Total pages in book: 26
Estimated words: 24550 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 123(@200wpm)___ 98(@250wpm)___ 82(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 24550 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 123(@200wpm)___ 98(@250wpm)___ 82(@300wpm)
Her reply is instant and heartbreaking. “He doesn’t want me here on the ranch.”
I open my mouth to say that’s not true, but then I close it quickly. Charlie has always pushed her to do things away from the ranch. Hell, he wouldn’t even let her go to a close college to commute. He wanted her out, seeing the world. Maybe he has his reasons, but whatever they are, he’s hurting his daughter. I don’t know what to say to her. “You should tell your dad. He’d be proud of you.”
She murmurs something, and it’s obvious she doesn’t think so, but she doesn’t seem like she wants to talk about it. “So what about you, Dixon? What’s your plan? You going to work at the Allen Ranch and ride in the rodeo until you’re old and gray?”
I laugh. “Har, har. I’m not that old, but yeah, I love it here, and I want to stay on. Your dad has been…”
I let my voice trail off because it doesn’t feel right what I was about to say. She sits up. “It’s okay. I know he’s been your mentor and like a father to you. I’m glad you’ve had each other.”
I suck in a breath. “He gave me a few acres on the southside to build a house and raise a family.”
Her eyes widen, and she looks almost stricken. “But Faith, he also said that the ranch will be yours. He’s not giving me the ranch or anything. He did say if anything ever happened to him, he’d want me to stay and manage it to help you, but he wasn’t giving me your birthright.”
She shakes her head side to side. “So… you’re building a house… on the southside… and you’re getting married…”
She’s backed away from me to the far end of the couch. I almost feel ridiculous having this conversation right now. She has her shirt on, and it’s covering her body for the most part, but I’m still sitting here buck naked. I reach for her because I don’t want to let her go, not even to sit on the other end of the couch. “I’ve started building the house, but no, I’m not getting married… not yet anyway.”
I start to imagine Faith, with her red hair, big blue eyes, and curvy body in a white wedding dress, and my cock starts to come to life. I reach for her, tugging at her shirt. “Take this off.” I gesture to my naked self. “You’re a little overdressed.”
She pulls at her shirt but doesn't take it off. “I’m not just going to sit around naked.”
I hold my hand out to her. “Well, can you come over here so I can kiss you?”
She puts her hand in mine, but she doesn’t move in my direction, and the thought of her holding back from me overwhelms me a little. She tilts her head to the side. “You want to kiss me?”
Fuck, how does she not know what she does to me? She makes me want to lose all control. “I want you in my arms. I want to be able to kiss you, and I want to be able to touch you.” I suck in a breath and remind her of earlier. “You said I could have tonight. Well, the ranch starts moving around four in the morning, so I need to have you back in the big house before then.” I look at the clock on the wall. “That only gives me five hours to touch, kiss, and taste every part of your body.”
She crawls over to me and settles herself in my lap. She’s straddling me with her legs on each side of my hips, and my cock is positioned at her entrance. “No. It’s too soon, and I won’t hurt you, Faith. Let me show you all the other ways I can make love to you.”
It’s only after her eyes widen that I realize the words I used, but they couldn’t be more true. I knew when she came in here demanding I sleep up at the big house that my feelings for her ran wide and deep. “But first, give me your lips.”
She leans into me, and when our lips touch, I kiss her like I’ve wanted to since I saw her in the Whiskey Whistler. She moans and whimpers as I stroke my tongue along hers, and I hold her to me, knowing that I’m not going to want to let her go. Not now, not five hours from now, not ever.
CHAPTER 8
FAITH
I overslept. Which is not something you do on a ranch. I walked into my bedroom at four a.m., and I told myself I was going to sleep for an hour, but here it is, ten o’clock, and I feel like I could have slept another five hours.