Buckle Up, Buttercup Page 6

  By the time 11 a.m. came around, I was a nervous wreck. We'd agreed on the morning and now it was practically the afternoon. But if I was being honest with myself, I knew that wasn't the only reason I was nervous as hell. It would be my first time spending time with Randy, my first chance to prove myself as a father.

  When the doorbell finally rang, I practically ran to the door.

  I saw a car pulling away, and Buttercup standing on my doorstep with tears welling in her eyes as they met mine. Randy was perched on her hip, and she was surrounded by suitcases.

  "What's wrong, darlin'?" I asked worriedly, extending my arms for her.

  She walked to me and I embraced her, inhaling her addictive, sweet fucking scent. I couldn't get enough of it, couldn't get the thought of tasting her off my mind. But there was the little boy in her arms to consider, and this was the first time I could actually get a good, proper look at him.

  He was a handsome boy, with light brown hair just like mine and sweet, trusting green eyes like hers. He was adorable, wearing a flannel shirt and jeans just like his daddy, and I wanted nothing more than to hold him in my arms. But I could tell there was something on Winnie's mind, and as she pulled away, I took her luggage and walked her inside.

  "What's goin' on?" I asked her again once we were in the living room.

  "It's Dex," she sniffled. "He's going away on a military assignment."

  "I know," I admitted, and she turned to look at me sharply. "He came to see me."

  "What?" Her mouth gaped open. "He had no right to do that."

  "The guy cares about you, Buttercup," I told her. "He cares so fuckin' much, and he only wants to help you. I'm grateful he came. So fuckin' grateful."

  She hesitated before shaking her head sadly and sitting down on the couch with Randy.

  "Can I hold him?" I asked awkwardly, pointing to the little boy in her lap who was now looking up at me curiously.

  "Okay," she said softly, motioning for me to come over as she turned to face our son, her face melting with maternal love. "Would you like to meet Beau, Randy?"

  The boy stretched his arms to me and I had to fight back the grin trying to force itself on my face. I took him into my arms and held him close, and his hands touched my cheeks, my chin, my shoulders as he curiously looked up at me.

  "He's a handsome boy," I replied, my voice heavy as I got the words out. "Such a handsome boy. He looks a little bit like you."

  "Only a little bit?" Winnie teased, and I smiled at her.

  "Come on," I said, motioning for her to follow me. "I've got somethin' to show you. I think you might like it."

  "What is it?" she asked curiously.

  "Follow me and you'll see," I replied mysteriously, walking up the stairs with Randy in my arms.

  Winnie followed behind, and memories assaulted me as we walked down the hallway as we had that night two years ago. I led her past the master bedroom - the bedroom I hoped we'd share one day, and into the bedroom next to it. I opened the door wide and her eyes grew bigger and bigger as she looked inside.

  "Beau..." she whispered. "This is incredible."

  Randy let out an excited squeal in my arms, and I walked into the room that had been designed especially for him.

  I'd done most of the work myself, painting the room and buying the furniture that now sat in there. There were a child's bed, a little play area and everything a little boy like Randy could wish for. And all of it was themed in the style of our ranch. I even had a sign painted on the wall with the name - Harris Family Ranch.

  "This is incredible," Winnie said softly. "When did you have the time to do this? We've only been in town a couple of days."

  "I did whatever it took to get it done," I admitted. "I wanted you to have something... I wanted to make it up to you for everything I've missed. And even if it's not enough, I hope you like it. I know I'll never be able to make it up completely, but hopefully, this at least proves my devotion to you."

  "It..." Her voice broke over the words. "Yes, it does. It's incredible."

  Randy was rocking in my arms excitedly, desperate to get down on the floor and check it out for himself. I checked with Winnie if it was alright before setting him down and watching him crawl to the play area. My boy pulled himself up on the little table and rummaged with the things I'd set out for him to play with.

  We stood together, watching our son playing with his things with pride in our eyes. My hand sneaked to the small of Winnie's back, and she glanced at me curiously as I gently pressed down. Then, she settled into my embrace, and I lived for the moment when her head came to rest on my shoulder.

  "We can be happy here, Winnie," I told her gently. "This is your home. I always want you to know that. Do you understand, darlin'?"

  "I do," she said gently. "Thank you, Beau."

  I kissed the top of her head, overwhelmed by emotion I already felt. And the future would bring so much more...

  Once Winnie put Randy down for his nap, we met in my office to discuss her new job.

  Even though all I wanted was to pull her into my arms and tell her how much I wanted her, I pushed it to the back of my mind so I could explain what her responsibilities would be.

  I'd never wanted to admit it to myself, but all those years ago, Randy had been right to question the future of the ranch. I'd spent precious time drinking my sorrows away, wasting time with Amy even though I knew full-well that wasn't going anywhere. But now it was time to get everything up and going.

  "I need everything started from scratch, really," I told her as I pulled out my binders with information. "My parents planned on opening a part of the ranch up for visitors. Have a petting zoo, that kind of stuff."

  "Sounds amazing," Winnie responded, poring over the pages. "I think it would definitely bring people here."

  "I hope so," I grinned. "I have ten employees right now. They live on the property, a little way off from here. They take care of the cattle, the horses and the fruit we grow. Right now we're only selling to the local markets, but I'm looking to explore that too."

  "You could do your own organic produce," Winnie said thoughtfully. "Especially if people come to stay on the property. They'll be curious, they'll definitely want to try some things and buy more to take home with them. Where could they stay if they came here?"

  "That's the problem," I replied. "There is no place where I could set up that many bedrooms. There is a large area by the woods, but I'd have to build something from the ground up."

  "An empty lot?" she asked me, and I nodded in response. "Do you intend on building there?"

  "I don't have a building permit," I explained. "But it's a big lot with empty space."

  "What if you did camping?" she asked thoughtfully. "You know, those tents that are so popular now - it's not really building, but you'd set up gorgeous white tents with more luxurious accommodation. Glamping, like they do in the papers. And you could offer your organic produce - fruit, maybe even jams and jellies."

  I smiled and nodded thoughtfully. I loved her ideas. I loved her enthusiasm. Fuck, I loved...

  I shook my head to get the thought out. I couldn't go there just yet. Things between us were raw and fresh, and I had no right to lay claim to her already, even though it was fully my intention for the future.

  "I have a family book of recipes," I told her. "Maybe I can give it to you and you can see if there's anything useful in there?"

  "I'd like that," she replied, making a note in her cute little pink notebook.

  She caught me grinning and giggled in response, raising her eyebrows at me.

  "What is it?" she asked self-consciously.

  "Nothing," I shook my head. "I'll never get sick of watching you, Buttercup. You're so fuckin' beautiful."

  She looked away shyly but I made her turn back, my fingers on her chin and looking deep into her eyes.

  "I set up a guest bedroom for you," I told her softly. "But my bedroom is right next to Randy's, and I'd like it if you slept next to me, darlin'."<
br />
  She gently pried my fingers off her skin, shaking her head.

  "Too soon?" I asked, my heart swelling at the thought.

  "Have you sorted things out with Amy?" she asked me, and I furrowed my brows at her.

  "What's there to sort out?" I asked her. "We've been over for years."

  "Why were you in the store together, then?" she wanted to know.

  "We weren't," I said. "It's a small town, Buttercup. People run into each other. She doesn't even work for me anymore."

  "So you gave me her job?" She raised her brows, and I struggled to answer which made her laugh sadly. "I should've known I'm just a replacement."

  "You're not," I told her desperately. "You never were, darlin'. I fell for you that night. Amy lied to me, and she lied to you."

  "Either way," Winnie replied firmly. "I don't think we should be doing anything much until things between the two of you have been resolved."

  "Resolved?" I repeated. "There's nothing there, Buttercup, and I'm telling you that now and once and for all. I don't even like the woman, and she's out of my life now, forever."

  "We'll see," she muttered in response, and I could tell she wasn't buying it, even though I was telling her the truth.

  But I didn't want to push it, so I just got up and poured myself a glass of water.

  "I'm cooking for us all tonight," I told Winnie. "Something you'll like. I got something 'specially for Randy, too."

  She smiled, and I could tell she liked that, so I grinned back at her. But there was another question on the back of my mind.

  "Will you explain his name to me?" I asked her, and she nodded with a bright smile.

  "There was a man who took me from your place that day," she explained. "He and I had the nicest conversation. And I would love to see him again eventually. Do you know him?"

  My smile was strained as I nodded.

  "I did," I said softly. "I used to, I should say. I am friends with his son, Malcolm."

  "But not Randy?" Winnie wanted to know.

  "No," I admitted. "Not anymore."

  "What happened?"

  I looked into her eyes and wondered how much I should tell her. Fuck it, I thought to myself. She deserves to know the truth.

  "I have a past of bad decisions," I admitted to her. "I lost my parents, and I was too young when it happened - not that you're ever really prepared for something like that. I sure as hell wasn't. So I stayed with Amy, and just... my life spiraled. Everything changed. I fucked up my future, and the thing I'm most ashamed of, I fucked up what my parents had built here."

  "But the ranch is beautiful," she said softly.

  "It is," I agreed. "But I've been living off savings and barely making any profit. Which is why I need you, darlin'. I need you to help me get the place back on its feet. Can you do that, Buttercup?"

  She looked into my eyes and nodded.

  "I'll do anything to help," she said. "Anything you need, Beau..."

  10

  Winnie

  The night was so hot I could barely catch a wink of sleep.

  I tossed and turned in the guest bedroom, too hot one second and too chilly the next. I opened the window, closed it, paced the room and had a glass of water, all before I finally admitted the real reason why I was staying awake to myself.

  I'd checked on Randy, and he was fast asleep, loving his new bedroom and the hearty dinner Beau had prepared for the three of us. He was tuckered out and had been sleeping for hours, with no sign of waking up until the morning.

  But there was somebody else on my mind, somebody who was just a door away from Randy.

  Beau was on my mind. The way his tanned skin stretched over his muscles, the way his eyes sparkled when he looked at our son. The way he sighed when his eyes landed on mine as if he wanted nothing more but than to have me in his arms again. It was all I could think about. Getting lost in his strong embrace, letting myself feel all those things I'd buried, forgotten, a long time ago.

  I got out of bed for the fourth time, looking at myself in the full-length mirror in the bedroom.

  I was wearing a white nightie, slightly see-through in the night, with nothing underneath. My hair was styled from the morning, but the curs had fallen out and now fell down my back in soft waves. I was makeup-free yet my eyes sparkled with the need to be beside him.

  Finally, I decided I couldn't wait any longer. I needed to see him. I needed to know he was still mine. That he still pined after me the same way I did after him, desperate to be with him, needing to hear him say it.

  I opened the door quietly, sneaking down the hallway and stopping in front of his door. Was I really going to do it? It was a decision that could change the rest of our lives forever. A decision I'd been fighting, struggling with, for two years.

  My hand wrapped around the door handle and I let myself in slowly.

  He was sitting up in bed, the night lamp on as he looked into my eyes.

  "Couldn't sleep?" he asked me gently, and I shook my head, blushing deeply as he looked me over. "What do you need, Buttercup?"

  The words were on the tip of my tongue. One little sentence and I could be his again. One word and he'd be mine again.

  "You," I whispered, and he was out of the bed in a flash, reaching me in several long, determined steps.

  A sigh escaped my lips when his arms wrapped around me, pulling me flush against him and pressing a ghost of a kiss against my waiting lips.

  "I missed you, darlin'," he muttered, and I succumbed to his touch, melting into his arms where I'd always belonged.

  He pulled me off my feet, raising me up in his arms and gently setting me down on the bed. His eyes were filled with silent raging fire and he regarded me as a prized possession.

  "Take your clothes off," he growled at me, and I tugged on the hem of my nightie self-consciously.

  "What if you don't like it?" I asked softly, and he went on his knees in front of me, just like he'd done in that hotel room.

  "Look at me, Buttercup," he insisted. "Look into my eyes."

  I raised my gaze to him and we stared at one another, old passions igniting again between us.

  "I'll say this every day for the rest of my life," he told me. "You're the most beautiful woman I've ever laid my eyes on, darlin'. And nothing is going to change my mind about that because I..."

  My eyes widened but he looked away, stopping the sentence there. I was desperate for him to go on, but when he looked back at me, there was a new found determination in his eyes.

  "Clothes off," he reminded me. "Right the fuck now, darlin'."

  My hands shook as I pulled my nightie off, exposing myself to him completely.

  I knew what I looked like - I'd seen myself plenty of times in the mirror. Skin that wasn't as tightly stretched across my body as it used to be, with new stretch marks from the pregnancy, my tits swollen and heavy beneath my nightdress. I looked up at him, giving him everything I had with one single look.

  "Fuckin' incredible," he muttered, coming for me and pushing me on my back, his lips hot and needy against mine. "The most beautiful girl I've ever seen. I want to take care of that body for the rest of my life, darlin', and of you, and our boy."

  I let out a soft gasp as he pulled me against him, his cock pressing urgently against me, desperate to fill me up again.

  "I need you, Beau," I whispered, and he pulled down his pajama shorts, the only thing he was wearing, and pressed his cock against my naked stomach. "Please, don't torture me. I've waited so fuckin' long for this."

  "You been with anybody else, darlin'?" he growled out, and I shook my head, desperate for him to know that I'd stayed loyal throughout all the years we'd been apart.

  "Never," I told him. "You're my first, my last... My only, Beau."

  This earned me a growl of approval from him as he parted my legs, positioning his cock at my entrance, ready to fuck me just like he had that one night two years ago.

  "Please, Beau," I said raspily. "I don't want to be with anyb
ody but you... Not now, not ever."

  "You won't be," he growled, pushing his hard length inside me and making me squeal. "Not fuckin' now. Not fuckin' ever."

  I squirmed underneath him, my pussy adjusting to his width and girth and taking him in the way I'd always been meant to. I loved having him inside me, lived for the moments when his cock throbbed inside me, so telling of what was going to happen soon.

  "Take it," he growled against my skin, his feverish mouth meeting mine and kissing me deeply, taking my need for him and devouring it whole. "Take it, Buttercup, I've waited so fuckin' long to be back inside you, darlin'..."

  I moaned underneath him, my body giving him everything we'd both been missing for years. There was no denying it - when we were together, there was magic between us, making our bodies sync together in ways I'd never known existed. I wanted nothing but to belong to him, and it was only moments later that I realized we were making the same mistake we'd made two years ago.

  "I'm not on the pill," I whispered, and he grinned down at me, fucking me harder, driving his cock so deep inside me I saw stars when he pulled back out of me, his dick covered in our juices. "Beau, please... Put a condom on..."

  "No," he growled in response. "You going to admit he's mine now, Buttercup? You already told me I was the only man you've ever been with, darlin'. Now it's time to give me the fuckin' truth."

  "N-No," I managed to get out. "Don't make me say it."

  "Oh, I will," he replied devilishly. "I'll make you scream it from the fuckin' rooftops, Winnie. He's my son. Say it."

  "No," I mumbled and moaned loudly when he fucked me mercilessly, his cock throbbing inside me, so fucking close to unloading its potent seed inside my cunt. "No, Beau! I'm not saying it!"

  "You will," he assured me. "Because if you don't..."

  His eyes sparkled deviously as he raised his hand above me.

  "If you don't, I'm going to do this."

  He started touching me, parting my pussy lips and touching his fingertips to my clit, making me thrash underneath him, desperate to get closer, desperate for the sweet relief I'd found so many times in the past two years with only my fingers to play with, and my mind filled with thoughts of him.