I had a feeling he might want me. No, I knew he did. But forever?

I pulled my lips to the side, bit my bottom lip. “I know. I know. I thought I’d do it with my dad. But if I start my own shop, he'll be really mad. Definitely try to blacklist me.”

“A father shouldn’t keep his child from fulfilling her dreams. Or tearing them down.” His hand loosened in my hair, and he slid it down my back, cupped my butt. “He can try all he wants. I know who the police department will be calling for tow services. And you fixed that tractor when no one else could. Your daddy doesn’t touch farm equipment.”

I grinned then, remembering that old tractor and how no one could get it to run but me.

“I’d say you’d have a business in house calls alone,” he added.

It was an interesting idea. A mobile repair shop.

“Come to the ranch with me. Meet Claire.”

He’d switched topics, probably because I wasn’t going to decide to start a new business sitting on his lap in my kitchen.

But meet his child? The one that was supposed to be ours? I wasn’t ready to share that secret. I couldn’t. I hadn’t told anyone. But if I wanted to be with Huck, it included Claire.

I nodded. “Okay.”

He leaned in, brushed his nose with mine. He smelled of my rose soap and himself. “First, I’m going to fuck you again. Make sure you know you’re mine.” He spread his knees wider, which parted my legs even more. He reached between my thighs and cupped me. “That you know this pussy’s mine.”

I let my eyes fall closed as his touch became more deliberate. Urgent. When he slipped a finger into me and found me wet, who was I to complain?

15

HUCK

I pulled up in front of the main house and parked. Sitting there, I counted to ten in my head. Sarah glanced at me from the passenger seat, wondering why I hadn’t gotten out of the car. I only made it to seven before the screen door flew open and Claire ran out, jumping the last two steps off the front porch. She had on her usual jeans and sneakers and a blue T-shirt.

A grin was impossible to avoid as I took in her exuberance to see me. This was our routine, as I usually texted Alice to let her know I was leaving the station. I knew her eagerness to see me wasn’t going to last forever, so I was enjoying it while I could.

“Ready?” I asked, taking Sarah’s hand and giving it a squeeze.

She didn’t look my way, but at the approaching five-year-old.

I climbed from the police SUV and rounded the back, ready for my little girl’s hug, which was often more like a body tackle. But she wasn’t there. She’d gone to Sarah’s side and wiggled about as Sarah shut the door behind her.