Monroe
The afternoon sun pours through the window, casting a blanket of warmth across my body. Rhett’s heart beats steady beneath my ear, which is pressed to his chest while my fingers draw slow, lazy circles over his abs.
“What are you thinking about?” he asks, running his fingers through my hair.
“I’m thinking your ab muscles are unreal. How does one even get this defined?”
“All I do is work. If I’m not at the arena, I’m at the gym.”
“Maybe you work too much. What do you do for fun these days?”
Rhett chuckles, kissing the top of my head. “I ride bulls.”
“That’s your job. What do you do for fun?”
“It’s not a job if it’s something you love.”
I look up at him.
“And you really want to lecture me on working too much?” he continues. “Pot meet kettle.”
“Touché.” I flop back on his chest, situating myself until I can hear his heartbeat again. Being close enough to feel his body against mine is a much-needed balm to my tattered soul. “I’m also wondering how pissed Claire is going to be.”
The last thing I want is to leave Rhett’s bed, but I should probably get home. With an exasperated sigh, I kiss his chest and push myself up. I don’t make it far before he pulls me back down.
“Why would Claire be pissed?”
I rest my chin on his chest. “She stayed with my dad so I could come see you.” I glance at the alarm clock on the nightstand. “And I’ve already been longer than I intended.” Not that she’ll mind, but I appreciate everything she’s already done for me, and I don’t want her to feel taken for granted.
“Mo.” Rhett’s eyes soften, and he cradles my head, his other hand settling at the small of my back. “I need you to know something; if I’d known you wanted me, needed me, I would’ve been here in a heartbeat, because I needed you just as bad. I didn’t move on. Nikki was a one-time thing.”
I flinch at the mention of her name, and Rhett brushes a strand of hair out of my face.
“She meant nothing to me.”
“I know,” I say softly. “But I hate myself for pushing you into her arms.”
“Don’t. Don’t shoulder all the blame. She took advantage of you. She played with your emotions. I can’t imagine how awful those weeks were for you. And I hate that you’ve struggled so much over the last six years, and I haven’t been here to help.” He sighs. “We’ve got a mountain of regrets and what-ifs between us, Mo, but if we’re going to move forward, we’ve got to start letting go of the past.”
Knowing he wants to move forward puts a smile on my face, but it quickly dies because… “I’m not sure how easy that’s going to be with her as your manager. A constant reminder day in and day out—”
“I fired her.”
My eyes widen. “You did?”
“Yes,” he breathes. “My lawyer is working on severing my contract with her family. I couldn’t stand to look at her after what she did. I swear to you, Mo, I never got one voicemail or message. Not one. If I had, you can bet your ass I would’ve been right here with you. I never would’ve let you go through all of that on your own.”
“I know.” Sliding my hands up his chest, I cradle his jaw. “I know you would’ve been here. I just don’t understand how she was able to intercept all those calls and messages. It doesn’t make sense.”
Rhett shakes his head and pushes himself up in the bed, bringing me with him.
“I know, but you have to understand that in the beginning, I was so busy—in and out of interviews and meetings, not to mention all the damn training I was doing. Bill and Nikki were around all the time those first few months, and she had access to my phone. I wasn’t allowed to take it in with me during interviews, and when I was training, it was always in my locker.”
“Which she could get to.”
He nods. “I will never forgive myself for not being here after your father’s stroke.”
“Don’t.” I press my cheek to the palm of his hand. “No more, okay? We let go of those regrets today.”
“Deal.” Rhett pulls me in close.
His warm, spicy scent wraps around me, and I hold on for dear life, because this is everything I needed and everything I missed.
“Maybe we should revisit the better parts of our past by taking a trip back in time,” he suggests.
“Oooh… I like where this is going. What are you thinking, Mr. Allen?”
“Mr. Allen. I like that. Let’s use it more often.”
I giggle when he grabs my ass.
“I’m going to my parents’ for dinner this week. Come with me. We can hop on the horses and take a ride down by the creek.”
“That sounds amazing, but I’ll have to find someone to stay with my dad.” I start scrolling through my head for possible contenders. I know Claire’s mom and her aunt would do it in a heartbeat, but they’re his full-time caregivers while I work, so I hate to ask them to put in more hours. And I could ask Claire, but—
“Bring him.”
“Really?”
“Yes.” Rhett laughs. “My parents would love to see him—I would love to see him.”
With a flutter in my chest, I return his smile. “Okay. Let me talk to him about it, and I’ll let you know.” I swing my legs over the edge of the bed, and Rhett moans.
“Do you have to go?”
My clothes are still damp from the rain as I slide them on, and when I slip my feet into my sandals, they make a squishy sound.
“I wish I didn’t.”
I lean across the bed to give him one more quick kiss, but he has other ideas. His fingers slide into my hair, and he holds me in place. My lips part, and in a matter of seconds my body is at his mercy, fired up and ready to go.
“I have to leave.” I rest our foreheads together. “Thank you,” I whisper, my lips grazing his.
“For what?”
“For forgiving me. For coming home. For being you.”
“You’re welcome,” he says, kissing me between each response. “Let me get some clothes on, and I’ll walk you out.”
“No. Stay here. You look comfortable. I can let myself out.” I bend over to grab my phone—which somehow ended up on the floor—and Rhett growls.
“You’re teasing me.”
I shake my ass, and he growls again.
“You better get out of here before I drag you back to this bed.”
“We do have six years of make-up sex coming our way.”
He grins. “I like the way you think.”
“I’ll talk to you soon.” I press my lips to his one last time and walk out through Coop’s house. I reach for the handle at the same time the front door flies open.
Coop nearly rams into me, and then smiles like the Cheshire cat. “Hey, Mo.”
“Coop.” Cheeks flushed, I duck my head and try to step around him, only to have him step in front of me.
“Your shirt is on backwards.”
What? I reach for my neck and look down at my shirt. Liar. I scowl. “I hate you.”
“No, you don’t.”
“Yes, I do. Now move so I can go.”
“Not until you tell me what you were doing here.”
“She was doing me, asshole.” Rhett’s voice, thick and warm, floats down the hall, and I turn around. He’s not wearing a shirt, and his body is a sight to behold. His broad chest tapers to a trim waist—his abs cut to perfection with that chiseled V everyone loves to dream about. His light gray sweats once again hang low on his hips, and his bare feet pad against the floor as he walks toward me.
What is it about a barefoot man that’s so damn sexy?
“You’re drooling,” Coop whispers.
I elbow him in the side, and he lets out a soft oomph.
“Your brother is harassing me,” I pout, reaching for Rhett because I can, and that’s a damn good feeling.
Coop smiles as Rhett pulls me against his chest. “About damn time.” He claps Rhett on the shoulder as he walks by. “But if I hear you two bumping uglies, I’ll send you back to Houston.”
Back to Houston.
Coop may as well have thrown a bucket of ice water in my face. What happens when Rhett goes back to Houston? Because he will inevitably go back. He has to. That’s where he trains. He has a house there, for crying out loud.
“I’ve gotta go.” I wave to Coop, kiss Rhett one last time, and walk out of the house.
I climb into my truck and drive home on autopilot, trying to figure out how all of this is going to work, how I’m going to fit into the equation. Do I fit into the equation? What is the equation? Rhett and I talked about moving forward, but I don’t know what’s going through his head. Does he mean while he’s here or long term, because there’s a huge difference, and I’m not sure how I feel about him going back and me staying here. We’ll be a couple of hours apart, which isn’t bad, but I won’t be able to commute to see him, not with taking care of Animal Haven and my dad.
The high I felt just minutes ago deflates, and by the time I pull into my driveway, I feel about the same as I did when I left—only with a tingle between my thighs, and I choose to focus on that for now.
It’s all I can do.