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Brett shrugs, secretly relieved to have a new task. “Sure, let’s go.”
“No, I need to leave, I’m sorry. Just, check it out, okay?”
Brett nods and moves past her to head for the barn.He enters through the man door at the cross breezeway, and it takes a minute for his eyes to adjust to the dimness inside. As he steps into the main aisle, Brett peers up and down the row of stalls. Nothing seems out of the ordinary, other than the fact that Dune is looking out over his gate.
Brett approaches him, surprised the horse is making an appearance. The past few days, Dune has stayed in the far corner of his stall, as if understanding Laurel has left and is making his unhappiness about it known.He lifts his hand to pat the horse. “I get it man, I miss her too.”
“Then is it okay if I’m ready to come home now?”
Brett stills, his heart pounding out of his chest at the voice behind him. Holding his breath as he turns, worry that it’s not actually her floods his chest. But there, leaning in the doorway of the tack room, is Laurel. Her blonde hair falls over her shoulders, framing her bright hazel eyes as she takes him in. She’s breathtaking, and she’s here.
Laurel takes a step towards him and says quietly, “maybe, to stay this time?”
Heart still racing, he closes the gap between them and wraps his arms around her. Up close, he can see that her cheeks are flushed from the cold, and he moves his hands to cup her face. Laurel presses into the warmth of his hands as Brett murmurs in disbelief, “you’re here.”
When the realization sets in further, he lifts her in the air, the sound of her excited squeal a jolt to his heart and bringing him back to life. Laurel wraps her legs around him as he brings his lips to hers. Love, relief, and joy flow through him and he tries to convey it all in this kiss. He breaks from the kiss only to hold her tighter against him, breathing in her coconut vanilla scent.
“When I didn’t hear from you, I was so worried you weren’t coming back.” His admission sends a pang through him, even now that she’s in his arms.
“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. I was afraid that if I talked to you before sorting everything out, I wouldn’t be able to take it. I would run back here without a plan and then I’d be right back where I started.”
Brett kisses her forehead, then the tip of her nose, and then he’s on her lips again. Laurel whimpers against his mouth, causing him to tighten his grip on her.God, do I love that sound, he thinks.
She pulls away a moment later, her eyes searching his.“So? Is it okay? Can I stay?”
Laughing, Brett places her back on the ground. Taking her face in his hands, he holds her gaze. “I was hoping for forever,” he murmurs.
Laurel lifts up on her tiptoes to brush a kiss across his lips. “Forever sounds good to me,” she replies.
“Let’s go home,” Brett says as he takes her hand and leads her out of the barn. They walk, fingers entwined, bodies tight against one another, towards the farmhouse. The sun is setting and when Brett looks down at Laurel’s smiling face, the golden light makes her glow. The pressure in his chest he felt all week is gone, replaced with a burst of love for her.She’s here. She’s actually here, he thinks, squeezing her hand tighter.
When they reach the house, Brett opens the door to see her bags sitting in the living room. He turns to her, surprised by thesmall stack. Laurel follows his gaze and shrugs, “I didn’t want to take the time to drive. My brothers offered to load up my Bronco and drive it out here for me. I hope that’s okay. They’re giving themselves a western road trip. I had Gracie get me at the airport.”
A smile stretches across his face, she really figured out everything. “They’re always welcome here, especially if it means you got here sooner. What plan did you work out with the captain though?” he asks, leading her deeper into the living room and kneeling to start a fire.
“He was a harder sell than Charlie and Stephen. But after some negotiations, I’m now the sole contractor for any high or critical risk profiles needed by naval special warfare. They don’t own me. I live where I want, I work where I want. When they have a case for me, they send me everything through our encrypted system.” She pauses and smirks, “assuming there’s not another mole.”
Brett huffs at that as Laurel continues. “And it’s only any big risk cases that come up, so I’ll have time to be a part of things around here. If that’s okay.”
“It’s perfect. I want you a part of everything,” he says, his heart swelling at the thought. Despite her presence, he’s finding it hard to believe this is real.
Laurel beams at his response, her bright smile that gives him life. Brett sits on the couch, pulling her onto his lap, and holding her tight to his chest. She wraps her arms around his neck and nestles into him. This is a happiness than he has no words for. He’ll show her though, every day, how much it means that she wants to be here, that her heart picked him.
EPILOGUE
The bright blue water shimmers in the sunlight. Laurel leans back atop a rock and admires the almost turquoise shade of the lake. Before her, in line with her view of the lake, is Brett.
She could watch him all day. The man is as magnificent as the glacier made basin hidden on his ranch. He’s shirtless after their swim and as he approaches her, she’s filled with butterflies. It’s been nearly a year since they met and she still has moments of awe that this handsome, wild, and deeply caring cowboy chose her.She jumps forward from the boulder she was tanning on as he comes to stand in front of her.
Laurel places a palm on his chest, over his frogmen tattoo, over his heart. He smiles down at her, his dazzling, unrestrained smile that he reserves for only her and she places a kiss on his jaw, his closely trimmed beard tickling her lips. Despite the August sun warming her bikini clad body, Brett’s hands running down her makes her shiver. She leans into the touch, eager for more.
“It’s not even fair when you wear this,” he says, tugging on the string of her black triangle top. Laurel smirks at him, bringing her other hand up into his hair at the nape of his neck as he bends to meet her, their lips colliding. Brett tips her headback deepening the kiss while his fingers dance under the string of bikini on her hip.
“Do we have time?” she asks hopefully, titling forward and pressing against him. Brett had told her the ranch team wants to have a cookout tonight to celebrate the anniversary of her arrival. She insisted it not be about her, that she was happy to just have everyone together for a meal. But they had all insisted on celebrating Laurel. Grey had added that it was really them celebrating how Brett wasn’t a grouchy pain in the ass anymore, and at that, Laurel had agreed.
It's been one year of hard work, with her learning how to be more independent on the ranch. One year of love, and happiness, being together without worrying about looking over their shoulders. They go to town without fear of her leaving the perimeter, ride as far from the compound as they wish, and sleep soundly, snuggled together knowing they don’t have to be on guard.
Laurel has never felt such joy as when she’s in Brett’s embrace. What sticks with her the most, though, is how good it feels to belong to him, and him to her. It wasn’t constricting as she once feared, but rather, the opposite. It was freeing to have him loving and supporting her.
