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"No!" She tosses her hands in the air. "Jagger, we've been doing this for only a hot minute."

"Doing what?"

"This!" She points between us. "Whatever this is. No one moves in together a week into a relationship!"

My eyebrows shoot up. "We didn't exactly do things normal, Lainey."

"That doesn't mean we have to keep doing everything backward."

"Backward?" My jaw tightens. "We have a daughter together."

"I know that."

"Do you?" I point between us. "Because you keep talking about us like we're dating. Like I'm some guy you met a week ago, and you need six months to decide whether I get a drawer at your place. We made a baby before our first date. Normal went out the fucking window a long time ago."

"Having Charlie doesn't mean I automatically move into your house!"

"I didn't say it did."

She points at me, green eyes flaring. "That's exactly what you're saying."

"No. I'm saying, I don't understand why you can't stay the night with her."

"Maybe I'm waiting to know you and make sure you're a stand-up guy!"

My head jerks back. The words hit a hell of a lot harder than I ever thought words could.

Some of the anger drains from her expression. She softens. "Jagger, I didn't mean that the way it sounded."

"Sounded pretty clear."

She begs, "Don't do that."

"Do what?"

"Twist one sentence into the worst possible version of what I mean."

A bitter laugh leaves me. "That's pretty rich after tonight."

She glares at me.

I look away.

Snow drifts through the yellow light spilling from the Red Dirt sign. My cheek burns from the cold, but the rest of me is so damn hot, I barely notice.

Lainey takes a breath. "Two weeks ago, I thought you were an asshole who slept with me while you were engaged to somebody else."

"Yeah. I'm aware of the stigma I'm never going to live down," I grumble.

"Don't say that."

I grunt. "What else should I think?"

She closes her eyes and exhales. Then she opens them and steps closer. "When I saw you on the ranch, it scared the shit out of me."

My chest squeezes. I've thought many times about what it would have been like to be in her shoes.

She continues, "In less than 24 hours, I met your entire family. You're talking about us living together. The entire town is praying for us to work out. Your mother is talking about Christmas. Everybody already sees us as this family, and I'm still trying to catch up."