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He laughed, deep and warm, and kissed me again, slower this time, like he had every intention of making good on that promise of two whole days with nothing and nobody to answer to. I let myself sink into it, let the job offer drift some place distant in the back of my mind, at least for tonight.

There’d be time enough tomorrow to figure out what I was so afraid of.

“Hey West?”

“Yeah?”

I looked up at him, an embarrassed grin on my face. “Can we watch The Princess Bride tonight? I haven’t seen it in a long time.” I couldn’t help but laugh. “The last time I watched it was with you. I thought maybe we could make a night out of it with popcorn and beer and whatever else you want.”

He just smiled, those silver eyes sparkling. “As you wish, Buttercup.”

Chapter 24

Rhett

When West said he wanted to go out to the creek for the weekend, I thought he meant going in the morning. Apparently he wanted to go right away. In fact, he’d already gathered up most of the supplies, like he’d been planning it all week or something. He ran down to the diner to let Dolly know since she would inevitably send us with plenty to eat. I only had a few minutes to gather up a couple of things before he was back and urging me along.

By the time we got the truck loaded, the sun had already started its long slide toward the horizon, throwing that deep gold light across the fields that made everything look like it was lit up from the inside. West drove with one hand on the wheel and the other resting high up on my thigh, humming along to whatever was playing low on the radio. I just watched him, thinking about how easy all this had become. How easy it was to allow myself to be in love with him at last.

The creek was just a few minutes outside town, down a dirt road that cut through the backside of the Gilderoy ranch before it dropped into a little stand of cottonwoods along the water. We’d come here plenty of times for a night away from it all when we needed it. Usually there was fishing or just hanging out by the fire. But it felt different now. It was different now. Things between us had changed a lot even since the last time we’d gone a few weeks before.

West pulled the truck up under the trees and killed the engine. The quiet settled in afterward was thick and sweet, nothing but water moving over rock and the cicadas starting up their evening song.

“Help me get the tent,” he said, already hopping out and heading around to the bed of the truck.

We worked together setting up camp, falling into an easy rhythm that didn’t need much talking. By the time the tent was staked down and the cooler was tucked in the shade, the sky had gone that soft purple-orange color, streaked through with clouds that caught the last of the light.

West straightened up, wiping his hands on his jeans, and looked at me with that grin that always meant trouble. “Bet the water feels good right about now.”

“Bet it does,” I said, already knowing exactly where this was headed.

He didn’t wait for me to agree outright. He just reached down and pulled his shirt up over his head in one smooth motion, tossing it toward the tent, and started working at his belt like there wasn’t another soul for miles who might see. Which there wasn’t, I supposed. Nobody ever came out here. It was just us and the cottonwoods and the creek rushing along below the bank. We were all alone and free to do whatever we liked.

“You comin’?” he asked, already down to absolutely nothing, his skin gold in the dying light. Fuck, he was a sight. I’d seen him naked plenty of times by now, but something about seeing him like that, out in the open with the whole sky stretched out behind him, hit me different.

I didn’t need telling twice. I shucked my own clothes quickly, leaving them in a heap next to his, and followed him down the bank to where the water pooled deep and slow under the roots of an old oak that leaned out over the creek.

The water was cold against my skin, a shock after the heat of the day. I couldn’t help gasping a little as I waded in after him. West laughed, splashing water my direction, and I splashed him right back, and for a few minutes we were just a couple of boys horsing around in the creek same as we had been at twelve years old. Except now there wasn’t anything innocent about the way his eyes kept finding mine, or the way his hands lingered a little too long whenever they brushed against me.

“Come here,” he said finally, voice low.

I didn’t hesitate.

We ended up tangled together in the shallows, his mouth finding mine, water dripping off both of us as we kissed slow and unhurried. There was no rush to it at all, like we had all the time in the world. His hands slid down my back, over the curve of my hip, pulling me flush against him until I could feel him getting hard against my thigh.

“West,” I breathed against his mouth. “We’re gonna freeze to death if we stay in here much longer.”

“Then let’s get out,” he said, already pulling me toward the bank.

We stumbled out of the creek laughing, dripping wet, and collapsed together onto the soft grass near the water’s edge, limbs tangled. His weight settled over me warm and heavy despite the chill still clinging to our skin. The sky overhead had gone a deep, bruised purple now, the first stars starting to prick through at the edges.

“I want you to fuck me,” I whispered, reaching up to drag my fingers through his wet hair. “Right here. Right now.”

He kissed me again, slower this time, and when he pulled back his eyes had gone soft and dark. “I was hopin’ you’d say that.”

“Yeah?”

He nodded. “Always, Buttercup.”