Page 76 of If You Loved Me

“You just saw me this morning,” I teased.

His eyes were bright as a fresh spring sky after the hazeof winter when he said, “No amount of time with you could ever be enough.” Then his lips were on mine, tender at first with featherlight kisses against each corner.

I needed him closer, needed his body pressed against mine without anything between us. We’d had our fun tasting and exploring, but I wanted more. I wanted everything he was willing to give me.

Wrapping my arms around his neck, he grabbed my ass and lifted me onto the counter. His tongue moved against the seam of my mouth, a thrill shot up my spine wishing his tongue was lower. Wanting to feel his hot mouth against my clit. I couldn’t get enough of him as I deepened the kiss, opening up for him, his fingers digging into my hips on the verge of pain that felt so fucking good, I dropped my hands and pressed his harder into my flesh.

Scooting to the edge of the counter, I ground my hips into the fly of his jeans. I was feral, wildly moving against him as he pressed against my back, his open palms sliding up and down.

We were practically panting when he broke the kiss, his forehead coming down to mine. “I have another surprise for you this weekend.”

I groaned. “Can’t we just spend all weekend in bed?”

His chuckle was throaty and warm. “My little vixen.” He nipped my bottom lip with his teeth. “I think you’ll like this one.”

“Promise?” I pouted, blinking my eyelashes at him.

“Promise.”

“Good, because—” The door to the kitchen swung openso hard, that the metal slapped against the wall with a resounding thud. I looked past Ranger’s shoulder to see my mother burst through the door.

A yip shot out of my mouth as I jolted off the counter and out of Ranger’s hold. I stared at her wide-eyed, not knowing how or why she was standing in my kitchen again.

Then I saw Stephanie peek around the corner. “I’m sorry, Sarah. I tried to stop her, but she darted right past me.”

My mother sneered. “No one can stop me from going where I want to go.”

“It’s okay, Steph,” I said, voice shaky.

I felt Ranger step up behind me, his large frame was a comfort at my back. My mother didn’t take her eyes off me. She ignored him completely and it pissed me off.

“When you didn’t respond to my messages I knew I needed to address this in person. Your complete disregard for our family’s legacy needs to come to an end.”

“He wasn’t right for me, mom.” My voice was small when what I really wanted to do was yell. To scream that he put his hands on me and made me feel trapped. That he was awful and I hated her for putting me in the position to know him.

But I didn’t say any of those things. Even with Ranger placing a reassuring hand on the small of my back, I couldn’t stand up to my mother.

“You don’t know what’s right for you. You may be thirty years old, but you still act like an indolent child. Never willing to do what’s necessary. The only person you think about is yourself.”

“Indolent? I built a business from the ground up without your help. I work nearly seven days a week. How is that not enough for you?”

Just tell me I’m enough, the thought sank its teeth into my mind. The same thought I’d had most of my life. It was the only thing I wanted from my mother. The one thing I knew I would never get.

She scoffed like my accomplishments bore no weight in her eyes. “I don’t understand, after all your father and I gave you, the life we provided you, how you could ruin it all by sullying yourself with the trash in this town.” Her cold stare finally settled inches above my face where I knew she was looking at Ranger.

Something in me snapped. I’d taken so much of her emotional abuse over the years. Dealt with everything she threw my way and somehow buried it deep. Hoping that one day she would see the mistake she was making. The second she said Ranger wastrash, the leash on my emotions broke.

“He’s not trash,” I seethed, my entire body feeling hot.

My mother took a step forward, her finger pointing at my face. “He’s an ex-convict who spent ten years in prison, Sarah. He was born on a failing ranch with no penny to his?—”

“Stop!” I screamed, the echo of my rage rang throughout the small space. She pursed her lips, eyes growing wide. I’d never yelled at my mother before. Never raised my voice. Not once.

“You can say whatever you want about me. Tell me how much of a disappointment I am to you. How I failed at beingyour perfect daughter. But I’m not going to let you talk about him that way.

“Ranger is the best thing that’s ever happened to me. He’s shown me love and kindness and support. Things I never received from you or dad. If you think I’m a failure, that’s fine. But I hope one day you can look in the mirror and know that the truth is thatyoufailedme.You were so wrapped up in conjuring a plot to get me to do what you wanted that you never stopped to assess whether or not Jones was a good man.”

I stepped out of Ranger’s space and towards my mother, feeling a sudden strength I didn’t know I had. “Jones hurt me, mom. He grabbed onto me and wouldn’t let me go even when I begged him to. That’s the kind of man you sent your daughter to.”

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