Page 55 of Rancher's Return

He held his hand out, and...she didn’t have the strength to say no. Because she wanted to touch him. She wanted to be held by him. She wanted him.

He pulled her up against his body, and she felt herself melt. They moved in time to the music, their eyes locked together, and she could no longer deny that she wanted romance. Or, maybe she didn’t want it. But they were having it. It was happening. This wasn’t friends with benefits. It was something more. And she wasn’t sure if she had the strength to turn away from that. Because it was so beautiful.

He twirled her and brought her back to him, holding her like she was precious.

And all the years that she had spent feeling like someone who was on probation—like someone who didn’t deserve everything, like someone who had damaged herself, and her life, with her choices—melted away. Because he didn’t look at her like she was a consolation prize. Like he cared for her, but it was a shame she had been such a slut when she was a teenager. Like she was great, but it was a shame she came with her daughter.

Never. Not once.

He looked at her like she was precious. And it made her heart just about burst.

“Marigold,” he whispered, against her ear. “I think this might be a date.”

She pulled back just slightly and met his gaze. “Yes. I think it is.”

Chapter Thirteen

Lily looked over at her mother and Buck. The suspicion that her mom had feelings for him had been getting more and more certain every week. Her mom said no, but she blushed when his name came up. She looked giddy whenever he called.

Lily recognized it, because it was how she felt when she thought about Colton. But...the more she thought about it, the more she was sure her mom wasn’t going to do anything with Buck if Colton and Lily were dating. Because her mom had always sacrificed for her.

Lily was leaving for college anyway. She was seventeen. You didn’t marry the first guy you ever made out with. The first guy you ever let get to second base. You didn’t marry that high school boyfriend, because you had to go do things.

Her mom hadn’t gotten to go do things. And she was counting on Lily to go away and make something of herself. She had sacrificed so much in order for Lily to do that. And now her mom was getting ready to sacrifice wanting the first guy that she had even shown any interest in for Lily’s whole life because Lily happened to be dating his son. A dead-end relationship that she knew wasn’t even half of what Buck and her mom could have.

She put her hand to her chest and wished it didn’t feel like her heart was breaking and moved away from Colton, stepping outside the gym, trying to catch her breath.

She was grateful she had made plans with her friends. Grateful she had decided she wasn’t going to do something crazy like sleep with Colton tonight.

Her eyes filled with tears, and she shook her head, didn’t let them fall.

Colton followed her out the door. “What’s wrong?”

“You see them?”

“Who?”

“Buck and my mom.”

“Oh yeah. They were dancing. So?”

“She likes him. I mean... They like each other.”

“You think so?”

“Yes. And... I think there’s something going on between them. I have thought that for a while.”

“Why didn’t you say anything?”

“Because I thought I was being crazy. And... I didn’t want to mess this up. Us. But the truth is... We can’t be together.”

He looked like she had hit him, and she felt horrible. She felt like the villain.

Breaking her own heart.

Breaking his.

“My mom has sacrificed everything for me. Absolutely everything. And I think your dad would make her happy. But she keeps telling me that nothing is going on between them, and she so clearly... I think she’s in love with him. And she doesn’t want to disrupt my life or my relationship with you, because if they get married, then I’m going to be your stepsister.”

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