Fort couldn't believe his rotten luck. Having Cori “break up” with him before the election had been a plan he could live with. Now? Now he was going to have to marry her. Or come close. He needed to tell his mother the real deal. She was going to be pissed, which meant his step-father would be ticked off as well, and life on the ranch would suck for a while. Not only would Cori be gone, but he doubted his mother would make him extra bacon.

With the way his luck was going, he wouldn't be surprised if they ended up hitched, had three kids, and a dog. He could see them saying on their twenty-fifth, “We don't even like each other. This was all pretend.” But odd how it wasn't hard to imagine Cori with his kid.

Fort's right eye began to twitch, and he shook off the vision.

Okay, maybe she wasn't hard to look at or touch. She could kiss like a champ and, frankly, he liked her better with her mouth preoccupied with anything but talking, preferably her lips on his. But that wasn't enough for the long haul. Ranch life wasn’t easy, and it took a special person, plus he was asking said special person to live with him being a cop. Double negative whammy for putting stress on a marriage.

Fact was, those days of living like a monk were wearing thin. He'd been fooling himself to think he was doing all right. Those infrequent trips out of town were, in hindsight, not enough. Obviously, since he was getting a woody thinking about Cori Walters, the evidence spoke for itself.

She sat next to him, chewing her thumbnail.

“Start at the beginning.”

“It happened so fast. One minute I'm telling them ‘no’ and the next they've mistakenly thought I agreed. I did not agree. I know I didn't.” She explained what Mrs. Z had planned out.

“And my mom is involved?” They'd been traveling along the main road when Fort took a turn onto a dirt road, extending his arm in front of Cori to keep her from rocking forward when they hit the bumpy road.

“Yup, everyone is already signed on and involved. This is bad. Real bad.”

“Yeah,” he said. “But let's not panic. We had talked about you leaving me at the altar initially, right. Maybe we just go back to that?”

She groaned, briefly covering her eyes. “I think if I left you at the altar, it would kill your chances of winning. They'd wonder if you'd be so upset you'd take off. Maybe I should go now?” She chewed her thumb some more as they rode in silence.

If she left now, he'd have his bed to himself. Not that she took up any space, and her toes were awfully cute. Fort wanted to slap himself upside the head. Her toes were cute? What the hell was wrong with him?

“You could say your mom was sick.” He cut off the dirt road onto a path that typically was hard to find, but the grass was matted down. He leaned forward and slowed the truck.

“Yeah, she could be really sick, which would keep me away for a long time. You could break up with me because you pick the town over me.” She leaned forward as well. “What are we looking at?”

“The grass is down. Someone has driven on this path.”

She looked out her window. “I don't see anything out of sorts over here. Mrs. Z said her foreman had been out here. Maybe it was him?”

“True, but this is repeated. Look, there's more than one path.” He brought the truck to a stop and jumped out.

Cori climbed over the console and sat in his seat. She stuck her head out the window and looked at the ground. “What can I do?”

“Not obligate us to anything more. Like two-point-five kids or a house or anything.” He pointed at the truck. “Stay put.”

“I knew you would think this was my fault,” she said and crossed her arms. He bent down to look at something in front of the truck, then popped up quickly and pointed a finger at her. “Don't lay on the horn with me in front of it.”

She raised her hands over her head. “As if.” But the lack of eye contact confirmed she'd been thinking it. He jabbed his finger in her direction one last time for good measure and went back to look at the various footprints in the dirt. None were complete as the ground was too dry, but he could make out difference. One set was cowboy boots, and the other looked to be steel-toed boots.

Not that any of this meant anything yet, but it might. Fort went back to the truck and pushed Cori over. He climbed in and drove slowly toward the cabin before coming to a stop twenty yards from the front door in a makeshift space nestled between two trees. There was no driveway, but that didn't take away from the place.

The little three-room house was located on a stunning piece of land, surrounded by an outer rim of trees. Cori slid from the truck and stared at the log cabin structure. It was simple in design, a slab foundation with the house on top. No extras like a porch or trim around windows or doors. “Wow,” she said and pointed to the view behind the cabin.

Beyond the trees, the prairie broke out, spreading wide and far before butting up against Three Brothers Mountain. The view was vast and breathtaking, and he was used to it, but Cori gazed slack-jawed.

With his index finger, he gently pushed under her chin, closing her mouth. She made a half-hearted swat at his hand.

“Can you imagine looking at this every day?” She sucked in a deep breath and held her arms wide. “Why doesn't someone live here?”

Her face was lit up with pleasure as she took in her surroundings. He'd seen her like this before, and the memory of it made him feel closer to her than he had felt to anyone else in a long time. She's been barely a teenager then and had come upon him on the side of the road, helping a cow birth a calf. She'd seen birthings before, that he knew. Yet, when that little calf came out and blinked its large brown eyes at them, Cori had stared back with the same enchanted awe he saw on her face right now.

For all the annoying habits Cori possessed, and he could tick them off on two hands, maybe one, she loved the land, the animals, and the lifestyle of ranching, and he had to give her that. She lifted the camera that hung from around her neck to her face, and the two became one, snapping him from his thoughts.

“Hey,” he said. “When you get all the pics you want, think you can get some of these?” He pointed to the footprints by the front door.

She glanced at him and then where he was pointing. “Sure.”

Fort slowly walked the perimeter and came back around to the front with nothing solid by way of clues. Yeah, there were footprints, human, bovine, and horse, but that was nothing out of the ordinary. Cori was snapping shots of the ground when he opened the door.

“I used to come up here and hunt with Paul. Both Ma and Mrs. Z own the cabin.” He scanned the interior before stepping in. He felt Cori come up behind him.

“Any chance this is a vagrant or something?” she said, looking around him.

“Not unless the homeless travel with candles and champagne,” he said and stepped in, opening up the doorway for her to see. Someone had gone to the trouble of setting up the table with a picnic of sorts: a red tablecloth, wooden candle holders with candles, and a bucket of half melted ice and champagne. A basket sat on the edge of the table with a note hanging from the side.

Cori was the first to reach it. “Oh, no,” she said and handed him two sheets of paper.

Congratulations! It read. Welcome to your new home. As a gift for your impending nuptials, your mother and I are gifting you this cabin to set up as your own place. Your ranch. A place to grow as you both grow in love and marriage.

Behind the note, was the deed to the property signed by both Mrs. Z and his ma. Made out to both him and Cori.

“Fudge sticks,” Cori said and resumed her nail-biting.

“Yeah,” he said and placed the paper on the table. A place of his own. A ranch of his own. He liked the idea. And Cori didn't look out of place in the cabin either. One large room made up the kitchen and living space with the bedroom and bath off to the side. It was in good condition. The land was wide enough to add more rooms and the septic was in place and was piped for running water. The cabin could become a home.

“I think you're right. I should leave right away. Maybe in a few days. If I left today, it would be really obvious. I don't mind giving Barbie some crazy illness.” She was backing toward the front door.

“Cori,” he said.

“Fort, I like these people. I can't—”

“You broke a rule.” He stepped toward her.

“They're stupid rules. I'm human. It's only natural that I like at least some of the people here,” she said, arms raised halfway, palms out as if daring him to disagree. “I need a drink.” She skirted around him, then snatched up the champagne, immediately going to work on peeling off the foil around the cork. “It's one thing to be associated to a con because your father did it. But I was always above that because, even though he was a crook, I wasn't. But now I'm the crook.” She tucked the bottle between her legs and cinched up her face in effort as she wrestled with the cork.

She was cute. He took the bottle from her. “You aren't a crook.” He eased the cork out so not to spray the drink over both of them.

“But I'm no better than him now. Fooling people.” She took the bottle from him and took a large swig. Then another.

Fort raised a brow and didn't bother to hide his smile. “You're doing it for a good cause. Tell yourself that.” He took the bottle from her and placed it on the table.

“I'm not sure about Deke being bad. Besides, people are still going to get hurt. Feel like they've been conned. This was a stupid idea.” She reached around him for the bottle, but he blocked her.

“Then why did you agree to do it?” He chuckled when she thumped him on the chest in frustration.

“You mean besides the money? I thought maybe I could score one for the good guys if I helped you out. But it was misguided. A con is a con. People get hurt,” she said, watching him with those large owlish eyes of hers.

“You should have thought of that beforehand. You're in too deep,” he said.

“You should have thought about it before you even went to Sabrina.” She whacked him again, but this time on the arm. “I blame you.”

“Me? You’re the one hanging out with Cricket and taking jobs. Had you just stayed on the ranch like I said, going to town with only me, none of this would have happened.” He grabbed her hand to stop her hitting him.

“Me?” she said incredulously and followed it with a bitter laugh. “I should have known you would blame me.” She tugged at his hand, but he wouldn't let go. He saw her eyes narrow, and before he could anticipate it, she stomped on his foot.

“Ouch,” he said and let go of her hand so he could grab his foot. She'd caught him good with her heel.

“I'm out of here,” she said and ran for the door.

He had her over his shoulder before she got more than four steps. He slapped her ass hard.

“Hey,” she cried, “that hurt.” When she punched him in the kidney, her glasses fell to the floor.

Fort arched to the side in reaction to the back pain. He slapped her ass a second time.

“Yowl! Stop that.”

“You stop hitting me. I don't like it any more than you do.” He spun around the room, looking for a place to dump her.

“This is all your fault. You and your stupid ideas. All I wanted was to start over somewhere else. Somewhere like here, but I can't because you're here and I'm pulling a con on these people. Thanks a lot.” She pinched his waist.

“Christ, Cori. If you don't stop...” He sunk his teeth in her thigh. Gently at first, and then adding pressure slowly.

“Oh, my word,” she groaned, and her body went slack.

The energy around them changed. Sparks still flew, but instead of crackling with anger, they arched with sexual tension, going from red-hot to blue. It took Fort five long strides to the small bedroom off the main room. The full-size bed was made with what looked like clean linen. It stood tall on an old brass frame. In one swift movement, he dumped her onto the bed and spread her legs.

“You aren't going anywhere,” he said. “We're in this together, and we'll figure out a solution.” He dropped forward, one arm on each side of her. She lay before him, eyes on him, lip between her teeth, breath ragged. Her tank top had ridden up some, showing a sliver of belly. He bent forward and pressed a light kiss above her navel. Cori groaned and grabbed at his biceps.

“You're an idiot,” she said in a whisper.

“No more than you are,” he said against her skin, then nipped a bit of skin between his teeth.

“Undeniably,” she said and moaned again.

He traveled more kisses up her belly, pushing her shirt up with his nose. She trembled beneath his lips. He stepped closer, the lower part of his thighs against the edge of the bed. Her legs closed around him, her fingers clenching his arms.

He kissed the valley between her breasts. Her bra, made from fabric thin like a tissue, was held closed with a clasp in the front. With a flick of his thumb and index finger, he released it and swept the material to the side. Revealing her. She was glorious. He'd never seen her in the light and as he blew air around her breast, a gentle lick around the underside, he committed this vision to his memory. When he took her hard nipple in his mouth, Cori arched and whimpered his name.

That was all the invitation he needed. As if someone had cranked up the volume, he whipped her tank up over her head, her fingers working madly on his uniform buttons. He stopped to kiss and suckle at her collarbone before traveling to her other breast when he felt her hands on his buckle.

“Cori?” He needed to know.

“Undeniably,” she said and lifted her hips so he could pull off her tights. With their clothes on the floor, he eased himself on top of her, both moaning as they became fused. Skin to skin.

“We need a condom,” he said, hating the words because the odds of either of them having one were slim.

She reached over her head to the end table and slid open the drawer. Inside was a box, a new box. He didn't want to guess who might have placed them there. The truth was too awkward.

Once sheathed, he situated himself to press against her and snuggled his hand there, too, stroking her from the top, his fingers damp with her want. She was putty under his hands, her head tossed back, and he wanted to keep her here forever, like this, moaning his name. He pushed at her, gently asking to come in. She raised her hips and clutched tightly to him.

There was a resistance that gave him pause. Was he really her first? Did he want to be? Not that he could stop if he wanted to. He'd been thinking about this moment since that night they made out in the pasture.

“Babe,” he said, “are you sure?”

She didn't say a word, only raised her hips higher and pushed him past the barrier, expelling a long hiss in the process. After a brief pause, she moved once more, fitting him farther inside her.

In the past, he'd been with women who didn't care to know him beyond the good time he offered. Cori, she knew all parts of him, the good and the bad. He wanted this moment almost as much as he wanted to win sheriff, if not more.

“Wait,” he said, “give it a moment.” He throbbed to move, desperate to feel her come apart in his hands. He reached between them and stroked at her center. She bucked against him, calling his name.

Slowly, he began to make her his. With each stroke, she unfolded and opened up to him. He felt her tighten, knew what was coming, and with his arms under her, holding her in place, he drove harder, pushing against her before pulling back and starting again. She rose up, sunk her teeth in his shoulder and began to quake. He nipped at her breast, then took the nipple between his teeth, his tongue teasing it. Cori tossed her head back and cried out his name. He thrust one last time and held onto her with everything he had, letting himself go and joining her in the free fall of their release.