He understood why she’d done it, even appreciated it to a point.She’d withheld all this until now to protect him in her own way, worried about him being distracted over there, but it wasn’t worth the cost.Not when the alternative was her stewing about it all this time while he stayed clueless and it drove a wedge between them.
“You don’t need to protect me like that,” he said.“Not from anything to do with us.”
Another shrug.“It wasn’t something we could resolve over the phone or by e-mail while you were gone, so I wanted to wait until you were back.”
He sighed and released her, catching her chin in his hand and tilting it up so she met his gaze.“Well, I’m back.Or I will be as of tomorrow night after this boys’ trip, and we can figure everything out together after that.Okay?”They were a team.
She nodded and lowered her gaze, looking relieved.“Okay.Thank you.”
“So you forgive me for being an insensitive asshole?”
Her lips quirked and she looked up at him again, humor warming her gaze.“Mostly.But only because I love you.”
Thank God for that.
Firming his grip on her chin, he bent his head and covered her lips with his in a slow, thorough kiss.
She melted into his hold, opened for him.He growled into her mouth as blood surged to his groin.It had been a long time since they’d had make-up sex.He mentally calculated the time it would take to get her back up to the room and strip her naked.
Candace pulled back and gave him a wry, knowing smile.“Rain check.”
Damn.He cupped her cheek in his palm, holding her gaze.“I’ll do better, okay?From now on I’ll try to listen better.”
“Okay.I’ll do better too.”
He was so damn lucky to have her, and it was a weight off him to know she wasn’t still mad.“I love you.”
“Love you too.”She hugged him tight, then stepped back and checked her watch.“We better get going.”
“Yeah.”He knew he was truly forgiven when she reached for his hand as they turned toward the stables.He squeezed her fingers in reply, glad they’d dealt with this.
They still had a lot to iron out between them but at least they’d gotten past this first big hurdle, and once he got back he was going to make time to fix the rest of it.Candace was the best damn thing that had ever happened to him, and he was going to make sure she knew she could count on him no matter what.
The stables were aseven-minute walk from the main lodge, down a gravel pathway that wound through the gardens and around the duck pond.
Set at the top of a slight knoll, the barn-red building was as well maintained as everything else around here.Pastureland spread out behind it as far as the eye could see, disappearing down a rise that gave way to some woodland.In the background loomed the mountains they would head to today.
Candace walked alongside Ryan with their fingers laced together, feeling lighter than she had in months.They still had more to talk about once he got back from the bachelor party trip—like how she felt like she came in last with him sometimes—but at least she’d gotten the worst of it off her chest and he now understood what she’d been feeling these past few months.
It was a good start, anyway, and she felt way more positive about the future than she had in a long time.
Erin, Dev, and Maya were already gathered around the corral when she walked up with Ryan, the guys standing out in front of the barn next to their mounts.Cam lifted a dark blond eyebrow at them beneath the brim of his dark brown cowboy hat, a piece of straw sticking out of the corner of his mouth.“Lost track of time?”he said to Ryan.
“Hey, you know how it is.Gotta keep getting shots downrange, because shooting skills are so perishable.Don’t wanna get rusty.”
Cam laughed.“So you were busy cleaning and oiling yourweapon, I guess?”
“Yep.”Ryan ogled Candace, then gave her a leer.“Course, my fast-movers always hit the targets I lase.”
She rolled her eyes at the horrible pun, actually looking forward to some downtime without him now that her anger and resentment weren’t eating her up inside.“You guys are ridiculous.Go take your excess testosterone and get your horses saddled.”
“You love my excess testosterone,” Ryan murmured in her ear, sending a rush of tingles through her.
She did.And it felt so good to be able to joke with him again without the tension gnawing at her.“You’re bad.Go.”She lifted up to kiss him once more, then pushed him toward the wrangler standing with a clipboard near the barn door.
“You Wentworth?”the man asked.
“That’s me,” Ryan said, and strode over.Candace couldn’t help but admire the way his muscular butt filled out those jeans.Yum.
