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“I want to tell you the truth,” he said, unable to look away from her. “But I’m scared.”
“You?” she teased. “I didn’t know Trey Chappell could experience fear.”
“Trey Chappell can,” he said with a steady smile. “Especially when Trey Chappell is faced with Beth Dixon and tellingherwhat he really wants.” He cleared his throat, the smile slipping away too. “Thatshe’swhat he really wants. Not just for five months either. I want to see if we can make this fake marriage into a real thing.”
He couldn’t hold her gaze for another moment, and he did catch her shock as he dropped his eyes back to his hands. “I want to be that boy’s father,” he said. “I love him in a way I can’t quite describe, because I don’t have the words. I know I don’t know everything about him yet, and I know he’ll drive me to the brink of madness sometimes. But I love him. I want the best for him. I don’t know if that’s me or not, but I guess I’m hoping it is.”
He’d come this far, and Trey still had words to say.
“I don’t love you yet, Beth,” he whispered. “I’ve wanted to help you since I brought TJ home the first time, months ago. You make me crazy when you won’t let me help you, and you irritate me when you argue with me. But I also like your stubborn personality and I admire the heck out of your desire to take care of yourself, your son, and your farm.”
She said nothing, and Trey figured he’d confessed enough for one night. Probably for a lifetime. He waited and kept breathing in and out, praying she’d say she wanted him to be TJ’s father, and that she wanted more than five months with him too.
“I guess I have one more thing now,” he said into the silence. “I don’t love you right now, but I think I could. Quickly, too. Every day I spend with you, and the more I talk with you, the more I like you. The more I feel myself bonding to you in a way that I know develops into love. I’ve loved a woman before; I know what it feels like. I know what it takes to get there. I guess if you feel any of the same things I do, maybe we could take the fake label off our relationship and give it a real try. That’s what I wanted before you mentioned the Sweetheart Classic, and it’s still what I want.”
He nodded, finally done. “That’s it. I’m done. That’s what I want.”
She said nothing, but her hand slid up the side of his neck and gently turned his head to look at her. Tears welled in those beautiful eyes, and Trey smiled at her. When the water spilled down her face, he wiped it away with his clumsy fingers. “What do you want?” he whispered.
“Everything you just said.” She leaned into his touch. “Is that even possible, Trey? Can we really try to do what you just said?”
“Why can’t we?” he asked, reaching for her. He gathered her onto his lap, wrapping both arms around her as she curled into his chest. “Really, Beth. Why can’t we work toward a real, loving marriage? With TJ as a family for now.” He swallowed. “And this farm.”
“It sounds too good to be true, that’s why,” she said. “Dreams don’t always come true.”
“Sometimes they do, though,” he said, thinking of Spur and Olli, then Blaine and Tam.
“I want to try,” she said.
Trey grinned at the darkness beyond the back windows. “Me too.”
She lifted her head, and Trey kissed her. She seemed hungry for him, but he kept the kiss slow and gentle, only deepening it when she’d succumbed to him. He pulled away sooner than he would’ve liked too, because he needed to keep his hormones out of tonight’s conversations and happenings.
“I think you want to tell me more about TJ,” he said. “I didn’t mean to upset you at dinner. You tell me what you want me to do and not do with TJ, and I’ll do it. He’s your son, and I’ll respect whatever you say.”
Beth opened her eyes and stroked her hand over Trey’s beard. “It’s not your fault he listens to you and not me. I think…let me try with him first, and if he doesn’t respond, then you can step in.” She leaned forward and kissed him again. “Okay?”
“Sure,” he said.
“Or when I ask you to do something with him. Then you can.”
“What if I need to get after him when you’re not around?”
She cuddled into his chest again. “Like when he’s at the ranch with you?”
“Yeah, like that.”
“Then you do what you think is right. I’d like to be told what that is when you get back with him.”
“Of course.”
She lifted her head again. “And one more thing, Trey.”
A blip of fear moved through him. “Yep.”
“I told him he has to ask me or tell me he’s going to Bluegrass before he goes. He can’t just wander off and then get rewarded by playing with the horses.”
Trey tried not to smile or laugh, because Beth was being serious. He tried nodding, but he couldn’t quite hold it all in. He chuckled. “We don’t play with horses over there, sweetheart.”
