Chapter 19
Devon
R eese and I ended up not watching a movie at all.
She’d asked if we could go to the music room so she could listen to me play, and I’d happily gone along with that suggestion.
I’d played a variety of music for her, and I’d worked with her on an easier duet on the piano.
She hadn’t seriously played for a long time, but she still had her musical skills, and she loved music.
She’d caught on pretty quickly, and we’d spent an incredibly fun evening joking around at the piano. She’d gone to bed a while ago, but I was lying in my bed restless as hell.
I had no idea how I was going to manage to keep my sanity and keep my hands off of Reese until she had the kind of dating experience she deserved.
I’d just gotten myself off in the shower before bed, and I was still edgy.
I wanted her in a way I’d never wanted another woman before in my entire life.
She’d smelled like strawberries tonight.
I’d recently learned that she had a weakness for a particular brand of body mists that were lighter than typical perfumes or cologne. She always smelled like some kind of fruit or flowers.
For some reason, those scents did it for me more than any expensive women’s perfumes I’d ever inhaled.
Maybe because those scents suited Reese so well, and I never knew what fresh scent she was going to be wearing on any particular day.
I’d already decided I was going to find out where I could buy them and get her every scent that existed so she could try them all.
It was a stormy night, and we had a line of severe thunderstorms that were rolling through.
I was used to Montana storms, but even I winced a little at a large crack of thunder that sounded right over the house.
“Devon?” Reese’s nervous voice called from my bedroom door.
I sat up immediately. “What’s wrong?”
“That was loud. Do you think the horses are okay?”
The horses were fine.
I’d checked on them all and made sure they were comfortably in their stalls in the barn because I knew the storms were due to hit.
But I had to wonder if Reese was okay.
That thunder had almost sounded like a loud explosion, and I knew she didn’t like that kind of noise.
“They’re fine. They’re used to the storms around here,” I assured her. “Are you okay?”
“Honestly, I hate the explosive thunder. I used to love thunderstorms. Now I hate them. Can I stay with you for a few minutes?”
I only had the light from a small reading light on my nightstand, but I didn’t have to see her clearly to know that she was uneasy. I could hear it in her voice.
“Come here,” I said as I held my arms open for her.
She sprinted to the bed, climbed under the covers, and leapt into my arms.
Fuck! It felt good to have her come to me and to trust me to protect her.
“I’ll just stay until the storm passes,” she assured me in a relieved voice as she wrapped her arms around my neck tightly.
I flopped back onto my pillow and pulled her with me until she was half laying on my chest.
I had her in my bed.
I certainly wasn’t about to complain.
She could stay as long as she liked.
I stroked my hand over her hair soothingly as the storm raged outside. “What did you do during other thunderstorms?”
“I’ve never been through one quite this bad since I got here,” she said. “I just sucked it up.”
That was probably true. Our thunderstorms could get pretty ugly at this time of year, but she hadn’t been here at this time last year. Our storms had been fairly mild at the end of the summer and fall of last year.
We hadn’t had a thunderstorm directly over the town that was this fierce in quite some time.
Her body was trembling a little as another loud crack of thunder shook the house.
“I hate this,” she said angrily. “I hate being afraid of something that I never was before. I used to love a good thunderstorm rolling in.”
She was frustrated.
I could hear it in her voice.
Reese was a strong woman, and it was evident that she hated these involuntary responses because of her trauma.
“It will go away, Reese. It’s your body’s response to previous trauma. You’ve never had a chance to deal with the PTSD from the shooting. Be patient with yourself.”
“I’m trying,” she said in a calmer voice. “Are the horses really not afraid of storms like this? I keep thinking about Luna.”
“Some horses are scared of thunderstorms,” I admitted. “Horses are like any other animal. Some react and some don’t. Luckily, none of mine are that reactive to storms. Especially if they’re inside and they feel safe. Luna is a trooper. She’s never been that bothered by storms.”
I felt her body relax a little.
“Thank God,” she answered. “I don’t like the thought of her being afraid.”
Reese had gotten incredibly attached to Luna, and Luna to Reese. “I was going to save this until tomorrow, but I think you could use a distraction right now. Luna is yours, Reese. I want you to have her. The two of you belong together. I can’t officially change ownership right now because you’re under an assumed name, but I will after all of this is over.”
The distraction obviously worked, because her eyes widened and the apprehension in her gaze disappeared.
“I can’t just take an expensive horse from you,” she protested. “I adore her, but I can’t do it.”
I grinned at her. “You’re going to have to,” I teased. “I think she’s adopted you as her owner. She’s bonded to you. You’re her preferred person. She doesn’t care about the rest of us anymore.”
“I feel like I’ve bonded with her, too,” Reese replied. “But I can’t just take her from you.”
“Yes, you can,” I urged. “I never ride her because she’s too small for me, and I have plenty of other horses. You love her. Admit it.”
“I do,” she whined. “And I’d love for her to be mine, but I’ve looked up prices on the breed. A horse with her bloodlines must have cost a fortune. And what about your mom? Luna was her horse.”
“My mother would be thrilled if you took over ownership. She’s happy that someone is loving on Luna and riding her every day because she can’t anymore. It was hard for her to give her up, but she’s more bonded to the horse she kept.”
“Is it really possible that she could be mine just like that?” she said, her voice awed. “I need to pay you for her, Devon.”
“Billionaire boyfriend, remember,” I said playfully. “Your money is no good with me.”
She slapped me on the arm. “Why do you have to be so stubborn? Luna is worth everything to me.”
“And seeing you happy is worth everything to me,” I countered. “Just take her as a gift and a favor to me.”
I knew that Reese owned a small house in Spokane, and that she didn’t have any property, but we’d figure that out later.
I was hoping she’d decide to stay in Montana.
Hell, I was counting on it because I didn’t think I could do some kind of long-distance boyfriend thing with Reese.
It would kill me.
It wouldn’t be impossible for me to relocate, but it would be pretty damn complicated with our offices in Billings.
I knew I was jumping ahead of myself because Reese and I didn’t know what would happen with our relationship, but I knew I’d never be the one to break it off.
I couldn’t imagine her not being part of my life anymore.
“Okay,” she finally conceded. “This whole billionaire thing is going to be an adjustment for me. My parents have been good to me, but I’m not wealthy. I make a good salary, but I’ve always been on a budget. I refused to let them help me purchase my home. They’re getting close to retirement, and they need to enjoy the money they worked so hard for over the years. I’d barely moved into my own home when this happened. I was so proud to be a homeowner on my own, but I never really got to enjoy it.”
“All of this will be over soon, Reese. I know it’s been dragging on forever, but Kline can’t run from the authorities forever. He’s gotten lucky a few times, but they’ll get him.”
“I keep telling myself the same thing,” she said with a sigh. “I just hope he doesn’t hurt anyone else before they do. One of the things I remember the most is the crazy look in his eyes before we were shot. His mind completely snapped. He was kind of an unpleasant guy, but he wasn’t completely crazy before he lost his wife and child.”
I rubbed my palm up and down her arm. “Are you feeling better? The storm is passing.”
“Yeah, that was quite a distraction,” she teased as she nipped at my ear. “There’s only one other thing that would have distracted me more.”
I gritted my teeth as she ran her hand over my bare chest and abdomen, exploring.
I was wearing a pair of sleep pants, but I never wore a shirt to bed.
She was wearing a pair of sleep shorts and a matching top that I’d seen before when she’d come down for coffee in the morning.
It wasn’t meant to be sexy, but my dick got hard every time I saw her in that outfit, and tonight was no different.
Hell, my cock was hard every time she was in the same room with me, no matter what she was wearing.
“I’m not even going to ask what that distraction might be,” I said firmly.
Fuck! This woman was making me completely insane.
I had a love/hate thing going on with her hands roaming all over my body.
I wanted her hands all over me, but it made it extremely difficult to leave mine off of her.
“You have an incredible body, Devon,” she said as she stroked her hand over my abs.
Her tone was full of wonder, like she’d never felt a man’s body before.
When she moved slightly lower, my patience had reached the end.
I flipped her onto her back and covered her body with mine. “You’re asking for trouble, Reese,” I growled. “A guy can only take so much.”
Her face was immediately contrite. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that. You just felt so good. I lost it for a moment. Let me get up. The storm is gone. I’ll go back to my room. I know this isn’t what you want right now.”
She pushed hard against my shoulders with tears swimming in her eyes.
I was so stunned that I let her go.
What in the holy fuck had just happened?
She’d just fled the room like her gorgeous ass was on fire.
Not what I wanted?
I wanted her so badly that I was losing my shit.
I just wanted to do this relationship the right way, and I hadn’t had a relationship since college.
I’d wanted to please her and treat her the way she deserved to be treated.
And in the process, I’d obviously hurt her somehow.
I’d just done something that I’d never wanted to do, and I wasn’t even sure how it had happened.