My life has turned inside out within the last few weeks. But the thought of her not being part of that life, even for eighteenmonths, threatens to break me far more than the ride can ever do. I trace the blacked-out screen of my phone. It may as well be a lifetime without her.
I unlock the screen and make the call.
By the time I’m finished, my mind has settled. Lanie is sitting cross-legged on the sofa, her laptop perched on her knees.
“Have you had breakfast?” I ask from the kitchen, everything coming into hyperfocus.
Lanie looks up and grins. “You mean lunch?” She taps her screen.
“Damn. Is it that late? I didn’t mean to leave you alone for so long.”Again.
“You didn’t. We got up that late.”
“Oh.” I cough into my hand. “I…don’t remember the last time I slept in.”
“Have you ever had another woman in that bed, Cord?” She laughs, and it’s cute as hell.
I stay silent. She looks up, her smile faltering. I stare back, my face expressionless until I shake the mood off.
“No. I’ve never brought a woman here who isn’t family. The bunnies—all that stayed at the rodeos. But you’re here, now. That’s everything I want in my world.” I close the distance to where she sits, crouching beside her as I slide my hands down her arms. “Do you have time to pack up? I’m on a one-day mission to make you fall in love with Coyote Falls.”And me.
Her hands fold around mine, pressing me to her. The warmth of her seeps into my skin as I sigh into her hair, pressing kisses to the top of her head.
“I’m already in love, Cord,” she says softly, tipping her head back to hold my gaze.
My heart falters for a moment, not sure I heard her right.
Then don’t fucking leave.
But I can’t say those words. I won’t. This is her choice. Instead,I lean down, kissing her tenderly. She opens for me as I deepen the kiss, and when I pull back, we’re both breathing hard. I catch her wrist, pressing my lips to the center of her palm.
“Let’s go.”
I meet Lanie with a packed picnic of leftovers and a few other things after she grabs her kit.
“Are you feeding an army?” she asks when I catch her at the homestead’s front doors.
“Just planning ahead. Did you pack warm things?” The night looks like it will be a frigid event where the cusp of late-summer eve meets fall’s crisp kiss.
Lanie wiggles her wolf blanket in my direction, ears and all. “Actually, I’ve already put some things in the back of your truck. Tripp helped, and Billy.”
Some thingsappear to include half of everything she owns, plus the three drones secured at the back of the truck bed. I add my bundle to it, grinning at the role reversal. I wave to the boys. West ignores me; his usual grumpy self has returned. Billy waves as he chats with Levi. Normally I’d have words with the pair about socializing in their own time, but something loosens in my chest at the sight of their obvious friendship, allowing a deeper breath to suck into my lungs.
I focus on Lanie instead, my heart warming at the sight of her doing a last count on her things and settling in the passenger seat. I’ve half a mind to get her to drive this stint, but she doesn’t know the land…yet.
I’m determined to find her the right sort of wolves so that maybe—just maybe—she’ll want to stay.
Hey, a man has to have a hobby.
I close the tailgate and jog around to the driver’s side. “All right. I wanted to head up along the ridge, past the falls we were at yesterday.” The truck’s roar and Lanie’s added warmth in the cab are a comfort I let soak beneath my jacket as we peel out of theyard. “From there, we can search a much larger section without returning the drones as often.”
Lanie peers at me suspiciously. “Wait. Weren’t you supposed to sort the rodeo site first?”
“West is happy to organize it for me. This year has been different. He’ll handle it.” I find her hand and wrap it in mine. “You’re more important.”
“If you’re sure,” she whispers, as though no one has made her the center of their world before.
Hell, maybe they never have.
