There’s no good answer for that.And if I want to keep her here, I probably shouldn’t tell her what I’m thinking.
Yeah, Lil Bit, you can hide in my house forever.Preferably barefoot and naked, maybe even pregnant.
Christ, she’ll think I’m a lunatic.
So, I keep my mouth shut, clenching my jaw so hard I think I might have broken a cap I got after fighting back in high school.
She sighs, the fight bleeding out of her a little.
“I get it.I should’ve texted you, let you know where I was heading, but honestly, I didn’t want to bother you while you were working.”
“Bother me.”I step closer, voice low, and rough.“Anytime.Day or night.I have to know where you are.”
I hate how needy it sounds, how it betrays every calm façade I try to keep around her.
But facts are facts.Andnewsflash, I am obsessed with this woman.
Her expression softens.“Are you—you are,” she whispers, eyes wide with sudden understanding, “you’re scared for me.”
I exhale through my nose, jaw tight, eyes focused.
“And I appreciate it, Sawyer,” she continues gently, “but I can’t live in a bubble.I won’t.”
“Damn it, I know, but I—” I mutter, rubbing the back of my neck.“I thought maybe, maybe you just left.”
Her head snaps up.
“You thought I left you?Why would I do that?”
The disbelief on her face guts me.The understanding she displays next?Guts me even more.
She steps forward, hands catching mine.
I clasp them and press them against my chest, right over the thunder in my ribs.“Couldn’t handle it if you left without a word,” I murmur.
“Look,” she says, her voice small but sure, “this is really new, and we’re still learning about each other, still figuring out the rules.But you should know, Sawyer, I don’t want to leave you.The way I feel about you?It’s, well, it’sbig.”
God help me, my pulse races even faster.
“I feel big about you too, Lil Bit.”
Her smile wobbles, and I see relief flicker through her eyes.
“Yeah?Good.Because I finally feel like I belong somewhere, and I’m not letting fear take that away.”
“Okay.”My throat works around the word.“I understand.And I didn’t mean to make you feel trapped.I just want you safe.Here.With me.”
Her hands slide around my waist.I grip her hips automatically, grounding myself in the heat of her.
“You can’t protect me from everything, Sawyer,” she says softly.“But you can trust me to be careful.And to come home.”
Home.
She called the ranch home.
All the air leaves my lungs because for the first time in my life I feel like I am home.And it’s all because of her.
This slip of a woman who stormed into my life just days ago.
