Page 107 of Pretend To Be My Cowboy
If this land had so much earning potential then urging her not to sell wasn’t in his family’s best interests. So…
What did that mean? Her pulse was loud in her ears. She had no idea, and was afraid to guess. Terrified to get her hopes up.
“If you want to keep it, you should,” Nash continued. “Your father wanted every one of his daughters to agree before selling and I don’t think any of your sisters have a right to sign until they’ve actually been here and seen this place for themselves. That’s what you should be fighting for, Em.”
Em. Her lips twitched with a small smile. She liked the way he’d shortened her name. Normally only Lizzy and her parents did that. There was a familiarity about it that made her heart warm.
“You could stay here.” His gaze fixed on her again, and she felt a shift in him. A new intensity that made her light-headed with expectation. “You could stay and you could take that job at the elementary school.”
Her breath caught as those idyllic images raced through her mind again.
Nash reached out for her, trailing a hand down her arm before lightly playing with her fingers. He gave her a small, rueful smile. “You could date yourself a cowboy.”
“A cowboy.” She could barely breathe as she dropped her gaze to watch his strong fingers softly run over hers. “And who would I be dating?”
“Me, of course.” His lips curved up in a crooked smile that made her heart melt.
She shook her head, pulling back her hand. Her heart was aching. One blow and it would break. Fear and hope were torturing her. She wanted to believe he meant it, but she was so scared of being wrong...again.
“Nash, I’m not doing any more of this fake dating thing. My heart can’t take it. Besides, I deserve the real deal.”
His voice was a low growl. “My heart can’t take it either.”
She froze, her mind racing to decipher that as emotions ricocheted in her chest like a pinball.
“My turn to be honest.” He swallowed visibly before taking her hand in his again, this time squeezing firmly. With his other hand, he touched her cheek—lightly, like she was some fragile treasure. “Truth is, I liked you from the start, I was just too shy or scared to make it something real. But itwasreal.”
It was real.The words had her chest expanding to where she thought she might explode.
“This whole time,” he continued. “I didn’t think I wanted a wife, a family, any of that stuff. The ranch, what I do here, it’s always been enough for me. But now...” He shook his head and the open emotion, the vulnerability there had her reeling.
She squeezed his hand, moving forward to press her other hand to his heart. “Now?” she prompted, her voice breathy and high with anticipation.
“Now I just want to be yours, Em. Plain and simple.”
Joy burst inside of her like starlight. A smile spread over her face even as tears stung her eyes. “Do you mean it? Do you really mean it?”
He tugged on her hand, pulling her even closer until her body pressed against his and she could feel the rumble of his low voice when he answered. “I’ve never been more serious in my life.”
A breathy laugh punched out of her and she lost the battle with tears as she gazed up at this man who’d so quickly become the center of her world.
He stroked a thumb over her cheek, wiping away her tears. “If you’ll have me, Em, I will love you and look after you.” He stilled, his brows drawing down as he leaned in with a new urgency. “I need you to know, this land doesn’t ever have to belong to a Donahue. I don’t want your land. I just want you.”
Her lips had parted and she wasn’t sure she could speak through all the emotions that were filling her heart and flooding her veins. Her mind had caught on one word in that gorgeous speech of his.
“You love me?” she whispered.
He arched a brow in an adorably uncertain expression. “Is it too soon to say that?”
A laugh bubbled up inside her—sheer happiness that couldn’t be contained. “Not if you mean it.”
He smiled. “I do. I’m falling in love with you. You make it impossible not to.”
Her grin widened at the sincerity in his tone, at the sure and confident way he said it—like a promise.
Like a vow.
She didn’t have to think. Her heart was speaking loud and clear. “I’m falling in love with you, too.”
