She nods.
“Good. Let me take you home.”
I toss Ruby the keys and lift Callie into my arms, thankfulwhen she doesn’t fight me on it. A chorus of cheers follows us out of the bar. I carefully deposit her in the middle seat before slipping in beside her. She rests her head on my shoulder and closes her eyes as Ruby drives us back to the ranch.
A soft exhale tickles my neck. “Did I hurt you?”
“You could never hurt me.” I gently press my lips to her forehead and inhale her familiar scent. Being around her again has settled the discomfort that’s been running rampant since the moment she walked away from me.
“You could hurt me,” she murmurs. “I think you might be the only person in the world who hasn’t.”
My gaze flicks to my sister, who’s giving me a subtle look of warning.
“Never.”
Callie’s index finger traces the lines on my upturned palm. The touch is featherlight, but it still makes my heart skip a beat. “I don’t want to lose you.”
I grip her thigh and pull her tighter to me. “I’m not going anywhere.”
The truck jostles us as we turn onto the dirt road that leads to my house. Ruby pulls into my usual parking spot and twists the key. “Liam’s on his way to pick me up. I’m gonna walk down to the big house and meet him there.”
“Ok. Text me when you get home.”
Ruby nods. “It was nice meeting you, Callie. I hope you remember me in the morning.”
Callie gives a half-hearted wave and mutters something against my chest abouttheRuby Lynn Hayes.
Ruby laughs and closes the truck door, leaving us alone in the dark with only the dim porch light illuminating our path. I cradle her against my chest and carry her into the house, straight through the narrow hallway until we reach my bedroom.
“This isn’t my room,” she says.
“It will be.” I lay her down on the side furthest away from the door and slip off her shoes and glasses.
She shifts onto her side and tucks her hands under her chin, looking up at me through glassy eyes. “Jax?”
My name rolling off her lips still does something to me, something altogether too enticing.
I kneel at her side and trace my fingers across her temple and jaw. “I’m here.”
“Are you going to stay with me?”
“Is that what you want?”
She nods, and her eyes drift shut.
As if I could deny her anything.
I strip out of my clothes until I’m wearing nothing but my boxer briefs and slide into bed behind her, pulling her back to my chest. Her body molds to mine like she’s exactly where she’s meant to be.
I bury my nose in her hair and inhale.
As I begin to drift off, she whispers, “Is this what love feels like?”
Callie
The first hints of spring scent the air. With my shoes dangling off two fingers, I meander along the fence line beside the pasture where the horses are grazing in the field. The soles of my feet burrow into the grass.
I’ve been living on the ranch for two months, and I’m still not used to the beauty that surrounds me at every turn. The evidence of a harsh winter and the storms that followed has all but disappeared. The brownish grass has given way to lush green hills and valleys as far as the eye can see, and the light breeze whispers through the trees as the dogwoods sprout their first blooms of the season.
