Page 72 of Texas Kissing

Caliope gave a little snort. But I plowed on.

“Ever since I saw you, I wanted to bang the—I wanted to fuck you like—Iwanted you.But I never said—” I swallowed. “I never said that I—”

59

Lily

Mmm, bacon.

I could smell coffee, too. I sleepily opened my eyes to see that Bull had gotten a campfire going. My heart swelled. He was cooking me breakfast! God, he was too much!

Then I heard him talking in a low voice. And not to me.

“But I never said—” he said to Caliope. He broke off and swallowed. “I never said that I—” He stopped again.

My forehead wrinkled. Either Caliope had been seeing him behind my back,the hussy,or—

Bull sighed. “Look, you came into my life—“

Oh God, I was right. He was rehearsing what he wanted to say to me!

“...and I just—I don’t want to be with anyone else.” He paused. Then his shoulders set as firmly as if he was about to wrestle a bronco. “Lily, what I’m trying to say is—”

I wanted to hear it so much. But I couldn’t let him say it.

“...I lo—”

60

Bull

At that second, there was an enormous yawn from Lily’s direction. I snapped around so fast I got neck ache.

Lily was sitting up and stretching, her magnificent breasts rising under her tight t-shirt. “Good morning,” she said between yawns. “Oh! You made breakfast!”

“Did you hear any of that?” I asked.

“Any of what?”

I studied her for a moment. She blinked back at me sleepily.

“Nothing.” I could feel my face going red. “Coffee’s ready. Let’s eat.”

The bacon was crispy, the potato hash was soft and fluffy, and the eggs had perfect, oozing yellow yolks. I’d even brewed the coffee just right. But my carefully-rehearsed speech was in tatters. She’d interrupted me right before I got toI love you.That had to be fate,right? Someone was trying to tell me this wasn’t a good idea. Someone was trying to clue me in that Lily was going to run a mile if I said the L-word.

So we got ready to go home. We looked at the lake and both decided it was too cold for another swim. It shouldn’t have been a big deal but, for some reason, it felt like one. As if I should be doing everything I could with hernow, today.

As if this might be the last time I saw her.

Don’t be stupid.We were heading back into town, not breaking up. Hell, she’d probably spend the night in my trailer, or maybe I’d actually stay in the bus for the first time ever. Nothing was going to change.

As the day drew on, the weather turned. A storm was rolling in—it wouldn’t hit us for a while, I estimated, maybe not until tomorrow. But it was coming. We saddled up and did the long ride back almost in silence. Each time I looked at Lily, she was staring off into the distance, deep in thought. I knew better than to press her, but it worried me.

Goddamnit, what’s happening to me?I’d always been a pretty simple guy. I’d never had to second-guess things before. If a girl got all mysterious and mopey on me, I’d just up and leave. But Lily? She had my damn heart in the palm of her hand.

When we’d stabled the horses, we walked back to her little Toyota. But instead of both of us getting in, she just stood there, hugging herself, shifting her weight nervously from foot to foot. “Um...look,” she began. “I need some time.”

My heart dropped right through my boots. “What?”