Cowboy Up (Coming Home #3)

“I know you wouldn’t hurt me. I saw that in you from day one. Why did you look so mad back at the diner?”

He looks away, his hands going back to my legs but this time on the outside of my skirt.

“Clayton?” I probe when he doesn’t answer.

“I’m gonna ask that you trust me now, sweetness. Trust that it’s nothin’ you need to be concernin’ yourself with. Me wantin’ to protect you will always be limitless in its reach.”

“You’re askin’ me to give you somethin’ I’ve only given to two people.”

“I’ll never make you regret trustin’ me.”

I search his eyes but see nothing except sincerity. He has no idea how much power he’s asking me to give him. But my dark cowboy won’t twist my trust into something ugly. He’s a good man—always kind to others, humble in his pride, fierce with control, and worthy of respect. My heart feels the safety within his promise. My mind recognizes our connection without doubts.

It’s time to drop the rest of the weights that hold me captive. My breathing is rapid, but I feel sure about my decision. I lift my hands and press them against his chest. He closes his eyes on an exhale when I drag them up to wrap around his neck. When those emerald orbs finally lock back on me, I press against him and bring him close enough for me to press my lips against his.

His fingers dig into my flesh the second my mouth opens, and I lick the seam of his lips, a groan coming from deep inside of him rumbling around us. When our tongues slide against each other, he pushes his hands under my skirt again and goes straight to my hips. With one strong pull, he’s got his hips flush with mine, and the thickness of him presses tightly against my sex. I whine, wiggle, and pray that he gives me some friction. Our kiss changes when he starts to smile against my mouth. If anyone were to see us, toothy grins pressed together, I can only imagine how insane we’d look.

For the first time in my life, I don’t care what anyone else thinks—I’m just happy this man makes me feel safe, shows me how to be bad, and breathes new life back into me with every small step of us exploring. If this is how strong we are after such a short time, I can hardly wait to see what comes next.





12


CLAYTON


“More Girls Like You” by Kip Moore

- -

“You look good. Haven’t seen you without that ugly-ass serious mask on in a long time.”

I look away from Midnight, one of the best stallions on my ranch, and raise my brow at my brother. I just finished riding the property, letting Midnight go all out and take complete control of our ride. I forgot how fast the old horse could go when he wanted to show off.

“What the hell are you talkin’ about?” I ask Mav after giving my horse one last brush.

“You’ve got the girls goin’ nuts. I swear to Christ, you’re gonna put one of them in labor the way they’re actin’ like you datin’ is the most excitin’ thing goin’ on in their lives. They keep freakin’ out that you’re gonna get spooked and ruin it.”

“You’re fuckin’ kiddin’ me right now with that shit?”

He grunts and shakes his head. “Just repeatin’ what they keep yammerin’ about. Figured you should know that your love life is gonna make you an uncle sooner than you reckoned.”

I flip him off before guiding Midnight back into his stall. I do a quick check of the feed to make sure everyone did their work today. Not that I need to worry about how things are run here. I’ve been stepping back more, and it’s been refreshing. I trust my staff here implicitly, and by doing so, I free up more time to be with Caroline.

I never thought there’d be anything in this world that would have me wanting to spend less time on the ranch, but three weeks with her and I’m finding my happiness is directly connected to her and no longer to the ranch. She brings out a protective side to me that has only ever been shown to my siblings and the ranch. We spend as much time together as our complicated schedules allow, but it’s never enough. For the first time in my life, I wish I had some sort of normal career where I could take her on the kind of dates she deserves instead of us “dating” here at the ranch for dinners, movies, and just generally spending as much time together as possible. I’ve been getting her in my bed most nights, something I did the second I found out she was staying at the fucking motel in Law Bone. In the past few weeks, she’s only spent a handful of nights there, and each of those nights I spent unable to sleep, worrying about her. Between my responsibilities here on the ranch and her helping out at Hazel’s, we get little time even for our unconventional, ranch-bound dates.

“Heard you ran into Jess the other day,” he says, twisting his Stetson between his hands.

“Don’t remind me.”

“Also heard she’s been running her mouth ’bout y’all bein’ back together.”

I stop in my tracks and look over at Maverick. He places his hat on his head and walks over to stand next to me.

“You’re gonna want to get on top of that shit. That woman was evil when you were fuckin’ her, but you and I both know she’s not ready to believe it’s over forever, regardless of how much time has passed.”

We walk in silence toward the house, his words weighing heavy in my gut.

“Does Caroline know about Jess?” he finally asks.

“Yeah. Told her that night of the baby shower when she had dinner here the first time.”

He mulls over my words while straddling his ride home, not starting it up yet. “The girls know about Jess tryin’ to get back with you. They know she’s cornered you once and tried a few more times unsuccessfully. They’re worried about you dealin’ with that as a brother, but they’re worried about what could happen to Caroline if Jess manages to tear y’all apart. You’ve got my wife and our sister actin’ like worried hens and it’s startin’ to piss me off.”

I clamp my teeth together as my breathing speeds up.

“Don’t like hearin’ that, do you?” He turns the key on the four-wheeler, shattering the silence. “You should probably let her know that your ex is sniffin’ around again before she thinks you’re keepin’ it from her for some reason other than protectin’ her feelin’s. There won’t be anything good that comes from her findin’ that out from someone else.” With that, he hauls his ass back to his own house.