She wanted nothing from me except maybe my dick and the orgasms I gave her, and even those might be in jeopardy.
“You know we’d figure it out if something happened. I’d take care of you.”
Whitney’s blue eyes widened. “Don’t say that. Do you know what would happen if something ... happened? My family would disown me. And then your family? I don’t even want to think about it. They’d run me out of town on a rail. Probably take out a hit. Taint the Riscoff line with Gable blood? Your mother would hack me into pieces, after she ran me over with a car and shot me a dozen times.”
Whitney was right. My mother would go ballistic if she knew about this. She would lose her goddamned mind. I would never hear the end of it. Ever.
A smile curled my lips.
It wouldn’t be the end of the world, though.
“I’d protect you from her. I wouldn’t let any of them touch you.”
Whitney placed a finger over my lips to stop me from saying anything else. “We’re not talking about this. Stop putting shit like that out into the universe. If you mention it again, Iwillrefuse to see you again.”
“Fine.” I kissed her finger before I thrust inside her. We both let out harsh groans.
“How is it always so good?” she said, moaning and arching her back.
I shifted so I was on my knees, never losing contact. “Because we’re fucking perfect together.”
Her blue gaze collided with mine before she rolled her eyes. “You say that to all the girls.”
“It’s never been like this before.Never,” I told her with a shake of my head. “I’m not lying. No bullshit.”
Her skeptical look faded when I started to move, and I could already feel her muscles fluttering around me. I’d only had two nights with her, but I’d made a study of her body like I was going to be tested on it. Learning what she liked. What made her go off like the Fourth of July. It was my most favorite subject of all time.
By the time she’d come twice, I unloaded into the condom, and Whitney dozed off for a few minutes after we cleaned up. I wrapped myself around her naked body again, and I couldn’t help but think about keeping her. Making her mine. Sayingfuck the feud. My family. Her family.
She’s different.
She wanted me despite who I was. That meant something to me, and I didn’t want to lose it.
That was when I decided exactly how I’d prevent it from happening.
I’m going to make her fall in love with me.
15
Whitney
Present day
My first nightin the she-shed turned into a sleepover with Cricket, and that was totally fine by me. At least, until she had to leave at the ass crack of dawn to lead a hike up into the mountains, and I couldn’t fall back to sleep.
Being home unsettles me.
With Cricket’s bright chatter around, it’s easy to block out thoughts of Lincoln, but as soon as I’m left with silence, everything about him and our history comes rushing back.
For ten years, I’ve been telling myself my memory made too much of it. That it wasn’t as good as I remember. That’s what I needed to tell myself to get through the days of being Ricky Rango’s wife.
I never should have married him.
But at the time, there was no other choice. I’d only agreed to marry him if he stayed true to his promise to be faithful. And shockingly, he did.
At least until I went in for my annual physical earlier this year, and my doctor delivered the bad news that I had an STD. Antibiotics might have fixed the medical part of it ... but absolutely nothing could change the fact that my marriage was over.
When I confronted Ricky, he blamed me. Said I must have gotten it from cheating onhim. That accusation caught me completely off guard, and I knew it had to be coming from the guilt. Monogamy was the one thing he promised me in return for everything I did for him.The only thing.