“Ugh.”
I kiss the top of her head. Hold her there. My arms wrapped around her waist, her body soft against mine. Her heart beating fast against my ribs. She fits here. In my arms, in my kitchen, in my life. She fits.
“Thought I already did,” I murmur.
She goes still. Pulls back. Stares at me. “Did you just…”
“I mean…” I shrug. “If the boot fits.”
“Oh my God, Beau!” She grabs a dish towel and whips it at my chest. I catch it, laughing. Deep and full. She’s trying to look furious, but her lips are twitching and her eyes are bright.
“I hate you,” she mutters.
“No, you don’t.”
“I really, really do.”
I pull her back in. She fights it for one second before melting into me again. Her cheek on my bare chest. Her fingers tracing the line of muscle along my side …light, lazy, probably not even conscious of it. But I feel it. Every brush of her fingertips on my skin registers like fire.
I tip her chin up with one finger. Her brown eyes …warm, flustered, open. My girl’s letting me see her without her armor on, and she doesn’t even realize it.
“Ina.”
“What now?”
“I want you in my life. Permanently.”
The kitchen goes quiet. Something falls off the counter …a fork, maybe. Neither of us looks.
“I want to be with you. Move here, if you want. Stay on my side of the ranch. Shit, I’ll move wherever you want. I don’t care.”
She stares at me. The laughter gone. The embarrassment too. Just her, stripped bare, searching my face for the lie. Her dark eyes moving over mine. My mouth. My jaw. Looking for the thing that tells her this is too good to be true.
“You’re serious.”
“As a goddamn heart attack.”
“Beau.” Her voice drops to a whisper. “That’s… huge. You’re thirty.”
“And I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life. I know what I want.”
“And what do you want?”
I hold her eyes. And give her everything.
“You. Every day. Every night. In my bed. On my land, carrying my name and my kids. Everything you’ll give me, Ina. I’ll take it. Cherish it. Fucking protect it with my life.”
Her eyes fill. Her jaw works. She blinks fast, and tears slip down her cheeks …rolling over her smooth skin, catching at thecorner of her full lips. She’s beautiful when she cries. Shit, all the time.
I lean in and kiss her. Slow. Deep. Tasting salt and syrup and her. When I pull back, her cheeks are wet, and she’s gripping my forearms hard enough to leave marks.
“You don’t have to answer right now,” I whisper. “I’m not going anywhere. Just needed you to know.”
She nods. Swipes her eyes with the back of her hand. Lets out a shaky breath that I feel warm on my bare chest.
“You’re insane,” she whispers. But she’s smiling.
“About you?” I kiss her forehead. “Absolutely.”
