Instead of a response, I narrowed my eyes at Colton expecting him to take the hint.

“Hiding out from a sexy hockey player that bought your house?”

Mumbling under my breath, I adjusted from my crouched position, taking Colton’s offered hand to assist me in standing up.

My palms felt like they’d been submerged in water as I wiped them off on my jeans, and I could only hope that Colton hadn’t noticed. “You’re not a hockey player any longer. You retired.”

I expected the dig to cause him to wince, but I was quickly learning that Colton was full of surprises. Instead, he took a step closer to me and leaned against the side of Alex’s truck, folding his arms against his chest. Of course, that move showcased his biceps that threatened to tear his shirt into shreds.

“But you agree, I’m sexy.”

There was no point in denying it. The man was damn sexy. The entire country knew that.

“And you bought the house that I wanted,” I reminded him, not going into more details about how that house had been my dream. Somehow, the night before I was able to skirt around that topic and focus on the plans to have it approved by the historical society.

“I did,” he said sheepishly as he uncrossed his arms and ran one of his large hands across the back of his neck. “But in my defense, I didn’t know at the time of the auction.”

“Then why did you drop a million dollars on it? It’s not worth that amount, you know.” That was the part I still hadn’t figured out. He had talked about his previous foster mom, but that was it. Either he knew something none of us did regarding the property or he was working with someone else on it. It would devastate my family if he restored the house, only to sell it to a developer.

Colton reached out and swirled a piece of hair that had escaped my ponytail around his finger before tucking it behind my ear. “I don’t know. Seems pretty worth it to me.”

If I wasn’t so angry at the man for the house problem and the kiss at The Purple Goat, I’d probably have melted into a puddle at his feet. Incidentally, my pulse may have picked up when his finger had caressed the side of my cheek.

“We, uh, probably need to talk about the kiss yesterday.” I hadn’t planned on discussing it at all, but the way Colton was staring at me made me think the kiss hadn’t been such a poor decision after all.

“Yeah?” he said with a cocky grin that released a slew of butterflies in my stomach. This man needed to keep his arsenal of sexiness in check. “What about it?”

“There is already talk swirling around here and it won’t take long for people to realize it is more than a rumor.”

“Really?” he said nonchalantly, as if this was a miniscule problem.

“Yes, really. It won’t take long for someone to post something about you and me on social media. And there is probably a picture out there somewhere. Ashfield being a small town, but we’re not disconnected from the world.”

His broad shoulders moved upward in a shrug and I gasped in shock. The man was here to hide from paparazzi and salvage his reputation. Small town gossip was the last thing that he needed.

“How can you be so flippant about this, Colton?”

“Because it’s no big deal.”

My breath caught in my lungs. He thought the kiss was no big deal while I’d been lamenting over it for the last twelve hours.

“I want to do it again,” Colton added.

“Do what?” I asked, confused.

“Kiss you.”

Licking my lips, my confusion grew. “Why?”

He leaned closer to me as he whispered, “Because I like you, Autumn. And I think beneath that grumpy exterior, you like me, too.”

Colton was like the sun, drawing me closer to his light, and I couldn’t pull myself away. I wanted to be closer to him, but self-preservation kept me tethered in place.

“People will see,” I murmured as Colton’s lips gently glided along my cheek.

“Everyone left, Autumn. There is no one around,” he pointed out and pressed the slightest of kisses at the corner of my mouth. I squeezed my eyes shut and shivered when his hand landed on my hip, brushing his fingertip under the hem of my shirt. The rough pad of his thumb rubbed a circle on my skin.

It took only a split second to turn my head and brush my lips against his. I wasn’t sure if Colton was right and I did secretly like him. What I did know was that I liked his kiss. I liked the way his lips felt against mine. And when his tongue swirled around mine, I swore that there was nothing better.

I could chalk it up to his years of experience and that was why the kiss was so memorable, but I knew it was because it was just Colton. He knew he was affecting me in a way that left me wanting more.

And I did.

It seemed like hours had passed when he finally pulled away, but in reality, it had been just seconds. Colton had this way of causing me to lose all sense of time when I was around him.

“Are you two done?” Alex’s voice called out from behind me. Shock and embarrassment threatened to overwhelm me as I took a step away from Colton. His hand dropped from my hip and I immediately missed its warmth. Something I was going to have to force myself to forget.

Those walls I’d taken down quickly resurfaced as I realized what my sister had witnessed.

My eyes narrowed into slits as I focused them on Colton, who shook his head.

“I thought you said no one was around,” I said angrily. If I knew it wouldn’t make me appear like a petulant child, I would have stomped my foot simultaneously.

He may not care about being front page news in the local newspaper, The Ashfield Times, but I sure as hell did.

“She just came back, Autumn. No one saw anything. You don’t have anything to be embarrassed about.”

Behind his carefree smile, I saw the hint of something else. Something that looked like I’d hurt his feelings.

“Colton. . .I. . .” I began as I reached for his hand, but the words were stuck in the back of my throat. I didn’t know what to say to make any of it better.

Thank goodness for Alex’s interruption when she jingled her keys and said that she was leaving.

Together, Colton and I both stepped away from the truck. I did my best not to swoon when he placed his hand on my lower back as we waved goodbye to my sister.

The large gravel lot was now empty save for the glorious mountains across the way. Neither of us spoke for a moment, but I relished in the feel of Colton’s hand remaining on my back.

A minute passed before he slid his hand around to rest on the dip at my waist as he stepped around to face me, blocking my view of the peaks.

“In actuality, I came to let you know that you left your binder in my truck last night. Your dad had mentioned that you and your sisters had a stand here at the market, so I took a chance that I’d find you here.”

“Well, you found me,” I said, sounding breathless to my own ears. I didn’t run often, but I imagined that was what I’d sound like after a marathon.

“I can grab it and bring it to you if you can tell me where you parked.”

“So, you didn’t come here just to kiss me again?” I asked, puzzled by the complete change in topic.

“That was just a nice hope. One that I hadn’t stopped thinking about since I kissed you yesterday.” My gaze dipped downward at the realization that I had affected him the same way that he had affected me. I’d never imagined a kiss could hold that kind of power.