Page 38 of Take a Chance (Blue Creek Ranch #1)

The table was small, and normally that would annoy me because I liked to have space.

But right now, with Mal, I didn’t care one bit.

Our knees touched under the table, and because I was long-legged, I totally had the excuse to slip my foot between his.

Mal raised his eyebrows at that, but didn’t comment.

And when I gave him a wink, he blushed for a minute before he got it under control.

“Order whatever you want. I’m paying,” I said, like it was some sort of big deal.

Mal picked up on it right away. “Hey, big spender.”

After Stacy took our order and brought us our drinks, I walked my fingers across the table until I could touch his hand. Mal glanced around but didn’t pull away. I took it as permission to play with his fingers.

He cleared his throat. “I had no idea you were this, uh, playful.”

I shrugged, then winked. I really liked the expression that crossed Mal’s face every time I winked. It was almost like I was working him up, with just that little expression. I hooked my foot around his ankle.

“I don’t know about playful. I just enjoy spending time with you,” I said, hoping the honesty in my tone was enough for him to believe it.

“Me, too,” he murmured.

“My, my. Doesn’t this look cozy?”

I whipped my head up to see Kathy Limmer, who was somewhere around my mom’s age.

She was one of the librarians at the Russel Crossing Public Library and she’d been a busybody for as long as I’d known her.

Whenever Mom had taken us to the library as kids, she’d always put on her fake nice for Ms. Limmer.

Mal tried to straighten up, pull his hand from mine, and untangle our legs. I couldn’t do anything about him pulling his feet away without jostling the whole table, but I kept a good hold on his hand. After a second, Mal stopped fighting me, but he looked tense.

“Just lunch before heading back to work,” I said, using the same tone Mom used to. “I’m sure you’re doing the same.”

Ms. Limmer didn’t know what to do with that statement. She just stared wide-eyed for a moment before collecting herself. “Why, yes. Of course. Enjoy your lunch, Crew.”

She continued on, probably to the bathroom given her trajectory. I watched until she disappeared, then focused on Mal. He looked tense and worried, for some reason.

“She’s always up in everybody’s business,” I said quietly. “Don’t worry about it, okay?”

Mal cleared his throat. “Payton and I met her the last time we stopped in at the library. She was very interested in us moving to town. Crew, I told her I worked at Blue Creek.”

I cocked my head. “So?”

“What if she thinks—”

“Who cares?” I cut him off, not wanting him to go down any of those rabbit holes. “We aren’t doing anything wrong. And she might want to know everything, but she isn’t a gossip, oddly enough. She likes lording it over people that she knows things others don’t.”

He didn’t seem convinced, but I wasn’t sure what he was worried about.

It was no big deal, and honestly, I didn’t care who knew about our relationship.

The only important people, Payton and my family, liked it.

Well, I guessed there was his mom too, but we hadn’t talked much about her. I’d have to change that.

Stacy brought our food and we dug in. Conversation turned to what he and Hawk were doing with the training horses and Mal relaxed, his face lighting up. I sat back, eating and listening, loving his passion.

We were almost back to the ranch when I took a right turn onto a barely traveled path. It took Mal a few seconds to recognize that I’d made the turn too early.

“Where are you going?”

“Trust me,” I said and even though Mal looked unsure, he nodded.

A couple of minutes later, we came to a cattle gate.

I had to dig around in the glove box for a few seconds to find the right remote, and I had to click it twice before it worked.

Battery must be getting low. I made a mental note to change it out and then slowed to a stop to make sure the gate closed behind us.

“Crew?”

I rolled forward slowly, mostly because even though my truck could handle the field, we were getting jostled around. I didn’t go too far, just until I reached the first copse of trees. Then I put it in park and turned off the engine.

“Come on.”

“Crew middle name Harrington, where are we going?” Mal was skeptical but he got out of the truck when I did.

“I wanna show you something.” I grabbed the blanket I had stashed in the back of the cab, then rounded the hood and held out a hand. “And it’s Lynn.”

Mal blinked. “What?’

“My middle name. It’s Lynn.”

His lips quirked up just a tick. “Really?”

I nodded. “You know about Gigi Fern, right?”

It was his turn to nod. “You told me some about her. You all talk about her all the time, and I finally asked Hawk. He gave me the full version of who she was to your family.”

“Right. So. Did he tell you why?” I glanced at him as I lifted a branch of blue spruce out of the way and held it for him to duck under.

We were almost there. He shook his head, so I elaborated.

“She was young and unmarried when she got pregnant, and her family disowned her. She came out here with a rather large pay off to raise her daughter. But when her daughter was six, she got meningitis and passed away.”

Mal made a wounded noise. I was sure it hit him hard, because of Payton. He rubbed his chest with his free hand. “I’m so sorry. That’s so sad.”

“Gigi Fern was devastated. I don’t think she ever really recovered.

I honestly don’t know how you can. But….

” I blew out a breath, because this was the part where our families connected.

Normally, we didn’t talk about it, but Mal was mine and he deserved to know.

“My parents. You know they were really young when they had Bodhi.”

“Yeah.”

“Both their families…man. My parents faced so much ridicule and negativity. And had no help. But Gigi Fern, she heard about it. She knew what my parents were going through. So she took them in. Gave them love and support. Without her, none of this would be possible.”

Mal sucked in a breath. “She was their angel.”

I laughed, thinking about the loud, grumpy woman who had the biggest heart on this earth.

“She was. Bodhi already had Dad’s name as his middle name, but then I came along.” I smiled. “Can you guess what her daughter’s name was?”

Mal made the connection instantly. “Crew, that’s…that’s really special.”

“I think so. So yeah, sure. I got made fun of if someone found out my middle name. It’s technically gender neutral but it’s mostly a girl’s name now. But I didn’t care. Because I knew the truth. Here we are.”

Mal blinked, shocked, I think, by the seemingly abrupt subject change. He looked around and I watched his face as he took it all in. I could tell he thought it was as beautiful as I did. But also, he was confused. Because “here” was just a stand of blue spruce, tucked up against a small hill.

“Where is ‘here’ exactly?”

I spread out the blanket in the shade of one of the trees, then sat down. When I patted the spot next to me, he joined me. I immediately tugged him close, and he came willingly.

“I know you’re an only child but try to imagine how chaotic a house with ten kids can be.” I gave him a look and laughed when he grimaced. “Exactly. We kind of all…found places on the property to be alone when we needed it. To think and breathe. This is mine.”

Mal smiled, then turned to take it all in. When he spoke, his voice held reverence. “It’s really beautiful.”

“Yeah you are.”

Mal groaned, but he chuckled too. “Coud you be any more cheesy?”

I tackled him to the blanket and he half-heartedly tried to fight me off.

We were both laughing and wrestling, but even though he wasn’t small, I was bigger.

It hardly took any effort to pin him, arms up around his head.

I was half on top of him, thighs holding his in place, and I put a little pressure on his wrists so he couldn’t move.

I lifted my head in triumph, ready to claim my win.

But when I looked down at him underneath me, where I’d wanted him to be for weeks, the entire mood shifted in an instant.

His face flushed and his pupils dilated.

His breathing picked up. I lowered myself, barely hovering over him. He licked his lips.

I swooped in and our kiss went from zero to sixty in three seconds.

Both our desperation was clear. We could not get enough of each other.

I had to taste every inch of his mouth, and Mal gave back just as much.

When I tried to pull away, just to breathe, Mal caught my bottom lip in his teeth, not letting me go.

I had to get my hands on him. Without even thinking, I slid my hands under the hem of his shirt, but I was hampered by him dragging my shirt up my back.

I sat up to pull it off which rubbed our dicks together.

The moan that came out of him nearly did me in.

It was though he was starving and I was the only thing that could satisfy him.

Tossing my shirt aside, I ground down on him just to hear his noises.

Then I got his shirt off him and it joined mine.

With that gorgeous chest on display, I couldn’t help myself.

He’d said he didn’t mind biting and I hoped that hadn’t changed.

Maybe I was the one who was starving because I couldn’t keep myself from nibbling all over.

I sank my teeth into his collar bone and he whimpered.

When I bit his peck, he writhed. He choked out a laugh when I attacked his side and nearly wailed when I got to his stomach.

I stayed there, gentling the bites, mixing it up with sucking kisses. Maybe he’d bruise.

“Crew.” The way he said my name was a plea and a curse.

It sounded like music.

“God, I want to be in you,” I bit out, tugging down his jeans an inch so I could get to a new patch of skin.