Sierra glanced at him. It was hard to wrap her mind around the fact she’d only known this man for a short period of time. It literally felt as if she’d known him forever. Maybe because in Afghanistan, when she was by herself, alone in the dark, she frequently thought of him. What he was doing. What he was thinking. Where he was deployed. And maybe, once or twice, even fantasizing about him showing up to rescue her.
Damn if that wasn’t exactly what he’d done. Not in the way she’d dreamed about, with guns blazing and mowing down her captors, but he’d gotten the job done.
“I’m not sure you should make a commitment to having farm animals just because I think they’re cute,” she told him dryly.
Grover merely shrugged. “You want them, I’ll find a way to make it work. I know nothing about taking care of them, so I’d need to hire someone to help me, but that shouldn’t be hard around here. I’m sure there are lots of teenagers who could use the extra money.”
Sierra stopped in her tracks, and since she was holding Grover’s hand, he stopped too.
“What?” he asked. “What’s wrong?”
“You can’t do that,” she told him firmly.
“Do what?”
“Get a cow simply because I think they’re cute.”
“Why not?”
“Grover! Because! What if we break up? Having a cow would cost a ton of money, especially if you have to hire someone to look after it,” Sierra told him, the exasperation easy to hear in her voice.
“You want a cow?” he asked.
Sierra sighed and frowned at him. “No. Maybe.”
He smiled. “If you want a cow, I’ll get you a cow. You want a closet full of clothes? I’ll get those too. Dogs? No problem. Chickens, handbags, expensive shoes? Done. I’m not rich, but if you want something, I’ll do my best to save to get it for you. I told you once that I’d bend over backward to give you what you want and need, and I wasn’t lying.”
“I don’t need any of that stuff, Grover,” Sierra said seriously. “I lived for a year with just a torn shirt and one pair of underwear. I literally had nothing. It wasn’t fun, but it taught me how little material things mean. What I wanted most in the world was my freedom, but that wasn’t a possibility until you came along. So you’ve already given me my greatest wish. All I want now is your respect and consideration. And maybe a shoulder to lean on every now and then.”
“You’ve got those and more,” Grover reassured her.
“I need something else too,” Sierra said.
“Anything.”
“I need to not feel like a burden. I need to be treated as if I’m a normal woman, not Sierra Clarkson, former POW. I don’t want to be treated like a piece of glass. I’m not going to break if you tell me no. Or if you get mad. Or if you’ve had a hard day at work and just want to be left alone. I want, and need, a give-and-take relationship, Grover. Not one where you protect me from the world or put me on some pedestal I’ll inevitably fall off one day.”
Grover nodded seriously, and Sierra fell for him just a little bit more when he didn’t brush off her concerns, or try to convince her they’d never argue or disagree. That was part of being in a relationship.
“I understand. And while I’ll always want to keep you safe, even if it’s from me and my moods, I’ll do my best to not get all Neanderthal on you.”
“I’d appreciate that.”
“Now, do you need me to carry you so your feet don’t get dusty?”
Sierra scowled—then noticed his lips twitching. “Ha. Very funny, caveman,” she said with a shake of her head.
“I know you aren’t helpless. Or fragile. I’d be an idiot to think that, after all you’ve been through. But I have to warn you it’s in my nature to want to keep you from being hurt. Physically or emotionally. No one gets to make you feel unsafe ever again.”
Sierra liked that. A lot. She gave him a small nod.
“Come on. I can’t wait to show you the loft in the barn.”
She chuckled as they started walking again. “Was that an innuendo?”
Sierra loved the smile Grover threw her way. “Do you want it to be?”
She laughed out loud that time. Then sobered a bit.
“What? What’s wrong?”
God, this man was seriously in tune with her. “Nothing. I just realized that I’ve laughed more around you in the last few weeks than I have in literally the past year. Thank you.”
Grover brought their connected hands up to his mouth and kissed the back of hers. “You’re welcome, Bean. Come on, you can take a look at this barn of mine and see if you think it’d be suitable for any needy animals. Because I have to admit, Melba kind of grew on me.”
Sierra smiled. She freaking loved that her badass special forces boyfriend had been tamed by the huge brown eyes of a gentle cow.
He had to let go of her hand to manhandle the large barn doors, but the second they were open, he grabbed hold of her once more as he walked them inside.
Grover had said this was a small barn, but it looked pretty darn big to Sierra. There were several stalls on the left-hand side, with no doors on them yet. At the moment, there were boxes and other odds and ends stored in each. There was a small office-type room, but otherwise, the space was large and open. Glancing up, Sierra saw the rafters above their heads had been left open, which made the space look even bigger.
She listened as Grover explained what had gone into building the barn and how he’d tried to keep it simple. As he launched into the schematics, and how the contractor he’d hired had reinforced it in case of a tornado, Sierra tuned him out. The stairs in the back corner had already caught her attention. They were a tight spiral leading up to what she assumed was the infamous loft Grover had told her about.
“Sorry,” he said. “I was going on and on, wasn’t I?”
Sierra shrugged. “It’s okay. So what you’re telling me is that this place can withstand anything but maybe a direct hit by an F4 or 5 tornado, right?”
“Yup.”
“Cool. Can we go upstairs now?”
He laughed at her impatience. “Of course.”
Feeling freer than she’d felt in a very long time, Sierra dropped Grover’s hand and ran to the stairs. She headed up, being careful not to trip. The last thing she needed was to hurt herself the first day she got there. Sensing Grover at her back, Sierra concentrated on climbing to the loft.
Grover immediately headed for a set of wooden doors at the far end of the space. It was pretty sparse, only a few boxes up there—but it was the leather couch near the doors Grover was opening that intrigued her. She walked slowly toward him, shaking her head as she went.
“A leather couch?” she asked skeptically. “Isn’t it going to get ruined out here?”
Grover pushed the large doors apart, and Sierra forgot her question when she caught a glimpse of the view in front of her. This part of Texas wasn’t exactly the most picturesque, but in the distance, she could see rolling hills, and because the barn and Grover’s house were located on a bit of a rise themselves, they were above the land that stretched out in front of them for miles.
“Holy crap,” she said softly.