“Not for long.”
Quinn turns green. “What the hell does that mean?”
“Andie just got a certified letter delivered. I guess it’s customary to inform victims when their perpetrators get released.”
“They’re letting him out? But his parole hearing isn’t for another few months. And they deny him every time.”
“Prison overcrowding,” Maddox says. “I already called our local representative and everyone else I could think of. They all said the same thing, that certain prisoners who have served a majority of their sentence under good behavior will be released.”
Quinn kicks the tire of his truck. “Goddamn it. I didn’t think we had to worry about this for years.”
“None of us did.”
“Andie, are you okay?” Quinn asks.
“No.” She protectively touches her belly, which isn’t showing yet. “Do you think he’ll try something?”
“Not if I have anything to do with it.”
“We’ve been told it won’t be hard to get a restraining order,” Maddox says. “Jon won’t be able to come anywhere on the ranch.”
“If you think a restraining order will keep him away, you don’t know my uncle very well.”
“He could go back to jail,” Owen says. “And believe me, there will be a few dozen of us watching out for Andie. If he makes one wrong move, we’ll bust him down.”
“I’m not sure I’ve ever been so happy to be living on the ranch,” Quinn says. “Means I won’t have to deal with him.”
“He’s getting out next week,” Maddox says. “It’s possible the restraining order won’t go through by then, but we’re asking for an emergency one. Just in case, though, everyone needs to be prepared.”
“Got it.” Quinn turns to me. “You might want to think about turning right around and getting on the first plane out of here.”
“Are you scared?” I ask.
“I’m just not sure what to expect. Most of the shit he got himself into was because of my grandfather. If he’s smart, he’ll keep to himself. If he’s not, I don’t want you anywhere near him.”
“I’m a big girl. I think I’ll stick around.”
Owen hands Quinn his mail. “Looks like something official,” he says.
Quinn rips it open. “It’s my new license. I lost my wallet a while ago and had to order a replacement.”
“How’d you get on a plane without it?” Owen asks.
“Used my passport.”
Owen’s brow scrunches. “You have a passport? But you’ve never even left Texas.”
Quinn snorts. “With my family, you never know when I might have to get out of Dodge.”
I catch a glimpse of the license over his shoulder. “Nice picture.”
“I was twenty-one when it was taken,” he says.
“Cute.”
“You have a thing for younger guys?”
I roll my eyes. “Apparently.”
He puts on his cowboy hat and then gets our suitcases out of the back. “We’re going to unpack,” he tells the others.
“We’re glad to have you back, Amber,” Aaron says. “Stay as long as you like.”
“Thank you.” I sling my bag over my shoulder and reach for my carry-on.
“I’ve got it,” Quinn says. “You’ve still got a bad leg.”
He pulls my large suitcase, my carry-on, and his carry-on behind him. I do love a cowboy who takes control. Cowboy. I’m dating a helicopter-flying cowboy.
Amber Rose Black, what have you gotten yourself into?
Chapter Seventeen
Quinn
Amber rolls off me, lies back on the blanket, and gazes up at the midday sky. I try not to stare at her, but she’s so damn gorgeous. For the past week, I’ve asked myself how I got so lucky. We’ve christened many places on the ranch. Her apartment, my apartment, the hay barn, the ridge. Even Maddox’s pool when we snuck over on Tuesday night. And now we can add pasture number three to the list. It’s been six days, and she hasn’t mentioned leaving. Every morning, I wake up and wonder if today will be the day she decides to go. And every night, when she lies in my arms, I know I don’t want her fifteen miles from me, let alone fifteen hundred.
Still naked, she reaches into my rucksack and pulls out the sandwiches she packed for our picnic lunch. “Turkey or roast beef?”
“Doesn’t matter.”
She hands me one. “Roast beef, then. I prefer turkey.”
“Thanks, but looking like you do right now, this could be a sawdust sandwich and I wouldn’t care.”
She picks at her lunch. “Tag called last night. Asked when I was coming home.”
I take a bite, trying not to look like she just punched me in the gut. “What’d you tell him?” I ask casually.
“I told him I didn’t know, but I don’t want to wear out my welcome.”
“There are dozens of people living on this ranch, Amber. I doubt anyone really cares that you are too.”
She puts down her sandwich and looks off in the distance.
I sit up and pull her against me. “That came out wrong. What I meant to say is that there are plenty of places to stay here. You’re not displacing anyone. You’re not bothering anybody. And I know for a fact that some people like having you here.”
“Some people?”
I flip her onto her back and hover. “If I had my way, you’d never leave.”
She gazes up at me, conflicted. “I’ll have to eventually. Maybe not this week or even next week, but Calloway Creek is my home.”
“I know. We’ll work something out.”
“What is it you want to work out?”
“How we’re going to live thousands of miles apart and still be together.” When she looks surprised, I run a finger down her jawline. “You said so yourself that you wanted to see where this goes. Have you changed your mind?”
“No.”
“Good.” I lean down and kiss her, then I pull back. “Just to be clear, when you leave, I won’t be sleeping with anyone else.”
“I won’t either.”
I can’t help my cheesy grin. “You know what that makes us, don’t you?”
Her hands cover her face as she fakes being distraught. “Do we really have to say it?”
I pin her arms over her head. “Face it, sweetheart, we’re a couple.”
Her lips form a beautiful smile, and she wiggles beneath me. “Maybe we should commemorate the occasion.”
“Again?”
She reaches between us and grabs my dick. “Again, cowboy.”
Who am I to deny this woman anything?
We’re dressed and ready to head back on our ATVs when a mare grazes close by. Amber goes over to her. “And who are you?”
“This is Mavis.” I point to her colt by the fence. “That’s Jingle.”
“And why don’t they stay in the stables like the others?”
“A lot of the broodmares and their foals stay turned out. The babies benefit from the exercise they get in the large open spaces.”