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mouth before I kickstart my brain.”

Marilyn laughed. “I think we all speak before we think

sometimes. Don’t worry; around here, someone’s always willing to

point it out when you put your foot in your mouth.”

“Is the ranch always so…tumultuous?”

“It hasn’t been for years, but thankfully, we’ve had some

excitement lately. I was beginning to think the good old days were

over after Sera passed. Then we lost Abe, and those boys really shut

down. I thank God every day for bringing Lacy and Franki into the

family.”

“Isn’t Lauren part of the family, too, now?” Jeanette asked.

Internally she grimaced as she realized how nosey she sounded.

“Lauren’s been part of this family for a couple of decades. She’s

meant to be a Crawley, but she never could accept it when good

things happened to her. It’s like she feels as though she doesn’t

deserve any better than she’s got. I’m hoping Vin will bring her to

her senses while she’s here.”

“Wow. I’ve never seen so much romantic drama in my life.”

Leaving Marilyn laughing in the kitchen, she continued on

upstairs to her room, pretending not to notice Destiny’s closed door.

Whatever was happening between her and the Sherriff really was

none of Jeanette’s business. Besides, the last thing she needed in her

own life was romantic drama.

126

August 10 – The sun shines again

Lauren told herself that she missed her scheduled flight by

accident when she rose late Monday morning from Vin’s bed. No one

had asked her what time her flight was, and she hadn’t bothered to

bring it up. In her brain, she’d convinced herself she was needed at

Crawley Creek to help with the flood cleanup, but her heart knew she

just wasn’t ready to leave Vin behind.

They’d yet to discuss outright what was happening between

them. It seemed like every time they were within a few feet of each

other, sparks flew, and they ended up naked. Not that she was

complaining, but it did make things complicated.

The extra time off from her job meant that she didn’t have to

leave right away, but eventually, she’d be back in Little Rock, and

Vin would still be in Montford. There was no way around that.

Staring at herself in the bathroom mirror, she wondered if she’d

changed as much on the outside as she had on the inside in the last

few days. Gone was the woman who held a grudge against her

childhood and everyone in it. Now, she felt freer and lighter. Like she

could do anything she set her mind to because nothing was chaining

her down anymore. Yet she couldn’t have the one thing she wanted

more than anything. Vin.

“What are you doing sneaking out of bed without me?” Vin’s

voice rumbled from the bathroom doorway. She turned to find him

watching her with drowsy eyes, his sexy body completely naked and

his cock already lengthening.

“I was going to jump in the shower before breakfast.”

Lori King

“Sound good to me. I like it when you’re all wet and slippery.”

He reached for her. At the last second, she stepped out of his grasp

and shook her head.

“If we start that, we’ll be in here for hours. I just need to shower

and get dressed. We have a lot of work ahead of us today.”

He gave her a strange look and then crossed his arms over his cut

chest. “Okay, I give. What’s going on?”

“What do you mean?”

“You’re avoiding me again. I thought we were past that.”

She shrugged and busied herself by collecting her toiletries as

doubts filled her head. Pushing him away was exactly the opposite of

what she wanted to do, but she heard herself speaking words she

didn’t mean. “I’m fine, just preoccupied. Give me ten minutes and

you can have the shower.” She closed the shower door behind her,

leaving him standing there watching her silhouette through the frosty

glass. Doing her best to ignore him in the hopes that he’d get the hint,

she turned the hot water on and stepped into the scalding spray. A

cold draft on her skin was her only warning before Vin pressed her

against the shower wall with his large, naked body.

“Seems like we’ve been here before,” he growled. “The only

way I can get you to be honest with me is by withholding my cock

from you.” He rocked his hips into her abdomen giving her the length

of his hard-on, and she nearly broke down. Every fiber of her being

wanted to embrace him, and take what he was offering. “I’d rather

you just talk to me.”

“I can’t do this, Vin,” she whispered, fighting back her emotions.

Stopping this insanity was the only logical thing she could do right

now. He’d drive her mad with desire if she didn’t stop him now.

“Can’t have sex, or can’t talk to me?”

“Can’t be with you. Can’t continue this. Can’t stay at Crawley

Creek.”

He froze, and then took a step backwards, releasing her as the

blood drained from his face. “This is good between us. We’re good. I

mean, I apologized, and you forgave me, and we…” The hurt in his

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Claiming His Cowgirl

eyes stole her breath. “I love you, Lauren. I don’t want to let you go

again.”

Again, she second-guessed herself. They had first said those

words to each other two decades ago as they made love in the

hayloft. Back then they’d meant everything to her. They’d given her

hope after a hopeless childhood. Today, they were a kick in the teeth

because she couldn’t say them back no matter how much she wanted

to. Steeling her nerves against the obvious pain on his face, she shook

her head again, and said, “You don’t have a choice. My life is in

Arkansas. I’m sorry, Vin. I didn’t want to hurt you.”

“You’re rejecting me?” His words were laced with pain, and her

heart tripped in her chest. She knew he had a deep seated fear of

rejection because of his mother abandoning him, but she didn’t know

how to explain the situation without making him feel worse. After a

moment of silence, his eyes grew hard, and his jaw flexed. “I see

what this is. You bring me to my knees and then cut me off breaking

my heart the way I did yours.”

“What?” The accusation was so far out of left field, she couldn’t

even think of what to say.

“This is revenge sex.”

“No! I would never do that!”

“Isn’t that exactly what I told you that night in the barn? I’d

never hurt you in a million years? I meant it then, Lauren.”

“I’m not trying to get back at you! I just don’t want us to go too

far when we know it will only end in disaster.”

“Too far? You don’t think my cock in your mouth is too far? Or

my fingers in your hot pussy? That wasn’t too far? How about me

fucking your ass? Was that just barely over the line? Fucking hell,

Lauren, I thought we were actually getting a second chance.” He

spun away from her so fast that she nearly fell on her face trying to

stop him. “I think I’ll grab a shower in Hawke’s bathroom.”

He stormed out of the bathroom before she could respond,

leaving her standing alone under the now lukewarm water with tears

spilling down her face yet again. How many times could one man

make a girl cry?

129

Lori King

~ ~ ~ ~

Mud covered everything, and the damage to the ranch was

extensive. Six cabins had been inundated with the murky flood

waters. The worst was the cabin at the very back that Destiny had

been staying in. The water line was nearly three feet high, and

everything inside had to be thrown out. Thankfully, the flood hadn’t

even come close to the main house. They’d lost a lot, but there were

too many others in the region who’d lost more for them to feel

anything but lucky.

The ranch hands had located a wet, cranky Munchkin from one

of the back pastures, and she was safely tucked away in the barn with

a fresh pail of food. Drannon and Lacy arrived back from their

elopement with matching wedding bands and an even stronger bond

than before. It was almost painful for Vin to be in their presence

seeing how happy they were. The last time he’d been this miserable

he was on a bus headed for boot camp, leaving his family and the

love of his life behind. Even prison hadn’t been this hard on his heart.

Unable to deal with his own mental state, he threw himself into

the repairs on the ranch. Shoveling mud from each cabin alongside

his brothers and the ranch hands so that the ladies could follow

behind with sponges and rags to clean up. It was a group effort

almost from the moment the waters receded. Hawke, Roman, and

Franki had returned to the ranch shortly after Drannon and Lacy.

Bran had been by the ranch to check out their damage, and check

in on Destiny; otherwise, he’d been busy with his own clean-up. His

house had been shifted off its foundation, leaving it unstable, and it

was condemned outright. The insurance company was writing it off

and making him demolish it and rebuild. Vin felt terrible, and

couldn’t help but wonder how they would have managed if Crawley

Creek had been ruined.

Taken in by Abe and Sera at only three years old, he had very

few memories of a time before Crawley Creek. His biological mother

was only a passing fragment of a memory that rarely came to him

except in dreams. For years, he’d carried a grudge against her for

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abandoning him. He’d used her betrayal as an excuse to be angry at

the world, and lashing out became a way of life. It was astonishing

really that Abe and Sera ever tolerated him, but thankfully, they did.

Abe became the father figure Vin desperately needed, and Sera

constantly made him feel loved for who he was. And then suddenly,

when he was only thirteen, he stumbled over a beautiful blonde girl

reading a book in their hayloft.

Lauren had been looking for an escape from her life, and he’d

always wanted a reason to live. They were each other’s perfect

match. Until that fateful day when he took a dare to steal a pack of

cigarettes. The judge might have been more lenient if he hadn’t

caused so much damage to the cigarette machine in order to get the

pack out without paying for it, or maybe not. After all, Vin was

almost eighteen, and adults weren’t supposed to do such childish

things.

Standing in front of the judge and hearing his choices, Vin

realized there was only one way for Lauren to avoid the fallout from

his mistakes. He had to push her away or she’d never leave. She’d

become too dependent on him and he on her. It was better for both of

them this way.

“Can you start cutting the sheet rock, Vin?” Roman’s voice drew

him from his memories.

“I’m sorry, what?”

“I said, can you cut the sheet rock? I’m going to have Ricky and

Hawke pull it down and carry it out to the truck for the dump. While

you guys do that, I’ll run that first load of tree limbs to the burn pile,”

Roman explained.

“Yeah, sure. I can do that.” Vin leaned his shovel against the

cabin and pulled his bandana from his pocket to wipe his forehead.

Roman gave him a funny look. “I know it’s none of my business,

but you should really just apologize to Lola for whatever it is that

you did.”

Vin felt himself pale. Had Lauren told him everything?

“Apologize?”

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Lori King

“Yeah. The two of you are moping around avoiding each other

and making everyone else uncomfortable. It would make life a lot

easier around here if you just cleared the air with her.”

“What makes you think I did anything wrong?” Vin snapped, his

temper ruffling.

“Even if you were right, you were wrong. Somehow you’ve

made her sad, and that’s all I care about. She was all torn up when

you left for boot, and now she’s gonna run back to Arkansas feeling

the same way again. Hell, she’ll never come back to the ranch if you

don’t fix it.”

“I don’t know how, damn it. She doesn’t want me. I told her I

was bad for her back then, and she didn’t listen. Now look where

we’re at.”

Roman cocked his head, and his eyes narrowed, “What do you

mean you told her back then?”

Hawke was appeared out of nowhere, glaring at him with an

anger so deep he was shaking. “Yeah, what the hell do you mean?”

“Step off, brother.” Vin said warily. He’d expected anger, but

this was something else entirely. “Lauren and I agreed we weren’t