that this was it, this was the moment of choice.
She walked toward him without a word, never letting her eyes leave his. She trotted up the stairs and threw herself into his arms, tears suddenly springing to her eyes. She sniffled as he hugged her close and caressed her back, speaking soft, reassuring words in her ear. She stepped back and looked into his eyes as tears wet her cheeks. He wiped them away with the pads of his palms.
“Gunner, what are we going to do? This is all such a mess.”
“Come inside. We'll figure it out together.”
Cassidy walked into Gunner's house, and he closed the door behind them. She had truly and completely entered his world. She felt like Juliet in the Shakespearean play going to see her Romeo, taking a stand against the Capulets.
Gunner had told her his family would protect then, and that was where their story differed from the Bard's tale of star-crossed lovers. The front hall of Gunner's house had a coatrack and a shoe rack. The living room was furnished with a comfortable leather couch and easy chair and a big-screen TV.
It was tidy if not a little cluttered and smelled of air freshener with a hint of Gunner's primal scent. Light entered through the big front window. To the right was a small dining room with hardwood floors that led into a kitchen, and the stairs to the second floor.
Gunner led her into the kitchen and opened the fridge. “Would you like a beer?”
She nodded. He grabbed two bottles of local craft brew and popped the caps before setting them down on the table. The kitchen was clean save for a few dirty dishes in the sink. He had granite countertops and new appliances. The house looked as if it were only a few years old. Gunner had told her how his brothers had each built their own houses. And when his brother Shane had moved into his off-the-grid cabin with Montana, he'd left his house to Gunner.
“You have a nice home,” she told him.
“It's only missing one thing. You.”
Cassidy felt heat rise in her cheeks. She wanted this to be their home. It was what she wanted more than anything. She'd gone to New York to pursue her dreams and to get away from the drama of her family, and she'd come back to Fate Rock feeling as if she had failed. But now she realized that all that time she'd just been searching for a sense of belonging, more than anything else. She'd learned so much in New York, and she would never trade that, but hearing Gunner say those words, it was as if she was in the right place at the right time for the first time in her life.
She reached across the table and took his hand, gazing into his eyes. “That means so much to me, Gunner,” she said in a soft voice.
“Let's go sit outside,” he said, taking her hand. They walked out onto the porch behind the kitchen that looked out over the pasture. Even though there were multiple houses on the Wilde Ranch property, the back porch of Gunner's house made it seem as if there was no civilization for miles and miles.
Cattle grazed down in the pasture at the bottom of the hill, where a wide stream cut through the landscape. Beyond, trees and hills rose in the distance. The summer heat was cooled by a soft breeze blowing up from the creek. It brought with it the smell of fresh grass and the forest and the wildflowers that grew beyond Gunner's back lawn.
“It's beautiful here. Everything is so lush. The pastures at the McCoy ranch are already brown.”
“I know they are. We've been offering to teach the boys about our practices for years, but they don't want to learn.”
“I'm sorry. I don't want to talk about that now. Can we change the subject?” She ran her fingers through her hair.
“Yes. Absolutely. We've already given enough of our energy to that for a lifetime.” He chuckled.
She felt such gratitude for him. It was like he was giving her the world on a silver platter. She smiled and leaned toward him, cupping his face in her palm. She tilted her chin and pressed her lips against his. Fireworks popped between them, and all the sorrow and the pain and the trauma melted away with the deep desire at the very core of her being.
He pulled her close, growling low in his throat as their