Page 83 of Forever After All

Her eyes widened, and she bolted upright. She looked from Brett and Thea to Linc and back again. Then, remembering she was wearing his shirt, she jerked the blanket up to her chin.

Brett coughed on a bite of apple he’d been chewing. “I was just joking, but you two look guilty.”

Thea seemed to snap out of her daze and grabbed Brett’s arm. “Maybe we should come back after breakfast.”

“No. No. No,” Jess said quickly. “Nothing happened. We were just keeping an eye on…Applejack.” Jess looked around, still getting her bearings. “Oh! Is she okay?”

Linc rested a hand on Jess’s shoulder. “Relax. She had a bowel movement around three this morning, and she’s been fine ever since.” He’d never been excited about horse poop before, but there was apparently a first time for everything.

He’d been up every hour, careful not to wake Jess. She’d been pushing herself hard these last few weeks trying to make sure everything was ready for the season. On top of that, she was still healing from the concussion and bruised ribs.

Apparently, he’d been too exhausted after the last check-in to set another alarm. At least he’d thought to text Jameson at three to let him know Applejack was out of the woods.

Jess frantically rummaged through the blanket. “Where’s my phone? What time is it?”

“Teatime, sis,” Brett said with that smug grin still on his face.

“Can you maybe give her a second?” Linc didn’t even try to keep the growl out of his voice. Clearly, Jess didn’t think this was as funny as her brother did.

Brett held up his hands, one still clutching the apple. “Fine. I’ll give you some privacy.” He crossed his arms and shook his head. “Shame on you. Right in front of the horses.”

“Brett!” Linc and Jess shouted at the same time.

Thea was trying her best to hold back a laugh as she dragged Brett away by his arm. “Quit pestering them.”

“But it’s so much fun,” Brett said as he followed his wife out of the barn.

Thane still sat beside Jess’s cot waiting for attention. She pointed at him and said, “Don’t look at me like that. We just slept together. I mean, we slept next to each other.”

When Thane continued to stare, Jess sighed. “It was for Applejack!”

Linc rested a hand on her shoulder again. “Jess, you don’t owe the dog an explanation.”

She jerked her attention to him, eyes wide as if she’d forgotten he was there. “Easy for you to say. You didn’t wake up being judged.”

Linc looked around. “Pretty sure I did.”

Jess’s shoulders sank. “Okay. I just need a minute to wake up.” She rubbed her eyes and let out a long breath.

Linc stood and stretched. “I’m going to check on Applejack.”

“I will,” Jess said through another yawn. She threw off the blanket and slid her feet into the boots beside the cot.

And he’d forgotten she was wearing his shirt. A light buzzing started under his skin, reminding him to keep his distance.

But he wanted her. Selfishly, unapologetically. He wanted every smile, every look, every second of her time. He wanted the pain and the past. He wanted the future with every up and down along the way.

His palms tingled with the need to touch her and pull her in, but he couldn’t. He’d spent a good part of the night explaining just why he couldn’t have her. Too bad his base desires didn’t get the cease-and-desist letter.

Jess stomped over to the stall before turning to him. “Why didn’t you wake me up?”

Linc shrugged. “I must have forgotten to turn on the alarm.”

Or he’d slept through the alarm because he was cuddled up with Jess. He hadn’t meant to oversleep either way, but he couldn’t regret it too much. Those last few hours were some of the best sleep he’d ever had.

Waking up next to Jess was officially one of the best moments of his life, and he had zero apologies.

Jess turned on her heels with a huff and disappeared into Applejack’s stall. Maybe he had a few regrets. She didn’t seem happy about their early-morning snooze fest.

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