Page 78 of A Rancher's Love

She simply didn’t see it, and he was getting damn tired of listening to her downplay her own worth. Tucker folded his arms over his chest. “You know my parents?”

Ginny stalled. “Not really. Never met them, although I’ve heard a little about them over the years. Never from you, though. It wasn’t really something we discussed when we got together the past few years. Ahem.”

He focused on the point he wanted to make.

“You wouldn’t like them,” he said confidently. “Within half an hour of meeting them, you’d call my dad a stick in the mud and ask my mother if she ever smiled. You’d be right on the first one, and the answer to the second would be no.”

“Well, that’s terrible.” Ginny offered him a sympathetic pout. “I’m sorry. I knew you came to spend summers with us, but I thought it was because Ashton wanted you around—rightly so. Because you are awesome.”

“My parents are not kid people, and I was an inconvenience.”

She swore softly. “Jackasses.”

He snorted. “Just not good parental material.” He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “I told you this because you need to understand something. All the time you spend with your nieces? The moments you share with Tamara? Those are important things, so you need to stop putting yourself down and realize your value.”

Ginny stared at him.

Anger and frustration rose hard, and he dragged a hand through his hair. “Well, fuck. That’s not the conversation I wanted to have, but since we’re here, I may as well muddle forward. Yes. What you do isn’t always big and shiny, but it’s appreciated. Obviously, more than you know. You’ve got a very giving heart, and I think you’re wonderful, Ginny. It’s about time you started thinking that you are wonderful as well.”

Her lips twitched, and for a moment he thought she might cry.

Then the most beautiful smile spread across her face. She crawled across the hay bales, closing the distance between them so she could straddle his legs and curl her arms around his neck, squeezing him tight.

“I like you, Tucker Stewart,” she whispered.

To hell with it. “I know.”

She laughed out loud, leaning back and pressing both hands to his face. “You’re right. I did a lot of important things this week, mainly spending time with my family. The thing that I disliked the most was not getting to spend time withyou.”

“We’re about to change that,” he said, “because that’s the thing I disliked the most, as well.”

Suspicion slipped in. “Tucker.”

He held her hips tight. “Ginny.”

“You’re still in the beginning stage of the biggest career change of your life.”

“And it’s not something I want to do unless I get to do it with you.” The confession was wildly ahead of time, but it was true. “If there’re complications, I’ll face them. But so far, there’s been nothing other than the typical small bits of grumbling from a few of the men about having another supervisor in their lives. Ashton is still here, Caleb’s rock solid. I don’t think the worry is as big as we considered it.”

“What are you saying?” She ran her fingers distractedly around his ear, tucking his hair back.

“I’m saying we’re dating, Ginny Stone. Officially.” He caught her fingers, because they were driving him crazy, and lifted them to his mouth so he could press a kiss to her knuckles. “What I’d like to do is jump about five steps forward and move into the cottage with you, but I think that might cause a few shovels to swing in my direction.”

She snickered. “If we’re dating, you will visit my house.”

“Yes.”

“And stay the night, sometimes.”

“Yes.”

She lowered her lashes and blinked them provocatively. “Take me dancing on Friday?”

He brushed his nose alongside of hers. “Absolutely. You okay if we make that our first official date?”

“Of course. When do you plan to tell Luke that while we’re starting to date, this isn’t the beginning?” She made a bit of a face. “Because it’s not something I will lie about. And while it’s still not really any of their business, it’s part of our relationship.”

“You’re right. I will most definitely talk to Luke. Soon.”