Page 44 of All Because I Found You

Gene held his hands up. “Done.” He picked up the air fryer box. “I will take this though if ye don’t want it.”

“Take it, and the meat basket, too. But first, you still never told me why you’re here.”

“Aye. We sold out of jam at the farm stand. All the city folk are buying it up like there’s no tomorrow.”

“I can make more.”

“With the traffic increasing in the area, we should think about possibly expanding.”

Expansion was exactly what Dad had always wanted, but after he died, Ryder was content with keeping things exactly how they were. So much had changed in his life in a blink of an eye, he wasn’t ready for anything else to change. But it had been eleven years… maybe it was time?

“I agree. It’s a conversation that needs to be had. But we need to look at the financials, the ROI, our production, all of which we’ll have a better idea of at the end of the season.”

“You’re open to it though?”

For so long Ryder had turned down the idea of expanding, but even he realized how much more jam he was making, how much more money was in the bank and how many more paychecks he needed to sign. The expansion might not be what Dad had envisioned—he wasn’t sure he could do it without him—but something needed to change.

“I am.”

Gene, never good at hiding his happiness, grabbed Ryder and yanked him in for a hug, slamming a big hand on his back. The thud vibrated through his entire body. “I think this lass might be good for ye.”

Ryder didn’t want to admit any of this had to do with Raelyn, but since she came into his life, he felt different. Lighter. Open to new possibilities.

Ryder waved Gene off, not before making sure he grabbed the damn meat basket, then got to work on making more jam. He quadrupled the recipe, knowing without a doubt it would sell. He’d sold out every batch he’d made so far.

Time passed by quickly as his mind kept drifting back to Raelyn. Her smile. Her moans. The way her body writhed beneath him.

He remembered the slick, hot feel as he slid his bare cock into her.

Bare cock.

For fuck’s sake. He didn’t put a damn condom on. What the fuck had he been thinking? He wasn’t. That was the problem. Raelyn had this way of making him forget everything around him but her. But this…. This was careless. What if she got pregnant? Oh God. He couldn’t have a kid. How the hell would he take care a of a kid when he couldn’t even bring himself to make an appearance in town?

A knock on the door brought him out of his head. He turned the knob and yanked it open. Raelyn stood there in a body-hugging tan skirt that stopped just above her waist. A white sleeveless button up top was tucked in, accenting her curves.

“Hey stranger,” she said. He stared at her like an idiot. His eyes lingered on the open button that revealed a glimpse of mounds of flesh he couldn’t get enough of last night. “Oh wow, that smells amazing. Are you making jam?”

All he could manage was a nod.

“You going to let me in?”

“We didn’t use a condom,” he blurted.

Her eyes widened at his outburst, then she patted his chest. “I’m clean. I get tested yearly, and I’m on the pill.”

“Oh, thank God!” He stepped aside, letting her in.

“Afraid you were going to catch something from me? Because a condom wouldn’t have helped when you were face deep in my pussy.”

His head snapped up at her brash words, and so did his dick. “No, that’s not it. I can tell you take very good care of yourself.” She was silky smooth and tasted too damn sweet.

“Thank you, I do.”

“I just… I can’t have a kid.”

“Don’t want to be tied to me for the next eighteen years. I get it.”

“No, it’s not that. I’d just… I’d be a terrible father, and I couldn’t do that to some poor kid.”

---