Page 12 of The Rancher's Plain Jane Wife

"I really gotta hand it to you,Ms. Clarke.Your loyalty knows no bounds."

"Stop pretending to be jealous," Sarah said with a snort. "We both know you onlythinkyou want me because I'm the only girl in town you haven't gotten to bed."

"One of these days," Colton threatened, "I'm going to make you fall for me—-"

"When pigs fly—-Colton!" She sputtered in a mixture of indignation and laughter when Colton, who was typically known as the gentlemanly type, actually threw his empty can of soda at her. "Jerk!"

Almost one hour later, and Colton was half-bored, half-annoyed as he was forced to listen to Sarah worry over her stepbrother's actions.

"I know Damian's read my messages, Colt," Sarah was sharing unhappily, "but he hasn't replied to any of them."

And so it continued, with Colton making sure to grunt, nod, or shake his head whenever Sarah required a response. It had been this way between them for over three years now...and counting.

Colton could still remember the night they had first met, and Sarah had come crashing into his life,literally. He had taken one look and had fallen for her like a ton of bricks while Sarah, on the other hand, even at that time, had only eyes for Damian.

The next time they met, it had been at Josiah and Naomi's reception, and Colton had been overjoyed when he found out she was going to live next door. He had asked her to dance the first chance he got and invited her to go clubbing, thinking it would be smooth sailing from there on. But instead she had shaken her head at him with a sheepish smile.'I'm sorry. I'm already in love with someone else.'Her gaze had swung away from him as she spoke, and following her line of sight, it was then he had come to realize his rival was none other than Sarah's own stepbrother.

A sudden squeal from Sarah yanked Colton back to the present, and his lips twisted when he saw the painfully familiar look of excitement on Sarah's face.

"He finally texted you?" he asked dryly.

"He's looking for me as we speak," Sarah reported happily while quickly rising to her feet. She dusted her jeans off, wanting to look more presentable, and it was then that her gaze absently drifted to the ground, where a gartersnake happened to be slithering straight towards her.

Even though Sarah knew it wasn't poisonous, snakes were one of her biggest fears, and just the thought of having its cold, slimy scales graze against her skin had her in a panic, and she quickly turned around to run—-

And ended up once again crashing into Colton's embrace, her body fully pressed against his lean, hard form.

Colton stiffened.

Sarah paled.

"I'm not gonna lie, Sarah Bear," he whispered. "Your breasts feel too damn good against my chest." The words were meant to make light of the fact that the briefest contact between their bodies had him sporting a hard-on, but to his shock, he saw Sarah's eyes filling up with tears.

"W-What's wrong?" he stammered.

But she had already wrenched herself out of his hold and was running away.

Five

Sarah had never felt so dirty. Before college, she had attended an all-girls Catholic school her entire life, and she had never gone out on a date because none of the boys she met had felt "right". Only Damian had been different, and she hadn't felt any shame at all whenever he touched her.

From time to time, however, she would often find herself wondering if another man could make her feel the way Damian did, and now she had her answer. More than making her feel soiled, it also felt completely wrong, to have her breasts against Colton's chest and hear him actually say he enjoyed it.

Fingers suddenly cupped her elbow from behind, and thinking it was Colton, Sarah immediately cried out, "Let go!" She struggled to free herself, but he was too strong, and before she knew it, he was already forcibly spinning her around.

"Damian?"She stopped moving right away as a sense of relief washed over him. Damian...Damian would make her feel better. Damian always made things right just by being there—-

Oh!

Too late she noticed the grim set of his jaw, and somehow she knew. She just knew, and the realization made her recoil from him with a choked sob.

"You saw it—-"

His lips tightened, and that was answer enough for her. She tried to run away for the second time, but Damian was a lot more forceful than Colton, and soon enough, his strong, hard arms were tightening and locking her in place.

"Let me go—-"

"Quiet." To other people's ears, the command, despite the gently firm tone he used to deliver it, would most likely have sounded cruel and harshly insensitive. And while it might be so, Damian didn't really give a damn. He knew what his Sarah needed, and in times like this, Sarah always preferred to be handled with a firm hand.

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