Charlotte I’d never seen Trent look well and truly stunned before. Usually, he was the very definition of composure, steady, calm, but firm, the kind of guy who could walk into a vicious bar fight and end it with a single raised eyebrow. But right now, he was utterly frozen. Happily, not in fear or hesitation. This looked like pure, wondrous awe as he stared down at me like he was afraid to blink in case it wasn’t real. Finally, he seemed to remember how to breathe, his hand tightening on my waist. “Say it again,” he murmured, his voice so low that it was almost rough. “Say. It.” I smiled a little wider, breathless and a touch overwhelmed at the look in his eyes right now. “I love you, Trent Sh epard. Did you really not know?” He didn’t answer me, letting his forehead drop to mine instead, and I felt the smallest shake in his muscles. It was barely there, but it was still enough to make my heart do an Olympic-level cartwheel. Then he kissed me like the words had unlocked something in him that he’d been holding back for months and couldn’t anymore. I kissed him back, slow, de ep, and tender, my fingers sliding into his hair as heat curled low in my stomach. He whispered between fierce kisses, “I love you, Charlotte. God, I love you so fucking much.” It kind of felt like he needed to say it as many times as it took to undo every scar on my heart, and maybe part of me needed to hear it that many times too. The storm outside k ept tapping at the windows, but the room was warm and cozy, like a cocoon. Right now, it didn’t feel like the external world existed. There were no expectations on either of our time, no Gregory-shaped pressures or societal demands. Just Trent, his hands, and the way his body folded over mine like he’d been built for this moment. For me. He kissed my jaw, my cheek, and the spot just below my ear that made my breath catch. “I love you.” This time, he whispered it even softer, like it was either a confession or a vow. I tugged him closer because suddenly there was no such thing as close enough. “When you said you had some ground rules, you realize you sounded like a bossy, cowboy hero, right?” I brushed my thumb along his lower lip. “Every time you’ve said it, that’s all I’ve been able to think about. I figure it’s about time you knew that.” He shook his head, chuckling as those de ep blue eyes blazed into mine. “Seriously? I was trying to ke ep us both sane and you were fantasizing about me being a hero?” I gave him a smug, wicked little smile. “Hey, you still love me. You’ve said it three whole times already, so no takebacks. No matter what fantasies I may or may not have.”
“Three? Try twenty.” He kissed me again, like he wanted to savor me or memorize the shape of my lips. “I’m not stopping anytime soon either. I’m going to say it at least twenty more times before you fall asle ep.” My heart stretched wide in my chest, suddenly feeling too big for its own walls. He was touching me like I was something precious and breakable, but also something he knew wouldn’t shatter under his hands. Loved, but not coddled. Cherished, but not controlled. Seen in a way I had never been before. He rolled us gently, not rushing or demanding, but shifting until my body was completely covered in his. The weight of him settled over me and I let out a sound I hadn’t known was on its way out. “I never thought I’d get this,” I whispered before I could stop myself. He lifted his head, de ep red eyebrows pulling together as he studied me with that quiet intensity of his. “Get what?” “This,” I said. “You. Us. A future I actually chose.” His expression softened and he leaned down to brush a kiss just above my collarbone. “You’ve always deserved to choose. To have anything and everything you want.” I laughed softly. “I used to think I wasn’t built for that.” “You’re built for everything good,” he murmured, kissing the other side of my neck with a tenderness that felt reverent. “You just never had anyone who saw that.” “Until you.” He didn’t answer, just kissing me again with long, lingering strokes of his tongue. Heat spread through me, growing steadily with every glide of his lips and every swe ep of his hand along my waist. All the while, he breathed “I love you” against my skin like a prayer. I stroked my hands along the ridges of muscle in his back, taking off his shirt and moaning shamelessly whenever I felt a sound bubble up in my throat. With him, now, I had no more fear of disappointing someone or not being enough. I felt completely safe in his arms, in my own skin, and with my own dreams. He made me brave enough to be completely secure in who I was, and it was a pretty awesome feeling. As he k ept kissing me, my whole body arched into him and I felt his breath catch just slightly, his muscles tightening beneath my palms. He groaned, kicking off his shoes and whispering my name in a low, desperate way that made heat pool between my legs. “Charlotte,” he r epeated, and I suddenly realized that it wasn’t just a moan anymore. He wanted to tell me something. I blinked my eyes open. “What’s wrong?” As I asked the question, he rolled my shirt upward and over my head before returning to me, pressing his forehead to mine as he caught his breath. “I, uh, I think we’re out of condoms.” My heart stuttered, my pulse tripping over itself. I shook my head slowly from one side to the other. “What?” He groaned. “Contrary to what you might think, I don’t actually have a never-ending supply.”
Breathless laughter bubbled out of me, but I didn’t let go of him. “God, Nate was right.” “Nate?” He screwed up his nose. “Why the hell are we talking about your brother right now?” “Because he told me to make sure that I ke ep some of my own,” I explained quickly, wrapping my arms around Trent and pulling him down on me fully. “Needless to say, I didn’t listen, but, uh, I’m ready to go without.” His body went limp with shock, settling over mine with the weight of him anchoring me, surrounding me, and lighting up every nerve in the best way. For a long minute, he just lay there, breathing hard with his heart pounding so violently that I felt it against my own chest. “Do you want—” he started eventually, his voice soft and careful. I cut him off with a kiss, smiling against his lips. “Yes, I do. I want you, Trent, and you’re my husband, so...” His exhale was shaky and his hands slid along my sides with a tenderness that made my heart feel too full. “I love you. I love you, Charlotte. God, I love you.” “Say it again,” I whispered. He did, over and over as we undressed each other. I said it back every time, meaning it de eper and de eper, letting the words melt between our mouths and our fiery kisses. When there was finally nothing left between us, the broad tip of his cock pressed against my entrance and he shuddered, his pulse slamming under his throat as he stared down at me. “You’re really sure about this?” “Yes. You?” The laugh that came out of him harsh and husky. “Are you really asking me that right now?” I shivered when he pressed into me just a fraction, my eyes already begging to roll back into my head. “Of course, I am. It’s a risk we’re both taking. Not just me.” “I’m clean,” he gritted out immediately, blinking rapidly like it hadn’t even occurred to him to mention it until now. I smiled, even though everything in me wanted to just start moving. “I didn’t doubt it, but so am I.” “I didn’t doubt it,” he echoed against my lips, inhaling a de ep breath that made his chest expand against mine. “As for the other risk we’d be assuming, I’m ready.” Tears jumped to my eyes, burning the backs of them. I nodded and pressed my heels into his ass to urge him inside. “So am I, Trent. Nothing would make me happier.” He let out a noise that was part animal, part moan, then thrust into me hard but kissed me gently, the juxtaposition between joy and desperation in both of us fusing into a mix of slow, intentional loving and wild roughness. Not rushed but urgent. The wet drag of him against my insides with nothing between us sent sparks through me from the very first moment, the heat of his shaft unlike anything I’d ever felt before. “Fuck, Charlotte,” he groaned against my ear, his breathing choppy and his hands on my breasts as he flipped us over. He pinched my nipples, his brow furrowed as he stared up at me. “That’s incredible.”
“Y ep,” I agreed lamely, too far gone to stop moving or even to joke about riding him like the cowgirl I hoped to become. Honestly, my insides were already on fire, pleasure coiling low and tightening every muscle in my core. Panting and halfway to seeing stars, I ground on top of him, moans spilling out me until he half sat up and pressed his lips to mine so he could swallow them instead. Both of our movements became more frenzied, our breathing louder. My world narrowed until there was no more storm outside and nothing other than him. Then an orgasm crashed into me, cresting until it felt like I was flying. Trent shuddered against me, his release a hot rush I could actually feel de ep inside this time, and the sensation triggered a series of aftershocks so intense that I screamed. When it all finally quieted, warmth settled de ep in my bones and Trent pulled me into his chest, holding me like he never planned to let go. His hand traced slow patterns up and down my spine, his breath ghosting across the bare skin of my shoulder. “Are you good?” “I’m perfect,” I whispered, my lips brushing his skin. “I love you.” He tightened his arms around me. “I love you too, and I’m, uh, I’m going to need to do that again real soon.” I chuckled, turning my head to tuck my face against his throat. “Yeah, me too. Five minutes?” “Ten,” he countered jokingly as I breathed him in, letting the rise and fall of his chest calm something de ep inside that had still been trembling. We stayed like that, our limbs tangled together and with him still inside me, until my eyelids grew heavy and my heartbeat slowed. For the first time in my entire life, I wasn’t following a path someone else had laid out for me. I was choosing my own and I was choosing him. As I drifted toward sle ep, my thoughts flickered briefly to my mother. A soft, bittersweet ache filled my chest. It wasn’t sharp, more just an awareness of her absence in a way I hadn’t felt in a long time. I knew she would’ve been happy for me. Proud of me. Thrilled that I’d chosen love above status. So many times when I’d been a little girl, she’d told me that, above all else, even more important than being a Westwood, was being true to your heart. My heart had led me here, to Trent’s arms and to a love that had chosen me back. A love that had fought for me, and as Trent whispered one last, sle epy I love you against my hair, I finally let myself believe I deserved it.
Epilogue Trent Afew weeks after we’d gotten home from Chicago for the final time, the ranch felt like an entirely different place than it had before. Charlotte had walked in and rearranged the very molecules of air I breathed just by existing, and honestly, I’d never been happier. Everything in the house now smelled like her perfume and whatever she’d decided to bake at two in the morning. Whenever she missed her brothers and needed an excuse to text them pictures of cookies, I got treated to the actual end products. Well, most days, they were mine, but there was also a constant parade of Westwoods showing up at our door unannounced as a result. They arrived out of nowhere, ate the cookies, crashed in the guest rooms, and took off again, like tornadoes of laughter and life that tore through our home. This morning though, it was just us and my hands were firmly over her eyes as I guided her across the barn aisle. “Trent, if you let me trip over something and break my nose, I swear—” “Sweetheart, the only thing you’re fallin’ into today is a surprise.” My grin stretched wide as she tried to muffle her laughter, amused despite herself. The fall air was cooler than it had been so far this year. Winter was definitely coming, but the afternoons were still warm enough to be comfortable. Colby spotted us when we rounded the corner, lifted his chin in the subtle greeting that said I’m ready, boss, and disappeared into the stall to fetch her surprise. He didn’t ask questions, but on the other hand, he’d known for days what I was planning. Hell, he helped me choose the girl. “She’s gonna lose her mind,” he’d said yesterday, patting the horse’s shoulder. “This one is so sweet, I’m shocked she ever made it through a single day of training.” Now, her hooves clopped softly as he let her out of the stall and I felt Charlotte frown under my fingers. “Are we almost there? Because I’m starting to think this is a trap.” She wrapped her cool fingers around my wrists but didn’t try to pull my hands away from her eyes. I bent down, speaking quietly against her ear. “It’s not a trap. It’s a gift.” I dropped my hands and Charlotte blinked against the sudden intrusion of light, then gasped when she saw the horse standing in front of her. A big chestnut with a white blaze and the face of absolute friendliness, like she’d been waiting her whole life for Charlotte to show up. “Oh my God,” she whispered, then r epeated it, just louder this time. “Oh my God. We got a new one?” The mare took a st ep forward and bumped Charlotte’s shoulder with her nose, the touch as gentle as a kiss. Charlotte made a sound somewhere between a laugh and a sob, throwing her arms around the horse’s neck like she’d known her forever. I pretended my heart wasn’t melting into my boots as I watched them together. “She’s yours. Another retired racer. Just too nice and too goofy for the track according to everyone who ever tried working with
her.” “She’s...” Charlotte’s eyes went glassy as she trailed off. Then she swallowed so hard it was audible before she blinked up at me. “She’s mine?” “Y ep. You even get to name her,” I said. “Give her a barn name, I mean. I might not be able to change what she was registered as, but whatever you choose will be her name going forward.” She looked at the mare, who blinked back like she already adored her. I didn’t know this horse from a bar of soap, but whoever had even tried racing her clearly didn’t know anything about horses at all. “Okay,” Charlotte said finally. “Her name is... Princess Buttercup Sweet Tea.” Colby, who had conveniently reappeared, barked out a laugh so loud the mare flicked her ears back. “Ma’am, with all due respect, that’s the most insane, adorable name I’ve ever heard.” “Well, her name had to be just as ridiculous as all the others around here. They’ll pick on her if she doesn’t fit in.” Charlotte lifted her chin. “Besides, she looks like a Princess Buttercup Sweet Tea. Can we go for a ride?” She turned to me as she asked the question, her eyes wide and pleading. I laughed, groaning as I thought about all the other shit I had to get done today, but I already had a picnic packed in my saddle bag, and since I’d expected this, I’d dealt with all my urgent business this morning. “Sure,” I said, glancing at Colby, who gave me a swift nod before he disappeared into the tack room. I moved my gaze back to hers, seeing the moisture shimmering on her lids. Instantly, I stopped trying to pretend I hadn’t already melted, and pulled her into me. “The horses were the selling point, right?” She let out a soft laugh, nodding. She buried her face in my shirt and just held on to me for a moment. “I can’t believe I finally have a horse.” “Yeah, well, nothing you want is ever going to be too much work for me.” Her arms wound around my waist, her grip on me tight as she burrowed further into me. I didn’t mind at all. Not even when Colby came out and started tacking up the horses for us since I was otherwise occupied. I’d long since stopped caring who knew I was nuts about my wife. After breathing me in for a few moments, she glanced up at me, tears still glittering in her eyes, but the biggest smile ever on her lips. “Thank you.” I shook my head. “Thank you for being exactly the human this sweet girl needs.” She inhaled a de ep breath, then took a st ep back and gathered her hair in her hands, tying it up with an elastic she’d had around her wrist. It seemed she’d learned to always ke
Ep one of those around, and as soon as she was done, she winked at me. “I’ll race you.” I laughed. “That’s not fair. Colby’s got you almost all saddled up.” Colby grunted. “I got your gear out too. If you get moving, you might just stand a chance.” It turned out, I didn’t, but I also didn’t need to. In the end, Charlotte got sidetracked talking to Colby about the horse and we enjoyed an easy rhythm as we got ready to go out. When it was time, she mounted with a
confidence she’d been building over the past few weeks, and Princess Buttercup Sweet Tea took to her like she’d been waiting for this very job. Meanwhile, Hurricane Hustle, the big, moody, stubborn gelding, flicked his tail like he resented being made to work after noon, but he fell into st ep with his new friend. Together, we rode out through the wide fall fields where the grass had turned golden and the air smelled like cedar and upcoming rain. Charlotte k ept reaching down to pet Buttercup’s neck, murmuring to her and laughing every time the mare twitched an ear back like she understood. By the time we reached the back pasture that sloped down into the low creek bed, the horses were happy to graze, and Charlotte’s cheeks were flushed pink with excitement and wind. I slid off Hustle’s back and, after relieving him of the simple picnic, sat down with my ass on the grass. She joined me a moment later, leaning into my side as if it was the most natural thing on earth. “Thank you,” she whispered, glancing up at me with tears shimmering in her eyes. Again. “I mean it, Trent. Not only for Buttercup, but also for taking the time to have a picnic with me on a regular Tuesday and... just for everything else too.” “Anytime.” I pressed a kiss to the top of her head before resting mine against it. “You deserve horses with ridiculous names and boring sandwiches in the dirt.” She elbowed me and I laughed, bracing an arm around her before reaching for the cooler bag with the other. While we ate, we watched the horses, Princess Buttercup Sweet Tea nibbling delicately and Hustle eating entire patches of grass like a lawnmower. Finally, I let out a long breath and turned to look down into her eyes. “So, I have some news.” She tilted her head. “You do? I thought I knew everything that was going on around here.” “Almost everything,” I teased, but then I dragged in a de ep breath and said words I didn’t think I’d be stringing into a single sentence for a long time to come. “Dad’s st epping down.” Her eyebrows climbed slowly higher. “For real this time?” “For real,” I confirmed. “He signed the papers yesterday. I think Mom finally convinced him.” “Wow.” Her smile softened and she reached for my hand, threading our fingers together as she held my gaze. “This is a huge moment, and you celebrated by buying me a horse and bringing a couple sandwiches out to a field?” I chuckled. “Well, actually, Sadie called about the horse. She got word that the owner was looking to offload her and she knew I’d been looking for the perfect fit for you. It was kismet. As for the sandwiches, I was hungry before we even left the house and I knew you’d want to go for a ride.” “So this isn’t a celebration?” She frowned. “That doesn’t seem right.” I winked at her. “Feel free to help me celebrate in any way you please. Preferably naked. Right here or later, when we get back home.” She elbowed me, but her cheeks flushed and she nibbled at her lower lip for a moment. “I’ll ke ep that in mind. Either way, it’ll be a surprise, but we’re definitely celebrating.”
“Yeah.” We fell into a comfortable silence for a beat, both of us lost to our own thoughts. “This is all ours now,” I said after a moment, swe eping my free hand toward the horizon. In the distance, I could see some of the barns. All around us were the rolling pastures, the cattle, the creek, and the endless Texas sky. “Every bit of it.” Charlotte looked out, thoughtful and quiet. The wind tugged her hair lightly across her cheek and I brushed it behind her ear, my eyes on hers. I got to the reason I’d even brought this up right now. “What do you want to do with it?” I asked. This ranch, the legacy, the responsibility, and the future it r epresented, was all changing hands—and not only from my father to me, but from me to us. She turned toward me and rested her head on my shoulder, our joined hands resting on my thigh. “How about an in-ground swimming pool?” Charlotte asked as she watched Princess Buttercup Sweet Tea stomp at a patch of grass like she was considering taking up gardening as a hobby. I laughed under my breath. “Yeah? All this space and a brandnew horse, and you’d rather be swimming laps every morning?” “I might just like a swim after my ride,” she said primly. “We always get all sweaty and dusty out here. This way, we’d get to take a cool plunge when we got home.” “Mmm.” I nodded slowly. “I’ll look into it. Anything else you want to put on the list, sweetheart?” She inhaled slowly, but it was too slow, almost like she was gearing up for something. “And...” She trailed off, her eyes on the pasture, but her voice light in a way that made every hair on my arms stand on end. “I’m going to need a bigger car.” I frowned. “A bigger car.” “Yes.” “The convertible isn’t big enough?” I teased, because that little cherry-red thing I’d gotten her just the other day to match my mom’s —their idea, not mine—had already gotten her two speeding warnings. “You know bigger generally means slower, not faster, right?” I expected an elbow or a giggle, but Charlotte didn’t laugh. She just bit her lip and my heart kicked so hard, it damn near left a hole in my ribs. “Why?” I asked gently. “Why a swimming pool and a bigger car, baby?” “Baby.” She glanced up at me, blue eyes intently fixed on mine all of a sudden. “That’s exactly it. I think... uh, I think I might be pregnant.” For a second, my whole world just stopped. The wind and the rustling of the breeze, the chirping of the insects, it all went silent. Charlotte fidgeted with the hem of her shirt, her voice trembling around the edges. “I haven’t taken a test yet,” she rushed out. “I didn’t actually want to say anything until I knew for sure. I don’t want to get my hopes up. I know it’s soon, and everything’s been happening so fast, and we’ve only been married a few weeks but—” I didn’t let her finish, just lifting my hand and cupping the back of her neck, hauling her closer until I was kissing her so hard that
she gasped against my mouth. Then I pulled her into my lap before she could do anything exc ept squeak my name. All the while, my thoughts raced, my head spinning. She’d been really emotional the last couple days, about everything, big and small. She’d also been pretty tired, her body even more responsive than usual, and she’d mentioned feeling a little nauseated once or twice. Her fists curled in my collar, her forehead pressed to mine, her breath shaky and warm when we finally broke apart, but she k ept her eyes closed. “You’re okay with this?” “Charlotte,” I murmured, brushing my thumb along her jaw like I could somehow steady both of us with that one touch. “Sweetheart. Look at me.” Finally, she did, those big, hopeful blue eyes looking right into mine. “I don’t care how soon it is. I don’t even care if it’s real yet or not. All I care about is us. Do you want this?” Her breath caught. “I really, really do.” I kissed her again, completely reverent as her mouth moved against mine. My heart fluttered like there was a nervous butterfly stuck in my chest. The sun was dipping low, turning the whole sky golden orange. As we pulled apart, it caught in her hair, lighting her up from the inside out. If I didn’t already love her enough to drown in it, this moment would’ve done me in completely. “I love you,” I whispered against her mouth. “Pregnant or not. Today and tomorrow. For the rest of my damn life, I am going to love you, Charlotte. Whatever our future looks like, swimming pools, bigger cars, babies, chaos, or sle epless nights, it doesn’t matter as long as it’s ours. Mine and yours.” Her arms slid around my neck, her body curling into mine. Whatever waited for us tomorrow, I knew one thing for sure. She was mine, I was hers, and that was enough for us to build a whole damn future on—and no one and nothing was going to be able to stop us.