Chapter 29 Dallas
“I thought she’d never leave,” Willow exhales as I shut the door behind us, having said goodbye to her mother. Wes agreed to drive her to the airport, so Willow didn’t have to.
I pull her into my arms. “She’s not that bad.”
From across the room, Dad gives me a pointed look and I glare at him to keep his mouth shut. Lucy lost him when she said we had a “cute farm.”
The woman was here less than thirty-six hours—arrived Saturday morning—and when she wasn’t on the phone with her agent or boyfriend, she complained about everything from bottled water to the crickets.
But I must say, the woman was in surprisingly better spirits after the ceremony. Still, it was no surprise to anyone that Willow didn’t ask her to stay another night.
“I’m going to go check on Ellie. She’s had a long night.” Willow presses a hand to my chest and I lean down for a quick kiss before she pads up the stairs barefoot.
I look at the floorboards. The same ones that were thick with dust only a few weeks ago. When she walked into this property I had abandoned for too long.
Made it a home.
I feel Dad’s eyes on me and I lift my gaze to his.
He grins. “You two have a minute alone yet?”
I shake my head with a sigh. “Plenty of time for it later.” I nod toward the kitchen, moving us both in the same direction. “Thanks for sticking around and kicking everyone out for me.” I hand him a beer from the fridge and we step out onto the porch.
He takes a sip. “Noticed Cole didn’t show.”
My heart sinks. It didn’t bother me at the beginning, since the whole thing was supposed to be staged for the town’s benefit anyway. For weakening the fight Glenda’s preparing.
But it bothers me now that I’m pretty damn sure our vows were real today. And some day, it’ll be even more real. Without prenups or people wondering if it’s real or not. With Cole in the front row with Ellie.
“He should have. For Ellie.” The fact that my little girl didn’t ask for him today tells me she’s smarter than I give her credit for.
It’s quiet for a moment as we look out into the darkness, toward the large oak tree that sits along the river bend.
“She’s the one.”
Dad chuckles. “Well, I hope so.”
“I mean . . . she’s it. I barely had a chance to tell her that today.”
He scoffs. “Tellin’ a woman you love her when you’re about to tie the knot is like sayin’ it during sex.”
“I didn’t . . . tell her I love her.”
He clears his throat. “OK, then what did you say?”
“I wanted her to know that this was real for me. That it’s forever. That I’m choosing her over . . . a ghost.”
He chuckles. “What every woman wants to hear.”
“Dad.”
“What? In other words—you told her she’s not some consolation prize.”
I pause . . . then take a long sip of the cool liquid.
“So . . . no longer a thorn in your side . . .” he muses.
“I get it,” I snap. “I don’t exactly have a way with words.”
“They’re three fuckin’ words, Dal. Did you ever think you might’ve not said it because you’re not ready to?”
I turn to him, a challenging glare. “I’ll go tell her right now.”
He coughs a laugh. “Like I matter in this equation.”
“OK, Romeo, when are you and Ginger movin’ in together?”
He waves me off, not bothering to act surprised. “We’re too old for that.”
“Why? You keep each other company, I know you spend the night.”
His expression dries. “She was your mother’s closest friend.”
I nod. “I know. I’m sorry.”
“We’re happy just as we are.” He stands. “Go tell that woman how you feel and ask her to stay.”
My phone rings.
I growl. “It’s Noah again.”
“Put it on speaker, going to give that boy a piece of my mind.”
I answer it and hit speaker. “You better be calling because you forgot something here and not as my lawyer.”
“Dallas,” Noah starts, car engine in the background. “Listen, I’m traveling for a case this week, but I’ll keep you posted on a court date—should be soon.”
“As long as Ellie doesn’t have to be there.”
“I don’t think so. But you’re in good shape. The house is done, you’ve got a legit partner in crime. It’s just a matter of getting it over with, and . . . hoping there’s no surprises.” Concern laces his voice.
“What about the photos from the bar fight?”
“Took care of that. Turns out Carl’s been trying to get Ricky and his crew to stop comin’ around, causing too many problems and bringin’ the wrong crowd. He’s happy to be a character witness if it comes up.”
“Always liked that man.”
“Also said he’d take Willow back in a heartbeat if she’s willing to give it another chance. Said the crowd’s been askin’ for her.”
I chuckle to myself. “I’ll leave that up to her.” I sigh. “For now, we got more important things to tackle. And while I have you, do me a favor and tear up that prenup.”
“Or what?”
I think about the one thing this man cares about. “Or I’ll tell Charlie you ambushed a woman with a prenup on her wedding day.”
There’s a beat before he sighs, relenting. “Look, what do you know about this woman besides her being Rose’s friend? What if she’s hiding something? Broken the law or something. Imagine that coming out in court.”
I glance at Dad with a smirk. “She checks out—told me she had nothing to do with the dead bodies found in her old apartment. And I believe her.”
Dad and I chuckle.
“All right, fine, laugh. But this is how people get screwed. You don’t do enough digging.”
My smile fades quickly. “Noah. Whatever you’re thinking, don’t.”
“I’m not just your lawyer, I’m your friend. Dallas, she showed up three weeks ago and didn’t want to go back. You don’t find that suspicious?”
“No, I find it convenient.”
“Exactly.”
“Noah. I’m going to tell you this once. Stay out of her business. Willow’s personal life is not up for discussion.”
“Fine,” he tells me. “I’ll call you this week.”
I hang up with a frustrated sigh. Dad watches me.
“I’m not doing it.”
“You afraid you’ll find out she’s not as perfect as she seems?”
“She’s not perfect. No one is. But she hasn’t had it easy. She’s selfless, she loves Ellie, helped me make this place a home. I’m not repaying her by letting my lawyer look into her.”
He holds up his hands. “Look, son, I get it. We trust until they prove we can’t. That’s the Thorne way. But we’re dealing with Glenda Lost.”
I swallow.
“I’ve never seen Noah get this rattled over a small-town case, have you?”
I shake my head.
“Then let the man do his job.”
I flex my biceps against the fence with a harsh breath, pushing off. “I said no. Willow is off the table.”
“I was about to give up on you,” Willow tells me with a smirk when I step into my bedroom—our bedroom. If all goes right.
She’s at the window, wearing one of my T-shirts and nothing else, staring out at the moonlit mountains, the river’s shimmer dancing across her face.
I unbutton my shirt and toss it to the side, my expression humorless because of Noah’s bullshit.
I trust Willow.
How could I not?
“Is that right? How so?”
She glances over, her eyes on my loosened buttons instead of my eyes. “Well, I thought about slipping off my panties and leaving them stuffed between your sheets, but . . .”
I rake my hand into her hair, pulling it back and kissing her wildly. She moans into my mouth. Relaxed. Something I haven’t seen since her mother got into town.
I pull back, my eyes on her wet lips. “But you need fresh material.”
She bats her lashes at me. “What I need, is my husband to get naked.”
Something kicks in my chest at the word. “Like the sound of that.”
Willow bites her lip and laughs. “I got more sounds for you if you’re interested,” she teases.
I should strip out of my pants. Tear off that T-shirt and toss her over the bed—make love to her.
But the tightness in my chest won’t budge.
She showed up three weeks ago and didn’t want to go back.
Of course I found that suspicious at first.
But I don’t care now.
Perhaps I should. Because that hollow feeling in my chest I thought would never leave? I never want to feel it again. And I’d die a thousand deaths before I let Ellie feel it too.
Taking Willow to bed on our wedding night is all I fucking want to do. But knowing her—in and out, the good and the ugly—is what I need to do.
A pit forms in my stomach and I know I’m going to regret this.
“Willow. Why’d you sign the prenup?”
Her easy grin falls, her shoulders tense. “Because it doesn’t matter. I wouldn’t take anything from you.”
“Why doesn’t it matter?”
She releases a confused breath. “Well . . . why was it handed to me?”
“I never meant it to be, you have to believe that.”
“But it was,” she blurts out, then takes a breath. “I told you, I don’t blame you. You don’t know me. You have a daughter to protect.”
“Yes, and you’re helping me do it. I thought we were in this together.”
Her eyes fill with liquid. “I want to be.”
I close the distance. “Then be honest with me. I haven’t kept a single thing from you since the day we met. But you have.”
She stares at me. “I have never lied to you.”
“What were you and your mother fighting about earlier?” The question probably sounds like it’s coming out of nowhere, but she seemed equally upset when she was on the phone with the woman last week.
And I need to make sure I’ve got no surprises coming. Like another man she’s been promised to or something.
Willow stills, wide eyes locked with mine. Shoulders tense as she brushes past me to cross the room, wincing as she says, “It doesn’t matter.”
I pinch the bridge of my nose and turn. “You got to give me something, Willow.”
She flips around. “I’ve given you everything. I’m ready to give more. But I don’t see why this matters so much to you.”
I stare at her—beautiful, vulnerable, strong, and protective. Protective of the one thing all the men before me took for granted, used, manipulated, hurt.
I toss my gaze out the window to the spot where I wanted to tell her exactly how I feel about her. And realize now, I never did.
I lift my shirt off the floor and grab her hand. “Come with me.”
Quietly, our bare feet fly down the stairs. She pauses when we reach the bottom. “Ellie,” she whispers.
“She’ll be fine.” I button my shirt in a flash and duck into the coat closet, grabbing a long one for her while she grabs her boots from the front corridor. “We’ll see the motion lights from the window.”
“Window? Where are we going?” she huffs, but doesn’t argue, slipping her arms through the coat.
I take her hand and lead her out the back sliding door.
Another sharp gasp. “Dallas.”
I turn, alarmed she might’ve heard Ellie.
“I’m not wearing underwear,” she hisses.
I grin. “I’ll keep you warm.”
Our boots thud softly over the grass, breaking the quiet of the night until we reach the tree where we exchanged basic vows a few hours ago. Where I had the chance to do it right, but I let it go.
I lean her up against the tree, away from the wind. I catch her as she glances up at the house, then back to me with a swallow.
I run both hands along her neck and into her hair. “You’re safe here. Your heart is safe with me. I’ll never let you fall.”
I take her hands in mine and stare at them. “Cowboys, we don’t—we’re not good with words in a big crowd. But when I saw you walking down that aisle toward me—I lost my breath. Because I don’t know when or how it happened, but I was marrying the love of my life.”
Her eyes fill with unshed tears.
“I’ve fallen for you, Sunset. That’s something I never thought I’d allow to happen again.
” I swallow. “I love it all, fighting with you, bantering, kissing, obsessing over you. You’re it for me, and dammit, I’m it for you.
Don’t shut the door here because you’re afraid of making a mistake, Willow—I’m not your mistake. ”
She shakes her head, tears spilling down one cheek, a cloud of air leaving her lungs. “No. You’re not.”
I step closer to her. “I promise to always love you, cherish you, protect you—” I press my forehead to hers. “And someday soon we’re doing this again so that you can walk toward me without a shred of doubt and I can tell everyone how much I adore you.”
“Dallas,” she breathes, cold hands gripping my face. “I trust you. I love you. You and Ellie—and everything you’ve given me.”
Resolve settles in my chest. “Then I don’t need anything else.”
Her eyes dip between us with concern but I bring her back, lifting her chin and kissing her. She melts into me as I step inside her coat, lifting the hem of her oversized shirt. She shivers at my touch. My hand moves from her bare ass to between her legs.
I hum with appreciation. “What’ll it be, Sunset?”
She snaps my belt undone in a hurry and unzips my pants.
“Face the bark. Palms flat.”
My girl doesn’t hesitate. She turns, pressing her hands against the tree. Her body warm and ready.
I lift the coat, bunching it over her hips, and stroke myself. Willow watches me over her shoulder, licking her lips.
“You tryin’ to help me, baby?”
“Can I?”
I keep stroking, desperate for her mouth but conflicted. “Your knees will be cold.”
“I can take it,” she breathes.
I bend and growl in her ear. “Then get down there and take me to the back of your throat.”
She drops to her knees, a vision and a half. A fantasy I never knew I had, come to life. She takes my cock like it’s something out of her fancy, lowering her jaw.
“Sunset.” I dig my fingers into her hair. “When I say, I want you to let go and get back on that tree. Ass facing me.”
She smirks and gets to work on my cock, taking me all the way. My hand flies up to the bark with a curse. I inch in and out of her slowly, then with a pained growl, I fuck her mouth. She gags but doesn’t let go, sucking me hard.
My thighs start to shake. “Now, Willow.” I pull out of her mouth and help her to her feet. “You good?”
“Yes.”
“Good.” I flip her and lift the coat again, sliding my thick cock into her dripping center.
She moans and gasps as I thrust hard, filling and stretching her, claiming her.
Because she’s mine. I praise her, taking me so good as I fuck her senseless.
Maybe some residual anger over our fight.
Maybe she brings the barbarian out of me.
But I’ve never felt so alive. So wanted.
So desperately desired than I do by this woman.
I grip the back of her neck, lowering to her ear. “So warm, so tight. So perfect.”
“Dallas, I’m—I’m coming.” She starts to shake beneath me.
I hold her still, snapping my hips brutally. “I’m going to spill inside you. That OK, Sunset?”
“Yes. Yes, please.”
I let go, shuddering through my release. Grunting as I empty inside this perfect woman—then cursing myself for getting so rough with her.
On our wedding night.
We’re both panting when I turn her to face me. Cheeks flushed, hair wild, a lazy smile on her smooth face. “Sunset,” I start.
She strokes my cheek. “And I thought you ruined me the first time.”
I grin at her, shaking my head. “I make love even better.” I lift her off her feet and carry her back to the house.