Page 34 of Sheriff's City Girl

“That’s… I didn’t mean for that to happen,” he said with a sigh, removing his cowboy hat and running his fingers through his dark hair. My pussy ached at the sight, and the moment of arousal was nearly startling.

Probably just the pregnancy.

“Look, I’m just not good at this kind of stuff, Emma. It’s been years since I have dated anyone—and even then, I never, uh… did what we did.” His eyes jumped to his daughter and Dara, their eyes transfixed on the horror movie playing in front of them.

“I still don’t get what you’re trying to say, Mason,” I said, taking a deep breath as Lily appeared at the top of the stairs. She gave me a wide-eyed look, like she hadn’t expected Mason to come into her house or something.

“Look, Emma, let’s just try this again. Maybe we should just get to know each other better before we jump into anything.”

Yeah, like have a baby?

I pursed my lips, nodding because I wanted to be an active listener—not because I liked the idea. I knew that if I just came out and told him I was pregnant, everything would change between us…

And for that reason, I knew I was going to be waiting.

“So I’ll text you and we can set up dinner?” Mason offered, just as the movie turned off.

“Yeah, that sounds fine,” I said with a smile. “I’ll look forward to your text.”

If it even comes.

I stood there quietly, giving Jess and Mason a wave goodbye as they made their way to the front door. No matter how much I wanted to hope for more with Mason, the conversation about going slow, brought me to the same conclusion as always.

He either wasn’t that into me or he feared commitment…

Or both.

Chapter Fifteen

Mason

My shoulders felt tight as I pulled up to Ron’s house, already seeing him rocking on the front porch. It was never a good thing when he was waiting for me. Letting out a sigh, I slid out of my old Bronco, my boots crunching down on the railroad gravel.

“You really ought to retire that thing,” Ron called to me as I headed toward the old front porch of his place. He lived in a ranch style house but didn’t keep up with it anymore. The paint on the rails had long faded, matching the weathered siding of his house. I didn’t understand it, and had tried multiple times to fix it up myself…

But he fought me every time.

“I know what you’re thinking,” Ron eyed me as the stairs squeaked beneath my feet. “And no, I don’t want you to show up and play handyman. Everything works the way it should, and that’s all that matters.”

“You’re something else,” I grumbled, shaking my head. My phone buzzed in my pocket as I leaned against one of the rails, letting up as it gave more than an inch. “You really should fix this,” I added, shaking my head.

“Yeah, yeah.” He rolled his eyes at me.

“So what was the reason that you called me out here?” I asked, digging my phone out. I had texted Emma earlier in the day but hadn’t heard back. I was trying to be careful about being overzealous, given that I had told her I basically just wanted to take things slow. And the reason?

I was falling too hard for her.

“Well, I don’t know if you know this,” he cleared his throat. “But Lucas is missing more cattle.”

My mouth dropped open. “What? I was just out at the ranch. He didn’t mention anything like that to me.”

“Yeah, he’s staying real quiet about the loss, but one of his hands said he’s missing another fifty head.”

I shook my head defiantly. “There’s no way. That makes no sense.”

“I don’t know how you figure that,” Ron rubbed the gray stubble on his jaw. “I think that there’s something more going on with all these ranchers and their missing cattle. You know, I wrote off the fact that the others didn’t say anything, considering they didn’t have any insurance on ‘em, but…”

“But what?”

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