His words made my dick perk up. I was desperate to fuck him again, to prove we were both alive. I longed to show him just how desperate I was to make him mine now that he’d freely chosen to stay.
I brought him to the stall where we’d put Daisy. “Stand right there.”
“You’re not about to prank me, are you?”
“Jacob, after what you’ve been through today, do you really think I’d do that?”
“No.”
“Good.” I lured the sweet mare forward with a carrot. Once she had her head over the stall door, I said, “You can open your eyes now.”
Jacob sucked in his breath when he did. “Oh my God. She—he?—is beautiful.”
“This is Daisy, she’s a mare, and she’s yours.”
He looked at me. “Mine? What do you mean mine? Like the horse you want me to ride next?”
“No, I mean she’s yours. I bought her for you. Whether you choose to stay here or not, she’s your horse.”
“You’d let me take her with me?”
A knot formed in my stomach, but I nodded. “Rhys thought I was bribing you to stay, but that’s not why I bought her for you. I mean, if she helps you decide, then that’s great, but I bought her because you wanted a horse, and I wanted you to have one.”
I held out a carrot to Jacob, and he looked up at me with tears running down his cheeks. “No one has done anything this nice for me since my grandparents let me come to their farm.”
“If you choose to stay, I’ll do everything I can to make you feel loved every day.”
“I won’t leave unless you force me to.”
“I would never do that.”
Jacob held the carrot out to Daisy, and she took it from him gently.
He rubbed her nose as she chewed. “You’re so beautiful. I’m going to take such good care of you.” He looked over his shoulder at me. “And of you too.”
“I don’t—”
His glare shut me right up. I did need someone to care for me, to love me, and I needed it to be Jacob.
“We can take her out on the lead rope, but Rhys or I should ride her before you do.”
“I want to get to know her, and I’m anxious to ride her too, but do you know what I want more right now?”
“What?”
“You.”
I sucked in my breath when I saw the heat in his eyes. “You can have me anytime you want.”
He turned back to the horse. “Daisy, you’re going to love it here, but right now, we have something to attend to. We’ll come back to see you soon.”
Jacob took my hand and tugged me toward the door.
“In a hurry?”
“Fuck yes.”
He stopped walking when I turned toward the house. “Do we have to go back to your room?”