the beginning. I get it. I get you, sweetheart. I love you. Only you. Forever.”
“I love you, too. Only you. Forever.”
He kissed her and held her close. “How about we consummate this non-marriage of ours?”
“Yes, please.”
Landon left work the second the clock hit seven the next morning, eager to get home to Amanda. Thinking about her warm and naked in his bed had made for a long night at the fire station as he’d tossed and turned and had weird dreams about chasing someone who refused to be caught. Was that a metaphor for his situation with Amanda? He had no idea. All he cared about was getting to her as quickly as possible.
Even as he told himself to slow down, to take it easy and not go all in until she figured out her life plan, he realized on the ride home that it was probably already too late to be warning himself about her.
He was already all in with her and had been for quite some time, if he was being honest. Because of what he’d once felt for Naomi, he recognized the signs. First of all, he was incredibly attracted to her. Second, he wanted to spend as much time with her as he possibly could. Third, he was completely on board with supporting her through this period of change in her life, wherever it might lead. Finally, he might be willing to upend his own existence if it meant having more of her.
That last one was the most interesting of all to him. He loved his life in Butler, enjoyed his work with the fire department and at the tree farm. He liked having his big family all around him and being able to see them whenever he wanted to. Landon wasn’t looking to shake up anything. His life was fine the way it was, so going all in with a woman who was looking to shake up everything was a huge risk for him and one he was taking while being fully aware of the many ways it could go wrong for him.
He didn’t care if it went wrong. Not when she was naked in his bed, living in his house and wanting him to be her partner in crime. Wild horses couldn’t keep him from her, but apparently, Fred could. After spotting the moose standing in the roadway, Landon slammed on his brakes, the truck fishtailing for a second in the mud on the road before coming to a halt about six feet from Fred.
Landon put down the window. “Move along, Fred. I’ve got somewhere important to be. Naked, sexy woman, warm and cozy in my bed! Let’s go!”
Fred let out a loud moo but otherwise seemed unaffected by Landon’s request.
“Maybe if you had a naked woman in your bed, you might be a little less ornery.” Fred had no reply to that. “Why would you want to stand in the middle of the road when you could run through the woods with no fear of getting hit by a car or truck?”
Fred shot him a look that could only be called disdainful.
“I can’t believe I’m having an actual conversation with a moose.” Landon laid on the horn, which only earned him another perturbed look. “Come on, dude. Be a pal, would you? I’ve got the most awesome woman sleeping in my bed, and I just want to get home to her. Would you please move?”
Fred let out another loud moo and began to move forward, slowly working his way toward the brush. What did the trick? The sexy woman or the word please? Landon didn’t know and didn’t care. “Thank you,” Landon called after him.
“Moo.”
Annoyed by the delay, Landon hit the gas and headed for home. “Freaking pain-in-the-ass, cock-blocking moose!” He needed to tell Hannah to do something about Fred and his propensity to get in the way of true love.
Landon nearly slammed on the brakes again after having that thought.
True love?
What the actual fuck was he thinking? He liked Amanda a lot, but he wasn’t in love with her. Was he? How would he even know? The only time he’d felt anything like love for someone he wasn’t related to had been Naomi, and he’d been a teenager when she died. How the hell was he supposed to know if what he felt for Amanda was love?
Way to make things even more complicated. Ugh. “Just chill the fuck out and stop with the crazy thoughts, will you, please? She’s got a lot