West of Forever (Heartstone Ranch #1)(39)

Chapter 14





Lark




The hope he would be bad at this dies the second our lips touch.

He’s not even close to bad at this.

In fact, this is the best kiss I’ve ever had.

And I hate him for it.

I hate that each night I’ll remember the taste of him. The sweet, minty flavor on his tongue. The way his calloused hand feels against my cheek, his other hand in my hair, holding me exactly where he wants me.

We kiss and kiss, and I don’t even know where I am until he pulls back.

Both of our chests are heaving as we struggle for breath.

His forehead rests against mine as I work to slow my blood pressure.

Have I ever had a kiss like that?

One that made me lose all sense of time and location?

Nope. Not once.

Great.

Now I’m never going to stop thinking of him.

“It didn’t work,” I tell him, after a few seconds. “I think we should try again.”

He lifts his head, eyes meeting mine, and the desire there, yeah, that does it for me. I lean back in, this time kissing him. My chest is flat against his, and he rolls me to my back, hovering over me.

“Lark,” he says my name before his mouth is on mine again.

I don’t care about the million reasons this is bad. This one kiss erases them all, because we don’t have to be together. But we can do this together.

Sure, it’s probably a bad idea, but so is trying to pretend this isn’t the most incredible kiss I’ve ever had.

He pulls back again, rolling off me and sitting up, his hands covering his face. “Fuck, I can’t do this to you.”

“Do what?” I push myself up, sitting beside him and pulling my knees to my chest.

“You know what.” The disappointment is clear in his tone.

“No, I really don’t. You kissed me and then I kissed you.”

“I kissed you both times.”

I roll my eyes. Men. “Sure, you kissed me both times. Whatever. The point is…I liked it. Did you?”

He drops his hands and looks at me. “Do you doubt I did?”

“No.”

“Good. Because I promise, I liked every second of it.”

I try to not let that send tingles everywhere.

I fail at trying.

Warmth floods me, and I clear my throat. “Okay, so we liked it. Here are the issues: our families, the fact that you may or may not have a heart, the reality that I don’t want said heart, and Sadie, right?”

“Pretty much.”

Okay, all of those can be worked with. “Here’s the thing. I’m pretty sure that kiss, both of them, didn’t really help either of us. I think, if anything, now we want to kiss each other even more, am I right?”

His deep sigh tells me he wants more before his words. “Against my better judgment.”

I almost let that slide, but…yeah no. “You’re not exactly in line with my hopes and dreams either.”

Tristan grins. “Really? You don’t want a brokenhearted cowboy who isn’t at all interested in love again—but wants to tear your clothes off and fuck you until you forget both of our last names?”

My jaw falls slack. “Okay, maybe you are in line with some of my dreams.”

“Good to know.” He chuckles.

This idea is probably going to rank up there with when I was convinced it would be a good idea to shave a heart into the back of my head, back when I thought I was in love in middle school, but what the hell?

“What if that dream could come true for both of us?”

“Lark…”

“No, listen,” I say quickly. “I’m not a kid, and neither are you. We’re both very smart, very mature adults who happen to want to bang. Why can’t we? We have all the reasons in the world we can’t be a couple, and neither of us wants that. No strings, Tristan. No…nothing. We just fuck. When we want, how we want, without the outside world knowing a damn thing. I’m sure as hell not going to tell anyone, and I don’t think you will.”

He watches me, probably looking for a sign that I’ve not gone around the bend. It’s sort of the perfect plan.

We share this mutual attraction. We clearly have chemistry. All of this can be so simple if we let it be.

“As much as I would love this too-good-to-be-true offer, I’m not sure it’s a great idea.”

“Are you worried you’re going to fall in love with me?”

He chuckles once. “No, that ship has sailed, I will never love again. I think it’s you who will fall in love with me.”

“See, you opened your mouth and I already hate you,” I say, bristling at his comment. “Men are so dumb.”

“And women are complicated.”

“Well, I’m uncomplicating it. I don’t want you that way. I am not going to fall in love with you. I just want to sleep with you because you’re hot. Okay?”

Tristan gets to his feet, shaking his head as he moves. “No strings?”

“Not on my part,” I say as I stand.

At least, I really hope not. I tend to get attached easily, but it’s always been thanks to the promise of what could be. I always wanted to be loved, start a family, have my own ranch where I can train the horses the way I want—without my brothers’ opinions. Part of me is always searching for that person. A life partner. Someone to love me as I am, flaws and all.