Page 88 of The Love Lie
“I’m not a businessman, Sam. I’m a cowboy.”
“Who said you can’t be both?”
“My dad won’t even let me open us up for horseback riding tours.”
“So?”
“It’s his ranch.”
She rears back in confusion, then cocks her head to the side. “But isn’t that the whole point?”
“What?” he asks, clueless to what she’s implying.
“It’ll be yours,” she says, as if that’s the most obvious thing in the world. And maybe it is. But it feels brand new. Not the idea that he’ll inherit the ranch one day. He knows that. He’s always known it. But that when he does, it won’t be his father’s ranch anymore, or his father’s, or his father’s before him.
It’ll be mine.
“Someday, hopefully in the very distant future, itwillbe yours, Cooper,” she says, as if she can read on his face howher words are resonating. “Your father won’t always be the one making the decisions, and an opportunity like this might not come around again. There’s a saying my old boss used to like. Sometimes it’s better to ask for forgiveness than permission. If you start bringing in money, if you show him your way can work, he won’t be able to say no.”
Isn’t that why he went on the show in the first place?
Isn’t that why he risked so much?
To make something of himself.
To make somethingforhimself.
To prove his father wrong.
Or had his father been right all along? Had he just wanted an excuse to run away again, to gallivant around the world instead of putting in the real work here?
“You can do it, Cooper.” She slides her palm over his cheek to stroke his skin, drawing him out of himself and back to her. “You can make it yours.”
All he wants to do is taste the confidence on her lips, as if her kiss might be able to infuse that belief into his soul.
But he can’t.
So he does the next best thing and fists her hair. As he lays her back on the counter, he tugs her head to the side, gaining access to her throat.
“The food—”
“Can wait.” He undoes those two taunting buttons. “I want an appetizer first.”
Lips pressed against her skin, he feels her pulse pound as he spreads her knees wide. With a grin, he sinks lower.
Eventually, they make it to the food.
And after that, the bedroom.
At some point, they must fall asleep, because when he opens his eyes the first strains of daylight filter through the window. And this time, Sam is still there with him, nuzzled against hisside with their legs entwined. It’s heaven, just pure bliss, to wake with her warmth still seeping into his skin, to feel the gentle brush of her breath on his chest, to know she didn’t vanish in the middle of the night. The absolute last thing he wants to do is extricate himself.
But the ranch waits for no one.
So he’s careful not to jostle her as he gently rolls free. He’s quiet as he grabs a set of clothes from the closet and brushes his teeth in the bathroom before slipping away. He puts a pot of coffee on, lays out one of the croissants he picked up from the bakery in town, and pens a quick note to let her know he should be back after lunch.
An odd feeling washes over him as he fires up his truck and eases down the dirt driveway toward the main house. His gaze keeps drifting to the rearview mirror as the house grows smaller and smaller, a sinking feeling in his chest at the thought of Sam being farther and farther away. It’s only when he slams on the brakes after having almost run into a deer that the truth smacks him in the face.
For the first time in his life, he’s looking back.
