39
I t’s one in the morning when we finally drag our exhausted asses into the motel room. I toss the keys on the dresser with a clatter and stare at Reese. Fuck if I’m not rattled after the events of tonight. She’s lucky she wasn’t hurt.
Those fucking paparazzi. Vultures. Who knows how long they’ve been following her?
“Are you okay? Are you hurt?” I try to turn her toward me, so I can look her over, but she shakes me off.
“No. I’m not hurt.” She perches on the edge of the mattress, staring at her scarred wrists. “I’m mad.”
I sit beside her. I’ve been waiting for her to talk to me since the scene in the bar, but she’s been silent. Every ounce of happiness sucked right out of her. “Talk to me, baby.”
“The paparazzi. Gavin.” She huffs out a breath, tears in her eyes. “They won’t leave me alone.” The pain and fear in her voice cuts me. “They won’t let me have the life I want.”
My stupid heart’s about to explode, but I force the question out. “And what life is that?”
“A life with you,” she admits. Every inch of my skin heats at her words. Then just as quickly, she shakes her head. “And that’s silly and stupid of me, isn’t it? I’ve known you for a summer. We’ve only been on one date. Nothing turned out the way I thought it would. And maybe that’s perfect. But maybe I was wrong.”
I swallow the lump in my throat. “About what?”
“Us.” She stands and paces. “Me. I thought I could do this. What if I can’t?”
My heart pounds like it will break free from my chest.
Fuck. I can’t be too late.
I shove up from the bed. I have to tell her before I lose my chance.
She thinks she’s temporary when she’s my forever.
Around her, I don’t own any part of my heart anymore. I don’t even own myself. She does.
“What if there’s no point in staying?” Her voice is pitchy, breathless. “What if there’s no point in us ? My past will never let me be. I can’t change it. It doesn’t matter—”
“It matters.” I cross the room, boots storming. “ We matter. How can you say that?” I turn her toward me. “After this summer? After what we have?”
“We had a summer. That’s it.” She looks me in the face, defiance lacing her husky voice. “Don’t worry, you’ll have another one next year with someone else.”
Her words tear a hole through me.
“Don’t you fucking dare.” If she wants to play this game, run that stubborn bratty mouth of hers hoping to push me away, she can. But I plan to win.
When it comes to my girl, I don’t lose.
Because it takes a strong man to love Reese. Not because she’s hard to love, or she’s difficult, but because she’s the most amazing woman that I’ve ever known. She forces me to be better.
And me—I’m her cowboy. I’m the man who loves her. And I will always do my damnedest to deserve her.
Starting now.
I hold her gaze, capturing her wrist. “If you’re tryin’ to start a fight right now, end it, it ain’t gonna work.”
“Let me go.”
I don’t. I keep hold, my touch steady.
“And go where, Reese?” I ask, testing her resolve. “Go back to Gavin?”
Nostrils flaring, she stomps her high heel. “No. I’ll never go back to that man. Fuck him. And fuck you for suggesting it.”
The fire in her eyes rages like a wildfire.
“That’s right, baby, let that fire burn.” I spear her with a cocky grin. “And get it through that pretty little head of yours. You ain’t goin’ back.”
“And why’s that, Ford?”
I swear violently, and then drag her against me. “Because I love you, Reese. Can’t fucking live without you.”
She freezes, going slack in my hold. Tears slip down her cheeks. “What?”
“I love you, Birdie.” I give her a squeeze, needing that gorgeous body against mine. “The day you stomped your way onto the ranch and sassed me with that smart tongue of yours, I considered you mine. There hasn’t been a day where I haven’t thought of you.”
“What if I’m not good enough for you?” she whispers.
I chuckle. Here I’ve been thinking I’m not good enough for her when she’s been thinking the same damn thing.
One thing is for sure, we’re both fucking idiots.
“You’re perfect for me.”
“I’m crazy.”
“You’re not, but I’m sane, so we’ll be okay.”
That haughty chin lifts. “I cost too much money.”
“Good thing I have it.”
“We fight too much.”
“And it makes me hard as hell,” I growl, causing her stunning green eyes to widen.
“Ford—”
I wrap my arms around her, lock my gaze with hers. “Run your mouth, woman, because it doesn’t matter. I love you. Nothing you do or say will change my mind. You’re it for me, Birdie. No more running. No more searching. It’s you.”
Reese stares.
I feel like I’m bleeding out, waiting for her response.
A shudder of a breath blasts out of me. “Christ, baby, would you say something?”
A stunning smile fills her face. “I love you, too.”
My breath hitches. “You do?”
“Yes. I do. I love you, Ford.”
Those three little words heal something deep inside me. Having someone to love like this only existed in my dreams. But not anymore. It’s Reese. Etched into my heart, my fucking soul.
“Reese.” My voice breaks. Hot tears cloud my vision.
She palms my face with warm hands. “You’ve been my angel, Ford Montgomery.”
I clear my throat from emotion. “You’ve been mine, Birdie Girl.”
I kiss her. Deep, heated. Our tongues wage a battle before we break away, breathless.
“I love you,” I tell her again. “I’m so fucking in love with you, Reese. And I won’t lose you now.”
“What does this mean?” she half-laughs, half-sobs.
“It means…” I grasp her neck, pulling her forward until our brows touch. “If you leave, I’ll never recover. Say the word and I go with you. If you want to sing, I’ll be in the front row every goddamn night.”
“You’d do that for me?”
“I would.”
She bats those big, beautiful eyes. “Sorry to say it, Country Boy, but I kinda like the ranch.”
Christ.
“Stay then. Stay with me.”
“Yes, yes,” she gasps. Cups my face and searches my eyes. “But what about your job?”
“I turned it down.”
“What?” Her pretty face screws up. “Why would you—”
“There are other things in life. Things that are more important than baseball.”
“Like what?”
“You.”
Tears glisten in her eyes. “Ford.”
Remembering what’s been on my mind all damn day, I reach into my shirt pocket and pull out a small velvet pouch. “I got you this.”
I slip the necklace out and lift it high. A special order I planned last month—my name in delicate gold script.
Her fingers come up to cover her mouth, eyes wide and shimmering. Then she reaches out to touch it, almost reverently. “Ford, it’s beautiful.”
I fasten it around her neck and say, “You wear this necklace on your throat, baby. Show the world you’re mine.”
With heavy-lidded eyes, she stares back at me. “I’m yours.”
Her words crack like a whip.
“Do you see what you do to me?” I press her hand to my cock. She whimpers, small gasps filling the air between us. I move her hand to my heart. “Do you see how much I love you? You brought me back to life, Bluebird.”
A sob escapes her. “You are my joy, Ford Montgomery.”
My breath hitches.
I interlace our fingers and lift her arms, backing her up to the wall, kissing my way up her scars. “My favorite part of you,” I murmur. Tears stream down her face. “They remind me you exist. You’re alive.” Leaning close, I brush my lips over her mouth. “And you’re not hard to love. You are mine to love. Never forget that.”
Her eyes shutter. “I won’t,” she promises.
And then we’re on each other. Ruthless and raging. I kiss her pouty lips, desperate to consume her. To reassure myself that what’s just happened is real. She’s here, she’s mine, and nothing can change that.
Fucking nothing.