Page 51 of The Rancher’s One and Only

“Yeah. I would’ve been shamed.”

“How ever could you have shown your face at the roundtable?”

“I don’t know.”

She wanted to cling to him. She wanted to burrow against his chest and under the covers, and try to find that same connection they’d had only a moment ago. But then, he’d been inside of her, and it was likely unreasonable to expect to feel a similar kind of closeness lingering. But she wished that she did. Wished that she could.

“You can go if you have to. I mean… I’m sure that you have plans. This was supposed to be a self-defense exercise, not sex lessons. And I realize that I’ve already taken more of your time than—”

“Stop,” he said. “Stop acting like you’re an imposition.”

His words hit her hard in the chest. Was she acting like she was an imposition?

She was suddenly inundated by memories. All the times when adults had been bothered by her questions. When her parents had found what she wanted to talk about desperately boring. When her sisters had found her to be unrelatable. She always assumed she was an imposition, because she was always treated like one. Her interests, her likes and dislikes, her way of communicating, were always treated like it was a big burden for the person on the receiving end of it, and how was she supposed to not just feel like that was true with everyone?

But he didn’t seem to think so.

“Historically speaking,” she said softly, “I am an imposition.”

“Then you’ve just been talking to the wrong people.”

Then he did something truly surprising. He sat down on the bed, before sliding into it. He pulled back the covers, and she crawled beneath them, feeling relieved. “Do you want anything?”

“Like what?”

“Food? Water? Your computer?”

Come to think of it, she wanted all three of those things.

“I… That would be nice.”

“I’ll get them for you. Is your laptop in the living room?”

She nodded. He disappeared again, still naked, and delivered her laptop, which she took happily. Then he was gone again, and she heard bustling in the kitchen. Was he honestly getting her—

Before she could finish the thought he returned with a tray that had cheese, crackers and meat. Also, a glass of lemonade.

She felt like she must be shining like a whole beacon. Glowing from the inside with pleasure over being treated like this.

Because whoever had?

He sat down on the bed, leaned back against the headboard, his feet stretched out in front of him. She took a sip of her lemonade and opened her laptop.

“Have you seen…? There’s a video of two paleontologists having a fight in Cairo. It’s really funny.”

“I haven’t seen that.”

She showed him. And then she showed him three other videos that she found funny, and he watched each one of them without acting bored or looking away.

It made her want to cry, and that felt a little bit too intense, so she closed her laptop and grabbed some crackers. “What TV shows do you like?”

“I like sitcoms. I like Friends.”

“That’s my favorite show,” she said. “I have seen it so many times. I rewatch it all the time. Actually, I’ve been rewatching it while I’m here. I really like the arc of Chandler and Monica’s relationship, so I rewatch those seasons a lot. And when Rachel gets pregnant.”

He smiled. “Yeah. I seem to recall that I enjoyed that.”

“Oh. Do you not rewatch it?”