Page 16 of Buck Me, Cowboy

“Yeah.” He rolls to his side, pulling me against his chest, our bodies still riding out the lingering tremors of pleasure. “It was.”

As our heartbeats slow and reality seeps back in, I realize something fundamental has shifted. This wasn’t just sex—it was an emotional connection so deep that it’s changed something essential about who I am.

I don’t understand how I can feel this connected to someone I’ve known for three days. But lying here in his arms, his fingers tracing lazy patterns on my skin, I know with absolute certainty that what we just shared was real.

I’m falling for this cowboy.

“Tell me about this.”Amos’s fingers trace the turquoise necklace I’m still wearing—the only thing I haven’t taken off.

“It was my grandmother’s.” I capture his hand and press it flat against my heart.

When I pull back, his expression has grown serious. “Rebecca, I need you to know that what happened between us wasn’t just about tonight.”

“I know.” The admission comes easily, honestly. “Even if it started as fake, having you in my corner felt real. Being with you feels natural and easy, like we’ve known each other for a lot longer than a few days.”

“It was real for me too.” His thumb strokes across my cheekbone with reverent tenderness. “Maybe it started as me helping you, but somewhere along the way, it became the most real thing in my life.”

The confession sends warmth spiraling through my chest. This cowboy with his easy charm and surprising vulnerability has taken up permanent residence in my heart.

“You said your relationship with your mother is complicated.”

“She worked double shifts to give me opportunities my father never had. She wanted me to have a stable life, not one where I was on the road half the year and risking my life at every rodeo.” His hand finds mine, intertwining our fingers and raising my hand to his mouth to kiss each of my knuckles. “Instead, I chose the same path that broke her heart when my father didn’t come home after a rodeo gone wrong.”

“She’s scared of losing you.” I press a soft kiss to his chest, tasting salt and something essentially him. “Maybe this season could be different. Maybe you could find a way to bridge that gap.”

“Maybe.” He strokes my hair. “Being with you makes me want to try. Makes me want to be the kind of man that you deserve.”

Outside the window, the sounds of the fair reach us. But here in this bed, skin to skin and heart to heart, the rest of the world feels distant.

“What are you thinking about?” Amos asks, his fingers tracing patterns on my bare shoulder.

“How this doesn’t feel fake at all.” I shift to look at him directly. “How it feels like the most real thing that’s ever happened to me.”

“Good.” He cups my face, thumbs stroking across my cheekbones. “Because I’m falling for you, Rebecca Cooper. Hard and fast and completely.”

The words send my heart soaring even as they terrify me. “That’s crazy. We’ve known each other for three days.”

“Some things don’t need time to be real.” His voice carries absolute conviction. “What I feel for you is more powerful than anything I’ve experienced. All I know is that I’d be a damn fool to let you go, and I have no intention of being a damn fool.”

The easy way we talk about feelings should terrify me. Three days ago, this man was a stranger. Now he’s confessing he’s falling for me, and instead of running, I want to fall with him.

Lying here in his arms, feeling more content and connected than I have in years, it doesn’t feel rushed. It feels inevitable. Like every choice I’ve made has been leading me to this moment, this man, this overwhelming sense of rightness.

As his mouth finds mine in a kiss that is filled with promises, my last thought is that I’m in love with Amos Cross.

CHAPTER 8

AMOS

I’ll go grab us some coffee and pastries from the breakfast buffet. Take your time.”

Morning light streams through the windows, catching the gold highlights in Rebecca’s tousled hair. I’ve never woken up feeling this content with life, that everything is right in my life, and the woman at my side is the one I want to spend a lifetime with.

“Sounds perfect. I could get used to this.” She stretches sensuously under the sheets, her eyes sleepy as she smiles up at me.

I press a tender kiss to her forehead before heading for the door. “Be right back, Spice Queen.”

The elevator ride down feels like floating. Every muscle in my body carries the pleasant ache of last night’s passion, but it’s more than that. For the first time in my life, I know what it is to feel like I belong somewhere. I’ve found my home in Rebecca.

---