Unbiddable Attraction. Robyn Grady

to the hayloft. When they stood facing each other at the top of the stairs, she asked, “Now, what is it you wanted to show me?”

      He walked her over to the open doors at the end of the loft. “We’ll have to wait until it stops raining and the sun comes back out,” he said, taking her into his arms.

      A shiver coursed through her and not entirely from her rain-dampened clothes. The look in Chance’s eyes stole her breath and sent waves of goose bumps shimmering over her skin.

      “Chance, I don’t think this is a good idea,” she warned. “I’m not interested in an involvement.”

      He shook his head. “I’m not, either. All I want is for both of us to enjoy your visit to the ranch.”

      “I need to talk to you about the PR campaign,” she said, reminding him that she wasn’t giving up on him being the family spokesman.

      He nodded. “I promise we’ll get to that soon. But right now, I’m going to kiss you again, Fee,” he said, lowering his head. “And this time it’s going to be a long, slow kiss that will leave both of us gasping for breath.”

      Fee’s heart pounded hard in her chest when his mouth covered hers and a delicious heat began to spread throughout her body as she raised her arms to encircle his neck. True to his word, Chance took his time, teasing with tiny nibbling kisses that heightened her anticipation, and when he finally traced her lips with his tongue to deepen the caress, Fee felt as if she would go into total meltdown.

      As he explored her slowly, thoroughly, he slid his hand from her back up along her ribs to the underside of her breast. Cupping her, he lightly teased the hardened tip with the pad of his thumb and even through the layers of her clothing the sensation was electrifying. A lazy tightening began to form a coil in the pit of her stomach and she instinctively leaned into his big, hard body.

      The feel of his rigid arousal nestled against her soft lower belly, the tightening of his strong arms around her and the feel of his heart pounding out a steady rhythm against her breast sent a need like nothing she had ever known flowing from the top of her head all the way to the soles of her feet.

      Her knees wobbled, then failed her completely as he continued to stroke her with a tenderness that brought tears to her eyes. She had been kissed before, but nothing like this. It felt as if she had been waiting on this man and this moment her entire life.

      The thought frightened her as little else could. Pushing against his chest, she took a step back to stare up at him. “I’m not good at playing games, Chance.”

      “I’m not asking you to play games, Fee.” He shook his head. “We can have fun while you’re here, and when you go back to L.A., you’ll have the memory of the good time we had. As long as we keep that in mind, we should be just fine.”

      She stared at him for several long seconds as she waged a battle within herself. He wasn’t asking for anything more from her than the here and now. But there was one problem with his reasoning. She wasn’t entirely certain she could trust her heart to listen. Lowering his head, he kissed her again.

      “I do believe, Fee Sinclair, that you have the sweetest lips of any woman I’ve ever known,” he whispered close to her ear.

      Another tremor of desire slid through her a moment before he pulled back and pointed toward the open doors of the loft. “This is what I wanted you to see.”

      Looking in the direction he indicated, Fee caught her breath. A brilliantly colored full rainbow arched across the bluest sky she had ever seen.

      “It’s gorgeous,” she murmured.

      “Did you know that in some cultures the rainbow symbolizes a new beginning or a new phase in a person’s life?” he asked, kissing her forehead as he held her to him and they watched the vibrant prism fade away.

      She swallowed hard as she turned her attention to the man holding her close. What was it about being wrapped in Chance’s arms that made her feel as if she was entering a new phase in her life—one that she hadn’t seen coming and was powerless to stop? And one that made her extremely uneasy.

       Five

      Standing at the ice-cream counter in Buckaroo Billy’s General Store on the outskirts of Cheyenne, Chance glanced through the window at Fee and his niece seated under a big yellow umbrella at one of the picnic tables outside. Cassie was talking a mile a minute and it seemed that Fee was somehow keeping up. That in itself was pretty darned amazing. The kid usually had him confused as hell by the speed she changed subjects. He loved her dearly, but sometimes Cassie had the attention span of a flea and hopped from one topic to another faster than a drop of water on a hot griddle.

      Paying for their ice cream, he juggled the three cones and a handful of paper napkins as he shouldered open the door. “A scoop of chocolate fudge brownie for you, princess,” he said, handing Cassie the frozen treat. Turning to Fee, he grinned. “And mint chocolate chip for you.”

      “Uncle Chance!” Cassie exclaimed, pointing to his vanilla ice cream. “You were supposed to try something new this time.”

      “Where’s your sense of adventure, Mr. Lassiter?” Fee asked, laughing.

      “I like vanilla,” he said, shrugging as he dropped the napkins onto the table and sat down. He should have known Cassie would remember he was supposed to try a new flavor. The kid had a mind like a steel trap. Grinning, he added, “But next week, I promise I’ll leave what I get up to you two. How does that sound?”

      Cassie’s red curls bobbed when she nodded her approval. “I like that. I’ll ask Momma what you should have when she gets home.” True to form, she looked at Fee and took the conversation in another direction. “My mommy and daddy are on their moneyhoon. That’s why I’m staying with Grandma Marlene.”

      “You mean honeymoon?” Chance asked, winking at Fee. He could tell she was trying hard not to laugh at Cassie’s mix-up, the same as he was.

      “Yeah. They went on a boat.” Cassie shook her head. “But I don’t know where.”

      “After much debate, Hannah and Logan went on a Caribbean cruise,” Chance explained to Fee.

      She smiled at his niece. “That sounds like a nice honeymoon.”

      “They’re going to bring me back a present,” Cassie added as she licked some of the chocolate dripping onto her fingers. When she started to touch her tongue to the ice cream in her usual exuberant fashion, the scoop dislodged from the cone and landed on the top of her tennis shoe. Tears immediately filled her big green eyes and her little chin began to wobble. “I’m sorry. It...fell...Uncle Chance.”

      “Don’t cry, princess,” he said gently as he reached over and gave her a hug. “It’s all right. I’ll get you another one.”

      While Fee used the napkins to clean off Cassie’s shoe, he went back into the store to replace her ice-cream cone. By the time he returned a couple of minutes later, Cassie was all smiles and chattering like a magpie once again.

      His mind wandered as his niece and Fee discussed the newest version of a popular fashion doll—and he couldn’t help but notice every time Fee licked her ice cream.

      “Chance, did you hear me?” Fee asked, sounding concerned.

      “Oh, sorry.” He grinned. “I was still thinking about doll accessories.”

      She gave him one of those looks that women were so fond of when they thought a man was full of bull roar. “I said I’m going to take Cassie to the ladies’ room to wash her hands.”

      He nodded. “Good idea.”

      As he watched Fee and his niece walk into the store, he shook his head at his own foolishness and rose to his feet to walk over to his truck to wait for them to return. If he and Fee didn’t make love soon, he was going to be a raving