Free RESCUED BY THE RANCHER by Soraya Lane Page B

to ask you because I know you’d say
no, and besides, it’s way too soon, right?”
    That made her laugh again. “How can you know me so well after such
a short time? And yes, for the record, it’s way too soon.”
    Jake kissed her – a long, lingering kiss that
took every ounce of his willpower to keep soft and gentle. He touched his lips
over hers, brushing them back and forth, exploring her mouth with his tongue
before forcing himself to pull back. “You know what I do know?”
    She shook her head, eyes locked on his.
    “I know that you need a man you can trust,
someone who will protect you no matter what and never let you down.” He paused,
cupping her chin and forcing her to meet his gaze, to look into his eyes in the
almost-darkness, to see how much he meant what he was saying. “I know we
haven’t known each other for long, but if you let me love you, Faith, I’ll be
that person. I can be a stubborn son of a bitch, but I’m more in danger of you
hurting me than the other way around.”
    She traced his jaw with her fingertips,
wriggling even closer so that their noses were almost touching. “I doubt that
very much,” she whispered.
    “You don’t have to worry about Phil or anyone
else like him ever again, Faith. And the sheriff? He
was just protecting his son, and I honestly don’t believe he was involved other
than trying to cover for him. He won’t be a problem, and if he is? I’ll deal
with it.” He laughed. “You do have to
worry about me asking you to marry me, though. Because one day, when I know
you’ll say yes, I’ll be asking you. And that’s a promise.”
    “You’re keeping something from me, aren’t you?”
she asked, tucking her arms around his neck so she could be as close to him as
possible.
    He needed to tell her, to be honest with her.
Because if he didn’t he might lose his chance to keep her, to have her here
with him.
    “Phil won’t be bothering you anymore.”
    Her hold on him tightened, her face buried
against his chest. “Did you hurt him?”
    He
would have liked to hurt him. “No, but I’d be lying if I didn’t admit to wanting to.”
    “He did it, didn’t he?”
    Jake swallowed hard when he heard the emotion
choke in her throat. But he owed her the truth if he was serious about making
something happen between them. “Yeah, he did it.”
    “But he won’t be a problem now?” she asked, her
voice barely a whisper.
    Jake ducked his head to kiss her forehead,
moving to her lips when she raised her head. He looked into her eyes, not
blinking.
    “I promise you that you’ll never have to see
him or think about him ever again.”
She caught her lower lip between her teeth – it always made him want to protect
her when she looked so vulnerable, made him want to snarl at anyone who came
near and hold her safe in his arms.
    “I’m your person, Faith. I know you haven’t had
one of those before, but now it’s me. You don’t have to worry about looking
after yourself anymore, because that’s what I’m going to do.”
    She laughed, a smile taking over her lips. “I’m
not some pathetic woman who can’t take care of herself. You know that, right?”
    He laced her fingers with his. “That’s exactly
why I want to look after you,” he said, kissing the tips of her fingers. “Because
it’s about time someone did.”
    “You know what?” she asked.
    Jake raised an eyebrow. “What?”
    “I just might have said yes, if you’d asked
me.”
    His teeth closed over her finger this time,
making her squeal.
    “When I do ask you? I don’t want any maybes.”
    She laughed and so did he.
    “Baby, when I ask you to marry me,” he
whispered, eyes locked on hers, “it’s going to be when I’ve earned your trust
so much that you never even think of leaving here.”
    “I’m already there,” she whispered back,
kissing him, lips painfully soft against his. “There’s not a bone in my body
that wants to leave you or this place. I don’t know why or how, but