Rope the Moon (Runaway Ranch, #2)(82)

“I don’t want to go home. Not yet. Not tonight.” The warm hand on my thigh stops me from turning left. Dakota leans back against the seat, her eyes glowing and heavy-lidded. Voice husky, she says, “Take me to Eden.”

I jerk, her words like a fire.

Eden. Our spot. The cabin in the woods where it all began.

I eye her belly. “It’s late.”

She rolls her head across the seat. The sly grin that illuminates her face has my dick jerking to attention. “Best time to do some damage, Hotshot.”

I grin. Gun it. “Hang on, Cupcake.”

“Faster, Davis.” She sticks her arm out the window. The wind whips her hair like a raven’s wing, slicing the night sky. “Faster.”





White moonlight. The rush of the wind. Woods and farmland for miles around.

Davis and I sit on the tailgate of his truck. It feels like we’re the only two people in the world. I stare at the tiny cabin where Davis and I would meet six years ago. Frantic, fumbling, starved for each other.

I point at a bright orange stake in the ground. More are scattered back in the trees. “What’re are those?”

“Boundary lines,” Davis explains. “We own the land all the way back to the falls. Land we’ve let sit for a good ten years.” He rubs his jaw. “With the ranch finally making some money, we could put it to use.”

I frown. “Knock it down?”

“Not sure yet.”

“We’re in the north,” I say, remembering what he told me about the direction of the cabin. “And the ranch is…” I incline my head to the left. “That way.”

“That’s right.” Davis’s deep voice is hypnotic in the dark. “You want to go inside?”

“No.” I smile when there’s a rustle of fabric, and Davis drapes his jacket around my shoulders. “Tonight is a night for secrets.”

He eyes me with amusement. “You sure Fallon didn’t slip you a shot?”

I laugh. Heat warms my chest. I feel alive. Breathless. Becoming.

Squish rolls in my belly, and I press my hand against the patter of his little feet. My son.

This night. Freedom.

There is something in the air, a rush of brave.

A rush of me.

“Secrets, then.” Davis exhales and I watch those big shoulders of his relax. “Okay. You start.”

I smile in the dark. “Pregnant woman goes out to a bar and has a great time.”

Davis grips my thigh with his brick of a hand. The steady brush of his fingers provides a comfort. “Man on the verge of killing every brother he has.”

I laugh. “You’d never.”

“Don’t tempt me.” He sighs and removes the whiskey bottle cap to take a swig. “Ford was out of line.”

“He was, but…we can bullshit or we can tell the truth.” At my words, Davis arches a brow. “It’s something Fallon said tonight,” I explain. “And I think she’s right. I think what I’ve been doing ever since I got back here is bullshitting myself that I can get back what I lost. And I can’t.”

Davis looks at me, but stays silent, carefully scooting closer.

I blow out a shaky breath. “I realized tonight that the girl I used to be is not coming back. And that’s okay.”

Tears prick my eyes. I study the outline of the gnarled and twisted trees in the darkness. Scenes out of a horror story, but with Davis beside me, I’m not frightened. I am safe. And it’s why I came back, isn’t it?

To have something, someone to hold on to—strength.

And Davis is one part of that strength.

But I’m the other part.

“Aiden King,” I say.

Davis hitches a breath.

Saying it out loud is like releasing a poison.

“That’s my ex’s name.” My stomach knots as Aiden’s face flashes in my mind, but I push on. “I met him when I worked as a pastry chef at La Rêve. He made me feel special, visited me early in the morning while I prepped my kitchen. He became my lover. And then my investor. He was charming, handsome, rich. Holy trinity on paper.” I chance a glance at Davis. His face is tight, emotionless. I know it’ll never be easy for him to hear this.

I take his hand, then say, “I was stupid, I suppose. Some girl from Montana who thought she could make it, who thought she found a light.” I sigh. “I never saw what he was until it was too late.”

“No. Not stupid.” Davis strokes my arm. “Dakota, you’re not a bad person for looking for a good love.”

My heart pinches at the memory. “When we moved in together, after the bakery was open, that’s when I knew something wasn’t right. The dynamic changed. He was off. Annoyed when I’d leave to go to work. He’d come to the bakery and sit at a table all day until I went home with him.”

Davis’s brow furrows.

“Aiden was good at the long game. Lying in wait. Making me feel fucking crazy when I was talking rational. Taking inventory on just what exactly he wanted to diminish about me.

There were all these tiny put downs. Critiques of my skills. He was an investor, but he wasn’t a chef. I wouldn’t listen to him.” I chuckle. “Aiden trying to keep me down only made me work harder. I got better. Bigger. And he…he couldn’t handle it. He got angry.”