Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen

Abbie stood in Beau’s open door, her heart pounding against her ribcage like it was trying to escape. The cool night air bit at her skin, but the heat coursing through her veins was all-consuming. She clenched her phone, trying to summon the resolve she’d been relying on since she first laid eyes on him.

She told herself she was here for practical reasons. Teddy. The ranch. The case. All the messy, tangled things she and Beau were trying to sort out. But a small voice in the back of her head whispered the truth.

This wasn’t about the ranch or Teddy or any of the chaos that had brought her back to Jessup Peak. This was about Beau Elliott—the infuriating, maddening, undeniably sexy man who had somehow slipped past her defenses and lodged himself in a place she couldn’t ignore.

Beau stood in the doorway, his hair damp and tousled, droplets of water trailing down his chest. A white towel hung dangerously low around his hips, leaving very little to the imagination. For a moment, all she could do was stare.

“Abbie,” he said, his voice low and rough, as if he hadn’t expected her. “Didn’t think I’d see you again tonight.”

Her mouth went dry, her carefully rehearsed words evaporating in the face of…well, him . She dragged her gaze up from his chest to meet his eyes, the blue depths darkened with something she recognized.

“Got a minute?” she asked, her voice more breathless than she’d intended. “Or two?”

“For you?” He leaned against the doorframe, his lips curling into a slow, teasing smile. “As many as you want.”

Abbie swallowed hard, her fingers tightening around the strap of her bag. She stepped inside, brushing past him and catching the faint, clean scent of soap and something undeniably him. She couldn’t help but feel like she’d just walked into a lion’s den.

Beau crossed his arms over his chest, leaning back against the door and watching her with a mix of curiosity and amusement. The towel shifted slightly with his movement, and Abbie quickly averted her eyes, focusing instead on the wall behind him.

“Didn’t realize Teddy’s antics required a late-night visit,” Beau said, his tone light but laced with something sharper.

Abbie met his gaze. “I got a call on the way home. He wants to meet tomorrow, and I thought you should know.”

Beau nodded slowly, his eyes narrowing as he studied her. “That’s it?”

“That’s it,” she lied.

Because that wasn’t it. Not by a long shot.

She could feel the tension in the room, thick and heavy, wrapping around them like a live wire. Every time he moved, every time his blue eyes flicked over her, it was like her resolve cracked just a little bit more.

“Abbie,” he said softly, his voice pulling her back to the moment. “Why are you really here?”

The question hung in the air between them, and for the first time in a long time, she didn’t have an answer.

Her heart hammered in her chest, her body screaming at her to close the distance between them. To give in to the pull she’d been fighting since the moment she met him.

But this wasn’t who she was. She didn’t allow people to get close. She didn’t lose control.

And yet, standing here, staring at Beau in nothing but a towel, she felt herself teetering on the edge of something she couldn’t explain.

“Because you’re leaving too. That’s what you said, right? Once this case is solved, you’re gone.”

Beau’s eyes softened, and he took a step closer, closing the gap between them. “That’s the plan.”

She nodded, her throat tightening. “Good.”

“Good?” He tilted his head, his lips twitching with amusement. “Why’s that?”

“Because it makes what I’m about to do easier.”

His smile faltered, his brows knitting together. “What are you?—”

Before he could finish, she stepped forward, grabbed him around his shoulders and pulled his begging-to-be-kissed lips down to her level. She pressed her lips to his, cutting off whatever protest he’d been about to make.

The kiss was fire and electricity, igniting every nerve ending in her body. Beau froze for a moment, his arm hanging limp at his sides as if caught off guard, but then his hands found her waist, pulling her close.

The world around them melted away, leaving nothing but the heat of his mouth on hers, the press of his body against hers.

And for the first time in a long time, Abbie let herself feel with every inch of her body.

Let herself want something even though she’d have to give it back when the sun rose tomorrow morning.

But as the kiss deepened, as his hands slid up her back and hers tangled in his damp hair, a small voice in the back of her head whispered a message. “Maybe this time, you’re the right girl.” No, she reminded herself. She would never be the right girl because she didn’t do attachments. She wanted too much from the world to settle in a little square house behind a white picket fence. It just wasn’t her. And no matter how good Beau felt, how perfect this moment was, she couldn’t let herself get lost in him.

She pulled back abruptly, her chest heaving as she tried to catch her breath. Beau’s eyes were dark and searching, his lips slightly swollen from the kiss.

“Abbie,” he said, his voice hoarse.

“This doesn’t mean anything,” she blurted, stepping back.

His brows furrowed, a flicker of something crossing his face. “Okay, whatever you say, but it sure feels like something.”

She laughed. “I’m not saying I’m not feeling stuff right now. What I’m saying is this can’t be anything,” she said firmly, though her trembling hands betrayed her. “You’re leaving. I’m leaving. This is… just one of those things between two consenting adults. Agreed?”

Beau studied her for a long moment, his gaze piercing. “Agreed.”

“Good.” She said and stepped into his arms again. “Okay, then let’s get to it. I don’t have all night. Show me where the handcuffs are kept.”

He grinned and pulled her by her hand down the hall, past the living room, past the kitchen, and into his bedroom. “My pleasure, sweetheart.”

And just for a few hours, she would allow herself to feel, knowing there would be no complications when morning came.