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It didn’t matter. He would figure it out and then he andGrim would fix the problem and they would all discover if this thing betweenthem could work.
He already knew the answer, but he needed to pretend to beunsure. He’d found sometimes his utter confidence could be a bit off-putting.So he would smile and tell her they were feeling things out, and in a couple ofmonths he’d slip a collar around her neck and a ring on her finger and voila,future secured.
There was a buzzing sound to his right. His cell. With asigh, he reached over and grabbed it. It was a text. From his sister.
Momma says you should bring Nicole to Sunday dinner.
He bit back a growl. His parents could be intrusive attimes. It was all the love and healthy attachment and crap that most of hisother friends didn’t have to deal with. Most parents wouldn’t want to meet thewoman their son had shared with his best friend the night before, but notAbigail Barnes-Fleetwood. Nope. She would want to welcome that woman and likelytell her too many stories about how deeply focused he’d been as a child.
It wasn’t his fault he knew who he was and what he wanted.At the age of four.
He quickly typed back.
No. We’re not scaring this one off.
His sister sent back a rolling eyes emoji.
Fine but you tell Momma yourself. And don’t be surprisedif Grim gets an emergency call. Pops and Dad have been down in the barn sincedaybreak. Something’s happening with one of the bred heifers, and they’retrying to take care of it themselves.
Josh groaned and let his head fall back.
His fathers were a menace. Why the hell had they sent Grimthrough college to become a vet if they didn’t want him to do his job?
He didn’t want to go home right now. They needed time tocuddle her, to take her to breakfast and spend the day with her. He got thefeeling she was going to view the night before as some crazy one off despitewhat he and Grim had told her. The last thing he wanted was for her to retreatafter all the progress they’d made.
But he also didn’t want his dads to throw out some piece oftheir aged anatomy because they were too stubborn to call.
We’ll be there in twenty. Don’t let them hurtthemselves.
He rolled out of bed after gently disentangling himself fromNicole. Maybe they could take care of the situation and still spend theafternoon with her. He could go with Grim and if he wasn’t needed, come backand pick her up. He could take her out to the house and show her around.
And fuck her again. Definitely fuck her again. If there wasa way to gently ease her into staying with them, he would find it. He wantedher out of this rathole as soon as possible, but she was a skittish thing.
“Grim, we have to go. Pops and Dad are playing vet,” he saidquietly, not wanting to disturb her.
Grim’s eyes came open, and he groaned. “Damn it. I wasworried about one of the bred heifers. She’s been off her feed for a couple ofdays.”
Josh dressed quickly and then leaned over. Nicole was in thecenter of the bed, blankets tucked around her and looking so soft and sweet hisheart actually clenched.
Damn, but she might be the one. The real one. They might beready to really start their lives.
“Hey, baby, I’m taking Grim back to the ranch,” hewhispered.
Her lips curled up, but her eyes stayed closed. “Okay.”
“I’m coming back as soon as I can. I’ll take you tobreakfast and then we’ll head out to our place.” He smoothed her hair back.
She yawned and turned over. “Sleep.”
“Yeah, baby, you sleep. I’ll be back before you know it.” Heleaned over and kissed her forehead before pushing off the bed.
“I don’t want to leave her, but if we’ve got some kind ofvirus about to go through the herd…” Grim began.
“Then you have work to do, brother.” Josh pulled his bootson. “I’ll stay as long as you need me, but I’d like to come back.”
Grim nodded. “Yeah. I think we should stay close to her forthe next couple of days.”
He finished dressing and moved for the door, his voice low.“I do, too. Did you notice she seemed to be having a bad dream earlier?”
