Kade closed his eyes and squeezed her tightly to make sure it wasn’t another dream. “Say it again.”
“I love you. And I’m sorry, you were right about a lot of things. Not just the security stuff, which I have taken care of, much to my employee’s relief. What I accused you of was wrong. I panicked. Deep down I knew you wouldn’t take Eliza from me. Then you were gone and I didn’t know if it was for good. And I didn’t know how to make it right. So all I can do is ask you to forgive me for being a pride-filled idiot, for not trusting you, or trusting in this.”
“If you’ve forgiven me for the Kane thing, I can forgive you.” He hooked a piece of flyaway hair behind her ear. “Skylar. I love you. I love you so damn much.” He just held her. Loving the way she fit him so perfectly in so many ways.
Finally, she said, “You aren’t going to leave me, ever, are you?”
“Nope.”
“How long would you have waited for me to realize that?”
“Oh, fifty years, give or take.”
She looked up and her eyes were so serious.
“What, sweetheart?”
“You really are a true gentleman cowboy. A good guy, honest, steadfast, loyal and true.”
“You’re makin’ me sound like a damn preacher or something. I am who I am, Sky. Who I’ve always been.”
“I know. That’s who I want. That’s who I love. And I’m too damn practical, because I suck at this kind of romantic stuff. But I did try to make this be special and spontaneous and…” Skylar stripped off his gloves and grabbed his hand. “Dammit. Come here. I have something to show you.” She dragged him to where she’d spread out a yellow blanket on the flat spot of ground between the ditch and the fence line. A red cooler anchored one corner of the blanket. Centered on the plastic cooler lid was a bunch of wild flowers. “Here’s our romantic celebration. You like it?”
The woman who claimed not to be a romantic…had picked flowers for him? “Yeah. It’s great.”
“That wasn’t a very convincing great, Kade. Sit down.”
He shuffled his feet and sighed.
“What?”
“I don’t wanna to sit on your nice blanket.”
“Why not?”
“I’ll ruin it. If you hadn’t noticed, I’m covered in dust and grime.”
“Hmm.” Sky gave him a head to toe once over. “Then you’d better take off your dirty clothes.”
Surely she was joking. “Sky—”
“If you hadn’t noticed,” she mimicked, “I’m trying to seduce you. But I’m fine with skipping the mushy romantic stuff and getting straight to the hardcore sex.”
“What?” He glanced around. “In the middle of the damn field where anyone can see us?”
“Yep.”
“No way.”
“Oh. I see. It’s okay when you make me strip down so you can have your wicked way with me, any time, any place. Need I remind you we had sex in my front yard, McKay?”
Shit. He was so totally screwed.
The triumph shining in her eyes made him half-wary and completely hard. Skylar fisted her hands in his shirt and pulled his mouth down to hers for a fiery kiss that should’ve set the hayfield on fire.
Kade groaned. God he loved kissing this woman. His woman. He loved her taste. He loved the way she curled her tongue against his. He loved the softness of her lips. He loved the sharp nip of her teeth. Mostly, he loved the fact she loved him.
She broke her mouth free but not her hold on his shirt. “I want you.”
“And I want you. I always want you. Let’s go back to the house, I’ll get cleaned up, Ma can watch Eliza for a bit longer and we can—”
“No. Right here, right now.”
“But I don’t think—”
“Know what I think? That you don’t want to think. You want a woman who will drag you off that damn tractor to fuck you in the weeds any time she pleases.” Sky brushed her lips across his ear in an erotic glide that made him shiver. “You want a woman who doesn’t care if you’re covered in dirt because she plans to fuck you in the mud like an animal anyway. You want a woman who gets all hot and bothered by your possessive primal male declaration of ‘I protect what’s mine’ and then balls your brains out in the barn.”
His cock went rigid.
“I like the way you smell, fresh off the ranch. I like the way your tired muscles feel, flexing beneath my greedy hands.” She licked his throat. “I like the way you taste. Everywhere.”
“Sky—”
“Kade,” she imitated his tone. “The naked rule is in effect. Strip.”