47
H er heart could stop beating.
Her beautiful, pure, courageous heart.
How the fuck did I miss that?
I don’t miss things. On a ranch, missing things means a horse gets sick. People get hurt. Crops die. You lose an entire working day because you fucked up.
I plan to rectify that fast.
Seated at my kitchen table, Ruby’s laptop in front of me, I research my questions about SVT to fill in the blanks.
Everything I’ve learned about her heart in the last week isn’t enough.
I have to do more. Stock the ranch with heart-healthy foods.
Order a top-rated heart tracker. Find her the best doctor so she can get a real checkup.
If anyone smokes around her, they’re a dead man. Most importantly, no fucking stress.
I wouldn’t be the man she deserves if I didn’t do everything in my power to learn about her condition. Not to fix her. To be there when she needs it. To protect her.
I click on an article and read.
I read another.
The heart will suddenly start racing, then stop racing or slow down abruptly. Episodes can last for seconds, minutes, hours.
A muscle pulses in my jaw. It explains so much about this summer. The racing of her heart. Her fainting spells. Her small sips of coffee, of alcohol. Everything about it terrifies me. It haunts me that every beat of her heart is tentative.
But even as worried as I am, I am in this. Walking away from this sweet, kind, fearless woman will never happen.
Even now, the memory stings. I hate she thought I’d reject her. That I’d give her up. That I could do anything but love her when she is the only thing I’ve ever wanted.
She’s continuously putting me on my ass.
For ten years, I walked around this world in a daze, breathing the same stale air when Ruby was gasping for it. And what did I do with my life? Drank it away, brooded while Ruby fought for hers.
My girl’s a goddamn force. Strong as hell. As worried and as pissed as I was, I’m also in awe. Ruby didn’t let fear stop her from living.
My gaze ticks to the screen door. The sky is dark with clouds, signaling thunderstorms are on the horizon. The empty ranch is silent except for the faraway clash of thunder.
I check the time on the kitchen clock. It’ll be evening soon.
Ruby left an hour ago to feed Winslow, and her absence has me desperate to see her. Worry lances through me. Worry that she fainted. That I’m not there.
I drag a hand down my beard, shaking off the grim thoughts that have taken root.
It’s something I have to work on.
Before my thoughts can get away from me, the screen door clatters open and Ruby stands in the doorway, her lips parted and a flower crown on her head.
I straighten in my chair, the tension immediately leaving my shoulders at the sight of her.
“Hey, Cowboy,” she breathes.
My lips curve. “Hey, Sunflower.”
She kicks off her shoes, wind-blown hair falling around her shoulders. The hem of her pink sundress flips up, fluttering around her thighs and highlighting her long, lean legs.
“I thought you’d be out on the ranch,” she says. The scent of sunshine and pine follow her in.
“Took the day off,” I rumble, reaching for her.
“Another day off?” She laughs and arches a brow. “Your brothers will think I’m a bad influence.”
With a growl, I catch her around the waist and tug her onto my lap. Press a kiss to her lips. “The best bad influence around.”
I told my brothers about Ruby’s condition. Instead of voicing their doubt or trying to change my mind, they understood. As always, they had my back.
Ruby and I—we’re doing this. Us . We got the entire fucking world laid out in front of us. I’m living my life with this woman. I love her heart, her soul, and her wild dreams.
I love her .
She’s mine, and I won’t give her up for anything or anyone.
Ruby tilts her head back for a kiss, then turns to face the table. “This is new. Charlie Montgomery on a computer.” Eyes curious, her small hand slides over my shoulder. “What’re you doing?”
“Researching.” I tuck a lock of hair behind her ear. “Getting you the foods you should be eating. Checked out some cardiologists in Washington. We can head out there whenever you need to.”
Ruby’s bright blue eyes widen. “Charlie, you did all this?”
I flash a crooked grin. Don’t even bother to hide it. “Damn right. My girl gets the best.”
Her breath hitches. Silently, she slips off my lap and walks to the kitchen island.
I frown. The faint trace of sadness on her face makes my stomach lurch.
She stands there, palms on the counter, head bowed. After a second, she closes her eyes. “I love that you’re doing all this,” she says quietly. “But you can’t fix me, Charlie. I don’t want you to have false hope or try to change what you can’t. This is my heart. This is me.”
Not fucking happening.
I rip out of the chair and go to her, hauling her to my chest. “I’m sorry.” I frame her face with my hands. “I love you . Just like this. And you’re right. You’re not something to be fixed, but I will keep you safe. Long as I live, I will always fucking protect you.”
“I know you will.” A weak smile flits across her face, then disappears. Color flames her cheeks. “You just ... can’t treat me different. You can’t think I’m weak or worry all the time or stop me from doing things I need to do.”
That’s it. Her fear. Why she didn’t tell me after I told her about Runaway Ranch.
She’s been so sheltered her entire life she’s used to people keeping her back.
I want her to see herself how I see her.
Perfect.
“Ruby,” I say her name forcefully, so she looks at me.
“I didn’t see someone weak this summer. I saw a fierce girl who pushed me to be a better man.
Who made me fucking live. Who helped people when she didn’t have to.
That’s you. Golden, just like your heart, and nothing about you is ever bad or broken. ”
“Really?” she whispers, hope in her voice.
“Really. And this heart?” I press my palm against her chest. “I’m gonna learn everything about this because it’s mine now, you hear me? Your beat is my beat.”
Her eyes sparkle.
“You’re gonna keep on livin’, baby. I’m just gonna be the one to rope you.”
Blood rushes into her cheeks. She lifts her chin, the teasing smile on her face like a shock to my system. “You think you can, Cowboy?”
Dragging her closer, I growl against her mouth. “Sunflower, I know I can.” I slide a hand up the slope of her breast to curve around her slender throat. Her pulse hammers beneath my fingers. I track it like she’s taught me this last week.
This heartbeat is mine.
Mine to memorize.
Mine to love.
Every beat precious.
Powerful.
“What is it?” My hand lingers on her throat. “About 150?”
Her long lashes lower and she feels her wrist. “130.”
Worry twists my insides. “Does it hurt? Are you in pain?”
“No,” she says. “It feels fluttery. Like a butterfly. When it beats faster ...it feels like pressure.” She laughs, a melodic little chime that sets my soul on fire. “Here. I’ll show you.”
Lifting on tiptoes, she kisses me, slipping her tongue into my mouth. Her nails dig into my shoulder, and a tortured groan emerges from my throat.
Beneath my fingertips, her pulse speeds up.
With a growl, I jerk back from her. “Ruby,” I warn, not wanting to hurt her.
A smile tugs at her mouth. She steps into me, slipping a slender leg between mine. “This is how you start a heart,” she says, her gorgeous blue eyes darkening with lust. “You just kiss me, Cowboy.”
Fuck it.
I do.
My lips crash against hers. Ruby melts into me, the fast pulse of her breath syncing with her heartbeats.
Each one I feel. Treasure. I hook my hands under her legs and lift her off the floor.
She kisses me deeper, wrapping her legs around my waist. My hold on her tightens as I carry her into the living room.
“Slow,” she whispers breathlessly.
“Slow,” I mouth gruffly against her lips.
Her slender arms lift to the ceiling so I can strip her bare. I toss her dress, her panties, onto the floor while I maneuver us to the couch.
A desperate, animalistic need overtakes me. To hold her. To fuck her. To feel her heartbeat crash against mine and know she’s here.
I unzip my jeans and sit down, Ruby straddling me. When she sinks onto my thick length, I groan, bathing my cock in her sweet heat. She’s slick and tight and I growl my approval. I guide her hips up and down, burying myself so goddamn deep that we both cry out.
“Don’t know how I fucking survived without you, Ruby,” I rasp into her wild hair, tangled with flowers. “Don’t know. Don’t wanna know.”
The air around us is electric, neon in a way only Ruby can make me feel. Alive and buzzing. It’s all for her. What my girl needs to feel good. My thrusts are slow and controlled, dismantling all my dark parts so there’s only the man she loves. The man she deserves.
Too much, too much, Ruby’s too much.
She will never be enough.
“Charlie ...” Ruby gasps as her back arches. Her long lashes fan against her smooth skin. Her mouth parts in a perfect O.
I bury my face in her neck. “I fucking love you.”
She whimpers, kissing my jawline. The heat from her mouth warms my cheek. Her slender arms wind around my neck. “I love you, Cowboy.”
My chest heaves faster as I match the rhythm of her hips, her heart. Slow, fast. Slow, fast. Slow, fast until she’s crying my name, her small form trembling in my arms, shaking from her release.
My ragged moan fills the house as my orgasm hits me like a sledgehammer. I come inside of her, pressing soft kisses to her throat, her cheek, her lips.
When our bodies stop quaking, I pull her back onto the couch, keeping her in my arms. I grab a blanket and drape it over her body.
Outside, thunder cracks across the sky.
“Try for the sunrise?” I skim my knuckles against her flushed cheek.
She laughs, rolls her eyes. “We’ll never make it, Cowboy. Let’s face it.”
I chuckle.
Sighing, Ruby burrows against me, resting her head on my chest.
I stare at her as she’s curled up in my arms.
Sometimes I can’t believe she’s real. That she’s mine.
“There was a trial,” she says in a soft voice.
I lift my head to hear her better. “A what?”
“A clinical trial for SVT. Some new medications. Surgeries.” Biting her lip, she looks up at me. “I missed it.”
“Baby,” I say, my breath knocked out of my chest. “Where?”
“California.” Her pretty face hardens. “It would have meant leaving the ranch. Being trapped in some hospital for a month. And I couldn’t.” She slides her hand up my chest. “I couldn’t leave you, Charlie.”
“Is there another one? A study.” If I have to bang down their door, I’ll do it.
“Charlie.” Her gorgeous blue eyes shutter. “I’d have to leave.”
“I’d go with you.”
“What?”
“I’ll take you to California. Maybe we won’t make the sunrise, but I can do a sunset.”
I’m rewarded with a smile so bright the sun ceases to exist.
“Oh, Charlie,” she whispers.
No doubt about this woman.
Nothing could make me love her less.
I’m opening my mouth to tell her that when a loud shout sounds from outside.
Tensing, I shoot up straight, a primal protective instinct chilling my blood.
Ruby’s wide blue eyes dart to mine.
Footsteps pound on the porch stairs.
I scoot forward, placing my body in front of her.
“Baby, stay—”
And then the front door bursts open.
I yank the blanket up to cover Ruby. “What the fuck?” I roar.
Wyatt stands in the living room, every ounce of color drained from his face. “Charlie. The barn’s on fire.”