Page 40 of Wildest Forever (Lovelock Bay #3)

CHAPTER NINETEEN

MORGAN

N ot that I wanted to ask for his help, but I was so grateful that Pacey offered. I would have been working well into the evening if I didn't have him with me.

But, we got it all done.

Riding in silence back to the ranch, I can't help but steal a glance at him every now and then. He looks so perfect sitting on the back of his horse, like that's where he belongs.

He looks so free. Shoulders sat back a little more, his body moving softly, like he is one with the horse.

A small smile slips onto his lips as he looks towards where his ranch sits, tucked behind the mountains.

My eyes fall to his mouth, and I am desperate to have his lips back on mine, but this time I want him to really kiss me.

A small laugh catches at the back of my throat at his little moustache that he is growing.

Since I have known him, he has always had a light dusting of stubble, he caught my eye the first time I met him, but with his moustache, I don't know, it takes him to a solid one hundred.

How could I be obsessed with a man I haven’t known for long, how could I be obsessed with a man when I have no idea how I should be feeling.

Sure, I've had crushes, but nothing like this.

This blows anything I once felt for any man out of the water.

Every one of my nerve endings singed as I imagined what it would be like when we finally crossed the line.

We were married.

I found myself thinking about how it would feel, what he would do.

“You good?” he finds me staring at him and I laugh it off, cheeks blushing at being caught.

“Yeah,” I rush the word off my tongue as if it burned.

“Sure?” he asks.

“Sure,” I swallow, tightening my grip on Barley’s reins and kicking her on, a slow canter and I can't help the giggle that leaves me.

Glancing over my shoulder, I watch as Pacey kicks on his horse, clicking his tongue to the roof of his mouth before making a loud noise as he canters behind me.

Facing forward, I push my hands up her neck and lift my ass out of the seat.

“You won't beat me wife,” he calls out and a smug smirk spreads across my lips. He knew I was going to beat him, but he still gave it a good go, bless him.

Slowing when I get to the paddock gate, my chest is rising and falling as I cast a look over my shoulder at him. His tongue swipes across his bottom lip, eyes wild as they sweep over me and I blush, internally grateful that I have my hat to shield my cheeks.

“Told ya,” I wink then unhook the gate, pushing Barley forward as I walk towards the stalls, Pacey follows me and I can hear the soft laugh that vibrates through him.

Comfortable silence consumes us and as much as we were working, I have loved having him with me today.

Swinging my leg over the back of my horse, I jump down and lead her to her stall and finish untacking her in there. Pacey walks past and I don't miss the fire that simmers inside his beautiful whiskey eyes as he looks at me.

He walks into the stall next to me and he begins whistling a soft tune, I recognize it but can't quite put my finger on it.

Placing her saddle on the side, I hook her bridal over as I fill her hay bag then slip out, saddle on my forearm, bridal thrown over my shoulder as I walk towards the small tack room.

I'm not in there alone long when I hear the sound of his boots scuffing across the concrete floor.

Inhaling heavily as I lift the saddle onto its stand, then hang the bridal on its hook.

“Thanks for today,” I whisper out to him as his footsteps stop.

“You never have to thank me, this is our home, our ranch... I will always be here when you need me wife, always. ”

My breath catches at the back of my throat, my eyes dusting closed for a moment.

I find myself jumping when the sound of his saddle hits the stand, dust kicking up.

Letting my eyes open softly, I feel him behind me and my skin pebbles. His warm breath teases the base of my neck.

Desperate to have his fingers trail up my arms, across my shoulders, up my collar bone...

“We better get ready soon,” he whispers and my skin blankets with goosebumps.

“Yes,” I just about manage to whisper.

“Please tell me you feel something more than just friends... please tell me it's not in my head... because Morgan,” and the back of his fingers dust down my arm, trailing off at my wrist and slipping against my hip. His hand curls, before he spins me around to look at him.

His lips are parted, his gaze catches mine and I am transfixed on him.

“I fear I am falling for you,” he ushers the words out quietly as if too scared to say them out loud, his head pressing against mine as his spare hand moves up, fingers gripping my chin as he tilts my face up to look at him.

“Please don't tell me I am imagining that there is something more between us... that something has changed... it feels as if the ground has shifted beneath me, the chemicals in my brain altered somehow,” he pauses and his eyes fall to my lips, “tell me I’m not the only one.”

My mouth opens and closes, eyes glazing over ever so slightly and I feel the thickness coating my throat.

“You're not the only one,” my voice cracks and I see the relief wash over his handsome face, eyes misting over as his hand cups my cheek, holding me there as his smile widens, his lips hovering over mine.

“I know we said your first kiss would be perfect... and let’s be honest, it wasn't quite what I planned when I kissed you in the kitchen but?—”

I silence him by placing my finger over his lips, shaking my head from side to side.

“You were everything and more Pacey Rivera,” and I can just about finish my sentence.

His head tilts ever so slightly as he covers my mouth with his and my body sags.

“I love that I am getting all your firsts,” he whispers against my lips, and I am still floating through the abyss from his kiss. “I just wish you were getting mine.”

His lips are back on mine, his body pressing up against me and heat flames across my skin, his tongue strokes mine, his mouth moving slowly as our kiss deepens. I was always nervous thinking I wouldn't know what to do, but I find myself following his lead, him building me up and my body reacting.

I let my hands slip against his chest, his heartbeat dancing under my fingertips.

He pulls away and I find myself whimpering at the loss.

“Not here, not like this, I've stolen enough kisses, I'm not about to steal anything else until you ask for it. Until you give me everything,” his voice is soft, hand still cupping my cheek and I find myself leaning into his palm.

“I want all of your firsts to be perfect Sunflower, and to me, this isn't perfect,” his lips twitch into a smile as he steps back and looks around at the dark, damp, tiny tack room.

I nod, lifting my fingertips from his sweat coated tee and bringing them to my lips, dusting them across as I embrace the burn from his kiss.

“Come,” he whispers, linking his fingers through mine and pulling me towards the large door of the stables and I follow him, all giddy and woozy from just having him, if only for a moment.

I am showered and sitting at my dressing table wrapped in a towel, my hair damp and resting down my back. I am normally in Randy's every Friday, but since pops, I’ve not been near there. Just couldn't quite bring myself to go.

But tonight is different. I have invited my new friends out and I am hoping to have a great night. The Rivera family are coming andof course my Pacey.

My.

He is mine.

My chest aches as my inner thoughts settle.

I never thought I would have someone to call mine.

I never thought I would have a boyfriend, let alone a husband.

Sure, we were put together by my pops. All to keep the ranch safe and keep me out of harm’s way.

Neither of us thought we would fall for each other.

A few years maybe then we would walk away...

But here we are, not even a month in and somehow, we've tripped and ended up entangled.

Not that I am complaining.

But still... this was not on my agenda.

Marriage. Kids. Forever.

None of it.

A heavy sigh expands my lungs as I look at myself in the mirror.

Guilt echoes around my chest and my stomach twists.

How can I feel happiness but then grief bulldozes me? Should I even be feeling anything other than earth shattering grief, it had only been a couple of weeks and somehow, I have made room in my heart for Pacey Rivera.

Fear pricks behind my ears, tears loitering but I push them down, swallowing them whole.

The sound of the bathroom door has me jumping slightly as I peak a sneaky look through the crack in my door.

He walks out, towel hugging his waist, a smaller towel in his hand as he rubs it back and forth over his hair.

My eyes slip down his wet skin, his tattoo over his heart live by the ranch, die by the ranch.

My chest rises and falls, and I want to know what his silky skin would feel like beneath my fingertips, tracing them down his toned stomach, but instead, my eyes trail where I am desperate to run my fingers.

The raised scar tissue makes my heart throb in my chest, a prominent ache radiating through me.

He was shot.

He nearly died.

And I find myself blinking a couple of times to make sure that he is in fact, actually in front of me.

His head turns in my direction, and I slip back in my seat, sitting taller and my cheeks flame at the thought of being caught.

Nibbling the inside of my bottom lip, I twist my mouth and try and stifle my giggle.

Shaking my head, I reach for my hairbrush and drag it through my ends before I dry and style into loose waves.

I do my make-up and smudge a soft pink into my eyelids, finishing with mascara and winged liner. A tanned bronzer dusts across my cheeks, and I match my lips with my eye shadow.

Dressed in bellbottom jeans and a pink cropped tee, I slip my feet into my tanned cowboy boots and press gold hoops through my ears.

Spraying my perfume, I grab a white cardigan as I walk for the door.