Guarding Hope

“Anything to make you happy, darling,” he added, tossing her a wink while smirking as if he was only goofing around, but Gage felt in his heart that he meant those words.

She followed him into the kitchen, watching the way his ass moved in his perfectly fitted Wranglers. “Um, so you’re a rancher?” she questioned, hoping to make some sort of small talk to avoid the real topic at hand.

“I will be. I used to be a prosecutor, but I turned in my briefcase for this.” He spanned his arms out wide, gesturing to the house and land. The house was magnificent and had recently been made over. “I had a lot of this place remodeled before I threw in the towel completely. Now, I’m working on getting my cattle and a bunch of hired hands.”

The house was extremely quiet for anyone else to be inside. And from what little she saw, there wasn’t another soul around. “How long ago was that? I don’t see anyone else around.”

“It’s only been six months since I gave it up. And there ain’t no one else around but a few of the crew members. My momma lives down the road on a part of the property, but that’s about it. No wife or kids.” He opened the fridge, then lifted his head above the opened door and asked, “Do you want a soda, tea, or water?”

“Some tea if it’s cold and sweet.”

“Is there any other way?”

“There is. And it’s not pleasant.” She rolled her eyes, remembering the tea party she had to host for her father’s friends. The ladies took their tea hot with a side of lemon like they had a cold or something. After taking one sip, Hope knew that it was either iced sweet tea or no tea at all.

“That look has an interesting story behind it,” he remarked, placing a large glass pitcher with the light brown colored sweet liquid onto the kitchen island. Then he turned around to pull out two large glasses, giving Hope another view of his backside.

She’d honestly never been this interested in a man before. A thought hit her, and she knew it was wrong, so she pushed it back away. If she lost her virginity to him, then she wouldn’t be worth the sale. A part of her knew that it had nothing to do with her predicament, but rather with the fact that her body lit up in Gage’s presence.

“Um…sorry. Not really. I tasted hot tea with just lemon, and I’m sure it was just a cup of dirty water.”

He chuckled heartily, making Hope blush, which he noticed as he poured the drinks. His distraction was obvious as the tea spilled over onto the surface. “Ah, shit.”

“Wasting all that precious nectar.”

Gage immediately thought about another precious nectar he wanted to make a mess of. He’d been fortunate that the kitchen island was between them. He didn’t want to scare the already hesitant young woman.

“I know. It’s a sin. However shall I make it right?” he sighed, pressing a hand to his heart.

Hope rolled her eyes at his antics, wondering how in the world someone could be that perfect. Then another awful thought crept into her mind. She needed to leave this place. She couldn’t risk putting him in danger. They would go looking for her. Someone somewhere would recognize her.

“Maybe you can drive me out of town?” she offered, scrunching down one side of her face.

“Where were you planning to go?” he asked as he cleaned up the mess with a dark green kitchen towel.

“I don’t know. Somewhere far away.”

“I say you were because you’re not going anywhere. Your pretty little ass is staying put. I can see that look in your eyes. I’ve seen it on many of the defendants. You’re itching to bolt, but I’m going to tell you the world out there isn’t kind, and by the manhunt out there for you, I doubt you’ll be safe on your own. Fuck, even if there wasn’t a host of pieces of shit roaming the state for your ass, there are tons of perverts that love to attack a defenseless little girl.”

“I’m not a little girl.” She slapped her hands on her waist, huffing at him, which made her perky tits bounce and jut forward, destroying his integrity one movement at a time.

Leaning forward with his forearms on the island, he grunted out, “Honey, I am well aware of it—more than you probably understand.”

Reading his intent, she gasped. “Huh, so that’s it. I’m with a pervert, and well, you want first dibs.”

He reached out and tapped her chin with one finger. “Get your mind right. I’m here to protect you. I can’t say that I don’t want to spread you out on this counter and taste every inch of you, but I’m not going to make a move until you want it.”