Page 2 of Broken Halo
“Then you’re definitely not staying.”
It doesn’t matter how hard my voice turns, nothing fazes Ellie. She’s got the strongest will of anyone I’ve ever known, all encased in her small, perfect body.
“You can’t tell me what to do, Trig Barrett.” She presses her tits into my chest, calling the attention of my dick. But when it comes to her, she wakes every inch of me, even nudging at the parts I didn’t know existed. “I’m going to tell them about us, too.”
I exhale. “I don’t care about me. I’m sure I’ll have to find another job and I’ve told you before, I can do that. But if you think Kipp and Hattie Montgomery are gonna let the baby of their family be with a ranch hand, you’re crazy.”
She kisses my jaw and whispers, “My dad loves you. You’re his favorite.”
I roll her onto the blanket and rip off my condom before I cover her body with mine. “Him favoring me on his ranch is different than giving me the nod to be with his daughter. But none of that matters, angel. You aren’t giving up your chance at Juilliard to be with a guy who can barely afford to go to JuCo part time. You’re going to New York.”
She pulls her knees up and wraps her legs around me. “We’re wasting precious moments arguing about this when we don’t have any real time together as it is.”
Her features are lit up by the moon now—her eyes determined, full of lust … and something else I don’t want to think about. Something I’ve never seen in anyone when they glance my way. If I let that sink in, I’m fucked.
Not that I’m not already fucked by getting involved with my boss’s daughter.
I put it all out of my mind and lean down to run my tongue across her collarbone. It doesn’t matter that we grew up close to each other, we didn’t run in the same circles and she went to private school. We couldn’t be more different. “I remember the first time I laid eyes on you. I knew you were trouble.”
Her expression melts into a small smile. “I did everything I could to get your attention for months. You never gave me a second look.”
I gaze into her deep blues. “You’re too young for me now—you were really too young for me a year ago.”
She presses her body into mine, a body that’s never been touched before I took it for my own.
“You couldn’t resist me.” She sounds proud of herself. And she’s right, I couldn’t.
I don’t say so because I need to do everything I can to put her off—there’s no way she’s ruining her life by staying here. I won’t allow it. “Don’t do anything, not yet. Let’s come up with a plan together.”
“I love you, Easton Barrett.”
My eyes flare and my gut twists like it does every time she says that.
She sighs and runs her hand down my chest, killing me slowly. “Nothing you can do or say is going to change my mind. Whether I tell my parents tomorrow or in a couple months, I’m not leaving you. And I know you love me, too. It’s okay, you don’t have to say it back.”
Fuck me, she’s right about that, too.
I look into her eyes and realize I’m in deep because I can’t say no to her. “You can stay for an hour, but that’s it.”
She smiles like she won the damn lottery.
She’s crazier than I thought because I’m the farthest thing from a jackpot.
* * *
Nine years and eight months ago
“Get the fuck off my property.”
I look at the man who’s treated me more like a son than anyone ever has. The man who gave me a job when I needed one, slid extra money into my paychecks when he knew I had to pay tuition at the shit junior college where I’ve been slowly chipping away at night classes, and now, the man who has two reasons to hate me.
“I’m not leaving ‘til I talk to her, Kipp.”
“I can’t even look at you,” he seethes.
“I don’t know what’s going on, but I know she wouldn’t do this to me—”
“She’s gone.”
