Later that night, Derringer tossed and turned in his bed. Finally, he pulled himself up and reached out to turn on the light. Brightness flooded the room and he rubbed his hands down his face.
Tomorrow would be a busy day for Denver’s branch of D&M Horse-Breeding and Training Company. In fact, the rest of the week would be hectic. His cousin Cole would be delivering more than one hundred horses from Texas at the end of the week and they needed to make sure everything was ready. It didn’t help matters that a snowstorm was expected this weekend. That made things even more complicated as well as challenging.
He reached behind him and lifted his pillow and smiled when his hand touched the lacy items. He had two pairs of Lucia panties. Added to the pink pair were the red ones he’d taken off her last weekend. He wondered if she’d missed them yet and figured she probably hadn’t; otherwise, she would have mentioned it.
And she wasn’t pregnant. He’d actually been disappointed when she’d made that announcement. He had gotten used to the idea that perhaps she could be pregnant with his child. He knew that kind of thinking didn’t make much sense, but he had.
He settled back down in bed thinking she just wouldn’t let up with this “only sex” thing. He had all but told her she was his soul mate so what else did she want?
He knew the answer without thinking much about it. She wanted him to love her, but that wouldn’t and couldn’t happen. What if she got real sick or something and he couldn’t get her to the hospital in time? What if she was in a car accident and didn’t survive? What if she got stampeded by a herd of horses? What if…he lost her like he had his parents? His aunt and uncle? They were here one day and had been gone the next. He rubbed his hand down his face, not liking how his thoughts were going. He was freaking out for no reason; especially when he didn’t intend to get attached to her like that.
He liked things just the way they were and didn’t intend for any woman, not even Lucia, to start messing with his mind…and definitely not with his heart. But he wanted her.
There had to be a middle ground for them, something they could both agree on. It would have to be something that would satisfy them both.
He would come up with a plan. Because, no matter what, he had no intention of giving up on her.
Ten
Lucia closed the lid to her washing machine and leaned back against it thinking that Derringer had not given her back the panties he’d taken off her the other night. The red pair. Now he had two. What was he doing with them? Collecting them as souvenirs?
She strolled to the window and glanced out. It looked totally yucky outside. The forecasters’ predictions had been correct. She had awakened to see huge snowflakes falling outside. That’s the only thing she missed about the time she lived in Florida. This was the middle of April, spring break in most states and it was hard to believe that in some other place the sun was shining brightly. A week spent on Daytona Beach sounded pretty darn good about now. At least the snow had waited for the weekend and most people didn’t have a reason to venture outside.
Her parents had gotten smart and decided to fly to Tennessee for a few weeks to visit her mother’s sister. Chloe had called this morning to chat and to tell her how she, Ramsey and the baby were snuggled inside in front of the roaring fireplace and planned to stay that way. Lucia sighed deeply, thinking this was the only time she regretted being an only child. Things could get lonely at times.
She moved away from the window to go into the kitchen to make herself a cup of hot chocolate and watch that movie she had planned to watch last week, and she remembered why she hadn’t.