“Is it true?” Her voice trembles. “Did you marry me because you thought it’d help you get a share of the ranch?”
“No, sweetness. The thought never crossed my mind until Kaden threw out the accusation.”
“Then why? Be honest with me. You weren’t that drunk. You said it yourself. You knew what you were doing.”
“I…” I toss the envelope onto the bed and scrub my hands over my face. “I don’t know, babe. I just did.”
“I call BS.”
She takes a tentative step forward and I want her to keep walking until she’s close enough that I can pull her to me and pretend this shit isn’t happening.
“Just tell me, Dean. I’m a big girl.”
I huff out a humorless laugh and then lock my gaze on hers, hoping she can see more than I have the say. “Would you believe that I fell in love with you that night?”
Her dark eyes widen as she gasps so softly I almost miss it. “Did you?”
I nod. “Turns out I have a thing for pretty brunettes who won’t take no for an answer.”
Wetting her lips, she waits.
“I’ve been a rule follower all my life, but you made me want to be reckless for a little while. And fuck if it didn’t feel good.” I try on a smile but it feels jagged and out of place. “I wish I had the right words to make you believe—”
“Do you really love me?”
A stabbing ache pierces my chest and I croak, “So fucking much it scares me.”
“Because you’re worried I’m going to leave.” It’s not a question but a statement.
And I can’t deny it.
“It isn’t even about my parents anymore. Terry or Hank either.” I shake my head as that ache in my chest constricts my lungs and makes it hard to breathe. “I’d lose them all over again—and this ranch, too—if it meant I got to keep you.”
“Baby…” She’s at my side in a second, wrapping me up in her love just like she’s done every time we’ve been together. Evenbeforewe were together, when I’d foolishly thought I could refuse her. Becauseshe knew. She knew that we were meant for more and she did her damnedest to prove that to me every chance she got.
“I want to stay married,” I rasp. “I don’t care what it takes or where we live or any of that shit. I just don’t to do this without you anymore.”
She smooths a thumb across my cheekbone and nods. “Me, too. Because I fell in love with you that night, too.”
Everything inside me crumbles in relief. “You have no idea how glad I am to hear that.”
“I never believed him.” She shakes her head. “And I’m angry—sofreakingangry—that he would have the nerve to accuse you something so ridiculous.”
“There’s a good chance Holden believes him, too. He’ll be here in the morning and you can bet he’ll have plenty to say about it.”
She shrugs. “Then let him. Let them both say whatever it is they need to say to feel better about how they’ve treated both of us.”
“We did sneak around, babe. They have a right to be upset.”
“Upset, yes. Belligerent, no. Because that’s what I saw tonight. I saw my brother throwing a fit because he didn’t get his way.”
Maybe. And as much as I hate that he might actually believe the shit he spewed, I can’t say I wouldn’t wonder the same if I had a sister and we were in this situation.
It looks bad.
We got married on a whim and we’ve went behind everyone’s back ever since.
Worse? I was the one who’d been reluctant to come clean, and that makes me look guilty as hell.
