Page 105 of Wrangled

Then I realized it went both ways—I’d looked out for Kevin.

Lord, when it came to a Dom/sub relationship away from the bedroom? I was rusty as fuck. Not that I was surprised by that. The ranch took priority, and that meant everything else had to take a back seat. Kevin had gotten that.

But will Toby?

What if this pushes him away?

I struggled to breathe. I was looking at this all wrong. Toby was a professional Dom, right? He was used to working around subs’ needs.

And what does that makeme? Just another sub?

Christ, that stung.

And just like that, I knew I wanted to be more than the next-in-line. Except wanting it didn’t mean I’d get it.

“Wanna talk about it?”

For a moment, I felt certain he’d seen the turmoil inside my head, until it hit me.

He’s asking about what happened this morning.

I could talk about that.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Robert

“Remember I told you about Clay?”

“The guy who worked here… the one who up and left?”

“Yeah, that was him.” I reached into my jacket pocket for the folded paper I’d placed there. “That girl was Clay’s daughter. He died last month.”

“I’m sorry.” Toby’s voice was soft. “I know it was a long time ago, but…”

“I guess you never forget your first, right?” Clay had been gentle, until he realized that wasnotwhat I’d wanted—or needed—and the heat level had risen exponentially.

“So why did she visit you?”

I held up the sheet. “She came all the way from southern Wyoming to deliver this letter he wrote to me.”

Toby blinked. “They don’t have a postal service in Wyoming?”

“That was my first reaction. I guess she thought I might tell her what was in it.” I shook my head. “I wasn’t about to do that. I didn’t want her to think differently about her dad.”

“Then youhaveread it?”

I nodded. “Yeah. It answers a lot of questions.” I unfolded it.

“Robert… you don’t have to tell me, you know.”

Of course he’d say that. He didn’t want to go beyond professional, right? He wanted to keep his emotional distance.

Then Toby’s eyes softened, and my heartbeat quickened.

Maybe he does want to know, to go that little bit deeper.

Lord, I wassoin the dark here.