Page 109 of Rope Me In

“Why would I be?” she asks, unbuckling her seatbelt. I unbuckle my own, then we both climb out of the truck. When I meet her on the passenger side, I back her up until she’s against the door, my arms caging her in. Her breathing picks up, and I grin down at her.

“I’m not saying you should be. I just wanted to make sure you weren’t,” I tell her honestly. “I come with a lot of baggage, if you haven’t noticed.”

Presley blinks up at me, the mid-afternoon sun shining down on top of us. I step a little closer so the brim of my cowboy hat shades her eyes. She lifts her hand to my cheek and rubs the stubble under her thumb. “I do, too, if you haven’t figured that out yet.”

With a sigh, I lean into her hand. I think of Derek and the trouble he’s caused. “That doesn’t matter to me. But if you have any other baggage that I don’t know about, at least tell me so I’m not surprised,” I tease.

Her lips tip up in a sullen smile. “Just a crazy ex and parents who don’t care about me.”

I kiss her forehead, wanting to convey how much she means to me in the lingering kiss—that she doesn’t need idiot people in her life when she has me. By the time I pull back, her expression is warmer. Her thumb trails over my cheekbone again.

“Your baggage doesn’t matter, Kade. I like that you’re honest with me, that you aren’t afraid to own what you’ve done. Now I’m not saying I won’t ever be jealous of women hitting on you, but I trust you.”

My chest expands, and I lean in to kiss her. She opens her mouth to mine, and I press her harder against the truck, the softness of her body fitting against mine like it was meant to be there. When our kisses become more heated, she lifts her hips so her jean-covered sex grinds against me. I curse against her lips and let out a low groan.

“Gavin and Blake should be here any minute,” I say between her kisses. But instead of stopping, she gets more aggressive. I chuckle against her lips, my cock stirring to life.

“Just kiss me,” she murmurs before brushing her violin-calloused fingers down my arm. I shiver then trail my hand up, sliding between her breasts until I’m gripping her throat the way she likes. A moan escapes her lips, and I swallow it with my mouth. The sounds of her pleasure vibrating through me only encourage me to kiss her harder.

“Kade,” she says as she breaks the kiss. “I’ve missed you.”

Her hand digs into the flesh of my ass cheek, and the pressure on my cock intensifies. “You see me every day,” I tease. I press my thumb harder into her neck and take satisfaction in the way she writhes against me.

“You know what I mean,” she pants.

Idoknow what she means. Since that night in the loft, we’ve taken it easy. We’ve kissed and touched and held one another, but I understood why she wanted to wait to have sex again. And if I’m being honest, it’s been nice to just be surrounded and supported by her, to remind myself that I don’t need sex or booze every day to be okay.

My lips seal over hers again, and I surrender to her kisses, to the feel, smell, and taste of her. Everything about Presley is fucking perfect, and I can’t believe this woman is all mine.

Just as I grip her leg to hitch it over my hip, a throat clears. Presley detaches her lips, and I release her neck and thigh before she hides her face in my chest.

“I warned you,” I chuckle. I kiss the crown of her head then meet the embarrassed eyes of Gavin. Blake just looks amused. I pull Presley in front of me to hide my erection and wrap my hands around her waist. I make sure she feels what she’s done to me then give her a little squeeze that says,You’ll pay for this later.Presley’s purple-painted nails dig into my arms, and I smirk at her response before turning my attention to Blake and Gavin.

“Howdy,” I say.

Gavin nods in greeting, his features still colored with embarrassment, and Blake smiles back at me. The three of us have talked a couple of times since the ambush of a dinner, and I told them both why Presley and I went to the city today, but there’s still tension between us. However, I’m hoping that will fade over time as we work our issues out.

“Howdy, yourself,” Blake says. “Do you need us to come back later?” Her tone is playful, and I’ll confess it’s nice after how serious all our recent interactions have been.

“Yes—”

“No.” Presley cuts me off. “Now is good.” As she steps away, she makes a point to brush that fine ass of hers against my semi, and I have to grit my teeth. Oh yeah, she’s paying for that later.

She looks over her shoulder to wink at me, and my chest fills with happiness. It’s been a sight to see her blossom and become more confident. I love that she’s getting more comfortable in her skin, especially around people other than me.

“Presley,” Blake calls to get her attention. “I’ve got some paint colors I want you to look at while the boys talk. Are you okay with that?”

Presley checks in with me, silently asking if I’ll be okay. I told her I asked Blake and Gavin to meet with us specifically because I need to speak with my brother, but I love that she still wants to make sure I’m okay being left alone with him.

“Go, Lemon,” I say. “I’ll find you in a bit.”

“Great!” Blake says happily, stepping forward to link elbows with Presley.

As she tugs her toward the main stable, I stifle my laughter watching my girlfriend awkwardly walk away with an animated Blake. They don’t know each other well yet, but I’d like to think that they could be friends. Blake is a good person, and Presley deserves to have more people in her life that care about her.

Once they disappear into the barn, I turn to face a silent Gavin. He steps toward me, gravel crunching under his boots, and only stops when we’re almost toe-to-toe. When he doesn’tspeak, I study his face under the brim of his worn dark-brown cowboy hat, noticing the dark circles under his eyes from what I’m guessing is lack of sleep. I hadn’t really taken time to notice it before, but my brother looks older. He may only be twenty-five, but he’s no longer the young and hopeful boy that he once was. But I suppose that’s what life does to us all, especially a hard life like ours.

“Do you want to walk or sit?” he asks, his voice gravelly.

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