Page 49 of Drifter’s Heart

Yeah, I can see West getting into that.

Freaking this side of never ever.

“Come back to the ranch. Sleep in your brother’s house for once while I have words with him.” West’s jaw sets in a hard line. “I’ll find somewhere else.” His gaze flits to my lips, and his part, as if to offer an invitation.

I blink at him, then over his shoulder, where Dustan is flirting with a tall, blond, and handsome cowboy I don’t know, even if I can guess what they’ll be doing later. “No. I love Dustan. I’m happy to stay with him. He’s the sweetest.” West’s trainee rodeo rider endeared himself to me during the ride to Valiant Peak, regaling me with stories of his not-so-sweet past. And I definitely fell in love with him while West ignored us the entire time. I should have been napping, but stories are so much more fun. “I don’t want to be a guest at a love nest later, please. My teens were a long time ago, West.”

He surveys me with a half smile. He’ll actually give me a full one sometime soon. “Yeah, you’re, what, twenty-six? You’re not that old, Winnie. But you are mine.”

A frisson of heat simmers low in my belly. “Don’t let anyone else hear you say that, okay? I have a reputation as a badass untouchable single mom to hold up out here.”

He kisses me hard, once. “You are a badass single mom. You’re also mine, and no one else will touch you from now on.” Possession, different from the way Brad used to look at me, flares in his eyes, darkening them to the sort of void that I could fall into and just…

Sink. Forever.

Oh, fuck. I’m falling. Actually falling.

Because what I said to West before, my too-fast amorous confession? I’ve got a habit that he doesn’t know about. But now it’s real. Really real. And… I don’t know how I feel about that. Because the last man I fell in love with is now in a rehab facility. I gave away more than my heart to that ruined, horrible ex-husband. Brad stole my trust, my hope, my innocence, and a sense of something I can never get back. He left me hollow and empty.

And somehow, I wonder if Wilder West might actually be able to top that, thank you. Even just a smidge. If he might be worth the risk. Not that I can control how I’m feeling at all right now.

As I look up at West, study how the hard lines around his mouth soften a fraction when he stares back at me, how his hands sink into me when he holds me⁠—

I can’t help but wonder if Trixie isn’t right.

Maybe I have tamed Wilder West. And that’s a terrifying thought.

I shatter the moment. “Is it safe to leave Dustan?”

“He’ll be fine.” West steps back, dropping his hands. The places on my skin where he touched me turn cold.

“You’ll stay with me.” Cord stands not so far away, studying us.

“That’s creepy.”

“That he offered us a room for a week? Mind those manners, Rand.” West frowns at me.

I snort at him. “That we were making out in front of him a second ago.”

“I never thought you were such a prude.”

“Badass single-mom rep, remember?”

That’s probably a good thing. West and I are like two lambs butting heads before they grow horns or anything resembling them. Fluffy, cute, and utterly harmless to each other.

West glowers at me.

Okay, so we’re mostly harmless. But he’s still cute as hell.

“Brat,” he growls, low enough that I swear the ground rumbles. West mutters under his breath and tows me away toward his truck. “Come on. Before you disrupt the entire Invitational. I’ve signed you in,” he says to Dustan as he opens the passenger door for me.

“I can do that for myself,” I object, even though he’s being all sweet and chivalrous.

“Thanks, man,” says Dustan.

“Good. Both of you get in the truck before anything else happens. Now.” West’s on edge, his voice tight.

I place a hand on his chest. “Hey. I’m sorry about Billy. I don’t want anyone else to touch me.” My hand trembles at the look he sends me, straight down the line. The admission costs me more than I let on, but not because I’m giving in to him. More like I’m giving in to me. What I want, for once. His eyes darken, worse than before, and I take a step back before his hand whips around my lower back, pulling me in tight.