Free RESCUED BY THE RANCHER by Soraya Lane Page A

never do. “I know. It’s just…”
    “Hard to open up. I get it.”
    Jake stopped walking again and wrapped her in
his arms, legs spread wide so his feet were outside of hers, hips pushed
forward. He dropped his head, waited for her to raise her mouth, before
brushing his lips over hers and stealing a kiss. Faith opened her mouth and let
his lips explore hers, before he pulled away.
    “We need to keep this PG, mommy,” he whispered
in her ear.
    Faith groaned and punched his arm. “What have
you done with the real me and where are you keeping her?”
    Jake’s response was to slap her on the bottom
and push her forward.
    “Tonight,” he teased, winking. “You’ll have to
wait until tonight.”
    The night air was cool against Faith’s bare arms. She smiled when Tom ran around to sit between
her legs, staring into the campfire like it was a magical beast. Jake sat
beside her, close enough that their thighs were touching and it sent a shiver
through her body.
    “I managed to find this,” he said, holding a
long stick out to Tom with a marshmallow skewered on the end.
    “Awesome!”
    Faith laughed at Tom’s response. “When you said
a real campfire, I didn’t know that meant marshmallows.”
    “Just so happens I have chocolate and graham
crackers, too,” he said, winking as he flashed her a wicked smile, “so we’ll be making s’mores .”
    “What are s’mores ?”
    She was glad Tom had asked—she needed the
distraction because the heat in Jake’s gaze had made her turn to marshmallow.
    “ S’mores ,” he said,
slinging an arm around Faith’s shoulders, “are when you have a hot marshmallow
smashed between two graham crackers and a square of chocolate to make a gooey,
delicious dessert.”
    Faith couldn’t help laughing again at the
rapturous look on Tom’s face. She didn’t remember the last time her son had
been so excited.
    “After s’mores it’s
bedtime,” she announced, knowing they’d all be up until sunrise if she wasn’t
the sensible one. And she wanted some
alone time with Jake, too.
    Their tents were erected, one on each side of
the campfire, but she had a feeling that Jake was going to tempt her to sneak
to his in the middle of the night.
    “Tell me, do you know some good camp fire
songs?” Jake asked Tom.
    Her son shook his head, setting his marshmallow
on fire at the same time by dipping it into the flames.
    Jake leaned forward and took the stick, blowing
to stop the little flames from licking the sweet treat before passing it back
to Tom.
    “How about a campfire story, then? I could tell a good one, something scary.”
    Jake waggled his eyebrows and made them both
laugh.
    “Nothing too scary, mister,” Faith scolded.
    Jake’s response was to lean in closer, the
firelight making shadows on his face.
    “It was a dark and stormy night, and a cowboy
was sitting alone around a campfire, when he heard a tap, tap, tap…”
    “Jake!”
    Faith admonished him as Tom shuffled tight back
against her.
    “Songs, thank you very much, or you can have
Tom in your bed, terrified, all
night.”
    The look Jake gave her made her skin flush
burning hot. Because she knew exactly
what he was thinking, and it was the only reason he’d stopped telling the
story. The only person Jake wanted in his bed tonight was her, of that she was
deadly certain.
    They lay side by side next to the fire, a
blanket almost covering both of them. Jake had been wondering if she was ever
going to come, but Tom had finally fallen asleep and she’d unzipped his tent
like an intruder in the dark. Now they were lying, in silence, staring up at
the stars beside the last embers of the fire.
    “Faith, I’m not going to ask you to marry me,”
Jake whispered, holding her in his arms, tight against his chest.
    She snuggled in even tighter, laughing. “Why not? And more importantly, why are we even talking
about marriage?”
    He chuckled. “We’re talking about it because
I’m thinking about it. But I’m not going