My jaw drops.
That’s not a horse.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I whisper as Derek Riley in all his glory strides toward me through the sun-kissed mist in the best Mr. Darcy impersonation I’ve ever seen. That scene has always stuck with me, ever since I first saw the movie as a teen. And while Derek isn’t wearing a full-length coat or breaches, he is wearing flannel.Flannel.
His hair is longer, his beard is fuller, and the unbuttoned blue flannel shirt over a white t-shirt and jeans might be the sexiest piece of clothing in existence. He was pretty to begin with. Now he’s just playing dirty.
He keeps his eyes on me as he crosses the field, his expression inscrutable and intense, and I could swear a sweeping romantic soundtrack plays overhead as he walks. If anyone would have real-life background music, Derek Riley would. When he reaches the fence between us, he doesn’t slow down, instead planting a hand on the top rail and swinging his legs over with ease.
A sound escapes my throat, a pathetic mix of a whimper and a laugh. At this point, it’s a miracle I’m still standing upright, and all I can do is gape at the man and hope I’m not drooling.
But then he stops a few feet from me, letting his eyes trail over me without any change in his expression. Is he glad to see me? Is he as nervous as I am? Once he’s taken all of me in, his lips lift in the softest of smiles. “Donovan.”
Oh. My name on his lips, spoken in his deep, smooth voice, ripples through me and speaks volumes. It’s not just my name. It’s his gratitude and admiration and intimidation and attraction all rolled up into three syllables that are tied directly to me.
My breath slides into my lungs, and I leap forward, crossing the last bit of space between us and throwing my arms around his neck. He instantly wraps me up in the tightest hug of my life, lifting me off my feet as he buries his face into my neck and lets out a shaky breath. I have never been held like this, and it’s more than his height or his strength. Just like with the way he said my name, I feel every bit of his love in his hold.
I feel cherished.
“You’re here,” he whispers.
“You’rehere,” I counter.
“I needed a soft place to land.”
“So you came to Solace Creek? To my home?”
Chuckling, he slowly sets me back on my feet but only loosens his hold on me by a fraction. “I wanted to be somewhere that would make me think of you.”
“There’s no way you’re real, Derek Riley,” I whisper and lean back so I can get a good look at his face. But seeing his face reminds me that it’s been months since I last kissed this man, something he seems to be realizing as well when his eyes darken and drop to my lips. “Prove you’re not a fantasy.”
With a flash of a smile, he slides his hand behind my neck and covers my mouth with his in a kiss that would knock me off my feet if he wasn’t holding me. It’s hungry and tender and desperate all at the same time, and so much better than I remember.
My memory is apparently crap.
Just when I think this moment can’t get any better, Derek runs both hands through my hair, pushing it away from my face, and presses his forehead to mine as he breaks the kiss to say, “Just so you know, I’m still as madly in love with you as you pretended not to be back in June. In fact, I’m pretty sure it’s gotten worse with time.”
I might genuinely swoon. Desperate for something to steady me, I press my hands to his chest. My eyebrows fly high. “Dang, Riley, did you getbiggerover the last few months?” Needing to find the answer for myself, I move my hands to his biceps, and either my memory really didn’t serve me well, or Derek managed to do the impossible and outdo himself.
Grinning, Derek scoops me up without warning and starts heading for the nearest cabin. “Pops helped me prioritize and delegate so I couldbuild more free time into my life, and in return I’ve been helping around here. When were you going to tell me your Nova money funded the refurbishment of the ranch?”
“Uh, never?” I tuck my arm around his shoulders, knowing full well I could walk next to him but letting him carry me anyway. “But I’m not surprised Pops brought it up. Uncle Keith keeps trying to convince me that I should let him pay me back, and I keep telling him no. We Tates are stubborn when it comes to money.”
“Yeah, I got that sense the second time you and I met.” As we reach the cabin door, he sets me on my feet and gestures for me to go inside ahead of him. “Coffee?”
“You actually know how to make coffee? Wait, don’t answer that. I forgot who I’m talking to.”
As Derek laughs and gets to work in the kitchen, I take a seat on a stool and look around the space. All the private cabins are the same—kitchen, living room, and bathroom on the ground floor, with one or two bedrooms in the loft above—but this one feels lived in rather than a temporary space like I’m used to the cabins being. There are books stacked on the end table, one of them with a bookmark halfway through. Shoes lined up by the back door. A winter coat ready and waiting in the partially open closet. Maybe it’s not immediately obvious to the eye, but the cabinfeelslike Derek.
“How often do you come out here?”
He looks up, lifting an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”
“Like, has this been a base camp while you go back and forth between stuff for work?” Most of the time when we talked over the summer, he kept the conversation geared toward me and didn’t say much about himself, and now that I’m thinking back on our chats, if ever he mentioned anything related to his job, he kept things on the down low. And since he’s Derek Riley, I didn’t question it much.
Grinning, he shakes his head as he pours coffee into two matching mugs. “You’re assuming I ever left.”
I frown. “I know you’ve been doing a lot of things remotely, but there have to have been some things you needed to be in LA for, right?”
