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“You stupid cowboy!” I cry out. Charlie freezes and with trembling hands, I palm his stunned face. The dark beard I love scrapes over my fingertips. “You’re so stupid. Of course, I love you.I love you with my entire heart, Charlie.”
“Say it again.” Voice breaking, his forehead drops to mine.
“I love you,” I say on a sob. A hot tear slides down the side of my cheek. I feel like I’m dreaming, stuck on a cloud nine high I never want to come down from.
Relief blazes its way across Charlie’s face. Joy too. His breath shakes out of him like he’s been holding it in his entire life.
And then he laughs. The beautiful burst of sound has me finally giving in and launching myself into his arms. He catches me like I knew he would, lifting me up his body and crushing me to him. I loop my legs around his waist, and then his mouth is on mine.
Heated, frantic, consuming.
“Stay,” he growls against my lips. “Stay and I’ll give you everything.” Those calloused hands cup my cheek and our gazes lock. Hold. Burn. “The ranch. Every sunrise. My heart. But that’s a lie because you already have it. You own me, Sunflower.”
Tears stream down my face. “You’re gonna break my heart, Cowboy,” I whisper, winding my arms around his neck. I hold on to him like the world is ending.
He grins. Handsome. Shattering. “Never, darlin’. You just worry about letting me love it.”
A fresh wave of warmth crashes over me.
Love.
“Stay,” he says, his lips skimming my throat.
“Yes,” I whisper, overcome by how much I love this man. By how vulnerable he’s made himself. He put all his cards on the table to make me believe. “I’ll stay.”
If something’s going to break this wild, reckless heart of mine, it may as well be a cowboy.
Mycowboy.
And then he’s capturing my mouth again, holding me tight against his hard chest. Charlie’s hands are in my hair, my heart is between his teeth, and he’s walking us down the hall and up the stairs to the bedroom. Our racing heartbeats match beat for beat.
I’ve never been so happy.
I’ve never been so afraid.
Thunder rumbles. A dark cloud covering sweeps over the mountains. Ruby sits at the patio table on the small balcony off the bedroom. She’s wrapped in a sheet, her legs drawn up into her body, cheeks flushed, her dazzling blue eyes on me as I stride her way.
Hours ago, she was leaving.
Now, herI love youhas decimated me. I’m a wreck of a man, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.
“There are storms coming,” she murmurs, her gaze on my bare chest.
“Every summer,” I say. “They blow in off the mountains and last until the end of August.”
Dropping the bottle of whiskey on the table, I glance over my shoulder at the rumpled sheets in the bed. The smell of sex lingers in the air. I drop a kiss to the top of Ruby’s messy head of hair and she smiles so bright my chest locks up.
Everything that matters is here in front of me. My sunflower girl, my saving grace, the sun in my sky when for so long all I could see were clouds.
But first I have to give her my story. I owe her that. Especially if she’s staying.
I pull out a chair and sit across from her. “I want to tell you about Maggie.”
She flinches. “You don’t have to.”
“Let me do this, Ruby,” I say gruffly.
With a nod, she sits up straight. “Okay, Cowboy.” Then she reaches over the table and touches my arm. Just like that, I’m calm. It’s Ruby’s magic. Her love brings on something so serene I can’t describe it. All my doubts, all my nerves, swept away in a rush of love.
