His smile stayed, but his gaze took on a more probing look as he used his powers of people reading to look deep into hers. It should have unnerved her, used to. Not so much anymore, she realized. She liked that he got her, that he didn’t have to ask a million questions, or just guess. He looked at her. And he knew. It was a little daunting. But it was also a huge relief. Because then she didn’t have to find the words.
“You’re not sure of me, are you,” he said, not making it a question. “I understand that. I do. But if that’s all you’re worried about, come with me. Up into those hills. I have something I want to show you, something I want to ask you. And maybe then you’ll see that I’m not a man of flowery speeches and given to jumping on a whim. But know this, Kirby Farrell. I am a man who takes his time figuring things out when the hand’s not clear…but when he knows that what he has is a winner, he totally goes for broke.” Then he grinned again, and that light was fully back in his eyes. “And when I play like that, I pretty much always win.”
He leaned down and took her mouth in a kiss that was both a confident claiming-and he had every reason to believe he had because she certainly kissed him back with equal passion-and felt a lot like a promise.
Then, while she was trying to figure out how to handle all of this, he reached down and plucked up the helmets. “Come on,” he said. “Ride with me.”
She took the helmet, thinking that climbing on the back of his bike and wrapping herself around him while they flew up the side of a winding mountain road was probably not the smartest thing to do with her head spinning like it was. And her heart tilting. But then she was putting it on and walking around the corner of the house, and a minute later, holding on for dear life as they rolled down the long driveway…then took off like a shot toward the outskirts of town.
She was just about to jerk on his shoulder and motion for him to pull over so she could see her life flash before her eyes while sitting still, when he took a turn off the main road, past the edge of town, and suddenly they were in a totally different world. A narrow lane, no houses, no other vehicles zooming past, just trees and more trees as the road wound its way up and around and through them. There were glimpses, on the turns, of the town below on one side, and valley that stretched out below that on the other. She didn’t even realize that she’d kept her eyes open until she caught herself craning to look around him, waiting for that next overlook, to see the view.
She slid her arms farther around him, and as they leaned to one side, then the other, as the road became twistier, she started to get the feel of the road, the movement, and they way they wound their way through each bend and turn, their bodies moving as one unit, along with the bike. And…she realized she was liking it. A lot.
As they kept climbing, her grip on him went from one of panicked determination to one of desired connection. She liked having him between her legs like this, she realized, with the power of the bike thrumming beneath them. It was rather…visceral.
She smiled privately to herself and wondered what she’d say to him when they got to wherever it was they were going. Maybe he already knew, from the way she was holding him, that she’d changed her mind about riding. He always knew.
And that’s when it kind of all clicked into place for her. He knew her. Bottom line. He got her, honestly, completely, without reservation. He listened, and he asked, and he talked to her and with her, and it all came so naturally, so easily. There was no effort being made to try, no need to impress or go out of his way-or hers-to do or say things intended to elicit a certain result. They were just being themselves. And that’s when she realized that she’d never really been herself in her relationship with Patrick. Not all of herself, anyway. She’d kept a lot to herself, things she didn’t think he’d understand, or wouldn’t want to hear, thinking that was just the compromise of any partnership.
What she’d failed to see was that she and Patrick really had a partnership only. Yes, it had been both personal and professional, even intimate, but it was a partnership only. With Brett she not only felt those same connections…but they also had, were developing anyway, a very wonderful friendship. She could, in all honesty, tell him anything. In fact, for the most part, she had. Certainly more than she’d revealed to anyone else. It could have been because she thought he was transient, so what she divulged wouldn’t matter in the long run, but that hadn’t been it at all.
Their connection was true and unavoidable, really. She supposed it was possible after all to click with a person. Or not. And they definitely clicked. On levels that far surpassed the lust and even intellectual chemistry. It was easy because it was right. And maybe that was why she’d been so scared. It was hard to accept that it could be this right, this simple, so quickly.
And now he was telling her things that made her believe he wanted more, too.
How could she not take that chance?
Because if you think Patrick shattered your heart, you’re going to be in for the mother of all apocalyptic destruction if you let yourself fall the rest of the way…and he turns and walks away, her little voice prodded.
They took another turn, and she didn’t even have to think, or tighten her hold on him. They just relaxed into the turn, perfectly in sync. Which is exactly what they were. With each other. She supposed the remaining question she had was how did he think he’d be in sync with all the rest? Was he willing to walk away completely from all aspects of the only life he’d ever known? Not just the poker, he’d already walked from that. But the rest, too. Vegas was home to him. He had people he cared about there. Could his sudden interest in the wilds of Vermont…and a certain innkeeper…keep his attention long haul?
She had no doubt that he thought he was in it to win it, but could she trust that instinct? Trust him?
And then they were slowing down before reaching the next peak and turning up a dirt road.
“Hold on,” he shouted back. “It’s a bit rutted.”
Like she was going to go “look ma, no hands.” But hey, any excuse to snuggle up a little closer…she wasn’t on the fence about that part.
She winced a few times as they bounced in and out of ruts and went around and alongside a few more. She might have had her face buried behind his back for most of the last run up the hill, because she had to lift her head to peek when they finally rolled to a stop. She breathed a sigh of relief when they weren’t inches from a death drop or anything. In fact, they were still deeply in the trees. Then she looked past his shoulder in front of the bike and saw the clearing. And the house.
He turned off the bike and they both climbed off and removed their helmets. He saw she was looking at the house, not at him, and let her look before he said anything.
It was an old log cabin, and not the prepackaged type. This one looked like the logs had been hewn and set by hand. It was still in decent shape, and a decent size as well. Unique, too. There were two plank wood dormers, painted green it looked like-at one point anyway-set equal distance apart in the roof, and there were chimneys rising at both ends. She’d guess it was at least thirty or forty years old, possibly more. A beautifully crafted front porch had been added at some point. Kirby walked a few feet across the front of the lot and saw that there had been an addition put on the back, as well. Also hand-hewn logs, but the color and age were different. It looked either like a small lodge or a big home. Nature had taken the yard over some time ago as there were pines growing almost right up to the porch and no drive or walkway that was clearly determinable anymore.
Brett walked over and stood next to her. “Well, what do you think?”
“Old, still has good bones. If they’re not chewed up by termites anyway. Unique structure for a cabin. I like the porch. I’d say it hasn’t been lived in for a very long time, so who knows what’s on the inside.” She shifted her gaze up to him. “So…what’s the deal?”