My heart was racing as I looked out the window at Lane and Mitchell. I had no idea what was being sad, and I didn’t care. I was angry.
How dare Lane Lewis say those things. And what rumors had he heard? Maybe people were talking about me staying with Mitchell. After all, how would that look on the outside? First I’d dated Tripp, now I was living with his brother…
Crap! I wasn’t helping the rumors by telling Lane the only Parker brother I’d slept with was Mitchell. Why did I tell him that just now?
Ugh.
I buried my face into my hands and let out a scream. The driver’s side door shut, and I jumped when I felt Mitchell’s hand on my leg.
“Are you okay?”
Dropping my hands, I looked to see if that jerk was still there. Lane was walking away with something of a limp. I was glad I’d kicked him where it counted.
I looked back at Mitchell. “No! I’m not okay. I’m…I’m pissed off!”
His eyes widened as he let out a soft chuckle. “I’d say so. Easy with the language there, dove.”
My heart dropped, and I was instantly taken back to the night Mitchell and I spent together. My chest rose and fell as I fought for each breath as the memory hit me.
Sitting on Mitchell, my legs wrapped around his body as he held me tightly. He was buried so far inside me. Our breathing labored as we both came down from our orgasms.
“I’ve never felt like this before,” he said. “What are you doing to me, dove?”
My stomach clenched when Mitchell called me dove. It made our moments seem even more amazing, if that was possible. I’d never experienced such passion in my life. I would never forget the feeling of him inside me. It was clear that I’d given this man a piece of me that I’d been guarding. It would forever be his.
“Why dove?” I asked.
With a sexy smile, he moved his hand up my arm and around the back of my neck, pulling me closer to him. When his lips brushed mine, I felt the fire ignite between us again.
“Doves are my favorite bird. They’re pure, fragile, beautiful creatures. They have a soft and beautiful call, which reminds me of how you sound when you come with me inside you.”
With a wide smile, I pressed my lips against his. “That’s beautiful.”
Mitchell brought us to the bed and held his body over mine. “You’re beautiful.”
He kissed me and I was lost again to him. To his touch, his kiss, his slow, sweet way of making love to me.
Mitchell Parker would forever hold a piece of my heart, whether I wanted him to or not.
Finally finding my voice, I asked, “What did you just say?”
Mitchell winked. “I said easy with the language.”
I shook my head. “No, that’s not all you said.”
He started the truck, and I realized how flipping hot it was inside the cab.
“That’s all I said.”
He pulled out onto Main Street and I tore my eyes off of him. Staring straight out the window, I swallowed hard and dug down deep to speak.
“You called me dove.”
From the corner of my eye, I saw him look at me before turning straight ahead again. He didn’t remember, did he? Or maybe he called all of his women dove.
His silence made my emotions go all over the place. Scared, angry, hurt, sad. I don’t know what I was thinking. Mitchell Parker isn’t going to change.
I looked back at him. It was obvious he couldn’t do commitment, and I needed that. I needed to know that the man I gave my full heart to was going to give me his in return. “Mitchell, I don’t think this is going to—”
“Wait. Before you say a word, please give me ten minutes.”
My brows pinched. “What?”
He reached for my hand and looked at me. His eyes were pleading. “That’s all I’m asking for. Please.”
I nodded as I whispered, “Okay.”
Mitchell headed out of town and toward his family’s ranch, but he took a left turn on Ranch Road thirty-seven. He drove for about ten minutes before pulling down a long driveway.
“What is this place?” I asked as I glanced at the beautiful scenery. I loved the Texas hill country so much. I loved living in Oak Springs, but being farther out, away from everything, was so peaceful.
An old house came into view. It was stunning. “Wow, what a beautiful house. Who lives here?”
“No one anymore. This used to be the old Robinson place.”
He parked the truck and we both got out.
“It’s in beautiful shape,” I said.
“Yeah, it is. Was built in nineteen twenty-three.”
“Wow! Have you shown it to Amelia?”
Mitchell laughed. “No, I haven’t shown it to anyone other than my father and Tripp. I bought it a few weeks ago.”
My mouth fell open. “You bought this place? How much land comes with it?”
“A hundred acres. Not very much, but enough for me right now.”
My head was spinning. “How can you say that’s not a lot of land?”
He laughed. “Well, considering what I grew up on…”
I felt the heat in my cheeks. “I guess that’s true. What are your plans?”
“I’m not sure just yet.”
Spinning around, I shrieked with sudden excitement. “You could get a dog!”
Mitchell looked at me like I was insane. “A dog?”
“Yes! A dog. Look at all this land! She would love it.”
“She?” he asked.
“Yeah. Come on, you have to let a woman into your heart one of these days, Mitchell. You can’t be a player for the rest of your life.” The words were out of my mouth before I could stop them.
His eyes turned dark, and I wasn’t sure if he was angry or if that look was something else. He took a step toward me. I stepped back.
“What makes you think I haven’t already let someone into my heart?”
An awkward laugh bubbled out. “I would bet the farm you haven’t. I see it so clearly. You’re afraid to open up, and I get it, I do. Maybe it’s your job, or other insecurities. I just don’t think I can wait around to see who the lucky girl is going to be.” Turning back to the house, I forced my tears away. “I’m sure someday you’ll be ready to fill this house with love and the person who wins your heart will be lucky to be a part of that.”
“Why in the fuck do you assume I’m not ready to open my heart? And why in the hell can you not give me a chance before you run your mouth off?”
Spinning on my heel, I stared at him. “Run my mouth off?”
“Yes! You jump to conclusions and accusations before you even let me speak. You’re acting like a teenage girl, creating drama for no reason. I brought you here to show you this house for a reason.”
“Why? What’s your reason?” I shouted back.
“Because, damn it! I want to share this with you, Corina. I want us to be together and I don’t know…maybe someday we can fill it with kids and dogs and all that…stuff.”
I was stunned. I hadn’t expected Mitchell to come back at me with those words. He thrust his fingers in his hair. “I don’t know what in the fuck I’m doing anymore. Let’s just leave.”
We hadn’t even seen the house yet. I glanced back at it and didn’t move.
“Corina.”
“I want to see the house.”
“Yeah, well, the mood’s kind of ruined, don’t you think?”
My chest ached. Why was it so hard for us? It shouldn’t be this hard. At least, I didn’t think it should be. Was it because I was keeping Mitchell at arm’s length—because I didn’t believe him?
Wrapping my arms around my chest, I stared at the house. It was perfect. Old, yet in beautiful condition. The wraparound porch was my favorite. I could see us sitting in rocking chairs, getting a baby settled, as we looked over the land. Finding our places in this world, together.
Was that what Mitchell pictured when he looked at this house? I desperately wanted to ask him.
I made my way back to the truck. Mitchell was already sitting inside. It was clear the Parker men had short fuses. I’d witnessed Tripp losing his cool a time or two—never with me, but with other people.
I shut the truck door, reached for my seat belt and waited for him to drive off.
He took a deep breath and let it out. “I’m sorry I hurt you. I didn’t know how to deal with my feelings for you then, and I’m not doing a bang-up job of dealing with my feelings now. A million and one things race through my mind when I think of us together.”
I stared at my hands while he spoke.
“I don’t know if I can make you happy and give you the things you want, Corina.”
My eyes met his. “What if all I want is you?”
He swallowed hard. “My job…”
“Is dangerous. I know. I’ve understood the risks of falling for you from the very beginning. And it didn’t stop me.”
The corners of his mouth lifted slightly as he reached for my hand and ran his thumb across the top of it. Crackles of fire danced across my skin as he swept back and forth. “I want to show you I’m serious about making us work and that I’m not filling your head with bullshit to get in your pants.”
I raised my brows.
His smile grew bigger and his dimple popped, causing a pull in my lower stomach. “Okay, correction, I want in your pants more than you could ever fucking know, but I want more than that. I want to make this work…but I don’t know how to go about doing that.”
My teeth sank into my lip. “So if I said I wanted to sleep in your bed tonight, but no sex, what would you say?”
“I’d say okay.”
“Really?”
“I’ll do whatever I need to do, dove.”
My entire body became hyperaware of Mitchell. Each breath he took. Where his eyes traveled, the way his lips parted slightly. When he ran his thumb over my hand, an electric jolt started there and raced through me.
My voice sounded like I had a frog stuck in my throat. “Do you mean that, Mitchell?”
He gently kissed the back of my hand. “I’ve never said truer words before in my life.”
My stomach fluttered, and I knew the words he’d spoken were the truth.
Our eyes were locked on one another. “What do we do from here?” I asked with a grin.
Mitchell laughed. “You want to go get something to eat?”
I replied with a flirting grin, “I am hungry, but I was hoping for something else.”
His eyes danced with a brilliant light before he opened the truck door and got out.
Good grief. He thinks I want to see the house. I need to work on my flirting skills more.
He walked with purpose as he rounded the front of his truck. I opened the door and went to get out when he grabbed me and gently drew me to him.
Moving from the door, he pressed me against the truck. Cupping my face with his hands, Mitchell pressed his lips to mine. It didn’t take long for me to relax into the kiss. Opening my mouth to him, his tongue explored mine in a perfect, rhythmic dance.
We both moaned at the same time when he pressed his body close. The kiss turned hungrier as I took hold of his strong arms. My head spun as my body was wrapped in the euphoria that only Mitchell Parker could deliver. A strange feeling of peace settled into my chest as I let the wall I’d built around my heart fall. I was letting him in, and nothing was going to be the same from this point on.