That had always been her rule: never let anyone see us together. The unspoken ranch rules.
No affection at the table.
No kissing in front of her brother.
No ranch hands upstairs.
I never had been sure which of those were her rules or just house rules that developed over time but in the last year I’d broken all of them for her.
“It’s easier if they know, honey,” I said softly, loud enough for her to hear me, but no one else.
Eve pressed against me. A tremor rippled through her. “Alright,” she whispered back, tipping her head back.
Uncertainty still swam in her eyes, something else there too.
A plea.
Don’t leave me again.
And hell, there was no way I’d abandoned my girl ever again.
I claimed her mouth in a deep kiss I couldn't break, crushing her against me. Eve folded into my chest, her curves fitting into all the right places.
“Hell, girl,” I managed when we broke apart, panting. “I think there’s work to be done for the day.”
“Maybe?” she looked doubtfully at the mess the ranch hands had made of her kitchen, the open doors and the empty yard beyond. “Or maybe it’s just us for the day?”
I tightened my hold on her. “I can do that.”
“This changes things.” A shiver rippled through her as she pushed away from me, her hands trembling as she straightened her shirt. “I’ve never?—”
I trailed my hands over her shoulders. “One job at a time,” I directed. “What do you want to get done today?”
She stopped. “Really? You want to do chores with me?”
I huffed out a laugh. “Honey, I’ll spend every damn day with you for the rest of your life, if you’ll let me.”
Eve leaned back into my embrace as I inhaled her scent. “That sounds like a proposal, Ranger.”
I pressed kisses to the slope of her neck until the tension washed from her body. “List, Evie. I know you can’t spend a day in bed.”
“Fussy Ranger,” she cussed me, fixing more coffee as I cleaned up again.
“Firecracker,” I countered, nipping the lobe of her ear.
She yelped and darted away. “I willnotfeed you if you start biting me.”
“Biting is out. Noted.”
Eve shook her head. “Texans. I fucking swear…”
She didn’t have anything against Texans from her previous trip to my birth state from what I could tell. Maybe it was just me. I laughed, folding my arms as I leaned back against the bench and watched her fuss about, building a lunch pack for us that looked a whole lot healthier than the food she spoiled the ranch hands with.
I swore she should have a whole lot more workers than she did. The thought that she’d been sabotaged from the inside, or at least nearby, still irritated the shit out of me.
“You’ve got some issues around the ranch. You know that, right?” I caught her wrist as she darted by me, halting her panicked flight.
“I need to—” she sent me a shuttered glance, pulling away from me.
