He shifts his grasp, his hands coming out from under my head and his thumbs wiping the tears from my face. My whole body shudders as I suck in a wobbly breath.
"I need to know the rest, darlin'," he says with care.
"I'm afraid to give you the rest, Clayton."
He shakes his head. His handsome face relaxes and openly projects his affection. "Nothin' should ever make you afraid, Linney. Not when it comes to me and damn sure not when it comes to our love. I never want you feelin' the fear that keeps your thoughts from me."
My chest smooshes against his as I take a deep and calming breath. "I--I want that," I finally admit.
He holds my worried gaze, not reacting. "You want what?"
"What they have."
I finally lose the brightness of his emerald gaze when his eyes slowly flutter closed. A rush of air fans my face a second later. I hold myself still as my heart pounds in anxious beats.
"Please say somethin', Clayton," I plead when he doesn't move or speak.
"I don't want her here," he finally says, confusing me instantly.
"What?"
"She has no place in our bed, but I also can't let you go long enough to move our talk from this spot."
"Who are you talkin' about?"
"Jess."
My whole body jerks as his ex's name slams into my brain. Confusion as to why he's bringing her up now of all times blends into a hurt I feel slice deep.
"God, Caroline, you're killin' me." His hips press into mine as he shifts his body to rest his elbows in the mattress. "Look at me, baby."
I hadn't realized I stopped. Looking back into his beautiful eyes again, I see the pain inside of them.
"She was pregnant. Right after I finally broke things off, all her schemin' paid off. When she told me, I was going to step up. In my gut, I knew I didn't want that baby, but I would've been there and done my best to give it a good life. However, I wasn't gonna give her what she thought she could trick me into." A slash of pain goes through his features as he grows heavier on top of me, and I know where he's going, hating that woman even more. "When I refused her when she said we should get married right away, makin' it clear to her that would never be an option, she knew she'd miscalculated drastically. I never in my life thought she would kill my baby because of it though."
"Clayton," I gasp, moving my hands to cup his strong jaw. "Honey."
"It cut me to the quick, but even though I felt like a piece of my heart had been ripped out, I struggled with feelin' relieved as well. It's fucked-up, I know that, but with her selfishness, I wouldn't be forced to have her in my life because she had my kid."
"I'm so sorry," I tell him, my tears returning.
"I had a mama who couldn't love me and a father who didn't want to until he was dyin'. I didn't know my grandparents. The only real love I felt was toward my brother and sister. And with them, I saw what havin' shit parents did to kids. I grew up knowin' I didn't want to bring a life into the world without knowin' I'd be capable of what my parents weren't. That didn't change when she killed my baby, Caroline. I can't explain what it felt like holdin' my sister's baby in my arms, but even lovin' that boy instantly, if I didn't have you, I would never want that for myself. You make me need everythin' I never wanted."
A giant sob bursts from my lips.
"I told you we were gonna have this talk." He gives me a brief kiss. "I told you that what I wanted for our future would be different from what I wanted with her. I could live without anyone in this whole damn world, but you . . . I couldn't go on without you. I'm a man who knows what he needs, Linney, and that's you. I won't waste time when I know in my marrow that you're made for me to love. Ask me, baby. Ask me what roads we're traveling on."
"Wh-what roads?"
"The ones that collide together and form one indestructible path. One day, one day real damn soon, that road is gonna give you my name and give us a family that will never doubt what parents' love feels like. We both had a rough start, darlin', but there isn't anything we can't weather together. I knew it was time to cowboy up the second my good girl gave me her bad and together we made magic."
I'm crying so hard now, he had to stop talking softly halfway through that. I can see his smiling face, so full of love for me, through the tears swimming in my eyes. I blink frantically, but the tears keep coming. Not even when his lips drop to mine and we drown in each other's kisses do they stop. My sobs echo around the room as he undresses me, only slowing when he pushes himself into my body. By the time he's given me every thick inch, I finally stop crying. The passion between us is a soothing balm to my tears, which dissolve in the overpowering joy tipping me over the edge as I lose myself in the all-consuming sensation of the man I love loving me slow.
18
CAROLINE
"Humble and Kind" by Tim McGraw
You know the old saying when something feels too good to be true, it probably is? Well, there's no doubt to its validity in my eyes. Not after I wake up the next morning and the bubble of perfect love that had formed around Clayton and me pops. Only, when Clayton wakes me up this morning with worry hanging off him like a coat and tells me there's been another fire, the tears don't come. When I call Luke and hear him confirm what Clayton told me, I just feel a sad acceptance of what it means. There's no fear. No panic. Just the knowledge that whatever follows will be okay because I have Clayton to help me find my way through it.
The Sequel is completely gone.
What had been rebuilt and put on the market was just a pile of ash now.
There's also no doubt in anyone's mind that this fire was intentional. No matter what the report said about the first one, everyone now knows that one had been as well. What we don't know, though, is why.
"Talk to me, Linney," Clayton asks with a hint of desperate worry in his tone.
"What do you want me to say?"
"Jesus, baby, you just found out that someone intentionally set fire to the old store and you don't even look upset."
I shrug. "I'm upset, but not because it's gone. It was just an empty space. My dreams aren't tied up in there, and my happiness is not something I can only find in the pages of the books I sold. A few months ago, this probably would have felt a lot different, but then I went explorin' and I've got a path full of somethin' I never dreamed of. I'm stronger now. Too strong to let this break me."
"Fuck, I love you."
A small smile forms on my lips at his words. "The thing that bothers me now, even though I hate thinkin' that someone else might not be able to make a dream of my old space, is that I don't understand why I'm bein' targeted. Even though Luke said there was another fire across town at another business, I can't help but feel in my gut this is personal."
"What are you thinkin', darlin'?"
I sigh, shrug, and shake my head. "Do you think . . . Could this be John?"
A flash of anger crosses his face. "Do you think it could be?"
"I honestly don't know, Clayton. The John I knew years ago wasn't a good person, but he was an angry drunk who preferred to use his words and strength to hurt someone. He wanted people to know he was powerful in that way. Hiding behind a fire doesn't make sense. I just can't see him wakin' up one day and decidin' today is a good day to become an arsonist."
"Just because he didn't show it then doesn't mean he didn't have more malicious intent hidin' away and waitin' to come out."
"I know, I know. But it just doesn't feel like somethin' he'd do. If he's even still in town, he'd corner me somewhere before he'd hide behind a fire and not let me know he was the one who took more from me. The man I knew would've left no doubt it was him."
Clayton drops his head, looking down at his boots.
"What?"
A little pit of unease opens in my gut when he just shakes his head.
"Clayton. Tell me what's goin' through your head."
"Goddamn," Clayton grunts. "You knew him as a boy, Linney. You don't know him as a man."
"I was with him for c
lose to six years. I might have started with him when he was a boy, but he was a man when I finally left."
"And you haven't seen or really talked to him in close to another five, darlin'. People change, and you might not know the man that he is today."
I take a calming breath. Placing my palms on the counter, planting my feet on the rungs on the barstool at the kitchen island, I arch my brows at Clayton.
"I asked you to trust me," he finally answers my unspoken silent demand that he continue.
"I do, but I don't need you keepin' somethin' from me because you think I need you to protect me from him. He can't hurt me, even if he is the one behind the fires. He'll never touch me again." The confidence I'm starting to get used to rushes through my body. I can tell the second Clayton realizes that while I trust him completely, I won't back down from this conversation.
"Son of a bitch," he grunts under his breath, studying my face before shaking his head and continuing. "I've had problems with him for a while, Caroline. A lot of those problems are ugly, and I wanted to spare you that shit."
"What did you tell me about the ugly in our past, Clayton? I got you and you got me; all of that stuff we've dealt with in our lives just helped us get to this point. So stop thinkin' I can't handle it and let me show you how strong your love helped me become."
"Fine," he grinds out unhappily. "I've known John Lewis since his family moved to Pine Oak. He was a middle school punk then, as I'm sure you know, but his arrogance didn't turn dangerous until years later. I never liked him, but I didn't hate the man until more recent years. It started when Jess used him to attempt to make me jealous. Didn't bother me that she was carryin' on with him, but him tryin' to pick a fight with me got real old, real quick. He mighta had a drinkin' problem when you left him, but he developed a drug problem on top of that when he came back to Pine Oak."
"How long has he been back?" I ask, unable to stop the chill that trickles down my spine just thinking about him being so close to where I've settled, even if he never made an attempt at making me aware of that. Just thinking about how easy it could have been for him to inflict pain on me makes my heart race.
"Way I figure, right after you left him. Dates seem to match up."
"I never knew."
"Darlin', he was so strung out, I don't think he knew which way was up, let alone that you were only a half hour, forty-five minutes tops, away."
"Tell me the rest, Clayton. I can see all over your face that there's more."
He runs his fingers through his hair, his naked chest flexing as he does. "He was supplyin' drugs to some of the newer hands here on the ranch back then. I busted him myself when I came back from a night ride checkin' the property after a nasty storm to find him in my fuckin' barn dealin'. He was so high, but he was even more reckless. He took off before the sheriff got here, but not before his strung-out ass took out a fence and killed two of my horses on his way out. He didn't even slow, Linney. Blew right through them in his daddy's jacked-up truck. First time I've seen him since was that afternoon outside the diner in Wire Creek. I know he went to jail, heard rehab followed, but I'm not ready to eliminate him from the list of suspects who could be responsible for this just because he supposedly got help."
I shake my head, shocked by what he's telling me.
"I should've told you, but after you confided how bad things were when you were with him, I didn't want you havin' more reasons to fear that man. Not when I had hoped to protect you from that."
"You really think it's him?" A tremor hits me and I shiver, making Clayton push off the counter and walk over to me, pulling me from my seat and into his arms.
"I don't know, darlin', but I'm not goin' to assume it isn't." He presses a kiss to the top of my head and tightens his soothing embrace. "I'm sorry I kept that from you, but I'd do it again if I felt like I could keep you from shakin' like you are right now."
I shift closer and press my face against his chest. Clayton's scent fills my lungs and calms my racing thoughts. "Thank you for tellin' me, honey. I don't like hearin' it, you're right, but it makes me thankful I got out and got another chance at happiness. I'm not convinced it's him, but I'm also not convinced it isn't."
"I'm not gonna let anythin' happen to you. You know that, right?"
"Yeah, honey. If it's all the same to you, I'm goin' to hold off on startin' the process of openin' The Sequel here in Pine Oak. I know Luke doesn't need help at Hazel's anymore, but I'm goin' to give him a call and see if I can work in the--" I stop talking when I feel the man holding me growl, the sound in his chest vibrating against my cheek.
"You ain't workin' in that bar, Caroline. I respect Luke, and your friendship with him and Lucy, but I won't have you workin' in Hazel's when I know how rowdy that crowd is."
"Luke won't let anything happen to me, honey."
"Luke can't watch you and run that place at the same time. If you're worried about money, don't be. You never have to work another day if you don't want to."
I untangle myself from his hold and narrow my eyes at him. "I will not sit at home and do nothin' while you bust your tail all day, Clayton Davis. I'm not an idle woman, but even if I were, I won't be like her." I poke him in the chest, the thought of his vile ex and how she just wanted to use him for his money making me see red at his implication that I should be a kept woman and live off his hard work.
He wraps his hand around my finger when I poke him one more time, and I almost melt into a puddle when he smiles that devastating grin of his. "Calm down, darlin'. You know damn well I don't think you're with me for my money. If you want to keep busy until you're ready to open the store here in town, you can take over the accounting for Davis Auto Works and here on the ranch. I hate dealin' with that shit, so you'd be doin' me a favor."
He had already successfully dashed my ire with that smile, but learning that he trusts me with something so important to him--his ranch and family business--a whole new emotion hits me, and hits hard.
"Clayton," I breathe.
"Don't go givin' me breathy Claytons now, sweetness," he warns, pressing against me and pulling me close by the hips so that I don't miss his erection.
"I really wanna be bad with you right now," I shamelessly admit, feeling a rush of arousal curl low in my belly and wrap around the base of my spine.
"Fuck, I love you," he rumbles, bending enough to pull me into his arms. My legs go around his body and my eyes all but cross when his hardness presses firmly against my aching core.
"I'd love to help take some work off your plate. I won't have you payin' me, but I meant it when I said I wasn't an idle woman."
"You keep givin' me this greedy-for-my-cock pussy and I'm pretty sure you'll be the one payin' me."
"You're naughty." I giggle, speaking against his neck, kissing my way across his skin, and feeling the heat of his words bathe me in intoxicating pleasure. I rock my hips, wishing my lounge pants weren't in the way. "I love it when you show me your bad."
He hums, his fingers tightening on my bottom when I bite the thick column of his neck. Even with my pants and his jeans between us, my belly starts to flutter. My hips rock and roll quicker as his hold on me turns just a hair shy of painful. Thinking about his hands leaving bruises on my tender skin oddly only makes me hotter. His erection rubs me in the most toe-curling spot, and from that contact alone, I drop my head back, seeing the ceiling for just a second before my eyes roll back and close; then I come with his name on my lips.
"God fuckin' damn, that's the hottest thing I've ever seen, darlin'. You comin' from just rubbin' yourself against my cock, fuck," he groans, pulling me harder against his erection, pressing firmly against my sensitive sex and making me whimper. "My good girl doesn't need any help bein' bad anymore, does she? I'm about to love you so hard, you'll think I'm still inside you for days. So vividly that you'll take one step, feel what my hard does to you, and come from just the thought of me takin' you alone."
"Yes," I mewl. "Please."
"Go get in
our bed. I want you waitin' for me, spread so wide, offerin' me that sweet pussy so I can eat my fuckin' breakfast in bed. I'm goin' to call Drew and let him know I'm takin' a sick day."
I jump down from his hold, my whole body alive and craving his promises. I don't even spare him a glance before I'm sprinting through the house, tossing my clothes as I go, and following his every command. Then, true to his words, he joins me a few minutes later and spends the day showing me just how delicious breakfast in bed can be.
19
CAROLINE
"Make You Mine" by High Valley
"I'm gonna kill her."
Lucy makes a snarling sound in her throat, backing up Leighton's threat without words.
I keep my mouth shut but grab Leighton's hand before she can leave the table at which Jana had told her, firmly and without room to argue, to "sit down and not move from that spot" not even five minutes after walking into her bakery. I feel the wide-eyed stares of the people in the shop around us, but it oddly doesn't bother me, proof that I really am becoming stronger. The only thing I care about in this moment is the nasty woman causing a scene inside my boyfriend's sister-in-law's bakery. His very, very pregnant sister-in-law's bakery. And that woman is going to find out just what the new me is capable of.
"You might think you've got him," Jess continues in a snarky tone. "Hell, you might even keep his attention for a little while, but he'll be back. He always comes back. No woman stands a chance at changin' that."
"You stupid bitch. Smartest thing he ever did was scrape you off, and he wasn't stupid enough to come back to you once since then. You can be damn sure he isn't gonna do it now," Leighton snaps with fury in her words.
"We have a history!" Jess shrieks, her beautiful face turning hideous and revealing her true nature.
I stay silent and study Clayton's ex. Jess really is lovely, I'll give her that, but she's the kind of woman who thinks that beauty is the be-all and end-all. The type that only has their beauty going for them and it really doesn't get them as far as they're convinced it does. Every time she throws more nasty words around, her shoulders start shaking with temper, her long blond hair swinging. Her blue eyes are cold, calculating, and full of vicious evil. She's taller than me and bustier than me, with curves I'll never have.