“I’ll get dinner on the table for then. Take care.”
He watched her climb into the car, and head on off the ranch.
“Do you think we can move along now? I want to be off this ranch long before you.”
Heading to the car, Drew climbed in, smiling.
“You’re a little creepy, you know that?”
“Why am I creepy?” he asked.
“Out of all of the women you could settle down with, why Raven?”
“Why not her?”
“She’s been gone a long time. I didn’t know you were that into her.”
“I played it good, didn’t I?”
Brice chuckled. “Be careful with her. I get what you meant when you said earlier that she wasn’t like other women. She’s not. Raven has that sweet … innocent thing going for her. Be careful with that. Something tells me she could break a little easy.”
“I’m not going to hurt her.”
“You won’t, but the women you’ve been fucking faster than sin might have an issue with you being a one-woman man now.”
Drew heard the warning. “I’ll handle it.”
Later that evening when he got home, he thought about what Brice had said. He hadn’t been living like a monk, and now he had a feeling that was going to bite him in the ass if he wasn’t careful. He didn’t want Raven to be hurt. Having her in his life, even for the short time, he was different. He was … him again. Since his father had died, and his mother got put into the care facility, then Raven leaving, he’d been lost. He’d gone through the motions of work because that was easy to do. Of course it was easy. He’d been doing it all of his life, and he’d watched his father do it before him.
There was no thought to the work other than getting it done.
Raven had entered his life, and he was different. He actually looked forward to getting up. He was excited about being with her, being around her. She gave him a reason to try.
Was it wrong to want to grasp that with both hands and never let go?
The void that he’d been living had been killing him. Day in, day out, he’d get up, go to work, or fuck one of the women, then go to work. His day would end, he’d shower, eat, do whatever jobs he had around the house, and go to bed. That was his routine.
He’d only been half-living.
With Raven, he intended to live fully, to find that yearning for life that had been escaping him.
****
Lasagna was in the oven baking, and the scents were making her apartment smell amazing. Raven stared at her reflection and cringed. She was never a neat cook, and after a quick shower and change, she was back to staring at her reflection once again.
Wasn’t black supposed to be slimming? The jeans she wore were biting into her hips, and she changed them for a skirt, a black one that fit snugly.
Another black shirt, and it made her think of death. Quickly swiping that off, she went with a pastel pink, and decided it would just have to do. This dating stuff was a nightmare. Could she call it a date?
He’d declared that she belonged to him, which had been nice. It had been more than nice. Her pussy had gotten slick at the way he wrapped his arms around her, holding her close.
“It’s a dinner. Nothing is going to happen. Just a nice dinner, nice food, and conversation. Some touching would be appropriate.” Once again she was cringing, and thanking the telephone that was ringing to finally pull her away. “Hello.”
“Hi, honey, how are you?” her mother, Miranda, asked.
“Mom, hey, how are you?”
“Feeling lonely. My daughter hasn’t been to see me since the first day she got home.”