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Fourteen years. I hadn’t seen her in fourteen years, and today was the day she’d come back to Prescott. For Wes. She’d stayed away from her family, from me, for fourteen years, but she’d come back for Wes? That stung.
Then on top of it all, she’d acted like an ice queen. It made the fact that she was still the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen even harder to stomach. I just couldn’t believe the harsh and rude woman at Wes’s funeral had been my Felicity.
I scoffed. “Did you apologize to your mom and brother for not visiting for fourteen fucking years?”
damn we are starting off early with the hostility
But I didn’t tell her any of that. Instead, I crushed my mouth to hers and hugged her tight so she couldn’t push me away. Not that she tried. Her arms wrapped around my waist and she fisted my shirt in her hands.
and, well, Silas Grant was hard to resist. That chiseled jaw. Those brown eyes the color of warm maple syrup. A body perfectly sculpted from honest work. What had started as an awkward hug had soon turned electric and neither one of us had been able to stop after that first kiss.
Silas could ignite my fiery spirit like no one else. In bed, it was amazing. Elsewhere, things could get dicey. We were either perfectly in sync or at each other’s throats.
“If you wanted to start over, maybe you shouldn’t have had sex with him. Brilliant move as ever, Felicity. Next time, keep your damn clothes on.”
Because this crazy idea that he’d ever love me back was just that. Crazy.
“I’m immune to that glare, Sheriff Cleary. You might be able to intimidate everyone else in this county, but not me. Put the scowl away.”
Then I was free, driving through the wide-open spaces like a girl in a Dixie Chicks song.
Breathtaking. He was breathtaking.
Friends. The word kept ringing in my ears. She wanted to be friends. How the fuck was I going to manage that?
I loved that she felt everything deeply, the good and the bad, even though she worked hard to hide it from the world. She was a master at pushing people away to avoid getting hurt. It came so naturally to her, most of the time I wondered if she even knew she was doing it.
I’d be her friend and then press for more. Because now that she was back in Montana, I wasn’t letting her go. I’d play it slow and steady. Put in the time. But one day she’d be mine. Just like she was always meant to be.
Hottest friend ever.
“The Lucky Heart?” “Yeah. Tell me what you love about it.”
“Get some sleep, Lis,” he said. I smiled. “Lissy” I didn’t like. “Lis” I did.
I was confused about the boy I was dating, and the man standing outside that boy’s house.
“Jesus,” Jess muttered. “You’re both beautiful. Let’s get the fuck out of here.”
I wanted his arm around my chair. I wanted to be the one cooking his favorites. I wanted to be the one finishing his sentences.
“How long?” His teeth were grinding together. I thought about it for a moment before answering. “Since the beginning.” “And Wes?” “He was never the right one. He just asked her first.”
And I had become an expert at leaving others before they could leave me. Now that one was ironic.
“Silas, who’s your mystery girl?” I whispered. We hadn’t talked about her since that night by the river and he’d never told me her name. His hands stilled. “You really don’t know?”
Of course I knew. It had been me for a long time. “Now what?” I asked. “Whatever you want.”
If she wanted to work on the ranch this spring, I’d let her. We’d do this friend thing until then, because once she set foot on the Lucky Heart, I was making her mine.
“Lis,” he said gently, “you don’t need to stifle yourself to make friends. That spirit you have? It’s what makes you special. Don’t smother that fire because you think others won’t like it. They’ll be drawn to it, just like I am. And if I ever hear you compare yourself to Andrea Merkuso again, I’ll take you over my knee.”
This time around, I wanted her to finally choose me just because I made her happy.
But if Dad drove Felicity away, he’d be seeing my back too. Because no matter where she ran, I’d be racing right after her.
Silas the Cowboy was off-the-charts sexy.
“Oh, uh, I got you something.” Silas rubbed the back of his neck as he walked to the laundry room.
I choked down the lump in my throat. “Muck boots? You got these for me?” I’d been eyeing this exact pair at the sporting-goods store but they weren’t cheap, and since I had been unsure of my employment situation, I had passed them up. I was beyond touched that Silas had thought to get them for me.
Princess, Going to dinner at Felicity’s house. Be back late. If I come back at all. Might just stay there. P
What. The. Fuck. My vision turned red. She was mine and he was a fucking dead man.
Paxon held up his hands in surrender but grinned. The fucker grinned!
“Will do.” He walked toward the door, stopping when he reached my side to clap a hand on my shoulder. “About time you pulled your head outta your ass. I should have left you that note a week ago.”
Now you tell me that I’m the man you want. Now you kiss me again.
But I didn’t tell her any of that. Instead, I told her what I had always told her when she’d asked me that question. “Whatever you want.”
“Please, baby.” “What do you want, Lis?” he whispered. “You. I want you.”
“Nothing.” His eyes softened. “I just want to remember what you look like tonight. You’re so beautiful, Lis. And all mine.”
“I love that you get all shy when I give you a compliment,” he said into my hair. “But don’t hide that smile from me, Lis. I live for it.”
“Anytime. We can go for rides more often so you start to feel more comfortable on a horse. I’ve gotta turn you into a ranch girl.”
He finally broke away and leaned back to gaze into my eyes. “The most beautiful pair of eyes in the world. I’d do just about anything to make them shine like that.”
“Anything?” I asked and he nodded. “ ‘Take me to bed or lose me forever.’ ”
“When are the women of this town going to stop causing so much trouble?” Jess asked as we stood around and waited for Sabrina to come out of the shower.
“You’re breathtaking, Lis.” My breath hitched. Soaking wet with matted hair and no makeup, I had never felt more beautiful.
My feet slid to a halt on the gravel and I spun around. “I’m not running away.” He glared at me and sneered, “Sure feels like it. And I’d know, wouldn’t I?”
“And I was crying, because I’ve been waiting a really, really long time to hear you say you loved me too.”
“Whatever you want.” “I want babies,” she declared. I chuckled at her bluntness. “Then stop taking those pills and I’ll give you babies.”
“You two look murderous.” “Just praying that fucker tries to resist arrest,” Jess said.
“That’s the kind of proposal I want,” I’d told him. “Any man that asks you to marry him via sky banner has to love you more than life.” He’d remembered.
