Page 92 of Training the Heart

“I’m in,” Cole pipes up. “Just gotta grab Mabes from her friends’ and we’ll be back.”

“We are too,” CeCe adds.

Jo nods and turns to me, in question.

“Thank you, but I’m actually really tired. I think I’ll head back to my cabin.” It’s not a lie, but really, I just can’t wait to be alone with Wade after this day apart. I glance at him as he vacuums the front foyer and wonders if he missed me just as much.

“Of course, thank you for all your help today, darlin’.”

I nod and smile back. Nash and CeCe come back into the room, just as Wade finishes up.

“We’re all set, we’re just going to drive this to our place and then come back for dinner. Wade, you following?” Nash asks.

Wade’s eyes flit to mine across the room, I expect him to say nothing, but he makes his way directly over to me.

“I’ll be back in a half hour,” Wade says to me, reaching down to kiss my lips right in front of everyone, once, then again, lingering a little longer on the second kiss. I assume he did it without thinking, but when he looks at me I know it was on purpose.

“Just … fuck.” He sighs. “I didn’t want to wait one more second to do that,” he says, melting me from my head to my toes.

I look at him, then around the room that has completely ceased activity to gauge my reaction. I open my mouth but don’t get a word out.

“Thank Christ, are we all allowed to know something’s going on here now?” Dean blurts out, pointing back and forth between Wade and I.

Everyone in the room stifles a laugh, except Ginger who outright snickers as Wade grunts.

“What do you mean, Pop? Wade’s just really dedicated to his work,” Nash says as CeCe smacks him.

Cole doesn’t say a word, but I notice his grin as he picks up the last of the gift bags to head out to Nash’s truck. Olivia and Ginger snicker a little louder with no shame.

“Laugh it up, fuckers,” Wade says, then turns to me anddrops his cabin key into my palm intentionally. “You go to my place and I’ll meet you there. Ignore them.” He looks up at all of them. “This is why I don’t tell any of you anything.”

CeCe’s smile fills her face as she winks at me.

“Immature little pricks,” Wade adds as he heads out the front door and laughter fills the house.

Try as I may, I can’t stop myself from laughing with them. I guess secrets can only last so long on this ranch.

CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT

Wade

The house is dark when I pull up to it ninety-eight minutes later. Just to fuck with me, Nash needed me there for an hour to help with every little thing he could think of before they went back to the big house, rearranging the guest room in his house to turn it into a wedding gift room of sorts.“Let’s just move this sofa to the garage, oh and bring the table in to set the gifts on.”All with the world’s cockiest smirk on his face. I knew what he was doing, now that he’d seen me give in and kiss her—he was trying to get me to admit how badly I wanted to get back to Ivy, that this is serious between us.

Well, fuck him, I’m almost thirty-five years old, I can kiss whoever the fuck I want and I’m not giving into him. As much as I want to yell it from the rooftops, what happens between me and my girl is our business and our business alone. Until we have this talk, I’m sure as shit not having it with anyone else.

I push open the door and make my way into my dark foyer, carrying groceries I had to grab on the way back to make Ivy dinner. A soft glow emits from the kitchen. Just as I toe my boots off and enter, I see her.

Ivy standing stark fucking naked wearing nothing but my tattered old cowboy hat and high heels.

“Oops, looks like I forgot to get dressed, cowboy …” she says innocently, and it’s sexy as fuck.

She starts to walk to me, but the heel of her shoe gets stuck in the floorboard and she almost topples over, naked. I catch her with the arm I’m not holding groceries with and steady her. She looks up at me from under her hat, startled.

“So much for being all mysterious and graceful.” She giggles as I help her stand. “I tried,” she says as she shrugs.

I chuckle and kiss her lips. They’re soft and welcoming.

In fact, they don’t just feel like a welcome.

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