Page 24 of The Cowboy Contract
And now he might have to suffer the consequences of his lack.
“It’s beautiful.” Her voice was quiet as her eyes left the ring to meet his. “When did you get this?”
He huffed out a bitter laugh and gave her the best answer he could. “Not soon enough.”
“I…” Her dark brows pinched together. “Why are you selling your house?”
Uncertainty was creeping all the way in now, forcing him to fake more confidence than he felt. “I’m hoping the prettiest woman in Moss Creek asks me to come live in her way nicer house.”
Paige’s lips flattened, the edges turning white from how firmly she pressed them together. The rest of her expression tightened more and more with each beat of his heart as it tried to escape his chest.
Then she burst into tears.
He’d only seen Paige really cry once, and that was when her dad died. And just like that day, he freaked out immediately.
“No, no, no, no.” Leland stood, cradling her face in his hands. “Please don’t cry. You can tell me no. We can just go back to the way we were. I swear.”
He thought his offer might fix things, but Paige only cried harder, her pretty face scrunching up as she wailed, “You want to go back to the way we were before?”
He stared at her a minute, trying to think straight. The way his emotions and their conversation kept bouncing from one extreme to the other was giving him whiplash. It seemed like they were determined to misunderstand each other. So fucking scared to lose what they had, neither of them was willing to stick their neck out.
But if anyone’s neck had to be on the chopping block, it was going to be his.
Leland jabbed one finger into the center of his chest. “I love you with my whole fucking soul.” He pointed at Paige, centering on her heart. “Do you love me?” His lungs froze, refusing to pull in air as he waited.
“With,”hiccup, “my whole,”hiccup, “soul.”
For the first time in weeks he felt like he could fucking breathe. “Good.” He repeated the same process since it worked so well the first time, finger coming to his chest. “I want to marry you.” His finger went to Paige. “Do you want to marry me?”
She nodded, blinking hard against the rain still falling on their heads. “Yes. Right now.”
A smile split his face. “It’s a little late for us to accomplish that right now, so you’re going to have to wait.”
Paige sniffed, lifting her chin. “I’ve been waiting for years already.”
He lifted his brows, settling back into himself. Intothem. “And whose fault is that?”
Paige’s eyes widened, outrage sparking in their depths. “It’s your fault,jerk.” She gave him a playful shove. “You could have told me forever ago that you loved me.”
He scoffed, laughing. “Me? What about you, brat?” He grabbed her, pulling her close before swatting Paige on the ass. “Maybeyoushould’ve toldme.” Hefting her up off the ground, he plastered her front to his, hooking a hand behind one leg to encourage it up around his waist as he started walking to the porch. “Don’t act like I’m the only one who fucked up here.”
And if that didn’t prove how perfect they were for each other, nothing would.
Locking her legs around him, Paige leaned back, lips parted, eyes wide as she stared at his face while he scaled the steps. “This means we’re going to finally have sex, doesn’t it?” Her question was breathless.
And sent every bit of blood in his body rushing to his dick.
A smile worked onto his face. He might have fucked up a lot when it came to Paige, but he had no fears when it came to taking care of her needs in the bedroom. He knew her better than anyone.
Could please her better than anyone.
He punched in the code to unlock the door. Gripping the handle, he shoved it wide before stepping into the home he’d been waiting to call his so he could claim the woman who’d owned him for years. “Yes it fucking does.“
11
Paige
SHE’D BEEN NERVOUS about a lot of things lately when it came to Leland, but having sex with him now sat at the top of the list. What if he thought she was terrible at it?
