“Leave?” Her brows shot up. “No chance of that. Like Shane said, we’ll face this together. Not even your grumpy-ass attitude and inability to smile could scare me away.”
“Grumpy-ass attitude?” I smirked. I suppose I had been a bit of a jerk since I’d moved in.
“Yes.” Her fingers worked the knot at her waist and she pulled the robe open. “I think you need to make it up to me for putting up with your piss-poor attitude for the past couple of weeks.”
It didn’t seem fair. I’d done some bad things, made some horrible decisions, and people had suffered because of it. “I don’t deserve you, Paisley.”
“You’d better stop talking like that or I won’t ride your beard again, big boy.”
“We can’t have that.” For the first time in eight years, I laughed out loud. Then I mimed zipping my mouth shut and throwing away the key.
Paisley pulled her arms out of the robe and disappeared under the blanket. She tugged my jeans down low on my hips. Then she licked the full length of my cock with her hot, wet tongue, chasing all of my worries away.
CHAPTER 9
PAISLEY
I wokeup on the couch the next morning. It took me a few seconds to remember where I was and what had happened the night before. Aiden was gone. I laid there for a few minutes and let my mind play through everything that had happened the night before. My muscles ached in the most delicious way, the soreness reminding me of the multiple orgasms Aiden had delivered both before and after our heart-to-heart talk.
It was so warm and cozy under the blanket, I didn’t want to get up, but the horses needed to be fed, and I probably ought to check on Caitlin. No doubt Shane had filled her in on how he’d found Aiden and me last night. I only hoped Aiden didn’t regret opening up and wasn’t having second thoughts about sticking around.
At least he’d made coffee before he took off. I reached for a mug and noticed a note next to the coffee pot.
You looked so peaceful that I wanted to let you sleep. Don’t worry about feeding the horses. I’ll take care of that before I head up to the house. I’ve got an idea on how to catch the assholes who’ve been messing with the ranch.
Yours,
Aiden
I smiled at the way he’d signed his name.Yours. I’d never belonged to someone before or had the honor of claiming someone else’s heart as mine, but it felt right. I wanted to be his just as much as I wanted him to belong to me. With a happiness in my heart that hadn’t been there before, I took a quick shower and got dressed.
Today was the first day of the rest of my life, and I was ready for it.
Samson sat on the porch of the bunkhouse and greeted me with a loudmeow. I bent down to run my hand over his head. He hadn’t been around much over the past few days. Hopefully, he’d been keeping warm inside the barn.
The sun was already making its slow ascent into the sky when I caught sight of Aiden and Shane. I’d definitely overslept, though Aiden had kept me up way past my usual bedtime last night. The two of them were bent over something on the drive.
“Good morning.” I held my hand up to shade my eyes from the sun. Whatever they were up to, it looked like they’d been at it for a while.
“Morning.” Aiden stood and reached for me. I melted into his arms. “Did you sleep well?”
“Once you finally let me sleep,” I muttered against his ear. “What are you working on?”
He walked me through the plan. They were installing metal spikes at the top and bottom of the drive into the ranch. If someone came in and the spikes were activated, they’d rip up their tires on their way out.
“When do you think they’ll try something again?” I asked.
“It’s only been happening when Shane’s been gone,” Aiden said. “No telling who’s involved, but if word gets out that we have a reservation at the steakhouse tonight, we’re hoping they’ll take the opportunity.”
“If we’re not here, how are you going to catch them?”
Shane sat back on his heels. “The four of us are going to leave together to head into town for dinner tonight, then Aiden will sneak back to the ranch to hopefully catch them in the act.”
“Can’t you call the sheriff and have them plant someone up here?” I didn’t like the idea of Aiden taking on the people responsible for the damage all by himself.
“We can’t expect them to send staff up here unless we know for sure something’s going to go down. Are you worried about me, baby?” Aiden cracked a grin, trying to make light of a serious situation.
I playfully swatted at his chest. “Yes, I’m worried. What if they have a gun? I don’t want you to get hurt.”
