Wrangled

“It isn’t so easy,” I point out, trying not to sound too harsh or discouraging. “My life in LA is so busy usually. I mean, I was lucky this week to be able to take some time off, but … if this show goes well in a few weeks, I could be looking at some incredible working opportunities this fall, which will inevitably lead to other things. I have no idea when I’ll be able to get away from that and visit here again. It could be months from now. It could be … next year.”

“Hmm.” I feel him shrug against me. “Sounds like I’ll have to get my butt out to LA, then.”

“You can’t take that much time away from your ranch. You have to tend things here. This is your livelihood, Chad.”

“Didn’t you just meet all my hands on Monday? And Old Man Mitch, who could pretty much run this place blindfolded? Shoot, they’re all more than capable of tending to things on their own. They got my number in case something happens. I can get away now and then, I ain’t locked here. Hey, listen.” He interweaves our fingers together, then pulls my hand up his chest and lays it over his heart. “I don’t care how we do it. I don’t care if we aren’t able to see each other for however long. You got this boy’s heart, Lance. And once you’ve got it, boy, phew, it don’t give up that easily. Don’t you know how hard I fought as a wrestler? And now how hard I commit to bein’ a rancher? I don’t give up.”

I feel his heart beating through my hand. “You don’t give up,” I agree, staring at our interwoven fingers.

“And I know we’re still kinda … new. You know I’ve not had anything serious with another guy. We only just reconnected. I’m not gonna be naïve about this, either,” he adds, his tone changing. “You could go back to LA and realize this whole thing wasn’t at all worth it and your heart feels different. Maybe you’ve got a better match out there for yourself.”

I snort, somehow finding that funny.

He picks up on that. “Yeah, I don’t know what he looks like. Probably some Botox-injected off-season actor with a spray tan. Or one of your runway models, a Swedish Adonis with hair down to his shoulders like you used to have.”

“Lord help us,” I sing out.

“So, I mean, I don’t think you can do better than me,” he then finishes, coming in with his cocky Chad flair, “because it sounds like the guys in LA don’t hold a candle to a man from Spruce. But that’s just my personal opinion …”

“None of them could work a lasso like you do,” I agree.

He laughs at that. His fingers squeeze mine tighter. A moment passes before, after another soft kiss on the top of my head, he says, “It’s just a fact you’ve gotta face. I’m all yours, and no matter where you are, no matter what you do, I’m not gonna let you get away from me so easily. I might’ve thrown the lasso, but you’re the one who’s wrangled me in, Lance.”

I finally lift my head off his chest to get a look in his eyes.

A faint, lopsided smile plays on his soft lips while he searches my face with his brilliant blue gaze. I get lost in those eyes, feeling my heart surging so deeply, it could burst straight out of my chest.

I’ve never been more certain about something.

And also more terrified.

I don’t know what will happen come Friday and I head back to my life in LA. I don’t know whether this lightning-bolt romance that’s ignited between us will fade with the distance, change into something else, or grow even stronger somehow.

The future is a beautiful and scary mixed bag of I-don’t-know.

Somehow, that’s easier to bear while watching Chad getting lost like a puppy in my eyes—like the way he is now. It’s easier to bear knowing how devoted this man is to me, even after all this time, even after all we’ve been through.

Maybe it’s possible.

We just won’t know until we try.

I push through the fear and kiss him right then.

His body melts against mine, and at once, I’m in the muscular trap of his arms once again as he takes hold of me and presses me into the soft couch. Our lips never let go as the kiss deepens, and our breath is lost to the next hour or two, where we make every minute we’ve still got count.

Chad has wrangled my heart, too.

I have no chance of escape.

19

See Ya Later, Sexy

Friday morning is a dream.

I don’t even want to get out of bed.

Somehow in the night, I ended up in Chad’s arms as he spoons me. He’s got me held against him so tightly, you’d think I was his childhood blankie. I feel every part of his body against the back of mine—his chest, his hips, his dick, his thighs … even his face, softly nuzzled in the nape of my neck. His arms are around me, trapping me in the front and holding me with no chance of escape.