Page 46 of Long Hard Road

He led the way into the stables with the other men following more slowly. Harper followed them to check on her horse, but I hung back and headed to the fence to see the horses in the pasture. The snow from last week had already melted and it was about ten degrees warmer than usual for this time of year in the valley. At least that’s what everyone had been saying at Amelia’s this morning.

“Hey.” Nate leaned on the fence next to me.

“Are you ready?” I hadn’t expected him to be back so quickly.

“Harper is taking care of Cooper for me. She thought you might be cold waiting around for me.” He touched the tip of my nose. “You are looking a little cold.”

“I’m fine.” At least, I had been fine until his skin had touched mine. I certainly wasn’t cold now with my entire body flushing with heat. “How have you been? We didn’t get to talk much the last couple of nights.”

The Nest was busiest on the weekends and since I wasn’t helping Nate behind the bar anymore, we’d been limited to just a couple of quick chats. That wasn’t enough for me. I missed talking to him.

“Yeah, sorry about that. I’ve been busy. Chase needed some help with a couple of the new cabins we’re building on the guest ranch.” He nudged me with his arm. “Did you miss me, Madison?”

“Yes, I did.” There was no reason to lie. I liked Nate. He knew that I liked him. Apparently, most of his family knew that I liked him. “Can I ask you something?”

He turned around so his back rested against the fence and he could look at my face. “You can ask me anything.”

“Did I…” I took a deep breath and started over. “Did I do something to scare you away? You’ve been distant since that moment we had in the office at the bar.”

“You didn’t do anything.” His response was quick and firm. “I wanted to give you some space. You came to Crestwood to get away from craziness and it felt like being around me was making your life more complicated.”

“I call bullshit.” I may not have known Nate well, but it was obvious he wasn’t being truthful. “I thought you were enjoying spending time with me, Nate. What really happened?”

He looked down as he dug the heel of his boot into the dirt. “Things were getting serious fast, Madison. You told me that you don’t have much experience with men and relationships. I didn’t want to rush things and have you do anything you might regret. We don’t have a lot of time to take things slow and going too fast could end up hurting both of us.”

“Don’t you think I should get some say in what I do or don’t do?” I wanted to be mad at him but his thought process was actually really sweet.

“You’re under my skin, Madison.” He said, gray eyes finding mine. “I haven’t let anyone get under my skin in a long time. I’m not sure how we go forward knowing that this is going to end in just a couple of weeks.”

“How about we don’t worry about the ending? Let’s just enjoy our time together and do whatever feels right in the moment.” It was my turn to look at the ground. “I think that if I don’t get these next couple of weeks with you, I’ll always look back and wonder what could have been. I’ll regret not having those days and nights with you.”

“Well, shit. When you put it that way…” He nudged his fist under my chin to get me to look at him. “I want those days and nights with you, angel.”

“Are you sure?”

He pulled me against his chest and pressed a soft kiss to my lips. “I’m positive. I like having you under my skin.”

“I think you’ll like even more having me on your skin.” I kissed the underside of his jaw and then trailed my lips over to his ear. “I want to put my lips on every inch of your skin.”

“Fuck. Now I’m going to walk into family dinner with a hard-on.” He nipped at my earlobe. “You’re fighting dirty, angel.”

“Come on. Let’s walk it off.” I stepped back while taking his hand. “After dinner, you can have dessert back at the cabin.”

He tugged me back to his side as we walked back to the dirt road. “I’ll make sure I’m prepared to feast, babe.”

17

MADISON

Nate Sullivan had turned me into a horny mess. I couldn’t walk into his family’s dinner looking like I was about to burst into flames, so I changed the subject as we walked. “Tell the truth. Are you alright with Harper inviting me tonight?”

“I’m so damn glad that she did. I’ve been looking forward to seeing you since she texted me. I’m just pissed I didn’t invite you myself. I want you to be here as my guest.”

“Too bad,” I teased. “Harper is my new favorite Sullivan.”

“You won’t be saying that after I make you come on my tongue later tonight,” he said confidently.

No man had ever said anything like that to me. I didn’t expect to like it as much as I did. “You are awfully confident in your skills, Sullivan.”