Buckled (Trails of Sin, #2)

by Pam Godwin

“If I rope him, can I keep him?” “Jarret or the calf?” Jake arches a questioning brow. I roll my eyes and point at the calf. “First off,” Jarret says. “He is a she. Secondly, you don’t know how to rope cattle.” I hold out my hand for the rope. “Challenge accepted.”

“If you have nothing to hide, why not just answer my questions?” “I want you. I’ve been clear on that point.” “Are you saying you’re pretending to hide information so you can get me in bed?” “In a bed, on the kitchen table, against a wall…” I shrug. “Sounds like a plan.”

“I want children with you.” “What?” My heart stops. “You heard me.” “Children? Have you lost your mind?” I scramble out from beneath him. “I don’t mean right now.” He stands and tucks himself into his jeans. “I just… With you, I want marriage and kids and all of it. You’re it for me. Today, tomorrow, and all the tomorrows after.”

“You belong to me.” He prowls closer. “I’ll piss a circle around you if I have to. I’ll move mountains and rearrange my entire existence. I’m not giving you up.”

“I’ve only known you for nine days.” “I fell for you the first night.” There goes my heart. He might as well reach into my chest and yank out the miserable thing. It’s his now, and I don’t know how to proceed.

“I’ll wait.” He stands taller, shoulders back, and adopts the confident stance so intrinsic to who he is. “Take your space, your time, whatever you need. But I won’t let you take forever. That belongs to me. Your forever is mine.”