“I’m taking that as a yes,” I muttered as I followed her command. My head pounded, and my tongue tasted of sand.
“Can you…um…tell me your name?” Her eyes were red and watery.
I tried to push myself up, but a sharp pain shot through my side.
“Don’t move.” Rae pressed a hand to my shoulder, gently nudging me back down.
“Of course I can tell you my name.” I winced and closed my eyes for a second.
“Well?”
“I’m finding it.” I waved her away. “You’re Rae, though. Rae Jones. I know that at least. Something tells me that’s more important.”
“It’s not.” She laughed a little and tugged the blanket over my arms. “I’m going to get your brother and everyone else.”
“Wait.” I grabbed her wrist, using what little strength I had to keep her in place.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“I just…” I licked my lips, trying to figure out how to explain to her how long I’d been gone. What it’d been like to be inside my head for what seemed like years all alone. What it’d been like to think about her every day and nearly what-if myself to death. “Could I look at you for a second? For a second, could it just be us?”
Rae let out a soft sigh. The bed dipped under her weight. I slid to her side. “Sure.”
“I missed you.”
She looked away for a second. I grabbed her hand, interlacing her fingers with mine. I squeezed her fingers a few times, hoping she’d meet my gaze again. “Rae? Can you look at me? I’ve been dreaming about this forever. Well, I think I was dreaming. If one can fall asleep in a dream. But after everything that’s happened, I think nothing’s too far-fetched.”
Rae brushed at her cheeks and turned to me. She squeezed my hand back.
“Tell me your name,” Rae whispered, and when I didn’t immediately respond, she added, “Do you remember what happened?”
I was supposed to tell her about being lured into the stable, waking up with a copilot in my body, and then being tied up and sat on some ritualistic symbol to rid me of my demonic hitchhiker. Instead, I said, “You took me canoeing, and I think I knew I would fall in love with you if you stuck around long enough. I remember being in the RV where you said you didn’t want to go. But I couldn’t imagine you actually staying and being happy because seeing you with your team and on stage…I’d never take that from you. But I dreamed about it for a bit. Not taking, but giving you something different. Give you me and this home, and that being enough. I dreamed I was enough. It was a nice dream, that’s what happened. We were a nice dream.”
She shook her head, but instead of pulling away andtelling me this was all too much, and she would remain a hunter until the end of her days, and I would remain at Elmwood, thinking about her for the rest of my life, she kissed me. Rae cupped my cheeks and gently parted my mouth. I clung to her, pulling her against me so her weight rested on my chest. The curve of her was a lifeline. I longed to mold myself into it, praying it’d imprint on my skin so whenever she left, I’d have the outline of her forever.
“To hell with dreams,” she whispered against my lips.
I smiled. “To hell with most of what’s happened lately.”
Rae nodded in agreement. “I’m going to stay.”
My heart was in my throat, blocking me from the million thoughts tumbling through my brain.
“Maybe not forever. I don’t know if you’d be able to tolerate me for that long.”
“Shut up.” I pulled Rae closer, kissing her again. “You can’t.”
“And why not?”
“Because you…you’re Rae, and you love being on the road, and you love diners and beautiful, unsupportive block heels, and getting to know people and saving them.”
“Staying here doesn’t take any of that from me,” she promised. “I still love all those things. Except now, I love you even more, and separating from you would taint everything else. Now, if you don’t want me to stay, I completely understand and respect that. I’ll leave?—”
“You’ve got to be kidding me.” I brushed the tears from her cheeks. This beautifully brave woman never seemed even remotely close to shedding a tear or being unsure of herself. This beautifully brave woman who’d been hiding all her insecurities, trying to figure out where she fit in. “Of course I would love for you to stay. Love to spend every day on this ranch with you.”
“Yeah?” Her eyes were wide as if she’d been expecting something else.
I would laugh again if her hope didn’t pierce right through my soul. “Of course. Who else will give you notes on your book? Someone’s got to keep you in check. Manage the ego.”
