She turned to leave, and Reed closed his eyes.

“Ah, fuck,” he whispered.

He took off after her, and I followed behind him. Courtney was walking away as fast as she could when he grabbed her arm. She spun around and had tears streaming down her face.

“Courtney, wait…I didn’t mean to say all that shit. It’s just…it’s just…” Reed was shaking his head like he was trying to clear his thoughts.

“Don’t you ever speak to me again, Reed. You made yourself pretty damn clear about what you thought of me. I wouldn’t want you to have to associate with a whore like me.”

She turned and started to make her way toward Whitley. Whitley was standing off to the side, and the moment she saw Courtney, she walked up to her and took her in her arms. They turned and started making their way back to my truck.

I walked up to Reed and gave him a push. “What in the fuck was that all about, you asshole? I’ve never in my life heard you talk about a girl like that.”

He started shaking his head. “I don’t know what happened. Fuck! I heard Mitch telling Kevin how much he liked Courtney and how he was going to ask her out…and I don’t know, Layton. Something fucking snapped. I got jealous, and the last thing I wanted was for her to go out with him.”

“So, what? You thought you would bad-mouth her and turn him off of her? Did you ever think of just telling Mitch you liked her, too?”

He just stared at me. “I guess so. I mean, shit…I don’t know.”

“You’re an asshole, Reed Moore. Do you know that? I hope you saw the hurt in her eyes. I hope it’s burned into your memory.” I turned toward my truck and started to walk off.

Stupid motherfucker. I have no idea how he’s going to dig his way out of this hole, and I don’t want to be a part of any of it.

Whitley walked into my bedroom and let out a sigh. “Can Courtney stay here tonight? I just don’t think she should drive home. She’d had a few beers at the party, and I’m pretty sure she just drank half a bottle of wine while we listened to Christina Aguilera’s ‘I Hate Boys’ over and over again.”

“Sure, baby. As long as I have you next to me tonight, I don’t mind at all. She can sleep in any one of the guest bedrooms.” I got up, and I placed a kiss on her forehead before we headed out to the living room.

I watched as Whitley tried to wake up Courtney, who was passed out on my sofa. She turned to me and shrugged her shoulders. I walked over, reached down, and picked up Courtney. I carried her upstairs to one of the guest bedrooms.

By the time Whit and I got back to my room, I flopped onto my bed. “Jesus, I’m exhausted.”

Whitley laughed and lay down next to me. “Can we just snuggle, Layton? I don’t think I even have the energy to kiss you right now!”

I rolled over and kissed her lightly on the lips before I got up and started to take off my clothes. I watched as she looked my body up and down. As exhausted as I was—and my dick was—I was still hoping she would follow me into the shower.

After walking into the bathroom, I reached in and turned on the shower. I stepped inside and closed my eyes as I let the hot water run over my body. When I felt the warmth of her touch on my arm, I couldn’t help but smile. I turned around and saw the most beautiful woman standing in front of me. I picked her up as she wrapped her legs around my body. I leaned her against the wall and kissed her as she let out a small moan.

“God, Whit.” I moved her body over me.

The moment my dick sank into her warm body, I felt like I was going to come.

“Oh, Layton, faster,” she whispered.

I gave her exactly what she wanted. When she started to call out in pleasure, I captured her cries with my mouth. Nothing felt better than coming and feeling myself pour into her body. I couldn’t get enough of her.

As I slowly let her down, I grabbed a washcloth and washed her whole body. She took the washcloth from my hand and washed my body in return.

By the time we both crawled into bed, I was exhausted, and so was Whitley. She moved and threw her leg over my legs as she put her head on my chest. It wasn’t long before I heard her breathing slow down.

I closed my eyes and thanked God for this beautiful gift wrapped in my arms. As I listened to her breathing, I thought about tomorrow and how I couldn’t wait to introduce her to Jen and Kate. I knew they would love Whitley just as much as I did.

As I drifted off into sleep, I started to dream. All I could see was the sun setting, and someone walking toward me in a beautiful white dress. Just as she got close enough for me to see who she was, her face was blurred, and I heard Mike’s voice.

Go to her, Layton. She needs your help. She needs you to save her.

I woke up with a jerk and felt sweat dripping off my body.

What in the fuck? What was he talking about? Who needed my help? Was he saying someone needed to be saved?

I looked down at Whitley. She was sleeping so peacefully. I knew Mike couldn’t have been talking about Whitley. She would always be safe in my arms. She’d never have to worry about that asshole again.

I gently kissed her forehead. “You’re safe now, baby. I’ll always keep you safe.”

Chapter Nineteen: Whitley

I made myself a cup of hot tea and sat on Layton’s back porch, which was probably bigger than my living room. The cool breeze on my face actually made me chilly.

I closed my eyes and thought about last night when I’d heard Layton whispering about keeping me safe. My heart swelled up with so much love that I could hardly stand it. I’d wanted to let him know so badly that I had been awake, but at the same time, I had been so damn sore. I didn’t think we could possibly have any more sex.

I looked up to see Courtney walking up from the barn. I’d been wondering where she had gone off to this morning.

She smiled at me as she got closer. Her eyes looked so empty and sad. I was so pissed-off at Reed for the things he’d said about her, but Layton had said Reed was so jealous from the idea of Mitch asking Courtney out that he’d just snapped and started talking shit about her, hoping to throw Mitch off. It didn’t matter. The things he’d said were terrible and mean-spirited. I’d never seen Court cry as much as she had last night. I hadn’t really realized how much she liked Reed.

“Hey, sleepyhead,” Courtney said with a fake-ass smile.

“Hey, yourself. Where were you?” I gave her a wink and a grin.

Her smile grew just a little bigger. “Mitch saw me out walking this morning and invited me to ride along with him as he checked on the fence in some pasture or something.” She shrugged.

She sat down next to me, and I bumped my shoulder against hers.

“Oh yeah? How did this ride go?” I wiggled my eyebrows up and down.

Courtney turned away and looked back toward the barn. I watched as the blush swept over her cheeks when Mitch walked out of the barn and waved to her. I looked between the both of them.

“Holy shit, Court. Did something happen between the two of you?”

Courtney snapped her head over and just glared at me. “What do you mean, Whit? Like, did I have sex with him? Contrary to what Reed might think, I’m not actually a whore.”

My mouth dropped open, and I sat up a little. “Holy shit, Court. I wasn’t thinking that you’d slept with him. I was thinking more along the lines of maybe kissing him!”

She looked back toward Mitch as he jumped into his truck and took off down the road, pulling a trailer with two round bales of hay on it.

She smiled as she let out a giggle. “Oh. My. God.” She looked back at me and shook her head. “I’ve never in my life been kissed so passionately. It was like he couldn’t get enough of me. God, Whit…I swear if he had told me to strip down and let him make love to me out in the open, I would have done it!”

I let out a laugh. “You’ve either just read a really good book, or you’ve gone too long without sex.”

She laughed. “I think it’s a little bit of both. But honestly, he’s such a gentleman. He never brought up what that fucker, Reed, had said last night. Mitch asked me about my job, how long I’ve been in love with reading, and how much I knew about horses. It was all about me. I didn’t have to hear about how he was master of the plant world and the king of two-stepping. He truly wanted to get to know me. It was amazing. He even told me he would read a book if I gave him one.”

I crinkled up my nose and giggled. “Mitch? Mitch said he would read a book that you gave him? Does he know what type of books you read?”

She threw her head back and laughed. “Yes! I was thinking of giving him Knight and Play!”

I just looked at her, and then we both busted out laughing. I looked up to see Layton walking toward us. He was covered in dust and looked sexy as hell.

“Holy shit. Damn…that boy is fine, Whit.”

I smiled as I took a sip of tea and watched Layton moving closer. The way he was walking about had me ready to tell Courtney it was time for her to leave.

“How lucky am I? Two beautiful women are sitting on my porch,” Layton said with a wink.

I let out a giggle. I looked over at Court and winked before turning back to Layton. “So, this dinner on Monday night? Fancy?” I asked as I set my cup down.

Layton walked up, leaned down in front of me, and kissed me so sweetly that I almost let out a soft moan.

When he pulled back, he frowned. “It is fancy. It’s a dinner for an investment bank in Austin. I sit on the board of directors, and they’re hosting it.”

For one brief moment, a surge of panic rushed through my body as I thought of Roger.

Jesus, Whitley, calm the hell down. Roger is not going to be at an investment party in Austin, for cripe’s sake.

“Baby, are you okay? You turned white as a ghost.” Layton placed his hand on the side of my face.

My stomach dropped, and it felt like it was twisting and turning.

The things his touch does to me—will it always be like this?

I smiled as I looked into his eyes. “Yes, I guess I just realized I better get into town to go shopping for a fancy dress!”

Courtney laughed as she grabbed my hand and pulled me up. Layton stood and kissed me on the forehead, and then he smiled at me even bigger.

“Please, Whit, I have a closet full of dresses. Excuse us, Layton, but I’m going to have to take her away from you. We have prepping to do.”

Layton’s face dropped for a quick second before he leaned over and whispered into my ear, “I’ll be over around seven? Dinner?”

I smiled as I nodded, and then I let Courtney lead me back into the house. I turned back one more time and gave him the sexiest smile I could. He winked as he gave me the sexiest damn smile ever in return.

“Jesus, Courtney, you’re pulling my arm out of the socket. What the hell?”

She stopped and looked at me as she dropped my arm. “Didn’t you see the fucker walking up from the barn? No way do I want to be within ten feet of him.”

“Reed?” I asked.

She tilted her head and put her hands on her hips. “Yes, Reed. Do you know any other fuckers who would be walking up from the barn?”