Savage (Wolf Ranch 4)

One I’d been paying for… for years.

They were all watching me again, so I offered them a fake smile then owned up. “I’m sure the baby will appreciate that, but I’m not jumping into a relationship just because a condom didn’t work. You know what I mean?”

Marina’s eyes widened slightly, like she was taken aback.

“I don’t want to just be Clint’s responsibility. I want to be… more.”

Audrey jumped to my rescue. “Of course, you do. I know you’re still in the middle of a tricky divorce.” She covered my hand with hers. “I’m sure this seems like terrible timing.”

My bank account had been wiped out, and I wasn’t exactly sure how I was going to pay the rent this month. Sure, I’d have the money with my next paycheck, which I’d have to get cashed then give the landlord money in an envelope to ensure Todd didn’t get his mean fingers on it. I frowned at how much of a pain that would be. Yet I had no extra money. I literally had nothing to my name. Wasn’t that fucking depressing?

I nodded at Audrey, a lump in my throat forming.

“I hope you don’t feel like Clint is pressuring you. These ranch guys come on strong—we can all attest to that.”

Marina and Willow nodded.

I released a watery laugh. “He definitely comes on strong. I told you about why I’m divorcing my ex, but not the latest with him. Todd is causing all kinds of trouble right now. Clint caught him looking in my bedroom window, so Clint pretty much made me pack a bag and move in with him. He said it won’t hurt us to get to know each other while he’s protecting me.”

The women all looked concerned. “Todd was looking in your window?” Audrey asked. “That’s creepy. I’m so glad Clint was there to help.”

“Yeah, and that was right after Todd drained my bank account and slashed my tire. God, I just wish he’d meet someone else and get over me. Or drop dead,” I added.

Marina put another cheese puff on my plate, as if feeding me would solve my problems. “Well, I think Clint’s right. I’m glad you have him to protect you,” she said.

“Me, too,” Audrey concurred.

Willow also nodded gravely. “Do you have a gun? I could teach you to shoot.”

I remembered Audrey telling me she was former D.E.A. and smiled. She’d pretended to be the new next-door neighbor to investigate a drug runner who’d bought the adjacent property. I didn’t know where the neighbor was now. Willow had only said she still hadn’t moved to the ranch.

“No, I’m not a fan of guns. But thanks.” I gobbled down the cheese puff and half the glass of water. Even after eating two helpings of lasagna, I was hungry. Marina’s snacks were so good, even without any little hot dogs. “Anyway, the bottom line is that my life’s a freaking mess. Clint and I are going to stay in the getting-to-know-you phase until it’s not. End of story.”

Willow nodded, watching me thoughtfully. “Right. That makes sense. Hopefully Clint can dial it back.” Her gaze tracked to my neck.

I found myself reaching up to cover the place he’d bitten me even though I didn’t think it showed under my shirt. Now all three of them stared at the spot. I quickly put my hand down and grabbed a stuffed mushroom from the loaded plate.

“Let me ask you this.” Marina leaded forward on her forearms. “If circumstances were different—if the divorce was in the past and there was no pregnancy—would you be interested in Clint?”

I thought of every interaction I’d had with the hot horse wrangler—which granted, hadn’t been that many—and how they’d all left me aglow. He’d been attentive, hot, sexy, dominant. His kindness showed through in the way he handled me. The way he handled that sweet foal. Unlike Todd, he seemed humble—he didn’t boast or show off. Like how he didn’t get upset about having his nose broken at the bar. It hadn’t been about him proving anything, it had been about me. Protecting me.

Then there were the times he wasn’t overly gentlemanly. When he laid me over a hay bale, parted my thighs and ate me out until I screamed his name. Or fucked me rough and wild up against a storage room wall, completely lost to the pleasure he got from me and my body.

My pussy clenched at the idea of more of both the hot cowboy and dirty talker. “Definitely,” I answered. “I would definitely want to explore things with Clint.”

“Well, let’s explore, sugar,” Clint said from the doorway, and I blushed to my roots.

I narrowed my eyes and pointed at Marina. “You knew he was there.”

She looked sheepish but not sorry.

I turned, balled up a napkin and tossed it at him. “You weren’t supposed to be listening!”