Dinner had never seemed to go so long. After a few well-timed questions, Will was certain Mr. LaMont was getting information about his place through Maddie. She wasn’t all that bright and loved to brag. He’d invited his foreman in to eat as well, and soon picked up the vibe that those two were cozy. Very cozy.

He and Carter had made sure that all LaMont cattle were back where they belonged. It would take a few days to do a full accounting of their own to make sure none were missing, but even if they were, it still wouldn’t be worth as much as keeping the land. Especially now that he was married and there might be the chance of leaving it to one of his children one day. The thought caught him out of nowhere and stopped him short. He glanced out the window over the wide pasture. He hadn’t been back in years, but now it meant something, because of Gen.

He glanced again at the hall and hoped Gen would come down, but he knew she wouldn’t. She’d been stubborn since he was in the sixth grade and she was in fourth. She’d insisted on playing baseball and doing everything else he and Carter did. Soon, they just invited her along because it was easier than trying to shake her off. After a while, she was one of his closest friends … until Maddie. After he’d started seeing Maddie, Gen had disappeared, often shaking him off.

Carter had joked about it for a while, and neither of them pushed her to rejoin them, assuming she would when she was good and ready. After a while, when they realized she wasn’t coming back, it was just too awkward, and he was still seeing Maddie. Then, out of the blue, Gen had come over to see him. She’d worn an amazing blue dress—he could still picture it. Gen rarely dressed up, and his heart had raced like only a teenage boy’s could. Something was different about Gen that day. She was beautiful, nervous, like she didn’t know what to say. She’d told him about Maddie, what Maddie was really up to. He hadn’t thought about it in a long time, but looking back … she’d been trying to tell him something. More than just about Maddie. His gut clenched at the realization. He’d been too stupid to see back then that she was trying to show him she felt something for him, that she might have hoped he’d pick her instead. He had to see her, now, and make it right.

He pushed back from the table, startling everyone.

“Sorry. I need to go take care of something. Thank you all for coming tonight. Carter, I’ll want to talk to you tomorrow morning. Eight sharp.”

He met Carter’s eyes only long enough to make sure he understood then dashed around the table and down the hall. He hadn’t felt this driven about anything in years. Gen, the Gen he’d dreamed of for so long, was sitting alone upstairs while he wiled away the hours with a woman who would work against him, try to take land from him. He took the stairs two at a time and found himself in front of her door, holding gently onto the knob. Afraid to say anything. He couldn’t even remember the last time he’d been afraid to talk to anyone.

“Gen, can I come in?”

No answer. He sucked in his breath. She had to be in there, ignoring him, hoping he’d go away. He couldn’t do that. He’d made a mess of her life, in his need to make every decision, he hadn’t considered her feelings. He’d repeated his same high school mistake.

“This is my house, I’m going to come in anyway. I’m giving you a curtesy.”

“If it’s your damn house, then do as you please. You will anyway.”

He closed his eyes against the pain in her voice. Pain that sounded eerily familiar to how she’d sounded that day long ago, when she’d told him about Maddie. Guilt hit him like a punch again as he pushed the door open. Her back was still to him, but now she was under the covers, nestled in bed.

He hated that he’d hurt her, but he didn’t know how to make it right, what to say… “Did I wear you out so much last night that you needed to go to bed early?”

She ignored him again, lying still as a corpse. He needed to see her face, needed to see what effect his words had on her. Did she still have feelings for him after all the years between the puppy love from high school and now? He certainly didn’t deserve them if she did.

He sat on the bed and touched her arm. When she flinched, he pulled away, uncertain what to do. This was uncharted territory. He’d never cared about the women he’d been with. They hadn’t mattered. None of them wanted anymore of him than his wallet and his bed, but Gen… She wanted what he’d never given to anyone. How could he break through her hurt and get her talking again?

She covered her face with her arm, revealing she wore one of his shirts.

“Nice shirt.” He’d love to see more of her in it, and then out of it. That would have to wait though, until he figured out how to fix the mess he’d made.

“The agency didn’t provide me much for sleeping in on my own. I’ll return it after I can do some shopping. I’m sure I can manage to pay for it myself, so don’t worry, I won’t need any more of your money.”

Her words were harsh, angry, cutting. He didn’t want a gold-digger, but had he been so worried about someone who only wanted wealth, even that had hurt her? “Keep it.”

Why wouldn’t she turn to look at him? Gen had chased after him for years, yet when she finally had him, would she give up? Had he wronged her one too many times?

“Why, Will?” her voice shook and he knew why she wouldn’t look him in the eye. His strong, beautiful woman didn’t want him to see her tears.

“I don’t know.” Why couldn’t he shove Maddie away? He could almost read Gen’s mind. That was what she wanted to know. But he had no answer. He should’ve cut off Maddie’s attention right at the door, but he hadn’t.

“You can’t have us both. If you want her, then let me go. I assume you knew she’d be here, which is why we aren’t in the same room.”

He sighed. He had known Maddie would be waiting, but he hadn’t wanted Gen away from him. He laid down on the bed behind her, propping his head up, but not too close. He wanted to give her space if she needed it, but he wanted to hold her. He wanted to convince her that it hadn’t been his intent to separate them, or to let Maddie come between them.

“No. I told Mrs. Feast to ready this room for her granddaughter. She’s coming to stay next week. I was sure little Amber would find this room perfect.”

“I thought—”

“I know, and I’m sorry. I haven’t seen Maddie since you told me about her ten years ago. Finding her here was as much of a shock to me as it was to you.” At least, her reaction was a shock.

“Yeah, I could see the shock all over your face.”

Her snark put him on the defensive. Had all she noticed was the kiss and not the fact that he didn’t touch Maddie? “I didn’t kiss her back.”

“You didn’t need to, she was doing enough for the both of you.”

Will wrapped his arm around Gen and tugged, pulling her onto her back so he could see her face. He searched her red, puffy eyes, and the tracks down her cheeks and onto the damp pillow knocked the wind out of him.

“I don’t want her in my house. After she leaves with Carter tonight, she will not be allowed on this property again. Neither will her little boyfriend, my foreman.”

Gen’s forehead knotted and he wanted to kiss the lines away, along with many other areas. “If she’s seeing your foreman, why did she kiss you?”

He wasn’t entirely sure, he could only guess. “She thought she could get close to me, but she missed that ship by about a day. I should thank you for saving me from Maddie, again. I have a soft spot for her, because she’s Carter’s sister, and he’s always encouraged it. But, I should’ve stopped her. I’m sorry.”

Gen’s eyes widened and she gripped the front of his shirt. “Is it possible that Carter can’t be trusted, either? Why would he encourage a relationship with his own sister?”

It wasn’t possible. Carter had been with him for as long as he could remember, and though they’d fought occasionally, Carter wouldn’t betray him. Carter had tried to get he and Maddie together even before Will was wealthy.

“So far, I don’t see anything that would lead me to believe Carter is anything but loyal. I’ll keep an eye out, though. Thanks for worrying about me. I certainly haven’t given you any reason to care.”

He looked down at her red-rimmed eyes and tear streaked cheeks, Gen still felt something for him. Something they could build on. All he had to do was try.

“And, right now, the only person I want to have my eye on, is my wife. But I can’t in here.” He glanced around the lavender room, with its lace and gingham. It had been a room his parents had put together for a cousin when he was little, and he couldn’t think of that room as anything else. He had things in mind that needed to happen far away from his cousin’s bedroom.

“I’m going to carry you over to my room, strip you down to nothing, and devour you, wife.”

She shivered but reached for him. He wrapped his arms under her and carried her down the hall to his room, shutting the door swiftly with his foot.

With one quick motion his shirt was over her head and tossed to the floor, leaving her body nearly bare to his ravenous gaze, her supple breasts just waiting for him. She wore a pair of lavender panties that looked like two wide pieces of lace, sewn together. He slid out of his jeans and unbuttoned his shirt, all while taking her in. He couldn’t get enough of looking at her. She was like the statue of a goddess, but she was his.

He drew close to her, his hard length already pressing against her belly. How she managed to excite him so quickly was beyond his comprehension. No other woman had. She ran cool fingertips down the hot flesh of his chest, down his belly, and finally grasping him firmly. He couldn’t let her do that, not after he’d been thinking about her all day.

“Not tonight.” He lifted her and she released him as he carried her to the edge of the bed.

“I don’t know what else to do for you.” Her eyes were large, round, trusting.

He slid his hands down her hips, freeing her of the lavender panties. She wrapped her arms around his neck, trusting him. He wouldn’t take that for granted again.

He lifted her to the bed and rose above her, then lowered gently, so he wouldn’t put too much weight on her as he explored her mouth. First tasting gently, then taking what he wanted as she pressed herself to him.

“I don’t want to ever let you go, Gen.”

“Don’t you dare.”

He kissed down her neck, to one breast, sucking and teasing until his Gen arched under him. She shuddered as he blew a soft breath over her heated flesh. She tossed her head back and forth on the pillow as he kissed lower and lower until his mouth hovered over the core of her and he kissed her there with the same abandon he’d had with her mouth. He teased her until she knotted her fingers in his hair and shuddered against him.

Gen tugged gently on his shoulders, pulling him to her. She reached between them and stroked the length of him, first with just the tips of her fingers, then a massage that had him on the brink. She placed him at her entrance, guiding him inside her, and he took up the familiar rhythm that soon left them both crying out in release.

“Say it,” she whispered in his ear.

He didn’t know what she needed to hear from him, but he had to provide whatever it was. “Say what?”

“Say you need me.” She ran her fingernails up his back as he lay atop her, and the tender, yet rough action ignited the need she held over him.

“I need you,” he growled in her ear before rolling over and pulling her atop him to start over.