The Patriot A Small Town Romance - Jennifer Millikin Page 0,114

body.

“That’s it, baby,” he murmurs when my thigh muscles coil and my hips lift. With my hand cupped over my mouth and my eyes fixed on Wes, I let the sensation take over. My release prompts his own, and I watch his eyes squeeze tight and his muscles contract.

His eyes reopen and he looks down at me. “You were the first thing I thought about when I woke up.” He looks down at where we’re still connected. “And I think I know the first thing you thought about when you woke up.”

I don’t correct him. Besides, my carnal desire didn’t lag too far behind my initial thoughts.

“Guilty as charged,” I say, as Wes pulls back and lies down beside me.

“Now tell me the truth. How do you feel?” He props himself up on an arm and looks pointedly down at me.

I turn my attention inward. With the bliss fading away, the soreness is creeping back in.

“A little uncomfortable,” I admit, and it irritates me. The lingering pain reminds me of what happened, and it seems unfair that not only do I have it in my memory, but I have my body to remind me of it too.

Wes watches his fingers as they trace an invisible pattern across my stomach. “I’m so glad you’re okay. Seeing you… like that… it nearly ripped me in half, Dakota.” His gaze finds mine, and he looks uncertain. “My dad changed the trust. The inheritor of the HCC can be unmarried.”

I should feel happy for Wes, but I feel crushed. I swallow hard and adopt a brave face. “I guess this is where I say thank you for paying off my debt when you didn’t have to.”

Wes’s eyebrows cinch together, so I explain. “You know, since you can get the ranch without getting married now.” My smile is weak. “I guess we both got what we wanted.” Vulnerability fills me, so I reach down to brush his hand off my stomach, but his muscles clench and my pushing is ineffectual.

“Dakota, last night I realized something that’s been staring me in the face for a while. There’s a big difference between what I want, and what I need. I want the ranch, but I need you.” He grabs my hand, his fingers intertwining with mine. “I love you, Dakota.”

A smile splits my face, and for a brief moment all my physical pain is gone. “I’m so in love with you, Wes.” I laugh incredulously after I say it, because I don’t know what to do with the overflow of emotion.

“Thank God,” he says, eyes lifting to the ceiling. He leans down, kissing me.

“You’re a hard person not to love, Wes.” I kiss him again. “Out of curiosity, when did you know you loved me?”

Wes puts a few inches of space between our faces as he thinks. “That question has two parts. First, I fell in love with you that first night at the lake, when we were swimming.”

I make a face, but he shakes his head. “That’s the truth. You swam to me, wrapped your arms around my shoulders, and pushed the hair off my forehead. You looked into my eyes and laughed and kissed me, and it hit me that for the first time in my life, I could feel the heart in my chest. Really feel it. And then later, we were talking and I told you about being in the military, and then I just… started crying. And I thought, You’d better run, because this girl is going to undo you.” I shake my head, astonished at what he’s saying. He keeps going. “I took the easy way out, even when it killed me. You brought to life in me something I wanted to stay dead. Leaving you felt like my only option.”

A little noise sounds in the back of my throat, and I realize I’m near tears.

“The second part is that I realized I was in love with you when you came over and did your laundry. It felt so natural and right, like you were always meant to be there. I started thinking back to the night I met you, and it hit me that I couldn’t ever fall in love with you, because I already was.” He taps the tip of my nose. “Your turn.”

I brush a kiss against him. “I’ve been falling in love with you slowly. Kind of like rolling down a gently sloping hill, and getting to the bottom and then looking up and realizing how far