Page 27 of Rancher's Pride

“Fallon, I’ve known you forever and you haven’t ever been able to hide anything from me.” I moved closer and dragged my finger between her eyebrows. “Your tell is you frown, you might look relaxed and just like you’re thinking about something. But in reality, something made you mad. What’s wrong?” Putting my hands on her shoulders, I backed her up, so she was pinned between me and the counter.

“Starcie Stinener is a cunt.” Fallon looked down and crossed her arms. If she’d been transported back to when she was younger, I was sure we’d had this conversation before. Fallon had been thirteen, and came off the school bus spitting mad. Kipp and I teased her, and she threw her backpack at me. It took the two of us an hour to find out that Starcie had made fun of her because she hadn’t kissed a boy yet.

Fallon had always been focused. Back then it was barrel racing and she spent all her time in the arena, and was actually better than Tayla and Lark. Her drive was gone with her dad’s passing. It was just one more void that couldn’t be filled.

“Well, I won’t argue with you about that,” I said, trying to hide my smirk.

“She’s miserable, well maybe I got a little snarky too, but whatever.”

“You snarky? I can’t imagine that.” I shook my head and rolled my eyes.

She pressed her hands to my chest and pushed me away. Catching them before she stopped touching me, I pulled her to me. “What did she say?” My voice dropped, and the air was filled with tension. She told me everything that happened in the store and I couldn’t help the rage that flowed through my body.

“Okay look, I know it’s difficult coming home, but you can’t let people like Starcie worry you.” I didn’t know what to say to her. My advice for an almost thirty-year-old Fallon was vastly different than the thirteen-year-old Fallon. Now I just wanted to wrap her in my arms and make her feel like the most important woman in the world.

“Nash, I’m not thirteen anymore. Obviously I won’t let her of all people get to me, and it’s not like I forgot who she was.” Her voice trailed off, and she played absentmindedly with the button on my shirt. “I guess I just wasn’t prepared.” She shrugged. Wrapping her up in my arms, she sighed.

“You should have seen her face when I told her I was living with you. If her jaw could have hit the floor, it would have.” Fallon laughed and relaxed a bit.

“She’s tried for the better part of six months to weasel her way into my bed.”

“Starcie Stinener better never end up in your bed, Nash Powers.” She moved away from me, frowning.

“There’s only one person I want in my bed, and she’s married.” I let Fallon go, and I walked out of the kitchen. It was reckless of me to admit that to her, and her face falling was a blow to my pride. Walking into my bedroom, I closed the door with more force than I thought.

“Let me tell you something, you stubborn man.” The door to my room swung open, and Fallon stood there with her arms crossed. “I don’t want to be married anymore and I’ve started that process not to be. If you asked me to climb into bed with you right now, I probably would, but that wouldn’t be fair to you. So you can pout and slam the door all you want, Nash Powers, but at the end of the day we’re standing here because of decisions we both made.”

She stopped talking and clenched her jaw. She was right. I made a decision that changed the entire course of our lives because my ego might have taken a hit. “Just so you know, the second you’re not married, I’m taking you to my bed. Understand?” I walked over to her, grabbed her by the back of the neck, and pressed my lips to hers.

It was wrong, but I didn’t care. I’d looked at her kissable lips and ached for them to be on mine since she walked into Kipp’s house. Her lips were soft, just like the ones that haunted my dreams. They partedslightly, allowing me to slip my tongue between them, and I expected her to shove me away. Instead, she wrapped her arms around my neck and moved closer to me, until our bodies pressed against one another.

I didn’t know what to do with my hands. I felt like I was twelve and having my first kiss. Finally, placing them on her hips, I slid them around to the top of her ass. Fallon sighed, and I wanted more, but I couldn’t have it. She’d just had a baby and was someone’s wife.

Taking my hands off her as if I’d been burned, I grasped her arms and put some space between us. “I’m sorry.” I whispered. It was a lie. I wasn’t sorry at all. There wasn’t a part of me that wanted to stop.

“I’m not sorry Nash, so you don’t get to be either.” She turned on her heel and walked out of my room, leaving the door open. Her divorce better go through soon. I wasn’t going to be able to keep my hands off her.

“Did you talk to Jake?” She looked up at me, waiting for an answer.

“I did.” I affirmed, and I watched her face soften. “Going behind your back wasn’t my plan, but I was worried. The other night in the living room, the vacant look in your eyes, it scared me. Not like terrified me, but it scared me for you.” The more I talked, the dumber I felt, but it was the truth and that’s what I needed to be for her.

“Thank you,” she breathed as she wrapped her arms around me. “Nobody was there last time until thingswere bad, but you saw me. Like you always do.” Fallon rested her head on my chest, and I ached to be the one to look after her forever. “I’m still mad at you for leaving me in Kentucky all alone. This changes nothing.” Her words were now tight, but she still held on to me, giving me some hope for forgiveness.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

FALLON

Jake had assured me it would take a bit for my medication to fully take effect, but things weren’t feeling like I was walking through mud up to my hips. It was only about my knees now. Helping Nora plan the dance had taken my mind off a lot of things, and Nash had been amazing over these last two weeks. It was like he was born to be a dad, and both girls were more comfortable around him than I’d ever imagined.

As music floated through the barn, my heart was light. Our neighbors and community members danced, laughed, visited and sang along during the Christmas carols the band played. The weather might be cold and blustery outside this barn. Inside was warm, cozy, full of love of community and Christmas spirit. “Do you have a spot for me on your dance card?” His voice sent shivers down my spine. Even though he’d stepped up asa dad, we’d been avoiding one another as much as we could after our kiss, but it made me ache. I wanted Nash back. That thought scared me, and made me wonder if we could, in fact, put the past behind us and once again pursue something with each other.

“Your name’s the only one on it,” I said as I turned and smiled at him. He brushed his hand down my arm and took my hand, leading onto the dance floor. I didn’t care who gossiped, and I didn’t care who gawked at us. Tonight it was just him and I. He spun me around the floor like he had when we were younger and just like then I felt like his arms were where I was supposed to be.

The song ended, and we clapped for the band. “Mommy, you dance butiful.” Josie said as she smiled up at me. “Nas, dance me, dance me.” She jumped up and down, grabbing for his hand.

“Why don’t the three of us have a turn?” Nash looked over at Fred and Wanda, who had been watching both girls. Wanda waved us away like we were being a pest.

The music changed, and I would have known the song anywhere. When You Say Nothing At All played over the speakers and Nash held me tightly with one arm and Josie in the other as we swayed in the corner of the dance floor. “Remember the last time we danced to this?” He whispered in my ear.

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