How could he shut down so completely? Moments ago, there had been heat and wonder and something...more between them. And now it was as if he'd already moved on. There was no closeness between them. No sense of extended intimacy.
There was only the softly falling snow.
And the quiet.
* * *
By the next morning, Sage had convinced himself that he had overreacted to what had happened the day before.
That long ride from the cabin back to his home ranch had been a tension-filled misery. He'd felt her waiting for him to say something, but what the hell could he say? He'd just thrown her down onto a dirty cabin floor and taken her so fast and so hard she'd probably have bruises. It had been damned humiliating to know how completely he'd lost control. To know that she'd taken him to the edge and then pushed him over. So what the hell could they possibly have talked about?
The storm had faded away soon after they returned to his ranch, leaving just a chill in the air and a few patchy spots of quickly melting snow. He'd needed some space. Some time to get his head together, so he'd ordered up an early dinner, showed Colleen to a room just down the hall from his and said good-night.
He'd seen the flash of surprise in her eyes when he walked away, but he'd had to. If he'd stayed another minute he'd have found a way to tip her back onto the guest-room bed and have her again. And he refused to lose control twice in the same damn day.
The hell of it was, rather than being satisfied by their encounter, he had been wound even tighter than he was before. It was as if the tension, once released, had instantly coiled inside him again. There was no relief. Only more hunger. That one climax with Colleen had taken him to a place he hadn't even guessed existed-and his instincts wanted to go back.
Always before, bedding a woman who'd gotten under his skin had eased that itch. That nagging pulse of desire.
But with Colleen, it was just the opposite. He wanted her even more, now that he knew what having her was like.
Of course, after practically dumping her in her room and leaving her to fend for herself last night, there wasn't much chance of having more of her. He'd seen that look of surprise on her face when he'd walked away. Surprise, mixed with something else. Hurt? Maybe. Hell, didn't she understand he'd left her alone for her own good? Probably not.
Everything about Colleen was different. Her openness. The innocent pleasure always shining in her eyes. Her smile. Her laugh. The way she consistently looked for the good in people-and didn't stop until she found it. He liked her, damn it, and that had not been a part of the plan.
Racked with guilt over that tense, awkward goodbye, he'd devoted several mind-numbing hours to paperwork and emails and going over new contracts his lawyers had sent on. He'd also looked into Jack Reed to see if there was any more information to be gathered-there hadn't been. There was bound to be trouble if Reed was interested in Lassiter Media and Sage just added that complication to the growing list in his mind.
He'd buried himself so completely in the mundane tasks of maintaining the empire he was creating, it was long after midnight before he finally closed his books and trudged upstairs to his bedroom suite. Not that it had done him any good. How the hell could he sleep, knowing she was just down the hall?
No, instead of sleeping, he'd spent all night long reliving those moments with her in the cabin. When he did close his eyes, even briefly, her face was there. In front of him. And even if he had been able to sleep, she would have been in his dreams. The scent of her, the warmth of her. The slick slide of her legs around his hips.
By dawn, he'd given up on any pretense of rest and gone to work. God knew there was enough to do on a working ranch to exhaust him enough that even thoughts of sex with Colleen wouldn't be able to keep him awake.
"Pitiful. Seriously pitiful." Disgusted with himself, Sage tossed the hammer and nails into the bucket at his side, then sat back on his heels and stared up at the late-morning sky. The view from the roof of the main stable was pretty damn impressive, yet all he could think about was her.
He could see her, lying beneath him, staring up at him from the floor in a dusty cabin. Nice seduction moves, Sage. Pull out all the romantic stops to get her to spill her secrets. Way to go. Of course, his mind argued, he hadn't been thinking of seduction. Only the need to claim her. To be a part of her.
And now he wanted to do it all again.
He shifted his gaze from the sky to the ranch yard. He saw the place he'd built, the men who worked for him, his dog-a big golden retriever-taking a nap in the shade. The sky was that deep, startling blue you only found in the mountains. Thick white clouds sailed in the wind that shook the trees and rattled their leaves. In the corral, two of the cowboys were working with a yearling mare, putting her through her paces.
Sage smiled, grateful for the distraction from his own thoughts. That mare was going to be a star one day. She was already faster than most of the horses in his stable and she was proud enough that she liked winning.
Still smiling, he started down the ladder propped against the side of the stable, thankful that he hadn't fallen off the roof and broken his neck due to lack of concentration. Colleen had affected him so much that she'd ruined his focus, and yet he couldn't seem to mind.
Shaking his head, he neared the bottom of the ladder and dropped the bucket holding shingles, a hammer and nails to the ground.
"What were you doing up there?"
He went completely still, amazed at the sensation of heat that snaked through him just at the sound of her voice. He could hardly believe she'd stayed after what had happened yesterday. But he was glad she had. What the hell was wrong with him? A few weeks ago at the rehearsal dinner, he'd been intrigued enough by the look of her that he'd wanted to talk. Maybe take a quick roll in the hay if she was interested.
Now he knew her. He understood that there wasn't a dishonest bone in her body. Hell, there was just no way Colleen would even think of tricking or deceiving a sick old man. She hadn't slicked her way into a fortune. Hadn't cheated the Lassiter family. He knew that now. Knew her mind, her sense of humor, her generosity, and he knew what touching her did to him. She was paving right over all the roadblocks he'd had set up around his mind and heart for years...and it was damned disconcerting.
Colleen stood not a foot from the ladder, watching him, and he wondered why he hadn't heard her walk up. Too busy thinking of her, he told himself wryly. Yeah, this seduction plan was working out nicely.
"Loose shingles on the stable roof," he said, hitting the ground, then bending over to snatch up the bucket before straightening to look into her eyes. Instantly, he felt that punch of something raw and elemental-and it was getting harder to ignore.
He'd missed her at breakfast, too. Deliberately. He'd grabbed a cup of coffee and one of his housekeeper's famous muffins and headed outside-where he'd stayed, keeping as busy as he could. "The wind kicked up last night, and after last winter a few of the shingles were ready to go."
She looked up, squinting into the late-morning sunlight, as if she could see where he'd been working. "You do the repairs yourself?"
"Sometimes," he admitted, and hefted the ladder across one shoulder. When he started walking toward the equipment shed where tools were stored, she followed him. "Why sound so surprised? It is my ranch."
The golden retriever rose lazily from his spot by the barn and stretched before trotting to Colleen's side. She stopped, dropped to one knee and smoothed both hands across the top of the lucky dog's head. A hell of a thing, Sage thought, when a man envied his dog.
"He's so sweet," she said, throwing a quick look up at Sage. "But I don't understand his name."
In spite of what he was feeling, Sage choked out a laugh. "You mean Beback?"
She scrubbed the dog's ears, then stood up, tucking her hands into the pockets of her jeans. "Yes. What kind of name is that?"
Shrugging, Sage said, "When he was a pup, he kept running off into the forest, but he was always running right back. One of the guys said it reminded him of a famous line in a movie...I'll be back."
Colleen laughed and, God, he loved the sound of it. And as soon as that thought slid through his mind, he pushed it back out again. Love? What the hell?
"Beback. I like it," she said with a grin as she watched the dog race off after one of the cowboys. "I always wanted a dog. In fact, I'm going to get one as soon as I find my place."