“It’s a pretty good method you’ve got there.”
“It is.” He meets my teasing smile with one of his own. “Notice how I reeled you in with cake and candy hearts that very first night?”
I feel fizzy inside. Today has been full of surprises that should have knocked me on my ass, should have me terrified.
Instead, I’m starting to brim with excitement. A sense of possibility.
“You devil!” I laugh. “Have you been playing me this whole time?”
He pulls me close, his hands settling on my waist. “Madison, I wanted you from the moment I laid eyes on you. Just had a hell of a time figuring out how to have you, and mostimportantly—keep you.”
He murmurs, “I thought I was lucky when you started giving me the time of day. But this right here, having you on my family land, making you laugh, getting to put my hands on your body…”
His hand moves from my waist to my stomach, where his fingers splay out across my lower belly. “Whatever the future brings… never dreamed I’d getthislucky.”
It’s another one of those things that a man says that, apparently, just makes youhaveto kiss him.
“You’ve got a real way with words,” I breathe, as his lips trail along my jaw.
His teeth graze the shell of my ear. The sensation of his tongue touching my skin sends sparks of pleasure shooting down my body.
He’s got me pushed up against the wall of the stables, where the saddles rest on racks. When I breathe in, I smell leather and Luke.
His cock is hard through his jeans, pressing insistently against my belly as we make out. I run my hands all along his body, feeling his strong muscles through his clothes.
He tears his mouth from mine on a ragged breath. “I promised myself that next time with you would be in a proper bed.”
“Sounds like something a gentleman would say.” My hand slides down to trace his erection through his jeans. “But you don’t feel like a gentleman to me.”
He presses his forehead to mine. “You’re a menace.”
He kisses me again.
Eventually, we manage to part from each other, and Luke takes me by the hand to the other side of the stables. We stop before a stallat the far end, away from the bustle of the main entrance. The late afternoon light filters through the high windows, illuminating the dust motes floating through the air.
A mare with a golden coat and ivory mane and tail is standing next to her colt, who shares her uniquely golden coat. He has a white marking between his eyes that looks like a heart.
They’re both so beautiful it steals my breath.
“This is them,” I murmur. “The birth you stayed up for.”
“That’s right.” Luke’s hand finds the small of my back, warm and steady. “Meet Honey and her boy. Still working on a name for this guy. Even if there were unexpected twists, everyone got a happy ending.”
The colt wobbles on spindly legs, pressing close to his mother’s flank. Honey nickers softly, her dark eyes watchful but calm.
“Can I...?” I reach toward the stall door.
“Yeah, come on.” Luke unlatches it and guides me inside with a hand on my hip. “Honey’s gentle. Raised her from a filly myself.”
The mare watches us approach, ears pricked forward with curiosity rather than alarm.
I extend my hand slowly, letting her sniff my palm before stroking her neck. Her coat is warm and silky beneath my fingers.
“She’s incredible,” I breathe.
“She is.” But when I glance behind me at Luke, he’s not looking at the horse. He’s looking at me, something soft and unguarded in his expression.
“That night,” he says, “when things got complicated, when I thought we might lose them both…” He moves closer, his chest against my back, arms coming around my waist. “All I could think about was calling you. I was wrung out in every way, and all I wanted in that moment was to hear your voice.”
