Page 105 of Wild As Her

She doesn’t argue. She just leans into me, finally soft. Finally safe.

And I hold her like I never plan on letting go. She can call me her business partner all she wants. I’m not her business partner. I’m her life partner. She just hasn’t figured that out yet.

Chapter 26

Cami

But Daddy I Love Him by Taylor Swift

The house is too quiet. In the quiet, I rethink everything I've said and done in the past few weeks. Even though chaos surrounds me right now, my heart feels so full.

I think about the way I must have seared him by the way he looked at me after I said, “business partners,” like I’d sucker punched him right in the gut. God, I still can't get the look on his face out of my mind.

Or the way I can still feel the heat of his hand on the small of my back when he passed behind me in the barn earlier. It was barely a brush but enough to make my pulse trip over itself. Jack's always had that power over me, and now it's only gotten stronger.

He’s downstairs in the living room. Probably watching some late-night rodeo rerun.

I hate how aware I am of him. We keep dancing around our past like ghosts around a campfire. I hate that he’s here,and he feels like home, danger, and longing all wrapped in one.

I pad down the stairs in my bare feet, the floorboards cool under my toes, and I pause when I see the faint flicker of firelight dancing in the living room.

He’s sprawled on the couch like some kind of shirtless cowboy centerfold with one arm thrown over the backrest, long legs stretched out like he owns the place. His chest is bare, golden in the firelight, all broad and annoyingly perfect. His hair’s a mess, like he’s been dragging his hands through it, and don’t even get me started on the jeans slung low on his hips. My heart? In full cardiac arrest.

He sees me, and something in his expression shifts. Softens. Like maybe he’s been sitting there thinking. Or maybe, just maybe, he couldn’t sleep either.

I lean against the doorway, pretending like I’m totally unaffected. “Burning the midnight oil, Jessop?”

He grins, slow and sleepy. “Can’t sleep.”

“Too many feelings?” I tease, stepping into the room like my pulse isn’t tap dancing.

He lifts a brow, eyes warm. “Only when I’m under the same roof as a woman who drives me absolutely insane.”

I smile. “Aw. That almost sounded romantic.”

He grins. “Almost.”

“Mission accomplished, then,” I say as I plop down on the couch beside him, a few inches of safety cushion between us. The fire crackles. Shadows play across his face. And when I glance sideways, he’s watching me.

"What are you doing, Jack?" I ask softly, more serious this time. I hold out for a sliver of hope that he'll drop his guard and tell me what's really on his mind.

He clears his throat. “I’ve been thinking about a lot of things. Mostly about you and me.”

I glance over at him. His jaw is tight. He’s chewing on the inside of his cheek like he's nervous. Vulnerable.

“My dad did a number on me, Cami. On all of us. But I'm trying to move past it all and become a man who isn't him."

I blink, surprised by how quiet his voice is. “Jack...”

He shakes his head. “There's so much you don't know. It’s the stuff I’ve been carrying since I was a kid. Every time he hit me, every lie he made me tell, every time he made me feel like I wasn’t good enough—that cut me deep. And I’ve spent most of my life afraid I’d turn out just like him.”

I shift, giving him my full attention. My heart is in my throat. “You’re nothing like him, Jack.”

He gives a bitter smile. “You don’t know that. I’ve got his blood. His name. That name comes with a warning label. And I think… I think that’s why I’ve kept my distance from you. Because you deserve someone without all that baggage. Someone who doesn’t wake up wondering if the darkness inside him is gonna win one day.”

“Jack.” I reach out, my fingers brushing his. “That’s not who you are. You’re not your father.”

He meets my gaze, and for the first time, I see the fear behind them. The vulnerability behind the swagger. He plays the alpha cowboy card so well. But this is a new side of him. One that he hasn't let me see before.

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