Page 38 of Merrily Mine
13
emily
It took me a moment to remember where I was. Yesterday, I’d gone home with Mason.
We’d even gone back for Smokey, taking a small horse trailer and bringing her back with us. It felt right, seeing my mare stabled up next to Mason’s strong, brown stallion. My heart had fluttered at the sight. At some point, we’d take them for a ride together. I already had goosebumps, thinking about riding side by side on the trail with Mason. We hadn’t done that since we were kids.
Reaching over, I yawned, but the spot beside me was empty—the man himself no longer in bed with me.
His cabin was so cozy and warm, and I could see little touches of him everywhere I looked. Secretly, I loved it. I loved being in his space, that smelled like him—juniper berries and pine and musk. It felt like I was surrounded by everything he loved, surrounded byhim.I loved it.
Probably because I was falling in love with him.
In every little action, every little way he showed he cared about me.
I could smell the scent of coffee and eggs in the air as I rolled out of his bed, found his discarded forest green henley from the night before and pulled it on over my head.
There was no point in trying to find my panties—God knows he’d just take them off of me again, anyway.
I’d never had this much sex in my entirelife.There had to be some limit, didn’t there? Mason’s stamina was insane. Maybe it was because of all the manual labor he did out on the ranch. God, there was something about cowboys. Though maybe it was just this cowboy.
My cowboy.That thought brought a smile to my face as I found him in the kitchen, wrapping my arms around his waist as he stood in front of the stove. He’d put on a tight t-shirt and boxers, leaving those delicious veiny forearms bare for me to admire.
“Good morning,” I mumbled against his muscular back.
“Mornin’, darlin’,” he said, letting out a deep chuckle. “Didn’t know you’d woken up. I was gonna bring you breakfast in bed.”
“Oh.” I unwound myself from him. That was sweet. “Well, I woke up, and the bed was empty, so I came looking for you.”
He leaned over, kissing my forehead. “It’ll be done in a moment. There’s a mug of coffee for you on the counter.” He tilted his head, and I followed the motion, finding a mug waiting for me.
“So… what do you want to do today?” I asked him, leaning against the counter next to the stove.
Mason grinned. “I was thinking we’d go into town since the roads are all pretty much clear.”
“Into town?” I repeated, raising an eyebrow. “Why?”
“Come on, baby. You don’t want to go back to Giddy Up and have a do-over of our first night?”
“Hmmm.” I pretended to think about that. And while that sounded fun—especially because we hadn’t gotten to dancetogether that night—I thought spending the day here in his cabin sounded even better. “No.” I stuck my tongue out at him.
He laughed as he plated up the food. “Nah. Was thinking we’d go to the tree lot and get a tree. Jonah owes me a tree.”
“A tree?” I looked around his cozy cabin. “But you already have one?” I pointed to the corner. It was a smaller tree, nothing like the giant ones my mother used to get, but it was beautiful, decked out in ornaments. I wondered if his mom had decorated it for him. Though knowing him, he’d probably done it himself. “Sure. Butyoudon’t have a tree. So let’s go get you one.”
My mouth dropped. “Really?”
He turned to face me. “Why not? It’ll make you happy.”
I didn’t even bother with words. Just wrapped my arms around his stomach, burying my face in his chest and giving him the biggest hug I could muster. “Thank you,” I whispered.
“Don’t have to thank me, darlin’.” His finger brushed under my chin, tilting my head until my eyes met his. “Now, let’s eat, and then we’ll go find you a tree.”
We were walking through the Cassidy’s tree lot, fingers interlaced, a steaming hot cup of hot chocolate—with whipped cream—in both of our hands. Honestly, this felt like a dream.
And I knew everyone was looking at us. Most people knew who we were—me, because of my parents being surgeons, and Mason, because of his family’s ranch. I looked up at him, wondering if we looked right together. He was a lot taller than me, and yes, he was older, but the eight year difference didn’t bother me. Not at this point in my life.
Besides, we wanted the same things. Knowing that had made a lot of my fears melt away. Mason asking me to come home with him, tobe with him, that had made the rest.
