Chapter 5 #2
The fear wasn’t that she’d leave. It was that she might stay. And if she did, I wouldn’t be able to protect her from what was coming. Wouldn’t be able to manage the fallout. Wouldn’t be able to guarantee an ending that didn’t cost her something.
I met her gaze again, the weight of that truth settling into something sharper and more dangerous. And fuck it all, I wanted her anyway.
I should’ve stepped back.
That was the smart move. The responsible one. I had fourteen days hanging over my head and a ledger full of trouble I hadn’t told her the half of yet. Letting whatever was going on between us turn into something wasn’t just reckless. It would drag her closer to a mess she didn’t deserve.
If this blew up, it wouldn’t just be my ranch or the rodeo taking the hit. It’d be her name tangled up in it too.
I opened my mouth to say something. To put space between us. To draw a line I was already standing on the wrong side of.
Instead, I took a step closer… my choice made.
She straightened, rolling her shoulders like she was getting ready to join me in the fight. "What’s the immediate risk? Someone else finding this? Or someone using it?"
"Both." I dragged a hand through my hair. "If this gets out before the rodeo, it’s a disaster. If it gets out after—"
"—it’s still a disaster, just with more money on the line." She let out a huff. "Okay. So we need to figure out who else might have access to these records. And whether this is the only copy."
I stared at her. The way she said we. The way she didn’t ask for permission or reassurance. The way she started trying to untangle the problem like it was ours to share.
Something tight in my chest loosened.
She caught my expression and paused. "What?"
"Nothing." My voice came out rough. "Just—you’re not running."
A slow smile curved her mouth. "Why would I? This is interesting."
I let out a disbelieving laugh. "You call this interesting?"
"Better than boring." She reached across the desk and tapped the ledger. "Besides, I’ve got skin in this game now. I like your stock." Her fingers lingered on the page, then lifted. "So. What do we do?"
I should’ve told her to walk away. Should’ve said this wasn’t her fight. But the truth was, I didn’t want her to walk. Not from this and not from me. The room went quiet, like my entire future hung on my next move.
Lilah’s eyes widened as I rounded the desk, but she didn’t step back. Just watched me, steady, as I cupped her face and kissed her.
The kiss wasn’t like the one I’d laid on her yesterday… hot and impulsive and half out of my mind. This was slower. Deeper. A kiss that said I didn’t want to do this alone.
She melted into it, her hands sliding up my chest, gripping my shoulders. When I pulled back, her lips parted, her breath shaky.
"Was that a distraction tactic?" she murmured.
"No." I thumbed her bottom lip. "That was me not pretending anymore."
Her pupils dilated. "Good."
I kissed her again, harder this time, backing her up until her hips hit the desk. The ledger fell to the floor as I lifted her onto it and stepped between her thighs. She wrapped her legs around me, pulling me flush against her, and I groaned into her mouth.
This wasn’t just need. It was recognition. Like my body had known before my brain caught up that she was the one thing I didn’t want to let go of.
I broke the kiss long enough to yank her thermal over her head. She wasn’t wearing a bra. Just Lilah, warm and soft and real, her skin flushed under my hands.
"Tell me to stop," I said, voice rough.
She arched into my touch. "Don’t you dare."
That was all I needed.
I dropped to my knees in front of her, sucking one of her hard nipples into my mouth, then trailing kisses lower, tracing the dip of her waist, the flare of her hip. She gasped when I bit lightly at the inside of her thigh, her fingers tangling in my hair.
"Dawson—"
"Patience," I murmured against her skin. I wasn’t rushing this. Not when I’d spent way too many hours fantasizing about what it would feel like to touch her.
I hooked my fingers into the waistband of her jeans and pulled them down, taking her underwear with them. She lifted her hips to help, then sat there, bare-assed and breathtaking, while I just looked at her.
"You’re so damn beautiful," I said, because it wasn’t enough to just think it.
She shivered. "How about less talking?"
“Careful what you wish for, Trouble.” I smirked and pressed a kiss to her knee. Then higher. Higher still, until her breath hitched and her thighs shook around my ears.
I took my time. Learned what made her whimper and what made her dig her nails into my shoulders. When I finally slid two fingers inside her, she cried out, her back arching off the desk.
"That’s it," I murmured, curling my fingers just right. "Let go, baby."
She came hard, her body clenching around me, her fingers leaving marks on my shoulders. I didn’t stop until she went boneless, her chest heaving.
Then I stood, unbuckling my belt with hands that weren’t quite steady. She watched me through heavy-lidded eyes, her lips parted.
"Condom," I managed. "In my wallet. Back pocket."
She fished it out and rolled it on me, her fingers lingering and teasing. I hissed through my teeth.
"That’s enough, temptress” I gripped her hips and pulled her to the edge of the desk, then drove into her in one deep stroke.
We both groaned, then I buried my face in her neck, breathing her in. She was warm and tight and mine, at least for now, and I wasn’t letting go.
I set a rhythm—slow, deep thrusts that had her gasping, her nails raking down my back. Every time I bottomed out, she made a sound like she was trying to memorize the feel of me.
"More," she panted. "Harder."
I didn’t hesitate to give her what she needed.
The desk creaked underneath us, papers scattering to the floor. I wrapped her legs around me and angled deeper, hitting the spot that made her see stars. Her head fell back, her throat exposed, and I bit down gently on the pulse point under her ear.
"Dawson—please—"
I lost it, gripping her hip with one hand, the other tangling in her hair as I kissed her like I could fuse us together. She met me stroke for stroke, her pussy fucking milking me, until I came with a groan ripped right out of my chest.
For a long moment, neither of us moved. Just breathed. Just were. I’d shared more than her body. I’d let her see the part of me that never made room for anyone.
Then she tilted my face up and kissed me, slow and thorough.
I rested my forehead against hers, trying to slow my breathing, trying to lock this moment in my chest like something I could keep. Then I exhaled slowly, staring at the wall instead of her, like if I didn’t look too hard, I wouldn’t try to manage the outcome.
“I want you to know this matters,” I said. “And I won’t pretend like it doesn’t.”
She nodded. “Good.”
Eventually, I pulled back far enough to grab a blanket from the back of the office chair and wrap it around her. She tucked it under her arms, watching as I disposed of the condom and pulled my jeans back on.
Then her eyes landed on the ledger, still splayed open on the floor.
I followed her gaze. The weight of it settled back over me—what it meant, what it could cost.
She didn’t say anything. Just looked at it.
And for the first time, I understood that whatever came next, we’d face it together.