Oneshots - Kayce Dutton Book 2

I want to miss you during the day.

Request - After the reader was attacked on the ranch well Kayce was gone he's been very protective, sometimes the reader likes it sometimes she doesn't. Because in her mind she doesn't need a 'bodyguard' and someone following her around all day well she's working. Kayce just tells her his perspective and says he's keeping her safe.

You were fine with Kayce being by your side the few weeks after the attack. To say you weren't scared would be a lie, but slowly you got better. Your physical injuries healed up nicely, there was a scar under your left side of your chin and on your wrist. But other than that, physically you were fine.

It had been during a thunderstorm, most of the wranglers a few ranches over helping out with broken fence and loose cattle. A group of thugs had come onto the ranch and tried to attack everyone left, including you. The were hired by some guy who owed John Dutton money and...you really didn't pay too much attention to them after that.

Had it not been for Jimmy and Walker who had stayed though, you're not sure what condition you'd be in. Two of the guys attacked you, ripping your clothes and throwing you on the floor before Walker came in firing his shotgun, Jimmy right behind him.

You didn't see Kayce until you were sitting in the back of the vet's truck, a warm blanket wrapped around you and the vet dapping a cut over your eye. Kayce pulled up in his truck, getting out without turning it off and running up to you. When his arms wrapped around you, that's when you felt your release. Tears rolled down your cheek as he rocked you gently while everyone else walked away.

That had been about a month ago now...and you were getting to be a little too irritated at your cowboy. You couldn't remember the last time Kayce had been away from you. It's like you had gone a one-eighty with wishing he was with you more, to trying hard to find a reason to step away from him...if only for a few minutes.

"Going into the office today?" You asked Kayce as you took a sip of your coffee.

"They've got it covered," Kayce walked over, pressing a kiss to your cheek as he finished putting his belt on.

"So, you're here?" You raised an eyebrow at him.

"What're you doing today?" Kayce poured himself a coffee.

"Oh, just a few things I need to get done around the cabin," You sighed. "I might go help out in the barn this afternoon."

"What needs to be done here?" Kayce looked at you while taking a sip of his coffee.

"Kayce..." You smiled. "You can go do things you need to get done."

"I can help you," He shook his head. "I've got the time."

You finished your coffee and sat the mug down.

"Kace," You leaned against the counter next to him. "I um, don't really know how to ask you this without you maybe taking it the wrong way."

"What're you talking about?" Kayce looked at you.

"You've been...hanging around...a lot lately," You started.

Kayce's eyes danced around the kitchen.

"I live here," He smirked at you.

"Yeah, I know that," You nodded. "But you've been around me a lot...ever since the attack."

Kayce finished his coffee and frowned.

"I think I know why," you reached out and held his arm. "And it's really sweet, you watching out for me...but I'm healed now. You don't have to follow me everywhere, making sure I'm okay."

"It's not just about you healing," Kayce said, crossing his arms.

"Then what's with the bodyguard type treatment?" You asked.

"That's just it," Kayce said. "It's that...I want to make sure you're okay."

"I am okay," You smiled.

"I wasn't here, Y/N..." Kayce said quietly. "I wasn't around to protect you and you...got hurt."

"I didn't get hurt because you weren't here, Kayce," You shook your head. "They were coming no matter who was or wasn't here."

"But I wasn't here for you," Kayce said again. "I don't care about anything else...I wasn't here for you."

You took in Kayce's words for a while, his eyes watching you closely.

"You can't be by my side forever," You smiled at him. "You're gonna have to trust that life is going to work out for us eventually."

"Have you met my family?" Kayce asked.

"I have," You giggled. "And we're gonna be okay...but Kayce you have a job, a very important one that needs you there, doing your job. And I'm not about to be the reason the State of Montana isn't taken care of."

"I don't care about Montana," Kayce told you.

"You can't live like this, Kace..." You stood up and walked around the kitchen island. "We need to move on, back to some type of normalcy...you're the one whose always told me there are monsters everywhere. We can't live as if they're around every corner though...that's not living, baby."

"I don't want to not be here if something happens," Kayce sighed, following you to the front door.

"How do you think I've felt these past few years every time you left for work?" You asked him. "There's a reason I want a kiss every morning you walked out that door...because I knew there could be a day where you don't come back...but I still want you to go, because that's how it's supposed to be."

"They have been hounding me on when I'm coming back," Kayce mumbled, his lips quirking up into a small smile.

"There's thirty people on this ranch most of the time," You smiled. "And after word of what happened to the guys who came on here...I doubt anyone is coming back anytime soon."

"Sounds like you want me gone," Kayce reached for your hips, pulling you closer to him.

"I wanna miss you," You corrected him, laughing. "I wanna think about what you're doing during the day...I wanna surprise you with supper or a picnic out...I want you to miss me so much you come home and take me to bed immediately...we need to get back to a point where I don't see you every second of every day."

"As long as you promise me, you'll be careful?" Kayce questioned. "That you won't go off alone...that you take a gun when you're out riding?"

"I promise," You smiled. "Now...will you please go be the Livestock Commissioner today?"

"Yes, ma'am," Kayce leaned in and kissed you before he stepped back and opened the front door.

"I love you," You called after him.

"Love you, baby," Kayce smiled as he walked out to his truck.