Page 101 of Heart & Hope

Never will be.

“Reed?” I rasp.

“Yeah, beautiful?” The words reverberate through me, sending me higher and the heat in my belly lower.

“Clothes. We need to lose the clothes.”

“Agreed,” he growls, setting me onto my feet. He makes short work of his shirt and jeans, and my breaths shallow out as I take him in. No matter how many times I see this man bare for me, hard for me, it hits hard, every single time.

I rest a hand over his heart, letting it slowly trail downward. He watches my hand slide lower and lower.

“I love this part of you,” I whisper, running a finger over the abdominal muscles that are honed to cowboy perfection. I trace the V that sits central to his hip bones. “And this.”

Every breath burns with each second my finger stays on his skin. When I finally reach the rigid length and velvety soft head of his hard cock, I close my eyes and hold the last inhale in my lungs.

I count to twenty, trying to tame my wild, shattered nerves that are sending me lightheaded.

“My turn, baby,” Reed drawls, stepping a little closer. His hands start on the top of my head. I huff a breath. Trust him to start there.

“This soft, gorgeous golden hair gets me every time.”

His hands glide down my neck, and his fingers wrap around my neck. I meet his gaze. The heat that had me consumed before roars to a bonfire, eating up the last of my control.

“This here. Mine.”

His hand continues, light and gentle, to my breasts. “Now these are fucking priceless, Ruby Robbins.”

I roll my eyes at him, and he growls a little, shaking his head with lowered brows. His hand reduces to a finger as he curls his fist and tracks it toward the clasp of my Levi’s.

“This is where I show you how much I fuckin’ love you.” His voice cracks and fades, and he sucks in a short, abrupt breath. He plucks the clasp open and pushes my jeans and panties to the floor. “And I will love you for as long as I damn live, Ruby Jane Robbins.”

He drops to his knees and grips my hips. I slide my hands into his hair and lean my head on the wall, tilting it up so the tears that formed with his declaration don’t spill.

When his hands push my thighs open further and the first strong sweep of his tongue runs through my soaked center, I scream his name.

Now, there is no turning back.

Completely resuscitated by the kindest, most genuinely loving man to ever exist. And, I have no idea how I will make this work.

But to lose Reed?

That would break me beyond return.

Chapter Twenty-Five

REED

Ruby stands beside me, wringing her hands in front of her. If I wasn’t as strung out as her, I would be giving her shit about being worried about nothing. But I ain’t, cos I am.

The driveway stretches out before us.

Ruby checks her watch again. The tablet she will use to check in the guests balances on the top of the fence.

Ten minutes until the arrival of the first official guest of R & R Ranch.

The knots that are turning my gut into a hurricane tug tighter. But seeing Ruby anxious over this has my protective streak lit up and blazing. “They will come, baby. I promise.”

“You can’t promise that, Reed. What if they don’t? The dinner we all pitched in and made, the outlay for the cabins and catering, the rebuild of the barn will sink us before we even start!”

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