A soft smile blossomed on his lips, like the first rays of a sunrise. There was so much love and hope and happiness shining in his gaze it made my heart hurt.
“Why?” I asked softly. “Why are you willin’ to do all this for me?”
His hand slid down to cup the side of my neck while he wrapped an arm around me and pulled me against his strong, hard body. “Because…I…well, I love you.”
The breath left me, my knees going weak. Thank God he held me because I didn’t have the strength in me to stand upright. He loved me? How? Why?
“How could you possibly love me? You don’t even know me.”
He ran his thumb over my bottom lip, his voice low and husky as he spoke. His eyes held a warmth and depth to them I’d never seen before. “I know plenty about you, Chey… I know you like chocolate chips on your pancakes, and licking cake batter out of the bowl. Your favorite song is “Me Against the Mountain” by Ian Munsick, and you love the color blue. But not light blue or navy, royal blue. You just might be able to outdrink Cash—” His lips pulled up a bit more. “And don’t tell him this, but you rope better than him too. Also, contrary to what he might think, you’re prettier.”
I couldn’t help the smile tugging on my lips even as tears slipped down my cheeks.
He wiped them away with his thumb as he continued on. “I know you like to sleep on your left side every night, and you scrunch your nose up when you’re being flirty.You like bein’ around people, but you also have your limits. You’re the friendliest person I’ve ever met, but you are also stubborn as hell when you wanna be. Charlie and Ryder adore you, you and Cash may as well be twins, Bad likes you, and Aunt Violet approves…”
My heart could burst in that moment. He’d figured out all of this in just one week. All this time I’d thought his silence meant he’d been withdrawn into himself, and yet he’d been silently observing and learning about me.
“Time means nothin’ to me, Cheyenne. Life’s too short to wait for the perfect moment. Now, I ain’t expectin’ you to love me too. But I think you could, given time.”
I shook my head, soft laughter falling from my lips as I smiled up at him. “You really are perfect, cowboy.”
“Nah.” He shook his head. “But I promise to be good to you.” He moved back a half step, glancing down at my stomach, one of his hands hovering just above it. He looked to me, his gaze holding a silent question.
My head dipped in the smallest nod, my breath hitching in my chest, heart pounding so loudly, so wildly I didn’t know how he didn’t hear it. And as he placed his warm hand against my stomach, something in me just…shifted.
It’s like the world had been off its axis, and in that moment, everything had been righted.
His deep voice reverberated through my bones, my veins, my very soul. “I promise to take care of you. To love you and this baby with all that I have…if that’s what you want.”
A pathetic sob escaped me as I placed a hand over his on my stomach, and as he pulled me in and kissed the breath from my lungs, that feeling of hope returned.
It blossomed in my stomach, in my heart, like wildflowers in the spring.
Chapter thirty-six
Blue
Maverick
Six weeks.
Six weeks had come and gone. Cheyenne was officially out of her first trimester and well into the second. Though the only other person besides me who knew was Charlie still. As far as I could tell, Ryder didn’t have a clue, for which I was ever grateful to Charlie.
She and Ryder had just made an official announcement the week before—a little baby boy due mid-February—and even though Cheyenne wouldn’t admit it, I think a part of her longed for the ability to do that too.
She didn’t want Nate finding out. I’d tried to tell her that there wasn’t anything he could do. That being he was a part of the horse world as well, we’d likely run into him at some point, so why did it matter if he found out now or later.
But she was adamant on not doing an announcement. At least not right now.
But let me tell you, it was hard as hell keeping this a secret from Cash, Ryder, and Bad and Aunt Violet. I had no right to feel the level of happiness and excitement I did, but I wanted to share thatwith them anyway. And each day I had to keep it a secret from them grew harder and harder. Not to mention, it was getting more difficult for her to conceal with each passing week.
I think a part of her was scared. Scared to know how everyone would take it. Cash and Ryder would be thrilled. I honestly think Bad would be fine with it as well. The only wild card was Aunt Violet. I honestly didn’t know how she’d react.
“Breakfast’s ready,” I called over the music playing through the house’s speakers as I made her a plate of bacon and pancakes with chocolate chips on them. She wanted them damn near every morning, and Lord help me if I didn’t have the stuff to make them. I’d known pregnancy hormones were a thing, but they could switch on and off at the most random things.
I’d learned real quick to keep an extra bag of chocolate chips in the pantry.
Cheyenne didn’t answer. Though with the music on, I wasn’t surprised. I placed her plate on the island and walked to our bedroom, halting in the doorway.
