Okay, two more.Maybe three?
Yes.Four.
Then he was smiling that sexy smile he had, the one that made his eyes dance, and walking away once he saw her open the door to the apartment and step inside.She waved and shut the door, turning to lean against it with a deep, happy sigh.
A short-lived sigh, as it turned out.
“Where the hell have you been?”Cruz demanded.
She opened her eyes with a startled gasp, finding her brother standing in front of her, arms crossed and fury flashing in his eyes.
“Hi to you too.”
She walked past him to the kitchen and set her purse on the counter, then put the travel mug Cruz had given her—with the Little River Farm logo on it, of a galloping horse silhouette in a field of wheat—under the coffee maker and brewed another cup.
“Well?”Cruz demanded.“I woke up at two a.m.and realized you weren’t home, so I texted.When you didn’t answer, I called.It’s almost five a.m., Darcy.”
She took her time plugging her phone into the wall charger on the counter, then turned to face her brother.
“First of all, I’m a full-blown adult and you’re not my caretaker.And second, my phone died after I fell asleep.I was perfectly safe with Ford.”
More than safe.Deliriously happy.Stunningly content.
All the good adjectives to describe how being with him made her feel warm from her head to her toes.
Cruz gave her a judgmental, disgruntled look.“You need to be smart, Darcy.Why would you go home with a guy you hardly know?That’s moving way too fast.”
A lot of retorts flowed through her mind, but instead of arguing with him, she said, “Because I think he’s my forever guy.I feel good with him.Safe and cared for.I’m sorry that you think it’stoo fast, but for me it’s just right.It doesn’t matter if you approve or not, becauseIapprove.I like him, Cruz.Hell, I’m falling for him.Hard.”
“It’s ridiculous,” he said, slashing the air with his hand.“You’re going to end up getting hurt.”
“Just because things crashed and burned with you and Vanessa doesn’t mean that the same thing will happen with me and Ford.Stop letting your past color my future, and honestly, Cruz, with all the love in my heart—just freaking butt out.”
She fixed her coffee and hurried to the bathroom, leaving her brother seething in the kitchen.She knew his admonition came from a place of love, but she was not in the mood.The only person’s opinion she cared about in her relationship with Ford was Ford’s.
Tuesday afternoon, Ford carried a cooler into the Pioneer Supply Co., where he found Darcy waiting for him by one of the registers.Her face lit up when she saw him, and his chest tightened in response.He knew he’d been missing her, but he hadn’t realized it felt like a limb was cut off until she greeted him warmly and gave him a quick hug.
She led him back to the breakroom, a plain space with a fridge, sink, microwave, and two round tables with chairs.
He set the cooler on the table and unloaded the contents: chicken salad on croissants, barbecue potato chips, and two chocolate pudding parfaits.After setting bottled iced teas next to the sectioned lunch boxes Tris and Zara had helped him put together that morning, he put the cooler on the floor and sat across from her.
“Holy moly, this looks awesome,” she said.She beamed at him and he felt like a king.
“I can’t take all the credit.Our farm caretaker, Tris, and my friend Crew’s girlfriend, Zara, helped me put it all together.I did make the pudding parfaits, though.”
When she smiled at him again, he saw something flicker in her gaze that looked a bit like stress or sadness.
“Are you okay, sweetheart?”he asked.He picked up the sandwich and took a bite, his stallion nickering in worry.
She finished her bite of sandwich and put it down.“Cruz was waiting for me when I got home this morning.Loaded for bear, as my mom would have said.He’d woken up overnight and realized I wasn’t home, and when I didn’t answer my phone because it was dead, he stayed up waiting and worrying.But he wasn’t happy to see me, he was angry.”
“Because you made him worry?”
She hummed, picking up a chip and popping it into her mouth.“Partly, but he thinks I’m making bad decisions with you.”
Ford snarled internally.
“He thinks I’m moving too fast with you.”She didn’t look at him for a few moments, and it made his heart clench in worry.
