I rumbled down Rebecca’s drive, the text I received as soon as I got off the plane from Jordan telling me everything was fine and Rebecca was safe was the only thing keeping me from going absolutely insane.

I still felt her fear throttling me through the phone line before she hung up on me, and screw the rest of what she’d said earlier.

Nothing had ever terrified me as much as being completely helpless when it came to Rebecca last night.

The plane ride was hell, and I hadn’t bothered to disguise myself through the airport I was in such a damn hurry to get out of L.A. Cameras had been turned in my direction, and I was pretty certain that had to do with the fact I was practically barreling through weary travelers in my hurry to make the flight, scoring a first-class seat. I would have flown in the cargo hold if it had gotten me there.

I’d planned this morning to meet with Max, talk about the filming I was supposed to start in September, but that all went to shit when I hurried out of the hotel I was staying in since my homes were no longer mine.

At least I’d dropped off my divorce papers at Paul’s house last night before heading to the hotel and calling Rebecca.

All of that played second fiddle to my desperate need to get to Rebecca, to see with my own eyes she was doing just fine. Then, we’d have a long, serious conversation about the other shit she spewed at me last night.

It was barely after six o’clock in the morning and the sun was already lighting up the sky casting an orange glow over the recently mowed hayfields.

I pulled the truck into the garage, taking in the black Explorer parked in front of her house along with a cherry red Tahoe next to it. Neither looked familiar, but Jordan’s Yukon was parked alongside both so at least I knew he was there.

I was halfway to the front of the house, the owners of unknown cars nowhere around when the front screen door opened.

Jordan stood in the doorway, holding it open for me.

“Come on in,” he said, waving me in. “Rebecca’s still sleeping. Neither of us got to bed until almost three in the morning.”

“And you’re already awake?”

At least I’d gotten a little bit of sleep on the plane, aided by noise-canceling headphones and a glass of whiskey.

“You’re assuming I slept at all. Does she know you’re coming?”

In my string of texts to him last night I’d told him she wasn’t returning anything of mine, and once I’d let them both know I was hitting the redeye, I hadn’t bothered texting him back.

“I texted her. She didn’t respond.” My jaw ached from gritting my teeth together and I forced it to relax. “She okay?”

“Physically yeah, but she’s concerned and she’s basically blaming the Jeffersons. We won’t know more until later though. A guy on the force, Beckett is out in the fields right now with a detective, Shawn Blakely. Beckett responded to the call last night with Ryan and for what it’s worth, I don’t think he’s slept either. Been waiting for them to come back, and fill them with some caffeine, so I’ve got coffee if you need any.”

I was jittery enough with what felt like the gallon I grabbed leaving the airport and another when I stopped to fill up on gas on the way. “I’m good. You mind if I head up?”

Jordan smirked. “Not heading to your bed in the guesthouse?”

I must have given him a look that showed my cards because he slapped my shoulder and grinned. “Don’t fucking hurt her, that’s all I ask. But let her sleep. She needs it.”

“Wouldn’t hurt her for anything,” I stated, serious as I could. If it were up to me, I’d throw my entire hand in to let Jordan know how much I meant that, but since I needed to talk to Rebecca first, see if she was anywhere near where I wanted us to go, I held back.

“Yeah?” he asked, his head cocked to the side. I could see him thinking, knew exactly what he was thinking because it was probably the same thing Rebecca had said. This was temporary. We were temporary.

The hell if we were.

I’d prove them both wrong, but I’d also take my time doing it.

“Yup.”

I kicked off my shoes and headed up the stairs. The door to her room was open a sliver so I settled my hand on it and opened it slowly. The hinges didn’t squeak and she didn’t move an inch while I set down my bag and stripped off my clothes.

Carefully, I slid into the bed next to her, wanting nothing more than to pull her into my arms, but fought the urge.

She needed sleep, and I needed some damn rest. Just seeing her sleeping in her bed not only made me hard, but for the first time since we were on the phone, it felt like I could breathe again.

I settled one hand behind my head, laid on my back and placed my other hand on the curve of her hip.

Nothing woke her, so I closed my eyes and pushed all my fears of worst case scenarios I’d been able to concoct out of my brain.

I was here.

She was fine.

And I was never leaving her again. Somehow, I’d fallen in love with this woman lying next to me. Now, I had to prove myself a man worthy of winning her love in return.

---

I didn’t know how much time passed, but I’d been laying next to Rebecca’s sleepy body for so long, drifting in and out of a light sleep every time I caught a noise from Jordan moving around downstairs, my hand on Rebecca’s hip was starting to cramp.

I moved it, flexed and relaxed my hand. A quick check of my phone told me it was now almost eight o’clock. The scent of bacon had wafted upstairs a while ago, which meant Jordan had done some cooking, at least for himself, and I’d heard him coming in and out of the house.

Hopefully, he took care of the animals while he was letting Rebecca sleep, but I needed to get out of bed and do my part. The man hadn’t slept at all and was probably running on empty.

I also had higher priorities.

Rolling to my side, I rested my hand on Rebecca’s shoulder before sliding it down her side to the curve of her waist, the span of her hips and back up. When I slept next to her, she’d curled on her side and rested her head on my shoulder. I thought maybe she slept that way because she was with me, but she’d been in the same position, curled on her side, facing the side of the bed I was on, since I snuck into her room. Her lips were parted slightly, tiny little puffs of air occasionally escaping. Her hair was pulled back, messed at the top of her head with only a few wisps brushing against her cheek and across her forehead.

I could lay there for hours and do nothing but stare at her and still feel like I’d accomplished something important.

Unable to resist, I leaned forward and pressed my lips against hers. It was a mere whisper of a kiss, but she stirred. A slight sound escaped her and she licked her lips. A stronger man might have been able to resist that sweet call, but not me.

I settled my hand on her hip again and squeezed, just enough to see if she’d wake. She hummed another sound and tipped her chin up, closer to me.

She might have been dreaming. She might have had no idea what she was doing. Or maybe, even in her sleep her body responded to me when I was near. Either way, it was time to get her up and moving around.

“Morning,” I whispered, brushing my lips over hers again. “Time to wake up, Rebecca.”

I settled my lips against hers, tiny little flicks of my tongue against her bottom one to tease her awake. The last thing I needed was to scare her and end up with a knee to the junk if she didn’t know who was in bed with her.

Her hands that had been settled beneath her chin, pressed together lightly like she’d fallen asleep praying, moved, and one of them slid to my neck, ran down to my shoulder.

Her lips parted and I took the invitation, shifting closer to her, sliding my tongue inside her mouth.

“Oh,” she breathed, taking my kiss. Giving back. All that worry that’d been twisted inside of me, that had relaxed when I saw she was really okay, balled into a different kind of need as she rolled her hips and pressed herself against the length of my body.

“Cooper,” she groaned.

And fuck. Yes. My name on her lips, her eyes still closed, sent a flash flood of emotion racing down my spine, straight to my balls. Need gripped me. Desire burned my veins until I had rolled us, moved her to her back where she spread her legs, allowing me to fall between them.

My erection pressed against her center and her hands fell to my hips. She was kissing me, arching into me, knew exactly who was in bed with her, and yet she still hadn’t opened her eyes.

“Becca,” I whispered, and pulled away from her mouth. I trailed kisses over her lips, down to her jaw and back to her ear. “Open your eyes, beautiful. Let me see you.”

She groaned as I nibbled on her ear, and her fingers tightened at my hips. “Cooper.”

She pressed her hips, rolled them into me, and it’d been less than forty-eight hours since she got me off with her hand and her mouth, but it felt like months. I could come in my underwear like a teenage virgin getting his first flash of real-life tits if she didn’t stop. Not that I’d mind, really, but I wanted inside her. The other night was a beautiful tease of what she’d be like in bed, and I’d had plenty of time to fantasize about how to take her the first time.

First thing in the morning, after she’d been awake half the night, and with her brother downstairs was not going to be it.

“Hey,” I pulled back, settled my hand on her cheek. “You awake yet?”

“Mm-hmm.” Her eyes were still closed but the edges of her lips lifted up. “You aren’t supposed to be here,” she mumbled, and all that was right in the world turned sideways until she continued. “But I’m glad you are.”

My forehead fell to hers at the admission. Her hands slid up my sides and down to my hips. “Can we finish what we started now? Please?”

“No. Jordan’s downstairs and you’ve got men outside.”

“What?” Her eyes flew open and I pressed up on my arms, still on top of her, my dick still hard at her center. My chest heaved with exertion, but it was the panicked look on her face that had me shoving off the bed. “What time is it?”

Her feet hit the floor and the covers were whipped off her lap as she moved.

I tugged on my jeans and followed her to the bathroom where she was frantically running her thin fingers through her mess of hair, refining it on top of her head.

“It’s just after eight.”

Her eyes flung to my reflection in the mirror. “The animals—”

“Are good. When I got here, Jordan said he’d take care of them.”

Her brows furrowed and her hands fell to the countertop. “When did you get here?”

“After six. You need some time to wake up and shower? I’ll go get your coffee.”

“That’d be great. Thanks.” I turned to leave the bathroom doorway.

“Cooper?”

“Yeah?”

“Last night,” her voice trembled and she shook her head, rolling her lips together. “Last night I said some things—”

I closed the gap between us in two long strides. Grabbing her hips, I yanked her until our bodies were flush together and my hands landed on her cheeks. “We’ll talk about last night later.”

“I was scared.”

“Later, Rebecca. You have other things on your mind today.”

“I didn’t mean it. There are things you don’t know. Things I haven’t told anyone.” She was rushing out the words, but she didn’t need to.

I slammed my mouth to hers and kissed away her objection and hopefully, her fears. We’d get to all of it later when we had the time. I pulled back, her cheeks flushed, lips swollen and wet. Her eyes were glazed over from lust and sleep and hell if she wasn’t more beautiful in that moment than I’d seen her yet. No makeup, tired eyes, messed up hair, and looking freshly kissed….

Yeah, I was definitely making the right decision.

“Later,” I all but growled, and dropped my hands from her. “Take your shower. Coffee will be here when you’re done.”

I hurried out of the bathroom, stopping only when something shiny caught my gaze on the floor.

The blue wall had a dent in it, white drywall showing from it. I went to the spot on the wall, bent down and grabbed the upside down picture frame on the floor.

Underneath it, something else glittered.

Her wedding ring. It was what had made me ask about her being married the first night I was there when I bandaged up her hand. She always wore it.

My fist curled around it and I flipped over the picture frame.

A picture of her and Joseph. My gaze whipped to the nightstand. It had been there two nights ago. It’d probably been there for years. She was smiling at him in this photo, unabashed and wild and free, a smile I hadn’t yet seen, but the first time I saw that smile in the photo an ache has pinched my chest.

It was obvious she’d thrown it, and she’d thrown it quite hard to leave the small mess. Why? Why, when she was frustrated with me, or scared, would she chuck this photo, one where they looked so beautiful and happy together, across the room? And why did she throw her ring?

I set the frame down on the corner of the bed, placed the ring on top, and left the room. Objects wouldn’t give me answers to my questions, only Rebecca could.