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His palm strokes along my spine before seeking my nape. Clasping me there, he murmurs, “What do you need me to do?”
The question takes me aback. Enough that I face him with a frown. “What do you mean? Whatcanyou do?”
There’s a flatness to his gaze as he rasps, “Whatever you need of me.”
Sputtering when I realize his intent, I scuttle closer. “The last thing I need is for you to turn into a vigilante, Colton.” If I sound chiding, so be it, but then I repeat, “He’s a monster.”
He strokes his thumb over my jaw. “I’ll make him pay.”
It’s a simple promise, but it isn’t what I need to hear from him.
“I don’t need you to do anything,” I counter.
“The whole town believes?—”
“—whatever the rumor mill wants it to.” I hitch a shoulder. “I don’t care what they think of me.”
“That’s why you haven’t left the ranch since you got here, huh?” he jeers.
My nose crinkles. “It’s rude to point out someone’s flaws when you’ve slept with them.”
“No sleeping was done.”
“That’s neither here nor there.”
His lips tug into a grin and his hand settles at the center of my back. “Have you heard from him recently?”
“I’d have told you if I had.”
“It’s not like him to be so quiet.”
“You think he’s up to something?”
“Knowing him, yes. The hit-and-run was definitely unexpected but who knows what else he’s scheming.”
“Business-wise, can he do much if you’re the head of the Seven Cs?”
“I’m the head of the company that owns the ranch. He’s still in charge of the rest because he built that himself. That should keep him plenty busy. He’s capable of dumb decisions but he makes high-risk moves on the stock exchange and they have big payouts. I have to figure that’s how he’s been keeping things afloat for so long with the oil field acting as his collateral.”
“Are you investigating how he got away with lying about your uncle’s will?”
“Bet your fine ass I am.” At my snort, he asks, “Do you want to get out of the water?”
“No. I like it. Reminds me of when I was younger.”
He’s quiet then… “Is that why you found refuge in the lake that first day?”
“Used to do it all the time with Walker.”
“Chaos,” he teases lightly.
“I was forged in half-frozen water. If I had balls, they’d be made of ice by this point. At least this lake is the hot springs. But… I didn’t expect this,” I whisper eventually, basking in him, in this pocket of time where everything feels surreal and yet hyperreal.
His hand strokes over my hair. “Me either.”
I lick my lips. “I-I think we don’t need to worry about IVF anymore.”
I thought he’d laugh. Instead, he tenses up, snags me around the waist, plops me on his lap, and then cups my cheeks so I’m looking square at him.