“Screw you, bro,” Ford says with a wealth of warmth in his voice. “Just remember this when you have your own woman.”
Bronco’s eyes meet mine. “I will.”
“Later,” Ford says.
Bronco disconnects the call and finishes loading the tools.
I help where I can, watching as he works. Several times, he stares out over the landscape, deep in thought.
I touch his arm. “Are you okay?”
He rubs the back of his neck. “He’s happy, you know? He met Ember just prior to Christmas. I didn’t think it was possible, but he found the kind of love my parents have.” He shuts the bed of the vehicle and opens my door. “Since then, I’ve been thinking about what I want from my own life.”
“What do you want, Bronco King?”
He looks wrecked when he says, “I want what they have.A forever love. Family. Maybe kids.”
“In Montana?”
He scans my face, then lifts his hand and slowly brushes the back of his fingers over my cheek. “The place doesn’t matter, princess. Only the woman.”
Tingles race through my body, aware of his touch, and the warmth of his body so close to mine.
If I could, I would choose that too.
Here.
With him.
CHAPTER EIGHT
BRONCO
What do you want,Bronco King?
Camille’s question has been circling my brain, like an eagle watching for a mouse to peek out of hiding.
Everything I told her was true. I do want what Ford and Ember found. I just never thought it was possible. Now... now I’m stuck between hope and the impossible.
Plus, it’s only been twenty-four hours. Who falls in love in such a short time?
Ford.
I take my hat off and scrub my hand through my hair, then hang it on the peg by the door. Camille follows me inside and hangs her coat up.
She was quiet on the drive back, but that’s not unusual. I’m learning that’s her nature. Another thing about her I appreciate. A boisterous woman isn’t for me. I need someone content to sit on a porch swing with me and just breathe in the country air, staying still in the moment.
I watch her as she slips off her boots and crosses the room to get a glass of water.
Would she want that kind of life? It’s nothing like she knows, but then maybe that’s a good thing. For all the money and glamour, it’s been a gilded cage around her.
If I... ifwepursue these feelings, I’ll lose my job. No question. Gray doesn’t date clients and seriously frowns on any that do. Could I let that part of me go and find something different?
If it meant having Camille with me... maybe.
The possibility bubbles in me, and it’s uncomfortable as hell.
Part of me knows I don’t deserve it. Not after what happened.
