by Em Petrova
“That’s an understatement, my friend.”
“Damn, I don’t know how the old-timers who have done this for years have made it work, not seeing their loved ones for weeks at a time.”
“Guess it’s no different from driving truck. You get used to the separation.”
“That’s not how I want to live, though. Do you?”
He just shook his head.
By the time they reached the site, Easton had gone through a complete transformation in his mind and his buddy didn’t even know it. Talking with Dane had left him with a sure conviction of his path. He knew without a doubt there would be twists and hills, but if he was taking those with Lilah at his side… It was all he needed in the world.
And he couldn’t wait to ask her to get in with him for the ride.
* * * * *
Lilah lay in the grass, gazing up at the stars. This was her favorite time of day, when her work was done and she had nothing to do but find a spot of peace in her world. Overnight a fire had broken out up north of the county line and she’d spent the day with the rancher and his family, assuring them that life would move again in the right direction, despite them feeling they’d just lost it all.
From the ashes came life. She couldn’t help but feel that held true for her as well. She’d spent a decade finding out who she was and learning to love herself. So when Easton had walked into her life again, this time she was ready.
Only question was how to see more of the hunky man?
In the distance, she heard a rumble of an engine. Probably one of her brothers coming back late. A mosquito hummed by her ear, but she ignored it. Thankfully they preferred her brothers’ flesh to hers and didn’t trouble her much. Overhead, the universe seemed to swirl and burst with a new star every minute.
She issued a happy sigh and folded her arms under her head.
Now for the problem of seeing more of Easton. Maybe… Maybe it was time to leave the nest and find a place closer to him.
But no, she loved her home. She liked being close to Susannah to help her and she didn’t want to leave the area where she’d grown up. The good memories here far outweighed the bad ones of being teased about her nerdy tendencies.
She drew in a deep breath of the grass-scented air. Could she leave this place?
If it meant seeing Easton even one more hour, one more day then yes.
With her decision made, her mind worked over all the details. First, finding an apartment closer to where he worked. Packing her things, asking her family to help move her with their pickup trucks. And telling Easton what she was doing to keep their relationship alive.
Mentally, she sorted through her belongings. Take the bed, buy a new mattress if she could swing it—that thing didn’t have the support she and Easton needed to have all the romps she was planning. That launched her into a bunch of sexy thoughts, each dirtier than the last and ending with a very rough beard between her thighs.
The breeze made a shushing sound through the grasses, ruffling her hair around her temples. She threaded her fingers through the short curls, pushing them off her face.
“Lilah.”
She bolted up and scrambled to her feet, glancing around herself at the darkness.
When her gaze centered on the muscled shoulders of her lover, she let out a cry and threw herself forward. He caught her against his solid chest with a throaty noise.
“What are you doing here?” If she didn’t feel the pounding of his heart and his strong arms around her, she’d think her thoughts of him had conjured an illusion. A Texas mirage caused by separation and pure desire.
He cupped her face, tilting it up for his kiss. “I couldn’t stay away. I have something to tell you.”
She covered his hands with her own. “I have something to tell you too.” But it could wait. She went on tiptoe and claimed his lips for her own. The first slant of his mouth pulled a groan from her, and he answered with a growl of his own, spinning his arms around her middle, molding her to his body.
She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and clung to him. A tremor inside had begun and after two strokes of his tongue, she was wild for more.
He broke the kiss, staring down into her eyes, his own dark and glittering in the low moonlight. “God, I can’t believe I’m allowed to touch you this way.”
“You can touch me in all ways.” She grabbed his hand and placed it on her breast. He moaned and dipped his head to her throat, kissing, nipping and licking back up to her lips. When he captured them, they sank together to the ground. Grasses crushed, releasing their sharp scents. He half rolled atop her, planting his thigh between hers.
She rubbed against him.
“Hell.” He ground out the curse in a voice that had the hairs on her arms rising. “Baby, I want you so bad but before I do all the things I want to do to you, I have things to say.”
She stared up at him, her heart in her throat. “If you came here to break things off, I’ve got a boot I can firmly slam into your balls if you even try it.”
He threw back his head and laughed. The sound trickled through her, low. “Damn, but I love you even when you’re threatening to unman me. Why would you think I’m here to break up with you?”
She chewed on her lower lip. “If you came all the way to my house to find me and must have spoken to my momma about my whereabouts, it must be important.”
He ran a fingertip down her jaw to the point of her chin. “Will you never stop assuming the worst of my character?”
Now she felt bad. “I’m sorry. It’s just that being separated this way makes it so hard to know what you’re thinking, Easton. I—”
He cut across her. “I’ve come to remedy that.”
She slithered out from under him enough to get into a sitting position. He sat up as well, so close that his body heat seeped into her. “You have?” she asked almost breathlessly.
He reached out and closed his fingers around her hand. The dry, callused feel of them felt so good, so right, that surely he wasn’t about to tell her something she didn’t want to hear. But she also had news to share.
“Wait, I have something to say to you,” she said.
“Baby, I love you,” he went on.
“I’ve decided to make some changes.” She was eager to tell him her plan.
“I have too. That’s why I came tonight. That and to touch you.” He turned her palm up and joined their fingers.
“I don’t need to live here to do my job. I can move around. I can—” she began.
“I have a new job opportunity and I’m gonna take it.” His words dropped like bombs on her.
She blinked. “What?” Was he moving farther away, more out of reach?
“I’ve got a new chance on a rig and—”
She jumped to her feet and walked several yards away before he caught up to her. Spinning her to face him, his form almost all in shadow but killing her with his good looks all the same. She folded her arms across her chest. “You’ve got another promotion and you’re leaving. That’s what you came to tell me? After I laid here for hours thinking of the steps I’ll take to move closer to you?”
He rocked back. “Closer to me?”
“Yes, dammit! I was going to tell you I’m willing to move to be closer to the rig. That way maybe we can see each other sometimes after your shifts!”
A low rumble sounded in her chest, a noise she wanted to get closer to, and the only way to do it was to press her ear to his chest. And that meant being in his arms.
She pushed out a harsh sigh. “I swear I must be so stupid. I don’t know how I’ve managed to survive all these years being so dumb. I’ll always be Lizard Lilah, and you’re that man who can so easily wiggle into my heart. I fell in love with you that day, and I thought it was a game till I saw you again—”
“Jesus, baby.” He trapped her in his arms, hauling her against his chest. Right where she wanted to be.
Her struggle to free herself was pretty lame, and he wasn’t going to let her
go anyway. He buried his nose in her hair and inhaled deeply. “I love you, baby. I came to tell you there’s a chance on a rig near this place. That I can see you way more often. That we could get a house and start a family. That—”
She pushed away to stare up at him. “Easton, are you serious?”
He nodded.
“So I’m not stupid for loving you after all.”
He barked out a laugh that echoed with relief. Drawing her close again, he whispered, “You never were. Not then, and especially not now. I didn’t deserve your love when we were kids, but I’ll try my damnedest now to be everything you need and desire.”
She swallowed hard, too choked up to find a reply. So she went on tiptoe again, pulling his head down at the same time until their lips met.
* * * * *
Easton couldn’t believe this crazy, beautiful woman was prepared to go to any lengths to be with him. Never in his life had he imagined that he’d have found someone who returned the love he felt. And with events falling into place to unite them, he knew it couldn’t be more right.
The lump in his throat dissolved and joy rose in its place. He wanted to shout to the world that Lilah was his, but there was still a small detail to see to, and that surprise was left for later.
Right now, she was soft and warm, and he wanted more of her.
He took her down to the grasses again, and they tumbled in each other’s arms, their mouths locked as they pulled at garments. When her flesh met his and he poised above her, he whispered, “Forever.”
She parted her legs and drew him inside her. Inch by sweet, torturous inch he stretched her. When he was buried deep, she wiggled her hips and he began to move. The slow rhythm of lovemaking didn’t last more than three heated kisses, though.
He plunged his tongue into her mouth and jerked his hips. With his hands under her spine, he lifted her to meet him even as she bucked upward. Passion spiraled out of control. Her cries of pleasure filled his ears, drowning out the chirp of crickets. When he felt her inner walls clamp around him hard, he threw his head back, his release on the heels of hers.
He roared out his pleasure and her rasps joined his. The hot jets of his orgasm went on forever, ending just as she grew loose in his hold. Unraveled.
“I’m going to do that every chance I get, baby.”
She was silent for a moment, catching her breath. “Maybe next time we should bring a blanket.”
He chuckled and rolled off, drawing her against him. She threw her thigh across his hip, anchored to his side. “I’ll remember that next time.” He had, however, remembered to stop and grab his toolkit at home to install the new door handle on her truck. Putting it on by the overhead light of her family’s garage had been the easy part—the hard part had been holding back his urge to rush to the field where her mother had said she’d gone.
She rested her head on his chest. “You’re not only taking this new job for me, right? I mean, you’ll be happy doing it?”
He ran his hand down her spine. “Yes, it’s just a relocation. A chance to start up a new operation, and a challenge I’ll gladly take. But you’re the real motivation behind the decision, baby. I’ll do anything to be closer to you. There’s no reason why I can’t come home to you every night, lie next to you and hold you in my arms.”
“But you’ll have night shifts too.”
“Yes. Will it be too hard on you?” He held his breath, awaiting her answer.
Lifting a hand to cup his jaw, she looked deep into his eyes. “If I never truly hated you even after you saddled me with the nickname Lizard Lilah, I think I can manage this hurdle.” She grinned.
“You’re never letting me live that down, are you?”
“Nope.”
“Lilah, I hope we have a whole string of little girls just like you were back then. Then you can just call me Lizard Daddy because I will be the first in line at the costume store.”
She laughed and held him close. “I’ll have you know that I spent most of the month making that costume myself.”
He chuckled.
“Easton, I do love you. So much.”
He rumbled as he flipped her onto her back once more, his cock hard against her thigh. “Show me.” He slipped inside her just as she twitched her hips up to take him.
Epilogue
When Lilah straggled out of the field at dawn with her hand firmly in Easton’s grasp, she expected to be embarrassed to see her father. After all, no daddy wanted to watch his disheveled and well-loved daughter emerging from a night in the field with her man.
But he was nowhere to be seen, nor were her nosy brothers. Her momma wasn’t out feeding her chickens either or pulling weeds from her garden.
No one was around, and that was unusual.
She shot a look at the parking area. Sure enough all their vehicles were here. Then her gaze zeroed in on her truck.
“Dammit, who keeps rolling up my window? They all know I can’t get in the driver’s door without it down!” She let go of Easton’s hand and stomped across the driveway. When she peered through the window, she went still.
On the seat was a little box, wrapped in gold with a matching bow. Heart pounding, she turned slowly from the window to look at Easton.
He stood several yards away, a smile on his rugged features. “Try the handle. It just might work.”
A gasp left her as she put her hand on the metal and pulled. The door opened sweetly, and she was even closer to the little package.
From behind her, Easton said, “Open it.”
She reached in and gathered the box in both hands. When she pivoted again, she found him standing very close, his eyes burning with a question she couldn’t understand how to answer.
The gift was too lovely to open right away, so she carefully pulled off the bow and slid a nail into the gold wrapping so it wasn’t destroyed. When she got to the small white box, she glanced up at him, feeling shaky inside.
“What is this?”
“Go on,” he urged, voice deep.
She drew off the top and inside was another box, smaller. She pulled this out too. It fit on her palm, and her heart thundered. Whatever was inside would change her life—she just knew it.
Pulse pounding in her ears, she carefully opened that box too, only to see a third one. Small and black.
“Easton.”
He drew it from her shaking hands and flicked open the lid with a big forefinger.
She didn’t know where to look—at the intense depths of his blue eyes or the diamond perched in a rose gold setting that refracted the sunlight into a hundred rays.
She clapped her hands to her lips, hardly breathing. “Oh Easton.”
He dropped to his knee and that was when she saw people entering the driveway. Her mom and dad, her brothers. Susannah, Ford and all the other Daltons flooded the yard to watch the moment unfold.
Susannah had a camera trained on Lilah and Easton.
He took her hand in his warm one, gazing into her eyes. “Lilah, baby, will you be my wife?”
A hitching sob left her, and she dropped into his arms. When he slipped the ring onto her finger, she felt the tremble of his hand and was touched beyond imagination.
“Well?” he whispered.
“Yes! Oh my God, yes!” She hurled her arms around him, and their lips crashed together in a long kiss that had everybody hooting and whistling. When they broke away, Easton shot a grin to those around them and pulled Lilah to her feet.
“If anybody objects to this engagement, you’ll have to fight me.”
They all laughed, and Susannah wiped a tear from her eye.
The families rushed toward them, but Lilah held up a hand. “Wait. I have to do something first.” She crouched and stuck her index finger into the dirt. There she drew her initial next to Easton’s and finished it with a big heart around it.
When she stood and put her arms around him, she knew the world was theirs.
* * * * *
“There’s so many peopl
e in this wedding party that we won’t actually have any family in the audience to see us get married,” Easton said, hefting a calf over his shoulders. The little one had gotten separated from the herd, but they all knew which mother it belonged to. The momma had been heard calling for it all night long.
Easton gently placed the calf over the saddle of his horse and roped it there so it was secure.
Uncle Ted laughed. “She’s got too many women to choose from, so she just didn’t choose. Besides, you’ve got enough brothers and cousins to fill your side of the altar as well.”
“Think of the bachelor party,” Hank added.
Easton laughed. “I won’t be hitting any bars, if that’s what you’re thinkin’. My days of that are long past.”
“Good to hear,” Ford said, clapping Easton on the back.
“After I get this calf back to the momma, I’ve gotta split, Uncle Ted.”
“Oh?” He raised a bushy brow.
“Lilah and I are looking at a house to rent in town. Till we can save for a down-payment on something else.”
His uncle eyed him and scratched at his jaw. “Seems to me you’d be better settled on a piece of this land, son.”
Easton went still, feeling his cousin and brother staring at him.
“What?” he asked.
“There’s a patch of land I know your wife-to-be is very fond of. And it’d make a fine place for a house.”
Easton shook his head. “I must be hearing things. What are you saying?”
“I’m sayin’ this land’s got room for another Dalton family on it, and I hope you’ll accept the deed to the spot that burned back in the spring. It’s lush and green now, and Lilah’s pretty attached to it, I daresay. I’m sure she’ll have to check each blade of grass to make sure no newts will get trampled when you build there, though.” Uncle Ted moved in to clasp Easton’s hand.
He squeezed back, emotion building in his throat and eyes. “I… Wow. I can’t believe your generosity.”
