Page 44 of Trying Not to Need You

I laugh. I can’t help it. “You don’t get it, do you? This is who she is. She’s a small-town girl who took a risk in the big city. That horse there”—I point to Buckwheat—“is hers. Well, hers and her sisters’, but she’s always taken more of an interest in him than the others. Her dad bought him for them.”

I’m pissed the hell off and more turned on than I’ve ever been in my life, so I keep going. I need this asshole gone and out of her life. “There’s a scar on her left knee. She fell out of the tree when she was ten, I think it was. Scraped her knees all to hell.”

“I get it. You grew up together,” he snaps.

“No, you don’t get it. Baylor needs her sisters, yet you never came home with her. You were too busy building your career to appreciate what you had, but let me tell you something, Todd. I’m a smart man. I know that the woman in my arms is precious. She’s everything I could ever want, and she’s first no matter what. Nothing comes before Baylor. That’s called stepping up and being a man. Loving with everything you have inside you and making sure that the woman in your life feels cherished. That’s me, Todd. I do that for her. You fucked up, city boy.”

“Go home, Todd. We’re done. Don’t call. Don’t text. And move on with your life. I’m not moving back to New York, and there is nothing between us anymore. Nothing you can say will change my mind. You made your choice, which took a very important one away from me.” She turns and holds my stare. “I’m finally where I was always meant to be,” she whispers.

The air shifts, as does whatever has been brewing between us. I lift a hand from her waist to tuck her hair behind her ears. “You’re beautiful,” I whisper.

“Fuck this, and fuck you!” Todd seethes.

“That’s your only shot, asshole. Get the fuck out of here, and if I ever hear you talk to her like that again, they’ll never find your body.”

“This? This is who you want?”

“Yes.” Baylor’s voice holds conviction, and my heart hammers so hard, I’m certain everyone in Magnolia Ridge can hear it.

“Whatever.” Todd spits on the ground before turning and stalking out of the stables.

He’s really fucking lucky my girl is in my arms right now, or I’d be going after his ass for the way he treated her and how he talked to her today. But he’s gone, and she’s here, and I meant what I said. Baylor comes first. Always.

Baylor turns to fully face me. Her body is aligned with mine, which means that my hard cock is pressed against her belly. Her eyes are misty with tears.

“I’m sorry,” I say immediately. I don’t know if it’s Todd or something I said, but to see tears in her eyes, it guts me.

“You stood up for me,” she murmurs.

“Of course, I did.”

“He never would have done that. In fact, his lawyer friends would make snide remarks about me being an accountant, as if my career choice wasn’t good enough, and all he ever did was laugh it off.”

I kiss her forehead and try to step back, but she holds on tightly. “Where are you going?”

“I bet that fucker is still here. I can catch him. My fist needs to meet his face.”

“Stay,” she whispers, and a single tear slides across her cheek.

“Bay, baby, the tears, I can’t handle it. Not where you’re concerned.”

She smiles and wipes at her cheeks, but I’ve already caught the tear with my thumb. “I’m not sad, Mac. These tears, they’re more relief than anything. I wasn’t happy with him, and after taking a step back, I hate that I stayed as long as I did.”

I pull her into my chest because I don’t know what to say to that. Nothing I say will make her feel better, because I can’t believe she stayed either. But that’s okay, because she’s here, with me, where she belongs, and that’s all that matters.

She rests her hands on my chest, and eventually on my cowboy hat, which she takes and places on her head.

Fuck, she looks sexy wearing it. “You know what that means, right? You wear a cowboy’s hat, that means you’re his.”

“Is that so?” she questions. “I guess that means this is mine, too?” she asks, dropping a hand between us and gripping my cock through my jeans.

“Fuck.” I hiss out a breath. I was not expecting that.

“That’s not an answer, Mr. McBride.”

“Yes.”

“So, if I were to do this?” She steps back and starts working on my belt buckle.