Falling For Her

  Falling For Her

  Tory Baker

  Contents

  Title

  Prologue

  Prologue

  1. Peyton

  2. Levi

  3. Peyton

  4. Levi

  5. Peyton

  6. Levi

  7. Peyton

  8. Levi

  9. Peyton

  10. Levi

  11. Peyton

  12. Levi

  13. Peyton

  14. Levi

  15. Peyton

  16. Levi

  17. Peyton

  18. Levi

  19. Peyton

  20. Levi

  21. Peyton

  22. Levi

  23. Peyton

  24. Levi

  25. Peyton

  26. Levi

  27. Peyton

  28. Levi

  29. Peyton

  30. Levi

  31. Peyton

  32. Levi

  33. Peyton

  34. Levi

  Epilogue

  Epilogue

  Epilogue Two

  Epilogue Two

  About the Author

  Also by Tory Baker

  Blurb

  Levi Heart has had feelings for Peyton Johnson for as long as he can remember. She was way too young though, so he kept his feelings to himself.

  When Peyton’s dad died, Levi was there, doing everything he could to make sure she was going to be okay.

  He did his best to hold her world together, when she was crumbling beneath the pressure. Still, he knew Peyton was too lost in her grief to realize he was there as more than just a friend.

  He wanted more.

  Finally, she’s back from college, and the feelings he’s had all along for her, have gotten deeper. He felt like he won the lottery when he discovered that she burns just as hot for him.

  Now that he knows, he’s never letting her go. This cowboy knows what he wants and won’t let anything stand in his way.

  To everyone out there wishing for a Happily Ever After.

  Prologue

  Peyton

  The last thing I expected was to be back on the Triple J Ranch and to be laying my father to rest. We just spoke a week ago. He sounded happy and healthy, full of life and vigor. I had no idea he’d die doing the one thing he loved the most, yet here I am.

  Jack Johnson, Jr. was an amazing husband and father. When he loved, he loved with his whole heart. Now it’s just me at the age of twenty-three and I’m home. It should give me a sense of peace, instead all it’s giving me is anxiety and a bad state of depression. I’m almost done with my college degree. I can taste it, the ranch was always in my dad’s blood and as much as I wanted to love it, I didn’t want to work on animals. Losing animals would kill me and that’s what happens when you own a horse ranch. You breed them and get them to the right hands and either they die of old age, or injury, or worse — a foal goes breech and kills them both. I couldn’t handle it. It’s why I’m not out to get my doctorate. I want to work in a peaceful setting. One that I know will do good, yet not have to deal with what I am now.

  We lost my mother when I was eighteen years old. I was already off in my first year at theUniversity of Utah when I got a call home from my father. She withstood so much. For years, she battled cancer. It seemed like she would go into remission and then it would come back. It riddled her body.

  Yet, she always had a smile on her face and was going on about promising her that I would go out and follow my dreams. She knew ranch life wasn’t my passion, like hers and Dad’s were. She didn’t hold it against me and neither did Dad.

  So, I did what I told her I would. Even when she was going through chemotherapy and radiation.

  At seventeen, I graduated high school early and set off for college. Nothing like having a full case load, but it helped that I graduated with not only my high school diploma, but also my Associates degree. So, I started right in as a Junior.

  I’m lodged out of my thoughts when my father’s foreman, Buck, comes up and wraps his arm around my shoulder. He’s a surrogate father and I know if it wasn’t for him, the ranch would already be in disarray.

  “How ya doin’ Peyton?” he asks. I put my head on his shoulder and let out a breath of air.

  “I’ve been better. I know you’re going to need me here full time, until we figure everything out, but do you think you can handle things until I’m done this fall?” I ask him.

  “I’ll stay here and help out until everything is settled, but you know your daddy got an offer on the ranch not long ago. Levi Heart wanted to buy the ranch, but your dad held firm. Said he was only fifty-five and wasn’t ready for that. May want to see what he has to say,” Buck gives my shoulder one last squeeze and then sets off to the barn.

  I’m left thinking about why Levi would ever want to have two horse ranches and if it’s something that’s even still a possibility. It could work, our crew would still have jobs. I could keep a portion of the land and have less responsibility.

  I leave the homestead cemetery and head to the house, with the weight of the world on my shoulders.

  Prologue

  Levi

  Seeing Peyton sad and solemn isn’t something I’m used to. Before, when she would come home on breaks, she’d always be out riding and racing her palomino, Snickers. Her dad once told me, when they went to a horse auction when she was just twelve, she saw Snickers and begged for her. The only palomino he’d ever have on his quarter horse farm. He shook his head and laughed the whole time.

  I never thought I’d see the day Jack would be buried. Sure, I wanted to buy the ranch a couple of months ago. He gave me the same old song and dance he has for the past year. It became a joke between he and I. Now, I’m left wondering what Peyton will do. She always said her future wasn’t with the ranch. She wanted something else. I’d see the wistful eye Jack would have when he’d talk about her and how proud he was of her for chasing her dreams.

  Her usual coloring is much paler than it should be. The dark circles under her deep, soulful, blue eyes are enough to knock a man to his knees and want to take her in his arms and hold her tight.

  Too bad it’s too soon. I’ve waited for her for what seems like forever. I can wait a bit longer.

  I finish paying my respects to Jack and head towards where Peyton is fleeing. It’s a horrible day for her, but I want her to know she has options.

  Stepping onto her front porch, I stop in my tracks. She’s at the screen door already.

  “Hi Levi, how are you?”

  “Hey Pey, it’s been awhile. I’m okay, you holding up okay?” I ask her, resisting every urge I have in my body to bring her into my warmth. Her arms are wrapped around her body, making her appear smaller than ever.

  “As good as can be. Buck said you and Dad were talking about buying the ranch. Is that something you’re still interested in?” She opens the porch door and I walk into the house.

  “Yeah, about that,” I clear my throat, suddenly nervous that she’ll tell me to take a flying leap.

  “Oh, is the offer off the table?” She questions.

  “No, no. Let’s go talk at the kitchen table,” I counter, and she leads the way. The black dress she’s wearing is clinging to her backside and these next six months are going to be torture. I can fucking feel it.

  It takes us no more than an hour and we’ve started to hammer a deal out. She wants Buck to run the ranch until she’s back home from college. Then we can start the proceedings of me buying the ranch. It’s going to take time and she still wants to oversee a few things until everything is taken care of, but it seems it’ll be something we both can agree on.

  “Thank you, Levi. I know this isn’t the way you initially wanted to b
uy the ranch, but this is a huge relief,” she whispers out. Tears are gathering in her eyes and I’m not holding myself back now.

  I bring her into my arms and wrap her up in my body. She let’s go and starts to crumble to the ground. I don’t let her. I pick her up and carry her to the couch where I sit and let her get it all out.

  One day, I’ll be the one that holds her through the smiles, the laughter, and even the crying when, God forbid, that happens.

  I tip my head back and kick my feet up on the coffee table and she snuggles deeper into my body. This right here, with Peyton. It’s where I always want to be.

  1

  Peyton

  Six Months Later

  These past six months have been brutal. I was always in a state of worry. This constant state has taken its toll on me, yet the phone calls and texts from Levi have been the one thing that’s brought a smile to my face.

  He even showed up to my graduation when I didn’t want to walk across the platform. Buck said he couldn’t make it out. They had a couple of buyers coming to look at some new foals. When I mentioned it to Levi, he said, “Fuck that, I’ll be there. You’re walking and getting your diploma.”

  He was there and when they announced my name you could hear him whistling over the whole crowd.

  He had to have been the most handsome man there, his hair cut short on the sides and longer on the top. The shade is something that changes depending on how much he wears his hat outside or not. Somedays it’s dark in color and some days it has shots of blonde through it. His eyes, goodness his eyes. I swear they get me every time, the green resembles the bright grass in the fields we have at home during the summer months.

  The few times we Face Timed, I could see them sparkle with laughter even when he was just grinning at something silly. It was usually me acting like a goof, he never laughed at me. Even when I dropped the phone because I stubbed my toe on the wall because I wasn’t paying attention. I was laughing my ass off, literally sitting on my butt laughing and holding my toe. He just smiled, and when he did that, it hit me right in the heart. I was slowly falling for Levi.

  Now that I’m back home and starting my new job at the clinic in town in the next few days, I can only hope Levi and I can continue to build on our friendship and maybe become something more.

  Even when I was going to tell him my feelings on our phone calls, I always chickened out. Like maybe he was just calling out of pity and to make sure I wouldn’t pull the cord on him buying my ranch.

  I won’t do that, not just because I don’t want to run the ranch. Because when he talked about everything he saw in the future with both ranches, it was nothing short of amazing.

  I finish getting dressed for the day, throwing on jeans, a tee shirt, socks, and my riding boots. Snickers is calling my name and I think she and I need some fresh air and the wind in our hair.

  2

  Levi

  Peyton’s been home for two days and I have yet to get away from my ranch. It seems like one thing after another has come up. I’ve texted her a few times and called her late at night, but she’s usually falling asleep by the time I’m leaving the office.

  I saddle up Rocky, making it a point to go and see Peyton today. Not only is my body yearning to see her, feel her, and god the way she smells when she’s wrapped around me. It’s not just a want, it’s a damn need.

  My ranch hand, Ed, comes to me just as I’m about to mount my horse, “Hey boss, can you take a look at the new horse we got in. She seems to have a limp.”

  “Can you have Rick look at it, I’m going to the Johnson ranch today,” I respond, as I get on Rocky and we start leaving before Ed can say a word.

  I love my ranch, but fuck. Sometimes I need a breather. Rick is the best damn foreman I could ask for and something like that he could easily handle. I shake my head and go to the woman that has had me twisted up in knots and stroking my cock like fucking crazy for the past couple of years.

  Peyton has to know I want her more than anything, even the ranch. Sure, it would be nice, but what I really want is a life with Peyton. I know she’ll be starting work in the downtown clinic and I’ll probably see even less of her when that starts happening. They’ll give her the shit hours, working every damn evening, and holiday. It’ll suck not only for her, but for me too. Driving these long winding roads late at night will have me in a constant state of worry.

  My mind is coming up with all kinds of ways to keep her safe and by my side when I hear laughter coming up over the valley. I stop Rocky and wait for the woman of my dreams to come up over the ridge.

  She’s still laughing as she slows Snickers down and comes up to me.

  “Hey, Levi,” she says, her smile still spread across her face and any trace of unease she’s had these last few months have disappeared. I’d like to think I had something to do with it, but I know Peyton’s a strong woman and she did it all on her own.

  “Hey, Baby,” I dismount from Rocky and tether him to a post we have over here, and go to her horse, doing the same thing. She’s watching me and I reach my hands up and pick her up by her waist. She helps slide off her mount and then she’s sliding down my body. I can feel every curve of her body against mine, there’s not even an inch between us.

  I look down into her blue eyes and see the hopefulness in them. This right here, it’s just the beginning.

  3

  Peyton

  The way Levi looked at me, every doubt I had was washed away. I knew in that heated moment that he wants me as much as I want him.

  I smile up at him as he gazes at me, his grin is plastered on his face, and a dimple is popping out. When he was sliding me down his body, I could feel every delicious inch, including a certain male anatomy part. It has my heart racing as fast as it was when I was riding Snickers.

  Levi’s hands are still on my hips as he holds me in front of him. It’s just us out here, in the lands that border each other’s. The weather is beautiful this time of year. The leaves are changing, the trees are swaying in the breeze, and we’re here with nothing but nature around us.

  “Peyton,” he murmurs out my name and then he’s leaning in towards me. I’m completely new at this. My life has been school and my parents. I didn’t have time for boys, plus I didn’t want to just lose my virginity to anyone. I wanted it to be special and I’m glad more than ever that I did. I’m about to have my first kiss at the age of twenty-four and I’m okay with it, as long as it’s Levi.

  Our lips meet, his feel like velvet beneath mine. I want more. Leaning up on my toes, my hands find the back of his hair and I wrap them around his neck. As he slowly licks my lips, I gasp out and then his tongue is seeking entrance with mine. I mimic what he does to me, tentatively at first, until he growls, and seeks a deeper entrance. I let him take over and get lost in the fever of us kissing.

  The horses neighing breaks us apart from our kiss. Both of us are breathing heavy.

  “Damn,” Levi says huskily, his voice full of need, and I respond with, “Yeah, that was something alright.”

  He laughs, “I was riding over to finally come see you. The ranch is acting like they can’t live without me for a few hours.”

  “That’s okay. I was trying to catch up on a few things before I start working next week. The books were kind of a mess, I know Buck is trying his hardest. You may want to bring someone in and look things over before we complete the sale.” I say to him, my chest that always shows my nervousness is red. I don’t even have to look down at it to see. I can feel it.

  “About that, we need to finish nailing things down before we can complete the transaction. I’d like to have it done and out of the way before you start at the clinic. I know your schedule will be hectic,” he replies.

  “Ugh, speaking of that. They’re starting me off at the three p.m. till eleven p.m. shift, it’s going to take some getting used to, that’s for sure.”

  “Shit, that’s going to be horrible getting home that late out here,” he grumbles.

>   “Hey, I promise I’ll be okay,” I tell him, as I take his hand. We’re loosely holding each other’s hand when he says, “I know, doesn’t mean I have to like it.”

  We turn around and watch the horses for a few minutes and he asks, “Ready to deal with paperwork?”

  “Not really, but I guess we need to,” I grumble.

  “It won’t be too bad and then maybe we can go for another ride later on this afternoon,” he suggests.

  “I’d like that,” I have a smile on my face, something that’s happening more and more these days.

  4

  Levi

  The feel of her body against mine, the way she searched for my tongue with hers, fuck what Peyton does to me. It’s enough to get me on my knees right here and ask her to marry me. I know I can’t do that, not yet at least. And it has fuck all to do with our ranches. She could sell it or give it away to charity and I would be fine with it. No, I want her for her. I hate like hell she’s going to be driving so late at night. I’m already trying to finagle a way to get her on a normal shift. Something like seven in the morning till three in the afternoon.