Cash (Lucky River Ranch, #1)

by Jessica Peterson

You don’t know how fun I can be, sweetheart. You want me to teach you how to use those legs? Let me get between ’em, and I’ll show you exactly how it’s done.

Yeehaw

“You’re anything but easy, Cash.” Honey, you kiss me, and you’ll see just how easy I can be.

Good lord I'd be gone

“Yessir.” His eyes flash. “I like it when you call me sir.” Must. Get. Inside.

sameee

The edges of his eyes crinkle. “What, honey?” “At first, I couldn’t fucking stand you.” I scoff. “And now I can’t fucking stand how much I want you.” His eyes look positively feral. “Ask me.” “Ask what?” “Ask me to give you what you want.” I stare at him. “I can’t⁠—” “But you can.” He steps closer, melting his hips into mine. “Because you gotta know by now, I can’t deny you anything, Mollie. Not a fuckin’ thing.”

OH MY GOD IT'S HAPPENING

I’m definitely going to have beard burn tomorrow, but I don’t care.

Same girl. We've all been there. (Worth it).

“Why don’t you find out?” I slide a hand inside his shirt. His stomach caves, abdominal muscles contracting into hard ridges beneath my palm. Can’t help it. I laugh. “What?” He’s nipping at my earlobe now. “Your body.” I bite his neck, opening my eyes. “It’s laughably hot.” Cash meets my gaze and runs a hand up my thigh. “Could say the same about yours. Only I ain’t laughin’.”

Fellow laugher over here and my man's loves hearing it

“Look at this pretty pussy,” he says. “Perfect. So fucking perfect, Mollie. I fuckin’ hate that you kept this from me for so long.”

Sir you are in a bar's bathroom

His mustache tickles me just where I want him.

Very much into this

“I ain’t nearly as quiet as you are. C’mon.” He yanks down my skirt. “I’m takin’ you home, honey.”

I'm gonna scream

She blinks again, a small smile curling at the edges of her lips. “Yessir.” I groan. “You really do like that, don’t you?” she asks. “Being called sir.” “When you do it, yeah.” “Noted.”

me and my man

“And now I’m going to lose that respect by fucking my foreman.” My lips twitch. “I promise I’m worth the risk.”

I agree but I might be biased

She’s in the living room now, looking at my bookshelves. “This is impressive, Cash. I didn’t know you were a reader.” “Have been my whole life. Guess it’s my way of staying connected to that part of me—the part that likes ideas. Stories.” She glances at me over her shoulder. “That’s hot.” “I know.”

I am obsessed with this man

“So you like the ’stache,” I manage. “On everyone else, I hate it. On you?” Mollie’s nostrils flare. “It’s like the second coming of Tom Selleck.”

I have had this convo verbatim with him and mean it

“I know so, honey.” Her throat works as she swallows. “I like when you call me that. Sounds…so fucking good when you say it,

YOU CAN CALL ME HONEY IF YOU WANT CAUSE IM THE ONE YOU WANT

“Yessir.” Her swollen lips curl into a smirk. “Yessir.”

I need to stop grinning like a doofus

“I couldn’t see it this well in the truck. You’re—it’s not fair, Cash. God pulled out all the stops when he made you. Shoulda left some pretty pieces for the rest of us.”

And, yeah, maybe the fantasy of knocking you up turns me on in a way it shouldn’t.

Why am I still grinning

“You’re a cowgirl now, honey. And cowgirls can’t be tamed. Wouldn’t dare to try.”

Fuck her so well and so thoroughly that she stays.

This could work on me tbh

You’re perfect. I’m falling for you, and I wanna know what I can do to make you stay.

Stop now I'm gonna cry

Something feral takes hold inside me. A desire to possess this woman. Claim her in some fucked-up, caveman way.

He can have me idc

Except I suddenly, unexpectedly have a life here too. And as much as I love the city… I think I’m totally falling in love with the country too.

He can change me (and has ;) )

We know each other now. I like knowing Cash this way. I manage a smile. “I love it.”

We’re in the bathtub a week later when I fall in love with Mollie. It happens all of a sudden. Or maybe it’s been happening all along, and it only takes some bubbles and a good, hard laugh for the realization to finally crystallize.

I love when men

Mollie dabs bubbles onto my mustache.

*takes notes*

Can I say I’m in love with you instead? The words materialize inside my head, fully formed. The desire to say them aloud is urgent. This is too much to feel alone. I am too happy not to tell my favorite person about it. But I can’t, and that kills me.

YES!! SAY IT!! I love when men yearn so so hard and bad

Mollie’s confidence grows with every cow, until they’re all done and she’s still smiling like an idiot.

Same

“Honey, I’d marry the shit out of you. Not because it’s the right thing to do, but because I’m in love with you.”

“Mollie likes it.” I splay my thumb and forefinger across the hair on my upper lip. “It stays, no matter what her mama thinks.”

I just have to show Mollie—and her mom too—that I’m willing to compromise so that my girl and I don’t have to sacrifice our dreams to be together. We all deserve a happy ending.

I see so much of my relationship in how theirs is developing … prophetic?

Lord, this man’s rubbed off on me. He’s possessive as hell, and now I am too.

Mutual obsession is hot

Having a boyfriend who’s a filthy-mouthed cowboy in the sheets but an absolute gentleman in the streets sure as hell has its perks.

“Yes.” “And they’re all tall.” “Yes.” “And they have blue eyes.” “Yep.” “And they’re cowboys.”

Wheeler blinks. “Yes, cowboys are what interest me most. What’s wrong with that?” I laugh. “Nothing. They interest me too.”

I'm just a girl

I smile, eyes welling with tears. “You proposing to me, cowboy?” “Only because you proposed to me, cowgirl.” “It’s a hell yes for me.” He grins. “It’s a hell yes for me too.”