or later.
Right now, he didn’t care, because right now, he was kissing Montana.
Kissing Montana erased all his nerves and worries, and everything in the world felt absolutely right.
She finally pulled away, and Bishop opened his eyes, the sunlight suddenly too bright. He looked at her, and she met his eye for only a half-moment before she ducked her head, a giggle coming from her head.
Bishop let the smile coursing through him manifest itself on his face as he held her. “I guess you’re right,” he said. “That was a better kiss than the first one.”
“Yeah, what was that?” she asked.
“An experiment,” he said.
She stepped away from him and searched his face. “What?”
“I wanted to see if you’d make my blood sizzle.”
She opened her mouth, but words didn’t come out. Only a scoff.
“Don’t be all like that,” he said, grinning at her. “You do, by the way. Everything about you makes me come alive in a way I don’t understand.”
Bishop wanted to shove a boot down his throat. He’d told Cactus about the children question when he and Montana had gone to hike to the falls, and Cactus had simply looked at him.
He’d given Bishop a gift certificate to The Baker’s Dozen in town, where Bishop could buy any item for the kitchen he wanted. He’d appreciated the gesture, because come Sunday in a week or two, the whole family would gather to the homestead and celebrate his birthday, but no one would bring a gift.
They simply didn’t do a lot of gifts in the Glover family. A name-draw exchange at Christmas, and that was it.
But since then, Cactus had been closed off, more like the man he’d been before Thanksgiving last year. He glared more. He spoke less. Bishop hadn’t been able to get anything out of him regarding the change, and even Ace couldn’t get Cactus to leave the ranch anymore.
“Let’s go to the stables,” he said, turning away from Montana, who hadn’t said anything after his confession. They got in his truck, and Bishop realized he had one more thing he needed to say to her.
“Listen,” he said, wondering if a person could survive without their vocal cords. “I understand that you’re protective of Aurora. I do.” He cut a glance in her direction, not truly looking at her. “But I’m ready. I’m ready to meet her. Whenever you’re ready to share her with me.”
He cleared his throat while he waited for Montana to say something. “And it’s my birthday in a couple of weeks, and I’d love for the two of you—and your aunt and uncle if they want to come—to come eat with us at the homestead.”
“What day?” she asked, her voice raw and hardly her own.
“Sunday,” he said. “First Sunday in May.”
She nodded, her lips pressed together. Bishop had said something to upset her. He knew; he’d seen her shut down like this before. This time, though, he didn’t press her. He’d learned over the past few weeks of working with her that sometimes Montana just needed a few minutes to think before she continued the conversation.
This time, though, they rode to the stables in silence, and Bishop let his worry over Agatha’s delivery take over his nerves that he’d said too much and revealed too much to Montana.
“Talk to me, baby,” he said a week or so later. He and Montana had been texting for a solid fifteen minutes, and Bishop needed to get out to the equipment shed where Bear and Ace were waiting for him.
Montana sighed, and Bishop simply waited for her. “I just don’t know what to do with her,” she finally said.
“So you got home,” Bishop said. “And you were a little late, because—” He cut off and cleared his throat. He may have kept her a little longer than he normally did, because he couldn’t stop kissing her. She seemed to enjoy kissing him too, and Bishop grinned as he walked down the path.
The sun was bright and hot today, and Bishop only had a week until he turned thirty-four. Montana had not confirmed if she would be there. Alone, with her daughter, or with her aunt and uncle. Nothing. Bishop didn’t want to press her again.
After their kiss last week, when he’d told her he was ready to meet her daughter, she’d gone quiet for a little while. Later, she’d told him she needed to talk to Aurora first, and she was still trying to figure out how to do that.
Bishop knew she’d dated since her divorce, but