Page 88 of Redemption

His cheeks flushed and he rubbed at the back of his neck, resting his elbow on one propped knee. “I wanted to have a date, my first date actually.”

“Your first?”

“Yes, you’ve taken a few of my firsts now.”

“Yes, I have,” I replied smugly. “But now so have you. This would be my first official date too.”

“Well, what do you know. Anyway let’s get to it, I wanna eat,” he said and pulled me closer.

“Then get the basket of food?” I frowned at him, confused.

He pressed a kiss to the corner of my mouth, his voice deep when he spoke. “That wasn’t what I meant…”

“Ohhh…” Understanding dawned. “Yay for me.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

Katarina

I woke up Monday morning rejuvenated.

Not just from the sleep and orgasms Jack provided. But I felt like I had turned a corner with the ranch. Jack had helped me uncover what my block was. Now I just needed to figure out how to move past it. I knew it wouldn’t happen overnight but now that I recognized it, I could fix it.

I poured myself a cup of coffee and waved Tilly off to school. She was still sulking and mad at me for imposing a curfew on her, but she’d get over it. Daisy also avoided me like she was still pissed over the other morning when really, I felt like I was the one who shouldbe pissed.

Jack came to the door, looking gorgeous in his denim jeans and blue lumberjack shirt that made his eyes shine even brighter. His boots though, looked like they were getting worse by the day. I opened the door and stepped out, closing it behind me.

“God, it kills me not to kiss you good morning,” he murmured, his eyes filled with longing.

“It kills me too when you show up here looking like that.” I ran my eyes over him, lingering here and there.

He glanced down at himself. “I’m fully clothed?”

“I don’t know who you’re fooling dressing like that, it’s like you want me to throw myself at you.”

He groaned. “Don’t talk like that, please.”

I laughed. “I’m not the one out here dressed like I’m just asking for it.”

His eyes widened. “Are you for real? It’s a lumberjack shirt?”

“You know exactly what you’re doing,” I teased.

He laughed and shook his head, blushing adorably. “I have somewhere I need to go and I kinda need you to take me, if that’s okay?”

The uncertainty in his eyes as he asked me for a favor nearly ruined me. “Of course, when do you need to go?”

He shrugged one shoulder. “Not until this afternoon. So, where do you want me today?”

“I need you to take the lead as I’ve got some work to do in the office. There’s not a huge amount to do, just sorting out the horses and checking on the cattle, making sure that asshole bison hasn’t done any more damage to our fences.”

He shook his head, smiling softly. “I feel like you need to let it go. Bert didn’t mean anything by it.”

I jabbed my finger at Jack. “He did, and he knows he did. You’ll see. Anyway, is that okay?”

“Of course, go kick some business ass,” he cheered.

I laughed and shook my head, winking at him before I headed back into the house. I went into the kitchen to top up my coffee and found Daisy, Maddy and August huddled together whispering and when they saw me, they hushed.

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