Page 46 of Parading the Cowboy Billionaire (Bluegrass Ranch 4)

As long as it takes, he thought, keeping her tight and flush against him.

He didn’t know how to reassure her, but eventually, he said, “Let me take you home.” She wouldn’t want to go out now anyway.

“You’re hungry,” she said, her breath hitching in her chest immediately afterward.

“I’ll call for something.” He released her, and she slipped away from him. He dropped his eyes so she wouldn’t feel overwhelmed. A woman like Ginny required privacy to put herself back together, and she’d be horribly embarrassed that she’d broken down like this.

Cayden rounded the hood again and got behind the wheel. He swung the truck around and headed back to her country house while Ginny continued to sniffle on the other side of the truck.

He helped her down back at the house and took her right back inside. She kept her hand in his as she went through the living room and down the hall that led to her bedroom. She spun back to him, reaching up with both hands and cradling his face.

“You are a beautiful, wonderful man,” she whispered. “Will you wait while I change, and then can we just sit together?”

“Of course,” he whispered. “I’ll call for pizza while you change.”

She nodded and slipped into the bedroom. He didn’t call; he used the pizza delivery app to get the pies, salads, and desserts he wanted.

Ginny took a long time in the bedroom, and when she came out, she wore a sexy, black sweatshirt that hung off one shoulder, revealing a lot of skin there he’d never seen before. She wore a pair of wide-leg pants, also in black, and she’d scrubbed her face clean.

Cayden stared at her, as he’d never seen her without makeup. She didn’t paint herself up like a clown, but Ginny knew how to wear the exact right colors on her face, in the precise amount to enhance her natural beauty.

He wanted to take her into his arms and whisper that he loved her. In so many ways, he did. In others, he knew he wasn’t quite there yet.

He gathered her close and said, “Ginny, I don’t know what to say or do right now. I don’t know what’s happened or not happened. I just want you to know that there are other ways for a couple to have children, and if that’s a point we find ourselves at, I’m confident that we’ll make the right choices for us.”

He liked speaking in plurals likeweandus, and he hoped he hadn’t jumped too far ahead for her. He hadn’t asked her about her mother in several weeks now, and she hadn’t brought her up either. He’d made a little bit of peace with himself regarding the whole thing, and he could make peace with this too.

Easing back, he looked down into her face. “You’re gorgeous,” he whispered. “I like you so very much. So much that sometimes I think I’m in love with you.”

“I can’t have children,” she said again, those navy eyes so full of anguish. “That’s not a deal-breaker for you?”

“Not at all,” he promised. “Okay? Not at all.”

She closed her eyes and nodded. He watched her draw in a big breath and put all of her strongholds back into the proper positions. When she looked up at him again, the fierceness had re-entered her gaze. “Thank you, Cay.”

He smiled and reached up and wiped her face for her. “For the record, Ginny, I love this fierce version of you. I love this woman with no makeup on too. I love the woman who was vulnerable enough with me to cry in front of me. I love the honesty of your heart.” He took a breath and smiled. “I love the woman who knows how to wear her professional clothes and the perfect makeup and run a massive family company almost single-handedly.”

Running his fingers over the soft, bare skin on her shoulder and neck, Cayden added, “Ireallylove this sweatshirt,” as the final thing he was going to say.

She laughed, the sound so much better than that sob he’d heard in his truck. He joined her, hoping he hadn’t said “I love” too many times.

One time was probably too many, he thought, but he didn’t want to regret anything about tonight.

“Come show me the best seat in the house,” he said, lacing his fingers through hers. “Will the dogs come sit with us?”

“You and those dogs,” she teased.

“I like them,” he said. “There’s something comforting about dogs.”

Out in the living room, Ginny led him to the end of the couch that was a chaise, and she pointed to it. “This is the best seat in the house.”

“I can see that.” He sat down and stuck his legs straight out in front of him, grinning up at her. “I’ll take my boots off.”

“I’ll get us something to drink.” She padded into the kitchen while Cayden removed his boots and let them drop to the floor. When Ginny returned, she handed him a bottle of diet cola and climbed onto the chaise with him.

She cuddled right into his side, and he lifted his arm around her shoulders. “Now thisisthe best seat in the house,” he murmured.

She sighed and pressed her cheek to his chest. Cayden closed his eyes and basked in the warmth and safety of the two of them, in this moment, together.

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