Page 77 of The Rancher's Secret Relationship

Thornton caught sight of the momentary pain that haunted her gaze. "What is it?"

It was the gentlest voice she had ever heard him use, and her eyes stung. "I'm just...scared." She could accept that he might not love her yet. But even so, she wanted more assurance. He wanted her to be his, he had said, and she believed that was true. But what about him? Did he want to be hers, too?

Thornton cupped her chin. "Tell me of your fears, and I'll take care of them."

"I want us..." She worked hard to find the right words. "I want us...to last."

"So do I, baby." That much was true. But whether itwouldcome true...

In the back of his mind, that other man still existed, and Thornton just had no fucking idea.

If there ever came a time that she'd be made to choose...

He had no fucking idea if she'd choose him.

Chapter Twelve

IT WAS USUALLY A BRISKthirty-minute walk back home, but since the shop was closed for the day and he already had the car with him, Thornton suddenly heard himself asking Blake if she had already eaten breakfast.

"Not yet," she admitted. "I was in such a hurry to catch up with you, and then when I was at the cafe, I forgot about it again, and at the library...well, obviously, I got distracted there, too."

"I haven't had breakfast either, so..." He opened the car door for her. "Want to head down and grab brunch in the city?"

"Are you asking me out on a date, Mr. Blackwood?" Blake couldn't help asking teasingly.

"If you're not inside the car in five seconds..."

Blake was still giggling when he joined her inside the car and pulled his door shut.

"Do you realize," she couldn't help sharing eagerly, "this is the first time you're giving me a ride?"

"No. I didn't."

She couldn't help smiling at his matter-of-fact tone. They both knew that had been a rhetorical question, but she loved how it never mattered to him either way. He always took the time to listen to her.Always.

Thornton couldn't help wincing at the way Blake was staring at him again. "Blake..."

"Call me the other thing," she teased.

"Baby."

Blake jumped in her seat with a squeak.

Thornton was torn between amusement and exasperation. "Why are you acting all shocked when you were the one who said—-"

"I didn't know you'd give in so easily," she said sheepishly. "But I should have known."

Ah, fuck. There it was again: her expression turning dreamy, and after that, inevitably...

"You're so perfect," Blake sighed.

Thornton also sighed. "I'm not."

"You so are."

"If I were," he said evenly, "then I wouldn't have let you wake up alone this morning."

Blake's smile faded, but when she started to look away, he didn't let her.

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