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You’re my girl.
His tender words consumed every ounce of my soul. There’s a new energy between us, a fierceness in Charlie’s expression every time he looks at me.
Maybe because we’re wrapped up in each other.
Maybe because we’ve burned all the boundaries between us.
Maybe because I’ve all but moved into Charlie’s cabin.
He won’t leave my side. The flutter that night took everything out of me. My mind, my heart; it drained me. But Charlie was there, helping me shower, keeping me steady when I stood. It gave me a glimpse of how it could be if he knew about my SVT. Tender and strong and protective. But I can’t do that to him. I won’t be his burden.
I rub my chest and track the familiar beat of my heart.
For the first time in my life, I’m truly scared.
What that night did to my heart is bad. It took me two days to get my bearings. I’ve never been like that before. What it means for my health—I don’t want to know.
What I know is that my clothes are in a drawer in Charlie’s room. My toiletries are next to his. Every night, I sleep in his strong arms, safe in his hold.
The closer we get, the more I ache that I’m lying to him.
Even though my brain is telling me this will end, someone will get hurt, my heart is all in.
I’m in love.
Something I’ve always wanted.
Something that makes my heart race.
Something that is my everything.
And that everything is Charlie Montgomery.
My cowboy.
I think I know what my father meant when he said loving someone means you eventually get hurt. Just because you know what’s coming, doesn’t make it sting any less.
It’ll hurt when I leave.
What if I stayed, though? The thought creeps out of my hopeful heart. I scowl, feeling my cheeks flush with warmth. It’s just silly lovesick dreams. Hope and nothing more. Sure, Charlie said I’m his girl, but it’s for the summer, right? It has to be. There’s no forever with me.
Crossing the kitchen floor, I sit at the kitchen table. Through the big window, I watch guests and hired hands stroll back and forth. Ominous black storm clouds elbow the sunlight out of the sky.
My gaze zeros in on one person in particular.
Colton.
He’s loping across the lawn, a two-way radio in his hand, his cowboy hat tugged down low on his face. I track his steps as he heads toward the barn.
Miss Ruby?
I shiver at the memory. His warm breath in my ear as I slowly lost consciousness.
It was him that night. I know it.
Now I have to prove it.
Intuition tells me my first stop is the belt buckle.
