Page 59 of Winning His Wager
“I don’t know what to think about you. About…being here. It isn’t how I thought it would be.”
“How so? You thought we’d just be fighting for six months?”
“Honestly? Yes. I thought I could deal with that, could understand it. Was kind of excited by the idea of it really. The challenge of proving tosomeonearound here who I reallyam.But this…”
Her words trailed off. Her hand was pressed to his heart. And Fletcher knew exactly what she meant. He kissed her palm quickly. “Yeah, no kidding. Not exactly something I expected.”
“It’s that whole not a real woman thing?” There was a teasing tone in her words. But he took it seriously.
“I think…you scared me. From the very beginning.”
“Yeah, right. Me, scared you? You wanted me in handcuffs.”
“We’ll explore that idea later. I’ll buy a pair,” he warned. He shifted until he could turn and lean against the wall, with her between his raised knees. As they watched out the front window together.
She felt like she was exactly where she was meant to be.
“Way to get a girl all fired up,” she said around a yawn. “Honestly? You do scare me. This.”
“And you scare me. I’m not going to lie about it either. It feels too important, too real, for me not to be honest about it. I just looked at you one night, and the next thing I knew I couldn’t get you out of my head. You are still in there. Probably will be forever.” And he wanted it just like that. But if he told her that right now, Dylan would bolt right out into the snow. “I’m not going anywhere. I’m not going to rush you, but I am not going to let you go either. You don’t feel at home at the inn, and hell yes, I completely understand that. Why should anyone expect you to? You have every right to not feel at home there. You do; no one can force it on you or has the right to even try. But you can be at home with me. If that’s what you want. I am not going anywhere. I will always be here. You can count on that.”
Then he was kissing her. But Fletcher wasn’t certain he had kissed her at all. It might have been Dylan taking charge and stealing his soul forever once again. Ben…his brother said Talley women were good at that. And Fletcher fully believed it.
He just held her right there and kissed her. He didn’t ever want to let her go. So he didn’t. He just carried her to the couch when the time was right. And loved her. Showed her with his body what words couldn’t quite say just yet. They made their choices together.
When they were finished and his heart rate had settled, and heknewthis was the woman he wanted every night for the rest of his life, Fletcher scooped her up into his arms and held her, for a precious moment, right there by the window. He carried her to his room, to his bed, where he had wanted her for so long.
And kept her there all night.
Right where he wanted to keep her forever.
40
Will wasan expert at moving around and not getting seen. Tonight was no exception. He’d met Joey in an old parking lot near what used to be R.J.’s bar a few years ago but was now going to be calledTylers’or something. It was a good deal—Joey was always good for it, and Will had needed the money. Pull in, wait until another car showed up, roll down the window, and it was done just like that.
His favorite place to do those little transfers was church parking lots. He got a bit of a thrill sticking it to the goodie hypocrites in Masterson County.He had had to leave his car behind, though. Damned thing just died, even though the damned thing had been running.
Now what was he supposed to do?
He could call Sammy, but that dumbass was hiding out from everybody right now. Will had to take him food sometimes. He was that paranoid. Sammy’s best bet was to just take off and disappear somewhere. Get a low-level job under the table, picking beets or something, and just fucking get gone.
Will was only about two miles from home. He’d go home, get his dad, and the two of them would just act like Will had been on his way from the all-night gas station or something when he had car trouble.
Make it all innocent-sounding. He had sold his last shit to Joey, so it wasn’t like the damned police would find anything in his truck if they searched it. And not like he’d give them probable cause or anything. He’d just had bad luck. That was all.
He was going to cut through the woods, go the short way to his house. Staying on the road would make it an extra fifteen minutes, and it was damned cold out there now.
He kept walking across the parking lot and to the ranch next door.
Fucking Fletcher Tyler’s place. Of course. His dad had been so excited about whatever Fletcher Tyler was working on out there now.
Frankly, Will didn’t give a shit about ranching technologies, even if they were going to make Fletcher millions. Everyone was talking about how he was even more invested than his prick of an uncle Phil.
Will had had to hear all about it when his dad and his dad’s best friend for years were talking about it tonight. It was one reason why Will had gone out driving around in the first place. His old man’s friend had a real problem with the Tylers in general and had one with Phil Tyler in particular. He had for years, since all that shit had gone down with the Tylers and the Mastersons and the old guy’s sons. Rutherfords and Tylers were probably going to hate each other forever and Will got it.
Not that he wanted to sit there and listen to the two old idiots bitching about Tylers, while Abby waited on them hand and foot. His dad’s old friend had even patted Abby on the ass and told her she’d grown up real pretty and everything.
Will had told him off—told him not to do that again. That was his sister, after all. Guy didn’t need to be pawing her like that. It had seriously made Abby uncomfortable—didn’t his dad understand that? But Abby wouldn’t say anything—not to upset Daddy..