Page 94 of Saving the Rain
He tilts his head to one side. “You could say that.”
“I’m not gonna press the matter. But you want me to take you halfway across the country just to sit in a doctor’s office for five minutes... I’m right there with you, ok?”
An unreadable expression flickers across his face for a brief second. I catch it out of the corner of my eye, the way his throat dips, and he fiddles with his cap.
“Ollie’s all done... even if she tells you otherwise.” Time to change the fucking subject. I toss the grooming brush into the bucket, giving her a disapproving look. She bobs her neck to nibble the arm of my jacket in the usual way she tries to goad everyone to do her bidding.
“C’mon, girlie.” Kayce leads her back to her stall, and as he walks the length of the barn, an idea rushes in. Except, it’s something I don’twant to move too fast on. In the times I’ve seen him since his accident, he hasn’t once mentioned riding.
And even though I haven’t been here to know for certain, I can’t help but wonder...
“Hey, so I was gonna head down to the cattle. But I want to do another check on that fence that looked like it needed fixing.” I scuff my boot and tuck my hands in my pockets.
Big blues meet mine from across the barn.
“Ok, cool. Well, I think we’re about done here.” He looks around before turning back to me. “Do you want to take Winnie out... and I can head up to the house to get something ready to eat...”
Kayce trails off as I close the distance between us and grab hold of Winnie’s halter. I stop in front of him and reach out to hook his chin, tipping it up a little. My eyes search his, and I can’t help but notice the way his breathing hitches.
“Ride with me,” I offer.
“I haven’t—I don’t think—” he stammers, eyes going wide.
Bending to kiss him softly, a quick reassuring press of my lips, I hand him the halter. “I know.”
I think it’s the first time Kayce has contemplated being back on a horse since his accident, and every single messy thought ofwhat ifis written all over his face. A flurry of nervous energy comes off him straight away, but I can see this is also something he wants.
Kayce lives and breathes horses. This is something important for him, among so many difficult and life-altering things he’s in the middle of right now.
So I move to join him at Winnie’s side and nudge his shoulder with my own until he gives me his eyes.
“I’m right here. I’ve got you.”
Chapter 38
My eyelids struggle to crack open when I stretch and roll over—to dare a peek at the place beside me where I know I’ll be met with the sight of tattooed skin and a wild mop of dark hair.
Raine looks younger when he sleeps. Those years of being gruff and unapproachable and downright surly all vanish when he drops into a slumber. Something I don’t always know that he’s able to do peacefully, considering his past.
But as I blink the fog away, expecting to make out the shape of him lying on his stomach with an arm tucked beneath his pillow, I jolt awake. Normally it would be a murky gray light in here. Usually the bedroom is all shadows and a grainy sort of haze with how early it is.
“Fuck. We gotta get up,” I groan, slapping an arm in the direction of my phone on the bedside table. Crap. The alarm didn’t go off, and if there’s one thing I know about this property, it’s that the days your morning doesn’t start on time, are usually the ones when problems snowball. Those days where everything that can go wrong, will go wrong.
It’s the cattle ranch equivalent of Murphy’s Law.
I fucking hate it.
Though, try as I might to flounder around and find my phone,strong arms snake around my stomach. I’m hauled back against Raine’s broad chest, and as hard as I squirm, he’s entirely uninterested in letting me go.
“Seriously. What’s the time?” I rub my eyes and halfheartedly try to shove his hand away, which is now splayed across my abs. Despite all the ways I know I need to haul ass this morning, my stomach caves, and god... he’s just so warm. So inviting. So damn delicious to wake up next to.
I really, really fucking like waking up with him right there.
There are a lot of things I’ve come to discover that I like about having him to myself like this—all day and all night—but the clock is ticking on this brief escape we’ve managed to buy ourselves, the ticket we’ve managed to steal where we can just enjoy being together and the rest of the world gets put on pause.
It’s as if nothing exists beyond the entrance to Devil’s Peak Ranch, and we’ve been able to remain hidden in this perfect bubble. One that is liable to burst the moment Raine has to leave.
I don’t want to think about it.