~ Nash ~

I held Jorie close as we swayed together. The local band played Remember When by Alan Jackson. It was old, but there were parts that spoke to us, particularly the part about coming together then falling apart and breaking each other’s hearts. Wasn’t that exactly what we’d done? But there was so much more for us to have.

I wanted to grow old with this girl. Five years hadn’t dulled that desire.

“Jorie,” I whispered, holding her with one arm while I reached into my pocket with the other.

Her eyes met mine, and I saw the same emotions in her eyes. Pulling my hand from my pocket, I held it between us. Her eyes fell on the simple silver band with the flower made from sapphires—sapphires that were said to represent fidelity. She had mine. I’d never stray from her.

“My promise ring,” she whispered.

“Will you wear it again?”

“Are you sure?”

Am I sure? I thought incredulously. “More than sure. I’ve thought about it over and over this last week. We’re meant to be together, and I want this reminder for you, of my promise, that someday you’ll wear another ring I give you. A wedding ring. But until then…”

“Yes,” she said. She nodded quickly. “Yes, Nash.”

We stopped dancing, and I took her right hand and slid the band on her ring finger.

“Mine,” I murmured and pulled her flush to my chest.

“Always.”

I kissed her temple, breathing in her familiar scent of sunshine and citrus. We started to sway again as the band segued into LANCO’s Greatest Love Story.

“You think we can leave soon?” I asked.

“Probably. Ryder seems to be getting on well with Max and Dustin—I’m glad he came out, too. I haven’t seen him since I got back. He seemed pretty pissed at me for a while, though.”

“I told him if he didn’t stop giving you death eyes, I’d knock the attitude out of him.”

“He’s just protective of you.”

“Doesn’t matter. He needed to cut that shit out. Don’t worry about him. He’s actually glad you’re back. He was one of the first people to tell me you’d gotten back to Mason. Trust me; he’s Team Jorie. ”

She shook her head, laughing. “The Mason grapevine. Alive and well.”

“Get used to it, baby.”

“Oh, I’m used to it. It’s one of the reasons I left—I couldn’t handle facing everyone.”

I sobered, remembered panic tightening my chest. “Don’t ever—”

“I won’t run again,” she promised, her hand cupping my cheek. “I learned my lesson. Five years for no reason. I’m still so sorry.”

“I think we established the other night that fate might have had a very good reason. Plans for us and all.”

She shrugged. Not liking the sadness on her face, I tilted her mouth up to mine and kissed her. Jorie groaned, melting even closer, her lips opening for me as our kiss deepened.

We jolted apart when someone bumped into us hard. “Stop making out with my cousin in the middle of a public dance floor,” Ryder growled before he swung away with Missy in his arms. The music had changed to a two-step, and we hadn’t even noticed.

Jorie laced her fingers with mine, and we headed back to the empty table. I sat, pulling her into my lap.

“Ryder and Missy seem to be getting on well,” she said. Her head rested against my chest, her hand over my heart as we watched the couples moving across the polished wood floor.

I moved my hand along her thigh, wishing she were wearing a dress instead of jeans. Probably best that she wasn’t, though. My fingers tightened a few inches from the promised land, and I forced myself to stop. “He better fucking be careful with her.”

“Don’t worry about him. No matter what he might say about being a player, he isn’t one. He knows all about broken hearts and disappointment.”

“Hey,” Max said as he came back with a beer and dropped into a chair next to us. “So…you two?”

“Yes. We’re together,” I confirmed.

“Should have known.” He narrowed his eyes on me. “Really, I should have known, best friend.”

Jorie had always been my best friend, but Max was as close as I got after her. “I’m sorry,” I apologized.

He made a disbelieving sound then turned his eyes onto Jorie as he took a swig from his beer. “And you,” he went on, pointing the bottle at her. “Don’t go running off on him again. On any of us. If he needs his ass kicked, come to Uncle Max, and I’ll take care of it.”

“Max—”

Jorie’s laugh cut me off, and she snuggled deeper into me. “I won’t leave town again. I promise.”

My arm tightened around her waist as I realized she hadn’t confirmed she wouldn’t leave me, just that she wouldn’t leave Mason. That’s what she meant, right? That she was staying with me. God damn, she’d taken back the promise ring. Of course, she was staying with me. I needed to get a grip.

“You think you can take Ryder back to my Gran’s place?” she asked.

“Why? What are you going to be doing?” He knew. The smirk on his face said it. He was just being a shit. I growled at him in warning, but Jorie just patted my arm.

“Well, if you must know, I’ll be reminding your good friend, here, about how much I missed him while he was at the cattle thingy the past five days. When I get him home, I’m thinking about—”

“Argh! My ears!” Max exclaimed, covering them and almost spilling his beer at the same time.

“What is wrong with you?” Dustin griped at Max as he came back to the table with his girl of the hour, Britney or Bianca or some other B name. I couldn’t remember. I think he’d been through all the single girls in Mason and had started into the ones living in surrounding towns. I’d told him point blank to stay away from my guests at the ranch.

“Jorie just told me she’s leaving with Nash to get busy.”

“That’s not exactly what I said,” Jorie muttered, a blush flooding up her cheeks.

“You go, girl,” Dustin’s little cheerleader said, toasting Jorie with her cola since she wasn’t even legal to drink yet. I’d asked him earlier if the chick was legal period, and he’d assured me she was.

“She’s doing what?” Ryder asked, having come in just in time to hear Max’s announcement. He glared at me, as if he were Jorie’s overprotective big brother, which I knew he wasn’t.

Missy patted his bicep. She had her arm looped though his and leaned against his shoulder. “Don’t worry about them. Jorie’s the love of his life. He’s been miserable since she’s been gone.”

“Then he shouldn’t have been a dick.”

“Wait. What was going on before?” Max demanded, glaring at me. I so didn’t want to do this here. I just wanted to take my girl and leave. But apparently, all secrets had consequences.

“You guys don’t know?” Ryder asked.

“Ryder, shut up,” Jorie exclaimed. “It was a big understanding. We worked it out.”

“Well, that’s great after all the times you cried on my shoulder, after how devastated you were that he slept with you then said it was nothing. How not an hour afterward, he encouraged his friends to go ahead and try for you.”

Where the hell was the guy who’d been so civil back at the ranch? Apparently, he’d been holding a lot back and the liquor had let it all out.

“Stop,” Jorie demanded, moving closer to me as if she could protect me from all the daggers being glared at us.

“You did what?” Missy yelled at me.

“It wasn’t like that,” I insisted as everyone at the table—except Jorie who was the supposed victim—stared at me aghast. I glared at Ryder. “You have a big, fucking mouth and have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“I know what I saw every day for months after she got to Michigan. You ripped out her heart.”

Jorie stood, and I followed her to my feet, feeling odd sitting there in the line of fire.

“It was a misunderstanding,” she insisted, taking my hand and squeezing my fingers. I didn’t like her defending me, but since she’d been the one harmed, they needed to hear this from her. “If I hadn’t run off, it would have been resolved sooner. Nash was just trying to keep my secret. I asked him not to tell any of you.”

“Why?” Missy asked, hurt filling her face. “We did everything together since we were little. Why would you keep it a secret that you guys were finally together? How long was it going on? How long were y’all lying to us? Keeping secrets?”

“Couple months before Jorie left,” I admitted.

Jorie looked up at me. “I was scared. I didn’t want to mess up the dynamics of our group. I didn’t know how us dating would affect things.”

“You know how it affected things? We had to deal with the fallout of something we didn’t even know was happening. We just knew he was devastated you left. You know what?” Missy held up her hand. “I just cannot. I’m leaving. Ryder, it was nice meeting you and spending time together tonight. Max, take me home.”

“Missy,” Jorie pleaded, but Missy stalked off, ignoring her.

“Missy,” Ryder called and took off after her. “Wait!”

Max slammed down the beer bottle he’d still been holding, though I thought maybe he’d forgotten about it as the group had chewed us out. “Well, I guess it’s a night. I suppose you’ll be taking Ryder home. See you ‘round, friend.”

“Fuck,” I muttered under my breath, and beside me, tears started down Jorie’s cheeks.

“This is exciting,” Dustin’s date deadpanned, and he looked at her as if he’d forgotten she was there and had no idea why he was even with her.

“I think it’s time to take you home,” he said. “C’mon, Brianna.”

“But I want to dance,” she whined.

“Nope, date’s over.” He pulled her past me, silently reaching out and squeezed my shoulder as he went by. Unlike Max and Missy, he wasn’t completely pissed with us.

Jorie shook as I pulled her to me, and she cried into my chest. I wondered if this was what she’d been worried about before. This fallout.

“It’ll be okay,” I promised.

“They all hate us.”

“No, they don’t,” I assured her, not sure if I believed it myself. “They’re just pissed for the moment. They’ll get over it. We’ve all gotten in fights before. It’ll blow over.” I hoped.

* * * *

~ Jorie ~

The next morning, I headed out to the Lazy D even though it was Saturday and I didn’t have to work. I hoped I could track down Nash while he did his morning chores. I really needed to talk to him. I also wanted to reassure him that, despite everything that had gone down, I was firmly at his side. I knew he still worried I’d leave again and return to the half-life I’d built up in Michigan.

Today, he was likely wrestling against that concern. Last night had turned into an epic disaster. Our plan to get together had devolved into us trying to track down Ryder, who’d been outside in the hall’s parking lot staring after Max’s truck as Max took off with Missy. Nash had driven us to Gran’s since we’d left our cars there before heading to Luckenbach.

And I hadn’t gone back to the ranch with him, needing to deal with Ryder. I was so pissed with my cousin I could hardly speak with him.

When I arrived at the ranch, I couldn’t find Nash in the house or the office, so I headed over to the barn. I didn’t see him there, either. Max was coming out of one of the stalls as I entered. He glanced at me then turned the other way without so much as the acknowledging grin I usually got.

“Max,” I pleaded.

“Not yet, Jorie,” he answered without looking back at me. Okay, apparently, he didn’t intend to speak with me.

“Will you at least tell me where he is?”

Max shrugged.

“Oh c’mon. I thought we were all adults!”

“And I thought friends didn’t keep big secrets from each other. Especially the kind that affects the whole group. And it did. It affected all of us when you left.” He exited out the other side of the barn without giving me a chance to say anything else.

Henry, one of Nash’s other workers, came out of one of the side enclosures and gave me a look of sympathy. “Nash took an ATV out to the far west field by the highway about an hour ago. Heard some kids were messing around over there and might have taken down a fence. He went to see what the damage is and decide if he needs to call out the sheriff.”

“Mind if I take one of the ATVs out there?”

“You’re the boss, Ms. Jorie. You can do what you want.”

“I’m—” I almost told him I wasn’t, but stopped. I kinda was. His wife had been the one to call me about the set schedules. “Thanks,” I told him and headed over to the equipment barn to grab one of the four-wheelers.

I found Nash exactly where Henry had said he’d be. He didn’t look up as I came into the pasture. He knelt beside the fence, rooting around in his toolbox, and as I got closer, I saw he wore wireless earbuds and didn’t hear me. Smiling, I parked beside his vehicle and headed toward him. He jumped when I crouched behind him and my arms went around his waist. Realizing it was me, he quickly turned in my embrace while pulling off his work gloves. His bare hands came up to cup my face as he kissed me. I reached up to pull the headphones from his ears.

“Hey,” I said when we came up for air.

“Hey, baby. I didn’t expect you out here today. When I got back, I was going to call and see if you wanted to go out tonight.”

I smiled against his lips “Yes, I wanted to go out tonight. Or maybe stay in.”

“Don’t want to see anyone?”

“Eh…” I hedged. I wanted to be alone with him, and I didn’t want something screwing it up again. “Everyone’s still pissed at us. Max told me off a few minutes ago. Wouldn’t even tell me where you were.”

“Asshole. Like he’s never kept a secret.”

“I know, but… Well, I guess they do have a right to be angry. It’s true that it affected them, too. I’m sorry I wouldn’t let you tell them.”

He pressed his fingers over my lips. “Hey, enough sorrys. I made that choice, too. You didn’t force me.” His hands moved to cup my face, and his thumbs swept over my cheekbones, the rough pads scraping slightly, the sensation so sensual and arousing. “What brings you out here?”

“I missed you while you were away. I wanted to see you. I…um…also wanted to make sure you knew I wasn’t letting everyone’s reaction sway me. I’m right here with you.”

“Right here with you, too.”

“So we have a date tonight?”

“If something doesn’t sidetrack us again.”

“We haven’t had a lot of luck with that,” I said, remembering our encounter in the truck and trying to forget last night—well, parts of it. Some of last night had been pretty incredible. My thumb rubbed over the back of my ring, my body tingling at his promises.

“Hey, if you want to jump me in my truck again…”

“Shut up,” I laughed, smacking his shoulder.

“But if you did…”

“Nash Davidson, you shut your mouth now.”

“Your mom voice is pretty hot,” he said, grinding his aroused cock against me. “I can’t wait ‘til we have kids.”

Kids? He was already talking kids? “Not happening.”

He sobered. “Never?”

“Not soon.” I needed us to be more solid before then. Maybe…married or, at very least, engaged. I figured that was a while down the road.

He grinned. “Okay. You can practice your hot mom voice on me until then.”

God help me, I giggled. “You’re terrible.”

“But you love me.”

Everything seemed to go still at his words, and I stared at him wide-eyed.

He stiffened and pushed a hand through his hair. “Jorie, I—”

“I do,” I interrupted before he could apologize for his words or try to change them. “I do love you, Nash.”

A slow smile bloomed across his lips. “Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

His arms went around me. “I love you, too. Hell, I fucking love you so much, baby.”

“Maybe, you can show me tonight? By the way, I won’t need to jump you somewhere. I’m staying over.”

“Yeah? Good.” He laughed. “You can jump me and stay over.”

“I like that idea. So, besides the obvious agenda—”

“Staying naked most of the weekend?”

I rolled my eyes. “Nice as that sounds, you know it’s not happening. You’ve got ranch duties, and we have guests arriving tomorrow morning.”

“Fine,” he sighed, his eyes dancing with humor.

“As I was saying…”

“Mm-hmm?” he muttered, moving against me, his mouth on my neck. I tilted my head to the side, giving him better access as he kissed his way to my ear.

What was I saying?

All thoughts deserting me, I clenched my hands on his shoulders. My core tingled with my need for him.

“I want you to tell me all about what you’ve done over the last two weeks,” he said against my ear. Oh, yeah, that was it. That’s what I’d wanted to talk about. How could he even think when he was doing this to me?

“I did a lot,” I managed. One of my hands slipped up into his hair, knocking away his hat. A moment later, I was on my back, his hips between my thighs as we kept kissing and rubbed together, finding as much satisfaction from each other as possible without getting naked.

He reached between us and flipped open the button of my jeans then pushed his hand inside. I moaned and arch into him as his fingers slipped over my clit.

“You’re so wet,” he breathed.

“For you. I missed you so much.” Our lips met again, feasting as he stroked me. I ran my hand over the rigid line of his cock, dragging appreciative groans from him.

“Yeah, baby,” he rasped against my ear as he finger-fucked me, two digits pulsing in and out, hitting the sweet spot inside me that made electricity spike through me from my core. “Squeeze my fingers with that sweet pussy. I can’t wait to lose myself in it tonight. Lick you until you scream. I can feel how much you like that idea. Give me all that cream. Show me who you belong to.”

As he spoke, claiming me, a third finger pushed in with the first two, and his thumb scored over my clit.

I arched, crying out, “Oh fuck, oh Nash.”

“Give it to me,” he demanded, his drives not slowing, even as my walls clenched tight around him. My climax washed over me suddenly, stealing my vision then my breath as it overwhelmed me, sending me soaring.

He’d stilled, staring down at me when I came back to myself, breathing hard. “That was beautiful,” he said quietly, so reverently.

I shook my head, shoving him off me. Before he could protest, I straddled his thighs, grabbing for his jeans. We couldn’t fuck right here, but the ATVs hid us enough that I could do something else.

His long, thick cock bobbed free when I jerked open his fly and yanked down his underwear to get to it. I’d always wanted to do this, imagined it with Nash. Leaning forward, I swiped my tongue across his tip, lapping away the pre-cum.

“Oh fuck,” he gasped. His hands went into my hair, his head canting back into the grass, his eyes squeezed shut. I would have smiled, if not for the girth slipping into my mouth. I hummed around him, my hand working his base as I moved my mouth up and down his length, sucking and licking as I slowly eased him farther and farther into my mouth.

I gagged a little when he reached my throat, and despite what I’d learned from a bit of porn research this week, there was no way I could take him deeper. Not yet. Instead, I focused on what I could manage. And from the pull of his fingers as he fisted my hair and the sounds coming from his mouth in breathless curses and groans, he was just fine with that. I watched the agonized pleasure on his face, my own arousal building once more.

“Oh fuck. Baby…I’m gonna—” He gasped, unable to finish, and I pressed my free hand into his chest as he started to sit up. I wasn’t stopping. I wanted him. All of him. Taking my silent order, he slammed back onto the ground, holding me in place as he pumped up into my mouth. When his warmth exploded into my mouth, I swallowed frantically, wanting all of him.

I barely caught my breath before he yanked me up his body and slammed his mouth over mine. Rolling me under him, his thighs tangled with mine to keep my legs open. His hand was in my pants again, bringing me right back to orgasm.

Afterward, we lay beside each other, our limbs still somewhat entwined, our clothes askew. I stared up at the blue sky dotted with small puffy clouds and thought there had never been a better day.

“I love you,” he said against my temple, kissing me.

“Mmm… I love you, too.” I arched, stretching, feeling so happy, so in love and loved. He had work to do, but we both just lay there, basking in each other.

“What were you saying about the office?” I finally asked.

He chuckled, his chest rumbling against my side. I looked over at him, and he pushed the hair out of my face. “When I walked through there, it looked like you did a controlled burn to get rid of everything.”

“Does not,” I laughed. “But I do have a lot to tell you. Will you be out here awhile?”

He sighed and nodded. “Kids. They ripped up the field over there,” he pointed, generally to our left, “and jacked up the fence. Thing is, I can tell they were trying to be careful so none of my stock escaped out onto the highway. I don’t know… It looks like they were having some sort of party, took down the fence to get their vehicles in here, but were careful to put it back in place as best they could.”

“Seems like a lot of work for a field party. There are other more accessible places.”

“Who knows what they were thinking? I’m not going to file a complaint with the sheriff, but I alerted him. He’s planning to drive past a few times at night to make sure they’re not out here again. God knows what they’re doing. I don’t want minors doing drugs, drinking or some other shit on our property. That’s a liability we don’t need, and for that matter, I don’t want to keep fixing the fences.”

“Got an extra pair of work gloves? I can help you.”

He kissed my forehead one more time then leapt to his feet and fixed his jeans. “Ah, the city girl fixing a fence. I don’t know about that.”

I stood, as well, gathering myself, still feeling a little weak and tingly from the orgasms. “Hey! I remember how to do it. Take the girl out of the country but can’t take the country out of the girl.”

“I think it’s the other way around. Take the girl out of the city but can’t take the city out of the girl.”

“Whatever. Got gloves or not?”

He laughed, tossing me a pair from the ATV storage then handing me the wire cutters.

Going on my toes, I pressed against his back before he could walk away. “For the record,” I whispered in his ear, “I like when you put a little country in this city girl.”

“Baby, there ain’t nothing little about it.”