Читать книгу To Love a Wilde - Kimberly Terry Kaye - Страница 11

“Ohhh … it’s beautiful!” Yasmine sat up in her seat and rolled the window down, allowing the cool air to blow inside the truck. “It’s been so long since I’ve been home!” She laughed, the sound tugging a smile from Holt as she leaned out the window to peer out as they sped past the outer reaches of the ranch.

After the construction zone ended, the rest of the trip had flown by and they’d made good time. Initially he’d imagined the drive as one he couldn’t wait to get over; instead it had turned out to be one he wished could have lasted a lot longer. The time alone with her talking about old times was more enjoyable than any date he’d had in longer than he could remember.

The last fifteen minutes of the ride home had been made in silence, broken only by occasional idle conversation.

The closer they came to the ranch, the more at ease Yasmine appeared. Relaxed.

Throughout the ride, even when they weren’t speaking, Holt occasionally felt her gaze on him. He’d fought against the urge to turn her way and to broach the topic, the one thing that had been on his mind, hovering, since he was asked to pick her up from the airport. The event that had plagued his mind throughout the years, when he’d least expect it to. The night before he left for college and they kissed.

That night had changed the dynamics of their relation ship. It had changed his view of her and for the first time made him aware of the fact that she wasn’t a kid anymore.

He’d been aware of her crush on him … hell, everyone had, including his brothers, who had no problem teasing him over that fact through the years, to his embarrassment. It wasn’t that he didn’t like her, he did. But he saw her more as a family member, with Lilly being her aunt, rather than any romantic interest.

He tried avoiding her when her infatuation became obvious, hoping that would send the message to her, to no avail. Although she never actually said anything, the way she looked at him, the way she always seemed to be at the same place he was whenever he was working on the ranch, all told him she hadn’t gotten the message.

As the years went by he’d begun to become even more aware of her. She was growing up, and growing up well, he thought, forcing himself to look away from her and give his attention to the road, before he ended up having an accident.

He’d told himself at the time the reason he started avoiding her was because of Yasmine. Yet he knew, deep down, that it was because of his own reaction to her. She was cute, shy, sweet and funny, and he found himself drawn to her. And she had the makings of a killer body, one that held promise, even then. A body that he knew good and damn well was off-limits to him.

Lilly would kick him or anyone else square in the tail if she so much as thought they were checking her “baby” out.

Holt respected Lilly and Yasmine too much, as well as fearing for his life, to ever consider flirting with the young girl. Lilly was as much of a mother to him as his own mother. More so, in fact.

“We’ll be home soon.”

She turned toward him, the smile on her face making his breath catch, and he bit back a groan.

It was definitely going to be an interesting visit.

No sooner had Holt opened her door for her before Yasmine was engulfed within her aunt’s warm, tight embrace.

“I’m so happy to see you, baby girl! It’s so good to have you home!”

Yasmine heard the strength of emotion clog her aunt’s voice as she returned the tight hug, feeling the sting of tears burn her eyes as she held on to her aunt. They stood holding each other tightly, until finally, after long moments, Lilly released her. Placing her at arm’s length, she ran a critical gaze over Yasmine, head to toe.