The Ashtons - Cole, Abigail & Megan

hell did. And when she arrived tomorrow morning to take care of the dressing on Marsanne’s fetlock, he had every intention of being here, waiting for her.
    Just as she’d done for the past three mornings, Abby waited until she was sure Russ had finished tending the horses and gone to the winery to work with Eli before she walked down to the stables to check on the gray mare. She knew it was the coward’s way of dealing with how she’d acted the day he’d kissed her, but she really didn’t know any other way to handle the situation.
    She didn’t want to have to explain to Russ why she’d panicked. It was too embarrassing to admit that her mother’s reputation around Crawley had forced her to prove, time and again, that she wasn’t cut from the same cloth. Nor was she eager to tell him that she’d had intimacy issues since almost losing her virginity when shewas fifteen, simply because her date for the homecoming dance didn’t believe that Grace Ashton’s daughter meant what she said when she’d told him “no.”
    Kicking a pebble, Abby watched it skitter to the edge of the path. Whether it was fair or not, she’d been having to live down the sins of her mother from the time she was old enough for boys to notice her. That’s why she’d finally just given up dating and concentrated on finishing school early.
    But when Russ had kissed her, she’d encountered a problem she’d never had to deal with before—she hadn’t wanted him to stop. And that’s what bothered her. She’d wanted him to hold her close, to touch her in ways she’d never been touched. That had been the sole reason for her uncharacteristic panic attack.
    What made being with Russ different? Could she really be like Grace after all?
    As she entered the stable and walked down the aisle toward the tack room, Abby decided there were no easy answers. She had a feeling that, unlike Grace, not just any man could make her feel the way Russ did. Unfortunately, she couldn’t risk finding out why his kiss made her burn in ways that she’d never even imagined. If she did take the chance, she might learn things about herself that she’d rather not know.
    “I was wondering when you were going to show up.”
    Lost in her disturbing thoughts, Abby jumped. “Whatare you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be working in the winery?”
    Russ was sitting on a bench in the tack room, close to the cabinet where the medical supplies were stored, his legs stretched out in front of him with his boots crossed at the ankles. He looked relaxed, confident and sexier than any man had a right to look.
    Smiling, he used his thumb to push up the wide brim of his Resistol, then shook his head. “I decided to take the day off.”
    “Why?” She didn’t mean to sound so blunt, but she found it extremely disconcerting to have the object of her thoughts appear seemingly out of nowhere.
    He shrugged. “I have some unfinished business to take care of.”
    She stepped over his legs to get to the storage cabinet. “Then why aren’t you off somewhere taking care of it?”
    His smile caused her knees to feel as if the tendons had been replaced with rubber bands. “Now that you’re here, I can.”
    “I can’t imagine why my being here makes any difference,” she lied as she reached inside the cabinet.
    “You’re my unfinished business, honey.”
    She laughed nervously. “I have no idea why on earth you’d think we have business to settle.”
    Her breath caught when he rose to his feet, placedboth hands on her shoulders and turned her to face him. “Don’t play dumb with me, Abby. We both know you’re too smart for that.”
    With Russ standing only inches away, she found it extremely hard to catch her breath. “I don’t think this is a good idea.”
    “I do.” His easy expression had been replaced with one of unwavering determination. “I want to know why you ran when I kissed you.”
    She stared into his deep blue gaze for several seconds before she shrugged out of his grasp to turn back to the cabinet. “You wouldn’t understand.” Finding the supplies she needed, she brushed past him to walk out into the wide stable aisle.
    Before she could take more than a couple of steps, he caught her by the arm. “I understand a whole lot more than you think I do.” Cupping her cheek with his palm, he tilted her head, forcing her to look at him. The tenderness she saw in his eyes caused her chest to tighten. “Do you want to know why I think you got