Seduction, Westmoreland Style - Brenda Jackson [36]
“I wasn’t going to insinuate otherwise. From what I hear his speed yesterday was even better than what Jamal assumed, which means your way of doing things is working.”
“I told you it would,” she said pointedly, crossing her arms over her chest.
He nodded. “Yes, you did.” A few minutes later, after dragging in a deep breath, he said, “I’m leaving in the morning for D.C. and I probably won’t be back until sometime Saturday. If you need anything while I’m away see Henrietta or Norris.”
The thought of him leaving, knowing he wouldn’t be around—although she knew he had been avoiding her again—made a part of her stomach dip, but she inhaled in swift denial. Why should it bother her if he was leaving town? He meant nothing to her and she meant nothing to him. “Thanks for letting me know,” she said, trying to keep her voice steady. “Have a safe trip.”
Tightening his hand on the reins, he turned Thunder to leave and as he did Durango’s words slammed into his ears. Even before his best friend had spoken them, McKinnon had come to suspect the allegations were true. His feelings for Casey had been growing since the day she set foot on the ranch, and that wasn’t good because nothing could ever come of it…of them. But still, there was no way he could get on a plane tomorrow without taking the memory of another kiss with him.
He trotted a couple of feet before bringing Thunder to a stop and turning the horse around. The reason he had left to go riding was to escape the memory of her. But here she was. She stood there, meeting his gaze as an electrified silence stretched between them. With a will he couldn’t resist, he climbed off Thunder and slowly began walking toward her, eliminating the distance separating them. Casey watched McKinnon. His handsome features were hard as granite in one sense, but filled with a sensuous longing in another. She had sworn after the last time they’d kissed and he’d made himself invisible afterwards that he wouldn’t get near her again. But the closer he got, the more she suspected what she had begun feeling for McKinnon was too bone-deep to deny him anything.
Casey’s gaze flicked to his features when he came to a stop directly in front of her. She could tell by the way his hands were balled into fists at his side that he was fighting the urge to take her in his arms. So she decided to make it easy on him and take him into hers.
She reached up, cupped his face with her hands and on tip-toe, leaned forward, intent on giving him something to think about while he was away. First she readied his lips with a couple of quick swipes of her tongue, ignoring his sharp intake of breath with each stroke.
She decided this was her kiss and she would go slow, be gentle and savor every moment. Working more on instinct than experience, she brushed her fingertips against his jaw and on a deep sigh, his mouth opened and she inserted her tongue and began lapping him up like he was the tastiest morsel she’d ever devoured. And when his tongue joined hers, something that mirrored a quake caused her insides to rumble with a need she felt only while in his arms. She felt herself drowning and quickly grabbed hold of his shoulders to keep from falling.
She released his mouth when she heard one of the horses, either his or hers, make a sound. She rested her forehead against McKinnon’s as they both tried to regain their breath.
Moments later, McKinnon stepped back and she watched as he rubbed a hand across his eyes and down his face. Then he muttered something that sounded a lot like “damn” before waking away. She watched as he remounted Thunder and then rode off like the sheriff’s posse was after him.
“You okay, Casey?” Savannah asked later that afternoon while the two of them were sitting outside on the porch, enjoying the view of the mountains. Durango was inside watching a basketball game on television.
Casey glanced over at Savannah who had cooked chicken and dumplings, a Westmoreland recipe she had weaseled from Chase Westmoreland, the cook in the family. Chase and his wife owned a soul-food restaurant in Atlanta.