Loving You

  Walker reached for the gearshift and put it in Drive. “Jase, if there is one thing I learned from your sister it is that what you think women want is usually the exact opposite of what they want.”

  “So you don’t think she really wanted me to leave?”

  With a nod, he said, “I don’t. And when you did it probably made her angry and then that made her turn to this work guy. Clearly she didn’t want to be with him . . . or he hurt her in some way.”

  The thought had me livid. “I’ll fucking kill him if he hurt her.”

  “Down boy,” Walker said with a chuckle and pulled back onto the highway. “I think if things are meant to be with this girl they’ll work themselves out, but you might have to push it along. Especially if she lives in Austin.”

  With a gruff laugh, I nodded. “Yeah. It’s not like fate is going to have me run into her in Llano.”

  “Never ever doubt fate, especially when she teams up with destiny.”

  My heart felt so heavy as I smiled weakly.

  “This is it.”

  Dipping my head down, I glanced up at the sign.

  Reynolds Breeding.

  “Do they know we’re coming?”

  Walker grunted. “Of course they do. Jesus, Jase. I’m not that unprofessional to just show up.”

  With a shrug, I grinned and mumbled, “Just checking.”

  As we pulled up, I couldn’t believe the massive house in front of me. “Wow. This place is nice.”

  Throwing it in Park, Walker opened the truck door and jumped out. Walking around the front, he shook his head. “Damn. Reminds me of your parents’ house.”

  “It’s fucking huge,” I said under my breath as the front door opened and an older man came walking out along with a younger guy.

  “Walker Moore?” the older gentleman asked as he extended his hand.

  “Yes, sir.” They shook hands as he replied, “Scott Reynolds. This is my son-in-law, Colt Mathews.”

  That caught my attention. “Colt Mathews, as in the Mathews Cattle Ranch?”

  Colt smiled and nodded. “Yes. Gunner Mathews is my father.”

  “It’s a pleasure meeting you,” I said as I shook his hand. “Jase Morris.”

  Scott and Colt both lifted their eyes as Scott replied, “Don’t tell me your dad is Layton Morris?”

  It must have then hit Scott who Walker was, because he turned to Walker. “Reed Moore. It’s all coming together. Jesus, the last time I saw you two boys you were running around playing cowboys and Indians.”

  Everyone laughed.

  “I’m sorry I didn’t put the name together when you mentioned Llano.”

  Walker lifted his hand. “Nah, don’t even think twice about it.”

  “Your fathers have some pretty good racehorses. We worked together a number of years ago.”

  “Yes, sir, they do. I’ve always been interested in that side of the business as well, hence the reason I’m here today.”

  Scott nodded his head. “Then let’s get right to business. From what you’ve told me about Lady’s lineage, I’d say you’ve got a great start in her.”

  “I have a feeling. I know that might be crazy to hear, but something tells me with the right stud, she could foal a real racehorse.”

  Scott grinned from ear to ear. “Then, son, do I have the stud for you. Let’s go meet Whiskey. He’s in the main barn right behind the house.”

  “Whiskey and Lady . . . what a combo,” I mumbled under my breath as Colt laughed.

  We walked behind Walker and Scott and made our way to the barn. “So, you work here, Colt?”

  “Yeah, horses have always been my kind of thing since I was young. Don’t get me wrong, I love the cattle business, but this is where my heart is.”

  “I admire you for following your dreams.”

  Colt smiled weakly and asked, “You haven’t?”

  “Oh, there were a brief few months where I declared I wanted to do something other than ranch. It’s in my blood though, and it didn’t take me long to come to my senses.”

  Colt placed his hand on my shoulder and gave me a slight push. “Once that shit is in your blood you can’t get it out.”

  With a nod, I agreed. “Amen to that.”

  Lifting his gaze to in front of him, Colt lit up and smiled like a man in love. Turning, I saw a beautiful girl with blonde hair round the corner coming out of the barn. The way she looked at Colt, I knew that must have been his wife.

  “Lauren, this is Walker Moore,” Scott said as Lauren shook Walker’s hand.

  Why did she look so familiar to me?

  Turning to me, her smile dropped as she gasped. “This is Jase Morris. Jase, my daughter, Lauren. She is the one really in charge.”

  Her eyes looked me over as her mouth snapped shut for a brief moment before she flashed a brilliant smile and said, “What a crazy thing fate is. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you formally, Jase.”

  Frowning, I looked over at everyone else with a confused expression before focusing back on Lauren. “I’m sorry?”

  The air around me instantly changed as I saw her walking out of the barn. When our eyes met, she came to a stop.

  “Taylor,” I whispered as her eyes widened in shock.

  Her mouth opened and shut quickly as she looked around. Lauren walked up to her and said, “I told you that, girl; fate has a way of taking care of things.”

  My eyes snapped over to Walker who wore a huge grin on his face.

  Clearing her throat, Taylor asked, “Wh-what are you doing here?”

  I couldn’t help but look her over quickly. She looked tired. Focusing back on her beautiful green eyes, I smiled. “Walker wants to breed a horse and asked me to drive along with him. What are you doing here?”

  “Taylor works for us now.”

  My head snapped over to look at Lauren. “Here?”

  She nodded her head and wiggled her eyebrows. “She’s even going to be staying in the hunter’s cabin . . . isn’t she, Daddy?” Lauren asked as she turned to her very confused father.

  All eyes went to Scott. “Um . . . yes she is, but do the two of you know each other?”

  “Yes,” Taylor said sharply.

  Colt clapped his hands together causing both Taylor and I to jump. “So, let’s look at that horse and let Taylor and Jase catch up, shall we.”

  With a tip of my hat, I silently thanked Colt and stole a look at Walker. His eyes widened and he silently pleaded for me to talk to Taylor.

  “I think I’ll head in with them in case Walker has any questions,” Lauren said.

  Taylor reached out to grab Lauren. “Wait!” Lauren stopped and leaned in to whisper something to Taylor. I couldn’t help but notice how hard Taylor was breathing, and I wanted more than anything to pull her into my arms and beg her to start over.

  With a sincere smile directed toward me, Lauren turned and headed into the barn.

  Taylor pushed her long brown hair behind her ear and peeked up at me. “I . . . I’ve been wanting to . . . I mean.” Sighing, she turned her head away from me.

  My heart couldn’t have been beating any harder than it was at that point. I knew deep in my heart Taylor deserved so much better than me, but I was tired of caring. I loved her and wanted her so damn much. “You look beautiful, Taylor.”

  She slowly shook her head while pressing her lips together. I knew she was about to get upset. Walking up to her, I wrapped her in my arms and held her as her shoulders shook with sobs.

  “I’m so sorry for hurting you, Taylor. I’d give anything to go back to that day in Paris and change it. I pray to God you believe me.”

  Burying her face into my chest, she nodded. I moved my body and held her to my side as we walked over toward a gazebo. Stopping, I motioned for her to sit down.

  The moment she looked into my eyes, I felt my stomach drop. She looked emotionally drained and her eyes were filled with such sadness. “I was so angry and I wanted you to hurt like you hurt me. I didn’t really want yo
u to leave and I didn’t mean to . . .” Her eyes snapped shut as she slumped over and cried harder.

  I knew she was thinking about the night she spent with that asshole. I’d love to punch his face. If I ever saw him again I probably would.

  “We both did enough hurting of each other to last a lifetime . . . me especially to you, sweetness. Can’t we just forget all of that and start over? I mean really start over and do all of this right. I feel like fate is giving us a second chance.”

  She sniffled and wiped her tears away. “What do you mean?”

  With a grin, I looked around before turning back to her. “Are you really working here?”

  Her expression softened as she nodded her head. “I am. And I guess I’ll be living here too. It makes sense since my parents live in Fredericksburg.”

  Is this really happening? Was Taylor going to be living less than thirty minutes from me? My heart beat rapidly in my chest at the thought. I’d never felt so happy in my life.

  “Please tell me I’m not dreaming because there is no way fate would be so cruel.”

  With a giggle, she shook her head. “Fate. Lauren was just talking about how fate always seems to step in where we’re concerned.”

  A single tear rolled slowly down her cheek.

  Lifting my hand, I wiped the wetness away and brushed my thumb across her skin. “I love you, Taylor. I’ve always loved you and hope you know that is why I acted so fucking crazy.”

  Her smile faded. “I know you have. I’ve done something though and I think you should know. It . . . it might change how you feel about me.”

  It killed me knowing she was beating herself up over what happened. “Nothing else matters except for you telling me right now you forgive me for being a total ass in Paris and all those other times I played tug of war with your heart. I’ll make you this promise right now . . . I will never be the reason you cry again unless they are tears of happiness.”

  Her hand came up to cover her mouth. Closing her eyes, she said something I couldn’t understand.

  “Sweetness, please don’t cry.”

  Tears streamed down her face and it destroyed me. “Jase, that day you left.”

  Shaking my head, I held up my hand. “None of that matters.”

  She grabbed my hand and pushed it down. “Please let me tell you this because I don’t want anything between us. We’ve always had something between us and I don’t want that. Like you said, I want to start over clean, and the only way I can do that is if I tell you everything.”

  With a slight nod, I held my breath and waited for her to tell me she slept with that asshole.

  “I . . . I was angry and trying to prove something to myself. I slept with another man the night you left my office. The guy you saw me talking to, Clark . . . er . . . Mr. Burns. Oh no wait, that sounds creepy.”

  Shaking her head trying to rid herself of the memory, she rolled her eyes. “Well, I mean I guess it doesn’t matter what his name was. It was only that one time and I regretted it so much. I’ve been so torn up about it because I didn’t really want you to leave my office!”

  Walker was right. What you thought women wanted was the total opposite of what they really wanted.

  Cupping her face with my hands, I pressed my lips against hers and kissed her. “Shh . . . none of that matters. I’m not going to let anything take you from me again. It wasn’t fate that brought us back together today.”

  She wiped her nose and sniffled as I let out a chuckle. “It wasn’t?” she asked.

  My thumbs moved across her beautiful face as I looked deep into her eyes that were filled with hope. “No. It was destiny.”

  Taylor

  My skin was on fire everywhere Jase touched me. I still couldn’t believe he was here. When I walked out of that barn and saw him standing there I lost all control of my emotions and it took everything out of me not to rush into his arms and beg him to kiss me.

  Jase was looking at me liked he adored me. My heart felt light in my chest while the same feeling I felt after he made love to me came rushing back.

  “Destiny,” I repeated.

  Jase smiled lovingly at me and I knew he was right. I couldn’t contain the smile that spread across my face. “What do we do now?”

  Jase’s eyes began to glow. “I think I should ask you out for dinner.”

  “I am hungry.” She looked back toward the barn. “But I didn’t bring a change of clothes and I still need to figure out how to get my stuff from my apartment in Austin to my new place here.”

  “Then consider that our first official date.”

  “Moving me?”

  His wide smile had me grinning so hard my cheeks were beginning to ache. “Why not? We’ve done everything else ass-backwards, why should our first official date as boyfriend and girlfriend be any different.”

  Lifting my brow, I softly said, “Boyfriend and girlfriend?”

  “Yes. Boyfriend and girlfriend.

  Every single one of my nerve endings tingled at his words.

  “I could call you my ball and chain if you’d rather.”

  With a chuckle, I hit him on the chest.

  “I’m perfectly fine with boyfriend and girlfriend.”

  The wind blew my hair about as Jase pushed another piece behind my ear.

  His eyes filled with love while they searched my face. “Kiss me and make it official then.”

  I launched myself into him as our lips found one another. The kiss wasn’t frantic, but it wasn’t slow either. I wanted him more than ever. When we finally broke apart, our eyes searched each other’s face.

  “Would Walker mind if you left with me?”

  “Even if he did, I wouldn’t care.”

  With a light-hearted laugh, I turned to the barn. “I should probably officially accept the job then.”

  Jase stood up and pulled me up with him. “Yes! You really should.”

  When his fingers laced with mine, I couldn’t ignore the way my heart was beating so rapidly. It felt like a million butterflies fluttered in my stomach.

  We headed back to the barn and joined the others. Scott and I talked for a bit about the job, what I would be paid and what I would pay to live in the hunter’s cabin. It was dirt cheap and I could see it in his eyes he didn’t even want me to pay rent, but I had insisted.

  Colt, Jase, and Walker hit it off instantly and talked non-stop. I got Lauren caught up on everything. When I told her the things Jase said to me, she got all teary eyed and said it sounded like something Colt would have said.

  Never in a million years would I have dreamed Jase Morris was so romantic.

  “You ready to go?” I asked walking up to the guys.

  Walker slapped Jase on the back and winked. “Don’t forget tomorrow afternoon I’ll need your help with that fence.”

  “I won’t forget,” Jase said walking up to me and wrapping his arm around me. Every time he touched me, my heart either skipped a beat or my stomach dropped.

  “Let’s go get you packed up and ready to move.”

  I was sure my face was beaming as I rapidly nodded my head. Jase followed me to my car. Trying like hell to walk normal, I fought not to break out into a run as I calmly made it to my car. After picking up his truck in Llano, Jase followed me to Austin. I couldn’t help but look in my mirror every two minutes at the handsome cowboy in the black Ford truck.

  The moment we got to my apartment I knew what I wanted to happen. Peeking over to Jase, I couldn’t help but smile when I saw his face.

  He was hoping for the same thing.

  The second the door to my apartment shut, Jase pushed me against it and kissed me like I’d never been kissed. Things quickly heated up as we each undressed one another as fast as we could.

  “Jase,” I panted into his mouth, “I want you so much.”

  His hands were everywhere on my body. It was as if he was trying to memorize everywhere he touched.

  “Sweetness, we need to slow down.”

  Lifting h
is shirt over his head, I took in his amazing body. Years of working on his father’s cattle ranch gave him a broad chest and abs I’d forgotten were so amazing. My hands gently rested on his skin. Warmth radiated through my body as our eyes met.

  “I’m so glad everything is packed up,” I said quickly.

  Jase looked around and smiled. “You’re all packed?”

  “Yep. That means you can take your time making love to me.”

  He turned back and pierced my eyes with his. I’d never seen them so blue before. He lifted me up while I wrapped my legs around his waist.

  “Bedroom?” he asked against my lips.

  My breathing was labored as I felt his hard-on pressed into my body. Stammering, I said, “Down the hall, last door on the right.”

  Before I knew it, Jase was gently laying me on the bed where he slowly peeled the rest of my clothes off until I was in nothing but my panties.

  He feasted his eyes on me while licking his lips. “Jesus . . . you’re so beautiful.”

  My cheeks heated as I watched him unbutton his jeans and take them off.

  “Do you always go commando, Mr. Morris?”

  With a wink, he crawled onto the bed as I held my breath. His lips began to kiss my neck while he whispered into my ear, “Most of the time.”

  “Oh God . . . what a thought,” my breathy voice spoke.

  The smell of his cologne felt like a warm blanket wrapping around my body. I wasn’t sure when he did it, but he had turned on music as I attempted to look around for the source.

  His hand cupped my breast, causing me to arch my back and moan.

  “I want to touch every inch of your body, sweetness.”

  My hands twisted the bedspread while I gasped for air when he took my nipple in his mouth.

  The way he worshipped my body and took his time was driving me insane, yet made it even more amazing.

  Moving to my other nipple, I closed my eyes and dreamed of what was coming next.

  Goose bumps spread over my body when his hand slipped inside my panties. My legs spread open wider, inviting him to take me with his fingers.

  “Fuck . . . you’re so wet.”

  Lifting my head, I watched him kiss down my stomach and run his tongue around my belly button. My head dropped back to the bed as I let out a long moan.