Free RESCUED BY THE RANCHER by Soraya Lane

It felt right.

CHAPTER NINE
    “LET’S go camping.”
    Faith looked at him like he had rocks in his
head. She stopped what she was doing and put her hands on her hips.
    “What’s put you in such a good mood?”
    She was teasing, he knew it, but he pretended
like he was offended. “Aren’t I always in a good mood?” Jake raised an eyebrow
and grabbed her hand, tugging her closer.
    Faith sighed and tilted her head back.
    “It’ll be fun,” he said, bending to drop a slow
kiss to the hollow just below her jaw.
    “When?”
    “Tonight,” he said.
    “And what exactly are we going to do on this camp-out?”
    Jake walked past her and headed for the fridge,
pulling out a carton of milk. After a second’s hesitation, he reached for a
glass instead of drinking it direct from the source. He knew she was watching
him, but he was biding time to figure out how exactly he was going to sell the
idea to her.
    “I’m thinking we ride horseback, find a nice
spot, light a campfire, you know, cowboy style.”
    She laughed. “You’re serious, aren’t you?”
    “Of course I’m serious.” He gave her a wink.
“Go tell the kid.”
    Faith gave him a look that said she knew
something was up, but she called out to Tom without questioning him again. It
gave him a kick, teasing her, laughing with her. He might have resisted how she
made him feel when she’d first arrived, but he’d tired pretty fast of being
that guy.
    If Faith was prepared to hang around, to give
him a chance, then he’d be damned if he was going to let his fears stop him
from enjoying the best thing that had happened to him in a long time.
    Faith couldn’t take her eyes off of Jake. The
way the man moved, the way he looked at her… she almost turned to liquid just
when his gaze was on her. And when he touched her… Faith forced herself to look
away. If Tom hadn’t been with them, maybe ,
but he was so she needed to forget all about doing certain things with Jake. Right
now, anyway.
    After years of being alone, of not letting
anyone close – let alone a man – here she was thinking about a man and his bed. A man she already trusted
so much, even though it made no sense at all given how long they’d known one
another.
    “You ready to ride?”
    Faith looked back up when she heard Jake speak.
He was walking along with Tom, only her son was having to move fast to keep up with Jake’s long stride.
    “Will you be leading her?” Tom asked.
    Faith picked up her own pace to make sure she
could hear the entire conversation. Hearing Tom chat with Jake like it was the
most natural thing in the world made her smile – the kid had grown up without
ever having a male role model, yet he’d taken to Jake like a fish to water.
    “I’ll saddle up my horse, ride right beside
you, but you’re brave enough to not have the lead attached, right?”
    Tom nodded and broke into a run, bouncing along
like he’d never been so excited in his life.
    “Yeah, I’m brave.”
    She watched as Jake slung an arm around her
son’s shoulder, slowing him down.
    “I’ll put your mom up on one of the quiet
geldings. What do you reckon?”
    Tom laughed, shaking his head. “My mom? On a horse? I don’t think
that sounds like a good idea.”
    Faith burst out laughing herself – she couldn’t
help it. “I’ll have you know that I’ll be just fine on a horse.”
    Jake stopped and raised his eyebrows. “Oh,
we’re a horsewoman now, are we?”
    She wasn’t exactly an expert, but she wasn’t
going to fall off. “I rode a few times as a kid, thank you very much.”
    As Tom ran ahead to the corrals, Jake slowed
his walk so she could catch up. Faith slung her arm around his waist, looking
up as he looked down at her.
    “He likes you. A lot,” she told him, sighing.
    Jake dropped a kiss to the top of her head.
“I’m not going to hurt him.”
    She
hoped not. After protecting him for so long, not letting anyone close, here she
was letting Jake close in a way she’d sworn she’d