I was missing my woman, and my irritation level wasn’t going to change until I resolved this situation.
And I wouldresolveit.
Any other option was unacceptable to me.
Before Lauren, I wasn’t the kind of guy who would ever admit that I needed someone, but I neededher.
Hell, maybe I always had, but I’d never known exactly what I was missing until I’d met the other half of my world.
Now, I was completely fucked.
I was about to give up on sleeping and get up to get a drink, but I hesitated when I heard a faint noise coming from the front door.
My heart started to pound against my chest wall.
I wasn’t worried that someone was breaking into my house.
My ranch was isolated, and it was in Crystal Fork, Montana.
I’d left the damn door unlocked on purpose.
I’d left it unlocked at night for the last week.
I hadn’t ever thought to give Lauren a key because I was always here when she came over.
I’d wanted her to be able to get in if she suddenly decided that she wanted to talk.
I heard the distinctive sound of the front door closing, and when I heard the light footsteps moving past the kitchen, I recognized them. Lauren had a habit of taking her shoes off at the door, so the only sound she made when she was walking was an occasional creak that came from the wooden floors.
“Cole?” she called out hesitantly as the hallway light came on.
The sweetness of that sound made a lump form in my throat.
Fuck!I’d missed that voice.
I’d missed her.
Every damn thing about her.
I swallowed hard when I saw her at my bedroom door. “I’m here,” I said huskily as I rose from the bed.
Lauren stepped into the bedroom and switched on the lamp at the bedside.
She looked at me, and her face was anguished when she threw herself into my arms.
I caught her and held her as tightly against me as we could get.
The only thing that would have felt better was if we were skin-to-skin.
I was in a pair of boxer briefs, but Lauren was fully dressed in jeans and a T-shirt.
She pulled back to look at my face. “We have to talk. I’ve been incredibly stupid, Cole. I just wanted to see you. I wanted to tell you that I was sorry. And I wanted to tell you how much I love you.”
She was babbling, her expression remorseful, and her eyes shiny with unshed tears.
However, my main focus right now was on the words that had just passed through her gorgeous lips.
I held the sides of her face so that our gazes would lock. “Say it again,” I demanded gutturally.
