Between the Pines (Black Springs Ranch, #1)

by Amber Palmer

But red was my favorite color, and I had a stubborn streak a mile long.

“Maybe if you’re good, I’ll tell you my name.” “Oh yeah?” he asked, dropping his voice. “And what’s your definition of good, darlin’?” I shrugged, trying to keep control of my rapidly beating heart. “Keep me company and find out.”

I was a simple man with simple beliefs. I’d never held much stock in that lovey-dovey bullshit people clung to, talking about soulmates and destinies. It was just a way for folks to feel better about their lives. But this woman? Something told me she could make me a believer.

“Yeah, actually… I’m thinking about what it would be like to fuck this pretty mouth. How I’d want to see it dressed in some pretty color only to fucking destroy it and then proudly wear the remnants around my cock so I could see precisely where you’d been.”

“I was gonna ask if you’d waited for me like I’d been waiting for you.”

“Break up with that piece of shit you call a boyfriend, and I’ll tell you every sordid detail. Then, when you’re writhing underneath me, just like you are right now, I’ll make good on every word I said.”

“Just don’t leave me waiting out in the cold too long, yeah? Be fair to my heart in the way I’m trying my damnedest to be to yours.”

All I know is some things are certain—the sun will set, it’ll rise again, and you’re it for me. That’s just the truth.” I took a deep breath and laid down my last card. “And I think you feel it too—otherwise, you wouldn’t have told your sisters it would always be me.”

“That hat on your head means you’re mine, Josie. There are no takebacks, not as far as I’m concerned. So, don’t do that to me and then take it away. Don’t fucking tease me, baby. I can’t take it.”

I’d been dreaming of this day since I'd laid eyes on her, and now she was mine. Mine to love, mine to fuck, mine to do whatever I wanted with.

“You know, I used to think it only took me five days to fall in love with you, but honestly… I fell in love with you the moment you walked into this little bar tucked between the pines.”