied them both an incredible night together for no reason at all. He needed to let her know he wasn't rejecting her, just...giving her time to adjust to the change in their relationship. "Do you need help with anything? I'll have the crates delivered back to the shelter."
"Thank you," she said tightly, then looked away for a second, adjusting her hold on her daughter before meeting his gaze head-on again. "Listen, about last night when I kissed you-"
He tapped her lips. "Would you like to spend Thanksgiving together?"
Her eyes went wide with shock. "What?"
"Let's spend Thanksgiving together." He hadn't planned on that particular offer, per se, but it made perfect sense now as a way to show her he was serious. "Last night wasn't a game to me. Your place or mine, whichever you want. I don't expect you to cook for me."
"What is going on with you? You're giving me whiplash." She cupped Evie's head. "You plan to make the meal?" She laughed skeptically.
"If you don't mind ptomaine poisoning." He scratched the back of his neck. "Actually, I have a cooking service and they'll cater Thanksgiving. Unless I got a better offer from you and Evie."
"No." She shook her head without hesitation. "I'm sorry. But no. Spending the holiday together would give Evie the false expectations about the two of us."
She was turning him down?
Okay, now he was truly confused. "We just spent the weekend together. How is an afternoon of turkey a problem?"
"You didn't hear me. It's Thanksgiving. A holiday. That's for families." Her throat bobbed with a quick swallow. "Last night, I, uh, I didn't mean to give you the wrong impression with that kiss."
"What impression was I supposed to get?" He braced a hand on the open doorway, trying to get a read on her. She'd kissed him, made it clear she was ready for sex but didn't want anything-close. Damn. She'd wanted a quickie with him and nothing more.
Now he was mad.
"Whit, you don't have to worry about me throwing myself at you anymore."
"Seriously?" he said, unable to believe he'd so misread this woman. "You expect us to go back to avoiding each other after the weekend we just spent together?"
"Not at all. I can behave maturely as I trust you can too. We both have to live in this town." Without another word, she descended the stairs and stepped out into the sunshine. The rays streamed over her hair, turning it into a beacon, and he couldn't peel his eyes away.
Damn, she was hot when she was all fired up. Of course she was hot any time. And while he'd misjudged her intent with the kiss Saturday, he hadn't misread her interest. For some reason she thought a one-night stand would suffice, but she was wrong.
He would give her some space for now. Holidays were tough. He got that. But after Thanksgiving?
They would not be ignoring each other.
* * *
Monday morning, Megan carried her sleepy daughter with her into work. The familiar chorus of barking dogs greeted her, reminding her of her responsibilities here, to all of the animals still in need of homes. Saturday's placement of twelve cats had been an amazing coup for such a small shelter. She couldn't afford to turn down Whit's generous offer of his plane, but she also couldn't put her heart at risk again.
The weekend with Whit had been better than she could have dreamed. He'd been charming, helpful, generous. He'd been amazing with her daughter.
And he'd been a perfect gentleman.
She was the one who'd gone off the rails and kissed him. She'd literally thrown herself at him. Again. Sure, he'd responded, but then he'd pulled away. She was starting to feel silly.
Except she knew she hadn't misread the signs. He wanted her too. So why did he keep pulling away? She'd all but promised him a night of no-strings sex and he'd still walked.
Usually guys bailed out because she had a kid. Those guys were easy to spot. They were awkward with Evie. But Whit wasn't that way.
Had he freaked out that there was a child in the picture at the last minute anyway? She didn't think so. His eyes had still smoked over her at every turn Sunday. But she hadn't felt up to the embarrassment of doing a postmortem on how he'd walked away from taking that kiss to its natural conclusion.
Damn it, she didn't have time for these kinds of games in her life. Which was the very reason she'd wanted one night, just one night with him.
She nodded to Beth at the front desk and walked past to settle Evie in her office on the small sofa. Evie had chosen a doctor's costume today, to cure all the people and animals hurt in the tornado. The post-Halloween sales had filled Evie's costume box to overflowing. Every time Megan or one of her friends offered to buy her a toy, Evie shook her head and picked another outfit. Megan had thought about counseling, even discussed it with the preschool director. Sue Ellen had pointed her in the direction of some videos the other children in the preschool had watched together, but so far those hadn't effected any changes in Evie.
Megan sagged against the open door frame.t
Beth waved from the desk. "Good morning. How was your weekend?"
She dodged the question that she didn't even really know how to answer. "You're here early."
Beth cradled a mug of herbal tea, the scent of oranges and spices drifting across the room. "The kennel supervisor let me in. I wanted to see your face when you came to the shelter today."