‘Ahh, that where it happened, huh?’ Lil replied, raising an eyebrow as she poured from the jug into the glasses, passing them round.

  ‘You knew?’ Bailey questioned, looking between Lil and Lottie as they shared a look.

  ‘Oh, I knew, honey,’ Lil confirmed, knocking her glass back and pouring another. ‘There’s not much that happens in this town without me hearing about it. I knew right then that either my cousin was staying, or my ranch manager was leaving.’

  I knocked back my own glass, taken aback.

  ‘Jesus,’ I rasped, ‘the fuck is this?’

  ‘The ticket to survival,’ she answered, refilling it. ‘Now, I’ve heard about you and Jesse,’ she said, the faintest hint of a smile on her lips. ‘And from what I hear, you guys make Lottie and Cole sound like Joseph and the blessed Virgin Mary.’

  It was Lottie’s turn to laugh, half choking on her own drink.

  I shrugged, grinning.

  ‘Y’all okay here, ladies? It’s getting mighty rowdy this early,’ Cole interrupted, sidling round to Lottie and enveloping her with his vast frame.

  Bailey snorted.

  ‘I’m just doing my job,’ she said, holding up a catalogue and carrying on round the tables.

  ‘I was just getting the lowdown on Hestia’s adventures,’ Lil chuckled. ‘Sounds like I missed a hell of a summer.’

  Cole caught my eye for a moment, a glint in his eye.

  ‘I tried to keep them busy,’ he replied, ‘but you know Jesse. When he’s decided on something, there ain’t a damn thing anyone can do to change his mind.’

  Lil nodded, smiling as she looked back to me. ‘And he has no idea about this, right? All a total surprise?’

  I nodded, thinking back to the range of calls we’d had on the phone this week: from short and sweet when his meds had kicked in, to the one call that would be branded in my head for ever. The surgery had gone well – even if he was pissed at the thought of a huge hospital bill, he was still somewhat consoled at likely having enough to help his mum. But, frustratingly, he wouldn’t tell me what the other plans were, and no amount of trying to pry it out of the others was working either.

  ‘Clara’s bringing him home tomorrow,’ I said, not quite able to hide my smile.

  ‘You know how he’s gonna have to be real careful with that arm for a while,’ Cole added, tilting his head as he looked down towards Lottie.

  ‘Don’t worry, it’s not his arm I’ve been missing,’ I replied, taking another drink and watching Lil and Lottie dissolve.

  Cole laughed with them and shook his head.

  ‘Cocktails, huh? You building up the courage, Lil?’

  She grimaced between laughs.

  ‘Something like that,’ she said, glancing back to me. ‘You know I’m not technically single any more?’

  ‘People are bidding for a date with you, Lil, not a wedding,’ I shrugged. ‘Besides, Jamie understands. You said he thought it was a great idea, right? It’ll be a couple of hours, a bit of conversation, a nice meal, maybe even . . . dessert – fuck it, breakfast, if things go really well?’

  Even she cracked at that, looking over to the door, noticing the guy walking through it. ‘That’s John, the auctioneer guy. I’ll go get him set up, distract myself.’

  I looked around the quiet bar, hoping . . . no, knowing that in a couple of hours it would be rammed with people here to support Jesse.

  Every one of my requests for help to the Jackson community, although I’d been hesitant and apologetic at first, had been met with a yes. From displaying flyers and posters in local hotels and bars, to announcements at the Jackson rodeo. Prize donations from local stores and venues had all but flooded in, leading us to need professional help to conduct the auction, given its growing size. Shelby’s had offered to host it, even at this short notice, totally free of charge. Even the Cowboy Bar had lent their mechanical bull, which I’d been eyeing with a mix of suspicion and curiosity ever since.

  ‘You want a go?’ Lottie said, walking over as Cole disappeared to help get the small stage for the auction ready. She’d followed my gaze, nudging me with her elbow.

  ‘After those cocktails?’ I replied, only to be met with narrowed eyes.

  ‘Chickenshit,’ she hissed, walking over there, glancing back at me over her shoulder, waiting for me to follow.

  Within another minute Lottie was on board, right arm up just like the real thing. I could see Cole from the corner of my eye, trying desperately to stay focused on building the stage, and failing miserably.

  Rolling my eyes at her request to time her, she was eventually unseated twenty-eight seconds later as it changed direction erratically. Sliding off with a squeal into the mats below, she stayed down as she laughed, Cole chuckling to himself in the background.

  ‘Your turn,’ she said, breathing heavily. ‘Left hand to hold on, right arm up. Lean back and hold on tight.’

  ‘The fuck am I doing?’ I murmured, wondering how it was that lying down to get ink injected into my skin for hours on end was utterly fine, but twenty seconds on a plastic bull seemed unreasonable.

  Bailey wolf-whistled as I climbed on board, chucking my hat over to Lottie as she pressed the button. Thankfully I’d gone with my corset top, and while it definitely emphasized my sizeable rack, it held them in tight too.

  ‘C’mon, Hes, just twenty-nine seconds to beat me,’ she called, holding up the timer on her phone.

  ‘What’s the forfeit?’ I yelled, hyper-aware that everyone in the bar was now watching.

  ‘You don’t want to know,’ she laughed, spinning out of focus as the bull twisted round.

  I gripped on, leaning back like Lottie had said, imagining, for half a second, that this might be a fraction of what Jesse would feel.

  People had started cheering as seconds ticked by, my knuckles on the rope going white with the effort of staying on, my head and body whipped around in every direction.

  Eventually, barely able to make Lottie out any more, but catching her looking back towards the entrance, I fell to the side, managing to roll off and spring back up with ease.

  ‘Did I win?’ I said, shaking my hair back as I finally looked up. ‘What was my time?’

  Only then did I realize that the rowdy cheering had stopped, and a different kind of sound – full of exclamation and surprise – had taken over. Right there, walking into the bar, was Jesse, staring straight ahead at me as Clara grinned.

  ‘Sorry, honey,’ she shouted over to me. ‘Your girl Lottie made me promise not to say a word.’

  I just gaped for a moment as he took his hat off, looking me up and down from my now wild and tangled hair to the corset – the same one he’d instructed me to leave on in the truck all that time ago. His eyes lingered there before coming up to meet mine.

  Running over the mats, I vaulted over the low fence in front without a thought and launched myself in his direction, only slowing very slightly as I reached him. I buried myself into his body on the left side, careful to avoid his right arm; the cast was visible under his jacket. He closed himself around me.

  ‘Jessica,’ he murmured, breathing in my hair, kissing my head. I lifted my face to him.

  ‘Bull riding’s a piece of fucking cake,’ I murmured, watching his slow smile break out, feeling my whole heart lift at the sight of it. ‘No idea how you fucked it up. I’ll do it next time, okay?’

  ‘Never again,’ he whispered. And right in front of the whole bar, he kissed me, hard.

  It was like the time at the rodeo, when I’d left – a thousand thoughts and words all channelled into one feeling – but this time, unlike the last, I knew that he loved me as much as I did him.

  He slowed as a chorus of cheers and whistles broke out, chuckling as I tried to carry on, not giving a flying fuck who saw.

  ‘Hold that thought, sweetheart,’ he murmured, his lips moving up to my forehead and kissing me there before he looked over towards Lottie. Grinning, barely able to contain her glee, she walked over and dropped a set of keys into his hand.

  ‘See you in a few hours,’ she said, giving me a little wave as Jesse turned us around. ‘We’ll take care of everything here.’

  ‘But – what – ?’ I exclaimed as Jesse led me out to Cole’s truck.

  He just smirked, opening the door for me, waiting as I lifted myself in.

  ‘Seriously, Jesse, what the –’ I began as he jumped into his side and shut the door, leaning over and taking my chin in his hand.

  He kissed me again, this time with a force that took my breath away, the implication clearer than any words.

  ‘I said,’ he breathed, pulling back and starting the engine, seemingly utterly unimpeded by his right arm, ‘hold that thought.’

  Stunned, I just sat back, unable to do anything other than glance at him as he drove us a few minutes out of town. He turned off the highway to what looked to be a very expensive, very beautiful hotel, only speaking to confirm our names at reception.

  Only when he’d closed the door to the room behind us, a vast suite laid out in front, did he begin again.

  ‘Are you still holding that thought?’ he whispered, drawing me to him, his fingertips working across my shoulders, following the outlines of my tattoos.

  I nodded. All other thoughts of the auction, of keeping it as a surprise for him, vanished as his eyes took me in.

  He moved us to the bed, the hunger in his expression so fierce that I could already imagine the feeling of him on my skin.

  ‘Now you can take it off,’ he murmured, gesturing to my corset as I sat on the edge of the bed. My eyes widened as he knelt between my legs.

  I unhooked the catches at the front, feeling his low moan rumble through me as he brushed my hands aside once I was halfway down, my breasts all but exposed.

  ‘I can’t tell you how many times I’ve thought of this,’ he whispered, putting his lips against mine, his tongue tracing them. ‘You are so fucking precious to me.’ He kissed me so softly, with such care, that it reminded me of our goodbye.

  ‘As you are to me,’ I answered, my breath hitching as he continued to unhook the remaining catches, finally taking it off. ‘I’m yours, as long as you want me.’

  He moved his mouth down, his tongue circling my nipple as he started to undo my jeans, then pulled off my boots.

  ‘What about your clothes?’ I complained, barely able to concentrate enough to form the words as my waistband was tugged down, revealing the black lace underwear beneath.

  ‘Oh, no, no,’ he groaned into my skin as he gently pushed me back onto the bed, his mouth reluctantly leaving my breasts and working down to my hips. ‘This is all about you, for you. I know what you’ve been up to, running yourself into the ground to organize this auction all week.’

  ‘What? You know?’ I gasped as his fingers slipped into the lace, stroking low between my legs.

  ‘Oh, I know,’ he confirmed. ‘And I have never felt so fucking loved in my life.’

  I raised myself up onto my elbows, hearing the change in his tone. I watched as he kissed the side of my thighs, stopping as he saw me, gradually kissing his way back up to my face.

  ‘I knew how you felt about me before you even left,’ he said, looking into my eyes, his hand brushing stray hairs back from my face. ‘Maybe before you did. But my fucking God, Hestia, I want you to know, to feel, how much I love you right back.’

  My breath caught on the intensity of his words, but now my gut instinct was to draw closer, to show him what I knew inside. Any desire to run, to avoid it – gone.

  ‘I didn’t know how to tell you – what it meant,’ I whispered back as his lips covered mine again, his hand now wandering down towards my hips.

  ‘I know, honey,’ he agreed, ‘but you showed me. You always have done. This week is no fucking different, which is why Lottie called me. You deserve the fucking world too. So I’m going to give it to you, starting right now.’

  As he laid me back down, his fingers slipping into my underwear, into me, I wondered how this could be real – how it was possible to feel this way about someone, physically and emotionally.

  And as he pulled the rest of my clothes away, his kisses lingering longer, circling me, teasing me, I stopped being able to think at all.

  The daylight was dimming behind the craggy peaks outside the window before we resurfaced. I stared out at it, still naked, transfixed by the colours across the snow-tipped peaks, the way the setting sun leached coral light over the slopes, setting them ablaze.

  Jesse emerged from the bathroom, stopping as he saw me.

  ‘What does the viper mean?’ he asked softly, eyes drifting from my ass and down my left leg to where the snake wrapped around my skin. He skirted the edge of the bed, his cast and sling somehow still neatly in place despite the physicality of the past couple of hours.

  I smiled as he reached me, kissing my shoulder as he pulled my body into his.

  ‘Transformation, rebirth, renewal,’ I said, tilting my head back to rest on his shoulder. ‘Why?’

  ‘What would you choose if you wanted to signify “forever”?’ he whispered, brushing my ear with his mouth.

  I turned around fully, goosebumps forming across my arms as he gazed at me, his eyes shifting down to my lips as I spoke.

  ‘The ouroboros,’ I replied with a smile, using my nail on his collarbone to make a circle, then a figure of eight motion. ‘It’s a snake eating its own tail,’ I explained, his fascination clear as he stared. ‘It means infinity, the eternal cycle.’

  He nodded, swallowing, hesitating for a moment as he looked down.

  I used my fingers to tilt his head to meet my eyes, just as he always did to me.

  ‘Yes, I’ll tattoo it for you,’ I said, smiling again as I watched his dawning realization, that I knew what he was thinking, what he wanted to ask. ‘And I’ll do the same design for myself too,’ I added, feeling him become very still.

  ‘Where?’ he whispered, taking my hand, his eyes beginning to glaze a little.

  I knew what he was asking, knew he was too afraid to say it.

  ‘I’m not scared,’ I reassured him, knowing, at every single level, how much I meant it. ‘I’m never leaving you again,’ I added, reaching up to touch his mouth with mine for a moment. ‘Where would you like us to have it?’

  He closed his eyes briefly. Then, lifting my left hand to his lips, he held my gaze as he kissed the lower half of my fourth finger.

  We said nothing for a moment, not needing words for what this was, what it meant.

  But as I nodded my answer, he used his left arm to reach down and scoop me up, choking a laugh, his face alight with something between complete happiness and disbelief. I placed my hands either side of his mouth as we kissed.

  We gave everything we had to each other, every last barrier removed.

  So, with everything spoken and unspoken, we eventually arrived back at Shelby’s. The auction was well under way, the bar packed tight as we approached the doors.

  Jesse stopped me for a moment, raising my left hand to his lips again.

  ‘I can’t believe you organized all this for me, for my mom,’ he said, pulling me into him, the feel of his body against mine after the past couple of hours setting it alight all over again.

  ‘Team effort,’ I breathed. ‘Finally figured out that most things in life are better with others, shit that I could never do by myself.’

  He smiled, his eyes holding mine.

  ‘Guess I need to figure out whether this whole bull riding thing is worth getting back into again,’ he said slowly. ‘I don’t want to be stressing you out every weekend.’

  I shook my head.

  ‘It’s your decision,’ I replied, adamant that I wouldn’t be the reason he gave up on anything. ‘And I’m going to need your help here, because, fuck . . . this will be my first healthy relationship,’ I admitted, butterflies releasing as his gaze softened with such obvious adoration that it almost stopped me. ‘But if it’s something you love, that you’re passionate about, I’ll be right with you. I might need a whiskey or three just before you ride, but I’ll toughen up.’

  He chuckled, shaking his head.

  ‘First of all,’ he started, releasing my hand to brush his thumb over my lips, ‘I don’t ever want you toughening up. The way you care, how much you feel everything – it’s one of the things I love most about you.’ He leant in, his lips touching mine for a moment, not quite letting us take it further before pausing. ‘And second of all, it is my decision, but we’ll make it together, as partners. Because whatever I love about bull riding doesn’t come close to loving you, to what I know we’re gonna have together.’

  I grabbed him then, pushing us gently against the doors as I opened my mouth to him, heard him groan as my tongue teased his lips.

  ‘Hey! Didn’t you book a damn hotel room for that? C’mon, Lil’s up next!’ Lottie poked her head round the door, winking as I pulled back reluctantly.

  ‘Cock-blocker,’ I muttered as she disappeared back inside.

  Jesse laughed.

  ‘You know I booked two nights there for us,’ he whispered, leaning down to brush the edge of my ear. ‘A whole weekend alone, away from the ranch, to show me what you can do with that tongue.’

  I arched my eyebrow as we followed Lottie inside, hands clasped firmly together.

  ‘I’m going to need longer than that,’ I replied, feeling my whole heart melt under his gaze, the way he stroked my ring finger.

  ‘We can take as much time as you need,’ he said, his tone changing, expression turning serious.

  I smiled, knowing exactly what he meant and feeling nothing but excitement and happiness welling up at the thought of him, of us.

  ‘Thank you,’ I whispered, squeezing his hand as we walked into the main area, where the auctioneer was currently selling off a weekend stay at the Four Seasons penthouse downtown.

  I clutched at Jesse as eventually, after working its way round the room, it was sold to someone in a group of tourists near the back. They whooped and hollered when he shouted, ‘Sold!’