“I think we should wait before we go on with this,” she said. “Let me get used to the idea. I want to feel ready. Is that all right?”

The look on his face told Shallie he accepted her caution, and the gentleness in his eyes felt loving. “I feel ready,” he said, “but I understand what you mean. And I respect it.”

“Thank you. We’ll continue where we left off. I promise.”

After a quick good-night kiss and a moment with the dogs, she hurried up her set of stairs and prepared for bed. What did those extraordinary kisses mean? Besides attraction and desire. Was there more? Was there as much as she wanted, as much as she hoped?

Lying there in the dark, she relived their kisses over and over, waiting to dream about their time together.

CORD LET THE dogs out and sat on the porch without turning on the lights, staring up at a star-bright sky. What happened tonight had stunned him. Not that he hadn’t hoped for this very thing. Or in a sense expected it. But the fact that Shallie had taken matters into her own hands—he grinned, remembering those hands on his face, stroking his hair, clasping his neck—changed everything. Did it mean he should start their next encounter? Their next embrace?

He’d take his cues from her, although he didn’t care who set it in motion. He just knew he wanted it to go further. All the way, as they used to say in high school. To continue where they’d left off, as she’d put it.

His teenage feelings for Reba and his marriage to Jenna didn’t even compare to what he felt now, and that was after only a few kisses. Until recently, he’d still believed Reba had been the love of his life. But he knew better now. Carly’s arrival had awakened a lot of memories, and he’d come to recognize that his emotions, especially the ones he associated with Reba, were adolescent. He was ready for something new, something truly lasting. For bigger emotions. For Shallie.

It had to be getting close to midnight, and he’d scheduled a long day tomorrow. First a meeting with Mitch to discuss expanding the stables and enlarging the paddock. Then a phone call with his PR firm to hear about their latest ideas. After that, his next session with Shallie.

He got to his feet, stretching, and called the dogs, both hovering in the vicinity of the porch. “Okay, guys. Time to crash—and I don’t mean that literally.”

They dashed up the steps and he let them in, following close behind.

Cord knew he’d be dreaming tonight and he knew who’d be in his dreams…

CHAPTER TEN