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Cash and I are having sex on the kitchen counter, too needy to make it to the bed. But somehow, the sex is slow and gentle. Deep. The way morning sex should be.

Then again, I haven’thada ton of morning sex, so I’m far from an expert. But this is nice.

Really, really nice.

Cash jerks his hips, and then I feel a hot rush inside me. The smell of sex blooms between us as he sinks his teeth into my shoulder, biting back a howl.

It hurts, and I know it’ll leave a mark. But that just turns me on more. I love how unafraid Cash is to just go for it. His passion is so unlike Palmer’s impersonal ministrations. Cash has this earthiness about him—maybe it comes from being out in nature and working with animals 24/7, I don’t know—but he’s at home with his body and with mine too.

Sex may be natural, but there’s plenty about it that can be gross. Not for Cash, though. He relishes all of it. The mess, the intensity. The aftermath.

None of it scares him. Maybe I shouldn’t let it scare me, either.

At last, when Cash is able to speak, he kisses my mouth and says, “Mornin’, honey.”

I throw back my head and laugh, silliness mingling with the bigger, deeper feelings inside my chest. “Good morning, cowboy. Can I finish making you breakfast in bed now?”

He pulls back to look at me. “You really like takin’ care of people, don’t you?”

“Learned from the best.” I touch a finger to his chest. “So let me take care of you. I know you probably have a million things to do this morning on the ranch, but I propose you don’t do any of them and stay in bed with me instead.”

The edges of his eyes crinkle as he searches my face. “I do have a million things to do.”

“Make me all of them.”

He laughs, a deep rumble in his chest. “You’re bad.”

“You’re tempted.”

“Hell yeah, I’m tempted.” Reaching up, he swipes his thumb over my lips. “This is just…new territory for me. Ain’t easy to let go.”

There’s a catch in my chest at his earnestness. “The ranch did just fine the other day when you quit early to take care of me. How many times do I have to catch you before you learn I’ll never ever let you fall on your face?” I hold up my littlest finger. “You said you got me. Pinkie promise I got you.”

He looks down at my pinkie and blinks. For a second, I worry I’ve crossed some kind of line. I’m beingtoocheesy.Toovulnerable.

I’m asking for too much.

But then Cash hooks his broad pinkie through mine. “All right.”

Two simple words, but they feel momentous. For someone as tirelessly responsible and careful as Cash, it’s a big step to play hooky. Even bigger step to play hooky with me.

The thought makes my chest swell.

“What do I say when people ask where we are?” He puts his hands on my hips and pulls out of me carefully. “I know you’re worried about what they’ll think.”

I watch him put his sweats back on before he reaches for my shirt and pulls it over my head. “I am worried. But I guess I’m slightly less worried knowing we’re in this together now? Maybe we just say we’re spending time together and leave it at that. Could always play it like we’re working on ranch stuff. Logistics. Big-picture planning.”

He eyes me. “I actually would like to talk about that.”

My stomach clenches. I want to talk about it too. But truth is, I don’t know what my plans for Lucky Ranch are anymore. When I got here, all I wanted was to get my money and get the hell out of Hartsville. I planned to sell the ranch as soon as I was able to.

Now, though, that idea doesn’t sit right. At all. Which leaves me…where, exactly? If I wanted to keep the ranch, my life would have to change completely. I suppose I could live in Dallas and let Cash run operations here. But that also doesn’t sit right.

Maybe because I want to run things too. Not in Cash’s place, but beside him. We do make a shockingly great team.

But that team could easily be torn apart by the sex we just had. What if things get awkward? What if it inevitably doesn’t work out, and Cash quits on me?

What if he breaks my heart?