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“Yep, my big brother, and please don’t tell him this, but I do actually love him dearly… even if his Virgo is showing ninety-nine percent of the time.”
I decide my best course of action is to treat my off-limits married-cowboy-boss the same way I would a pretty pair of heels. The kind my bank account simply cannot justify the cost of. Nice to look at. But ultimately, not for me.
Sage’s feistiness calls to a side of me I haven’t been able to let roam for what feels like forever. Certainly, a part of myself that has been locked away behind bars for the entire duration of my miserable fucking marriage.
“Lead the way, boss.” “You—You can just call me Beau, you know.” “I do… but this game is much more fun.”
Beau Heartford smells like hard-working cowboy, and horses, and I’m not at all equipped to handle being in close quarters with him while he grunts at me monosyllabically and fidgets with the brim of his cap. It’s endearing, damn him.
“Life must have been lonely.” The air crackles as if charged with a high-voltage current. “The pro tour was like being part of a family.” His voice is roughened, so tempting I can’t think straight. “Doesn’t mean you can’t still feel alone, even while being in a crowded arena.”
“Christ, Heartford, you’ve got the world’s biggest fucking blanket over there; quit being a selfish bastard, and share with Sage.”
“Just don’t go putting on anyone’s hat, or they absolutely will try to get you pregnant.”
In my marriage, I’ve felt starved, trapped in the darkest, most grim cellar. With Sage? It feels like tasting something sweet and good and hopeful for the first time. Yet, I can’t dare to allow a single drop to pass my lips.
“I might be a little out of practice now, but in another lifetime, I would have been able to show you the ride of your goddamn life.”
“I said I was a bit out of practice, baby. Not that I didn’t know what I was doing.”
“You should probably go inside.” My eyes don’t stray from hers. “You should probably stop looking at me like that.”
“What the hell am I supposed to do with you? When you look like that… when you walk in wearing shorts like those…” Sage interrupts me. “Are you blaming my choice of clothing?” “No,” I shake my head and drag a palm over the back of my neck. “I’m blaming myself for losing any sense of which way is up or down when I’m around you.”
“What are you gonna do? Put me over your knee?” “You’re not a child,” I grunt. “No, I’m not.” Her tongue runs slowly over her bottom lip as she studies me and reads me like a fucking book. “But I am a hot-blooded woman who very much enjoys being treated to a spank or ten by someone who knows how to handle me.”
“I’m a man with a hundred racing thoughts at any given time, and only a scattering of limited words. Somehow, I don’t know how you do it, but you twist that and make it feel like all thought flies out of my head, and there are suddenly words on my tongue.”
A perfect storm of never feeling good enough, while also refusing to be seen as weak for needing anyone’s help.
Sage Maloney doesn’t pine after a mustache she cannot make the acquaintance of.
“Fucking hell, sugar. You look like you wanna come over here and shove that pool cue somewhere. Got it real bad, huh?”
Have you been drinking, hot stuff? A little. It’s Storm’s fault. Well, he is pretty to look at. I’m not surprised it only took one bat of his eyelashes to render you incapable of resisting his charms. He’s not that pretty. Well, ok, the asshole is. Always has been.
“Maybe you’ll let yourself enjoy this. Maybe you’ll wrap your fist around your dick and touch yourself for me. Or, maybe you’ll be a good boy and wait ‘til I’m done, then get yourself off after.”
“I can’t fight this, baby. I’m not supposed to crave you, but I can’t find any more reasons not to.”
“Go on. Use your words, Sage. You do love to run that pretty mouth of yours, don’t you?”
“I think you’re curious. You don’t always have to be the one to hold tight. You deserve to have a safe place to let go. It doesn’t make you any less strong, Sage.”
I’m not a religious man, but I’m pretty sure I just found the woman I’ll never get past having such a powerful, craving desire for. To willingly worship every day.
“Yes, years, baby. Let me have this. Give me this before I go insane with needing you. Please.”
This could possibly be the worst idea I’ve ever contemplated agreeing to. But then again, I never was very good at being the good girl.
Sage is everything I never knew I needed. And there’s no way this girl isn’t going to end up as mine.
“Hey, so you remember how you helped me when I nearly flambéed my entire arm? Maybe that’s our thing. Having each other’s backs when we’d rather eat dirt than ask for help.”
“You’re gonna milk me dry, aren’t you? A slut who wants to be dicked down and filled with my cum so badly you’re out here being a fucking cock tease.”
Horse riding and sunsets overlooking the ranch and a mustache to swoon over? Good lord, I am fuckity-fuck-fucked.
He’s even got a smug look creasing the corners of his eyes. A look that says I know what your pussy tastes like.
“You’re my sunset sky, baby. Bright and mysterious and beautiful all at the same time.”
My girl just needs me to hold her and take care of her. That’s what she needs. So that’s what I give over. Along with my entire goddamn heart, in secret.
“Are you sure you’re not bringing me out here as a sacrifice to appease the mountain hillbillies?” I narrow my eyes at him. “They won’t want me. I’m certainly not virginal, and I’m far too opinionated to be considered a peace offering.”
All I want is for Sage to feel treasured and worshipped, like she can let go without worrying if I’ll be there to catch her or not.
“In case you need it spelled out, you’re everything to me. Taking your phone in order to help out? Yeah, I’d do it all over again without question. I want to take care of you. And not only that, but I want to do little things for you, because that is my privilege to handle the simplest of actions if it will make your life easier. I want to help you, simple as that. While you’re immensely capable and don’t need anyone, you deserve to not always have to carry it around all the same.”
“This is the only good thing… you are the only good thing… so you’d better damn well wear my hat, shut up, and take my dick like my perfect little slut.”
She’s too goddamn precious to me. Not because this girl is fragile, but because she’s the rarest kind of diamond there could be. Forged out of fire and unrelenting pressure and able to withstand anything that might come her way.
“You and I? We’re end game, baby.” Then he shoots his arm forward to block the driver’s side so I can’t climb into the truck. “I’m in love with you, Sage.”
“Baby, when you’re ready... only you will know when that is… if those stars ever align, come and find me in that sunset sky.”
“Throw everything you’ve got at me, trouble. Do your worst. I’ll climb back on even if I hit the dirt.” “What if I stomp on your heart?” I breathe out the words into the midnight air. “Then it means I had the honor of getting close enough to yours.”
“The truth is, I’ve climbed onto the back of thousand-pound bulls. I’ve faced down being stomped and crushed. I never once felt like I had a fear or a soft spot in all those seconds spent in the arena. Right now? I can stand here with my boots in this dirt and tell you I’m terrified of how life might look if you never came back to me, Sage.”
“My heart has been in your hands this entire time, Sage. It doesn’t belong to me anymore. It’s yours, baby. You deserve a man who is rock steady, who knows himself, and is prepared to take responsibility for his flaws. So here I am, fucking flawed as all hell, but trying to do better every day, begging you to come back to me.”
“I like the way you look at me, Beau Heartford. Do it every day?” I whisper. His hold on me tightens, and he ducks his head, allowing gentle lips to brush over mine, speaking quietly as he does so. “Forever, trouble.”
