He didn’t love her. Wouldn’t allow himself to go that far. But what they shared was important, so his decision to come back home, though not easy, had at least felt right once it was made.
“My hitch is up in two months,” he was saying. “In two weeks, I’ve got to report back to duty, but I’ll stay stateside until I’m out. Then I’m coming home. To Royal. To you.”
“Rick,” she said, clearly stunned, “I don’t know what to say to you….”
“Don’t have to say a thing,” he whispered, leaning down until his mouth was just a breath away from hers. “I’m doing this for me as much as for you. It’s time I took up the reins on the family ranch. The oil business. John Henry’s getting up there in age, though God knows he wouldn’t admit that. And I miss home. Have for a long time.”
She reached up to cover one of his hands with hers. “This doesn’t change anything, Rick.”
“Everything changes, Sadie. That’s all life is. A series of changes. It’s up to us to recognize them when they show up.”
“Not all change is for the better,” she protested.
“This one is.” He kissed her, leaning in until their bodies pressed together and he could feel her heartbeat thundering hard in her chest.
He parted her lips with his tongue, took her breath as his own and gave her everything he had. He poured all that he was feeling into that kiss and when it was over, he had the satisfaction of seeing her stagger unsteadily.
She opened her eyes slowly, blinking up at him as if she was waking from a dream. When their gazes met, he smiled, rubbed his thumb across her lower lip. “I’m not going anywhere, Sadie,” he said softly. “I’m going to be here. For you. For our girls. And sooner or later darlin’, you’re going to be mine.”
She was still dazed from that kiss, and Rick could admit silently that he felt pretty much the same way. Touching her, tasting her, always left him shaken and craving more. But that kiss would have to do both of them for a while.
“Now,” Rick said, taking her arm, “I’ll see you back to your table and you can finish your lunch with Abby.”
Sadie shook her head. “You don’t have to do that.”
“Yeah, I do.” He opened the door, steered her through the dining room and was completely aware of the gazes locked on him. He couldn’t give a good damn. He was a man on the ragged edge of control. Sadie had pushed him about as far as he was willing to be pushed. Now it was time to take a stand.
Let her know that he wasn’t going anywhere.
Ignoring everyone else in the place, Rick waited for Sadie to slide into the booth beside Abby. Then he inclined his head. “Ladies …” he said, and left.
As he walked out, he heard the whispers following him and he knew damn well what the folks were wondering.
Did she say yes? Or no?
Well, he thought grimly, let ‘em wonder.
By the following afternoon, the whole damn town was speculating about Rick and Sadie. There hadn’t been such a flurry of gossip since word got out that Abby Langley was a descendant of Royal’s very own Texan outlaw, Jessamine Golden.
Strange how much more interesting gossip seemed when you weren’t the subject of it.
Scowling into the sun, Rick took a pull on his cold beer and looked out over the ranch lake. He’d thought coming out here today with Joe would get his mind off Sadie, but damned if she didn’t haunt him even here.
He could still taste her on his lips. Could still feel the soft, curvy pliancy of her body pressed along his. Hear the soft catch of her breath and smell that tantalizing scent that clung to her skin.
Gritting his teeth, Rick finished the beer and tossed the empty into a nearby bucket. It landed with a clatter that seemed overly loud in the stillness.
“Everybody’s talking about you, you know,” Joe said, swinging his pole back only to let the line and lure fly out to the center of the lake. It hit with a plunk and ripples rolled across the surface, racing toward shore.
“Yeah,” Rick muttered. “I know. Good to be home, huh?”
“Well, hell, can you blame anybody? The show you put on at the TCC?” Joe shook his head. “I only wish I’d been there to see it. You could have given me a heads-up. Let me know that you were going to turn the town on its ear so I could be there to watch.”
“Right. Just what I needed. One more spectator.”
“People are wondering what Sadie’s answer was.” Joe looked at him, then snorted a laugh. “Judging from your attitude, I’m guessing she’s still saying no.”
“Woman won’t see reason.”
“What’s new about that?” Joe cranked on the spinning reel, drawing his line back in so he could recast.
Rick’s line lay on the water, drifting with the wind. Some fishing trip this was. He couldn’t keep his mind off of Sadie long enough to bother to recast. The woman was invading every damn part of his life.
“You’re not doing any of the men in town any favors, you know.”
“What?” Rick determinedly picked up his pole and reeled in the line. The whirring sound was almost comforting. He was going to fish and he was going to enjoy it, damn it.
“Abby Langley had a talk with my Tina. Told her how you’re pressuring Sadie to marry you.” Joe sighed and cast out again. “Now Tina’s giving me grief because you’re my friend.”
“I’d say I’m sorry about that, but I’ve got my own problems.” Shaking his head at the weird workings of the female mind, Rick set fresh bait on the hook.
“Yeah, well,” Joe said, “from what I hear, Tina’s not the only wife on the warpath, either.”
“That’s great.” Rick shook his head and sent his newly baited hook flying. Good cast.
“Yeah, I slept on the couch last night thanks to you.”
“Hey, don’t blame me if Tina finally got wise and tossed your ass onto a couch.”
“I’m not blaming you.” Joe sighed. “My own damn fault for telling Tina I thought you were right to insist on getting married. Man, you should have heard her after I said that.” He stopped and shuddered in memory. “My wife’s got a temper that could make a rampaging Apache back up and rethink his options. Hell, even after all that, I still say marrying the mother of your kids is the right thing to do, everybody knows that. Now all of a sudden, that’s a bad thing?”
Disgusted, Rick only muttered, “Women.”
“That about says it.” Joe kicked at the cooler beside him. “Hell, the only reason we’ve got these sandwiches to eat are because I stopped by the diner on the way over. Tina refused to make me her fried chicken. Said she wouldn’t have any part in making you happy when you’re making Sadie so miserable.” Shaking his head, he mumbled, “Not right, cutting a man off from fried chicken with no warning.”
Well, that settled it, Rick thought. Every woman in this town was as nuts as Sadie. Time was, a man who refused to marry the mother of his children was treated like an outcast. Now, he was getting the same treatment for trying to marry her.
How the hell was a man supposed to make sense of something that had zero logic behind it?
A few minutes of companionable silence passed when the only sounds were a few lazy birds halfheartedly warbling in the heat and the gentle slap of water against the shore. Sunlight glittered on the lake and glanced off it as if it were a mirror. Oaks and summer-brown hills surrounded the place and Rick took a moment to feel the familiar sense of home slide through him.
This