Beca and Jesse managed to lay low and hide their relationship for several months. What was more surprising was that Beca had been able to get out of several prearranged dates her parents set up with Luke. Which meant it wouldn't be long before he was showing up unannounced or her parents started to make more plans for her. Worse yet, she fully expected to be called in for dinner only to find Luke sitting at the dinner table. If that happened things were sure to get heated quickly. Her plan was to stay away from home as much and as often as possible. She figured if she wasn't home, they couldn't plan anything, which so far seemed to be working.

Very early one morning Rae caught Beca sneaking back into the house after she had been out all night with Jesse. They had been out hunting wild hogs which was something Beca had grown to love. It was extremely relaxing and the reward was that she got to shoot something.

"Where in the hell have you been?!" Rae asked folding her arms as she tapped her foot. It was scary how much she looked like their mother at that very moment.

"Oh fuck!" Beca said grabbing her chest. She motioned for Rae to come in. "Shhh, be quiet. Close the door and I'll tell you." Beca was shocked that she had gotten away with sneaking out as long as she had. Luckily, it was Rae that caught her and not one of her parents, because she really wasn't ready to deal with them yet. She decided now was as good a time as any to confide in her younger sister.

"What's going on Beca? And why in the hell are you wearing that God-awful camo crap?!"

"Rae, can I tell you something?" Beca asked as she started removing her hunting gear. "You have to swear you won't tell anyone, especially not Mom and Dad."

Rae sat in Beca's desk "This should be good." she said giving Beca the stank eye and folding her arms across her chest.

"Rae! You have to swear you won't tell anyone."

"I swear...I won't say anything to anyone."

Beca took a deep breath, "Jesse and I are dating."

"Aww Beca!" Rae squealed with excitement as she jumped up off the chair and scooped Beca up into a bone crushing hug. "I love Jesse. He's amazing!"

"Rae…I…can't…breathe." Beca said as she patted Rae's back.

"Oh…sorry." Rae said releasing her from the hug.

"He's SO amazing." Beca agreed trying to put some space between herself and her sister. "The best actually."

"And that camo get-up you're wearing?"

"We were bow huntin' hogs all night."

"YOU went bow huntin'?" Rae's eyes were bulging out of her head.

Beca was amused at her sister's reaction. "Yes."

"So, are you tellin' me that you shot a bow?"

"Yes...Jesse taught me."

"Have you shot a gun?"

"Yes."

"Oh man… is Mom ever gonna have a shit fit!"

Beca cut her eyes at Rae, "Raelyn Theresa! You promised, you swore that you wouldn't say anything!"

"And I won't but you have to know that you can't hide this forever."

"I know I can't but we're not ready for everyone to know."

"Whoa! Wait a minute…what are you going to do about Luke?"

"I've already told Dad that I'm not gonna marry him and that he can't make me. I meant it."

Taking one look at Beca, Rae said "You love Jesse…don't you?"

If possible Beca's face lit up and her eyes sparkled even more than they had just seconds before, "I do. I love him so much Rae. I can't imagine my life without him."

"Then you have to tell Mom and Dad."

"I know. I will."

"When?"

"I don't know yet."

"Beca..."

"I know but I need to deal with the Luke situation first."

"True." Rae agreed. "What's your plan?"

"Well, I was thinking I'd ask Dad to just repay the debt Pop owed Governor Babineaux with interest of course and hope that will get me out of this mess they put me in the middle of."

"That's not a bad idea actually. This all started over a gambling debt, maybe they'll just take the money slink back into whatever hole they crawled out of."

"Dad can definitely afford it, I'll get to be with Jesse and we can stop sneaking around."

"And if that doesn't work?"

"I'm gonna set Luke up with that nasty Stacie chick that uses her hunter to find men."

"Her hunter?"

"Yeah…that's what she calls her lady parts."

"Gross!"

"Yes…very gross, but right up Luke's alley if you ask me!"

"True." Raelyn said in agreement.

"She's been cocked more than John Wayne's rifle!"

Raelyn busted out laughing. "Beca...that's SO wrong!"

"Yeah, well...so is she."

Beca went into her en suite bathroom to wash her face and brush her teeth. When she came back into her bedroom, Raeyn asked, "Hey sis…how long has this been going on with Jesse?"

"Five months." Beca said looking down at her fingers.

"You haven't…you know…gone all the way with Jesse have you?"

"No, but I plan to...soon!"

Back at the tack house, Nora and Charlie were waiting to have a similar conversation with Jesse about the time he was spending with Beca. They were sitting at his kitchen table drinking coffee waiting for him to get back. Jesse walked in thinking he was alone and they scared the life out of him when he turned around. Grabbing his chest he said, "Mom! Dad! What are you doing here? Is Jamie ok?"

"Well…I think the more appropriate question is where have you been?" Charlie asked him.

"I was bow huntin' hogs."

"Alone?" Nora asked knowing full well that he wasn't alone. Jesse looked at his mother and knew he couldn't lie to her face. He poured a cup of coffee and sat at the table. "Jess…I asked you a question?"

"No…I wasn't alone."

"Who were you with?" Charlie asked. Jesse suddenly felt like he was on trial.

"I was with Beca." Nora's jaw dropped. "I was right!" she thought.

"Oh for the love of God and all things holy, Jesse Thomas Toussaint…What in the hell are you thinking?" Charlie said raising his voice.

"Charlie…let the boy explain before you go gettin' crazy on him." Nora said as she took her husband's hand in her own. "Jesse…explain yourself."

"Mom, it just kinda happened….I swear."

"When did all the sneaking around start?" Charlie asked.

"The night of Beca's birthday."

"Told you." Charlie said to Nora. Nora just gave him the 'be quiet' look then turned her attention back to Jesse and the issue at hand.

"I heard some commotion coming from the stables and the next thing I knew Beca had taken off like a bat out of hell on Whiskey. I knew her party was supposed to be starting and that she wasn't supposed to be riding that night. When she didn't come back in time for the party, I went out looking for her. When I finally found her, she was crying. She didn't tell me what was wrong nor did I press her for information. We spent the night talking about other things though."

"You talked? All night?" Charlie said in an accusatory tone. "Are we really supposed to believe that?"

"Yes Dad! That's all that happened. I swear it." Jesse said. "After that we just started hanging out more and more."

"Explain 'hanging out'?"

"Horseback riding, hunting, fishing, she helps me out in the stables, we play music down by the creek." Jesse huffed. "There's no crime in any of that."

"And that's it?"

"Yes Dad. It's it but I hope that one day we can take the next step."

"Oh...to be young and in love again." Nora said real dreamy.

"I love her. I always have and if I have to work from sun up to sun down to repay the debt her grandfather owes to Governor Babineaux, I will. I'm going to marry Beca and neither of you nor her parents can stop us."

Nora started crying when Jesse declared his love for Beca. She knew it had always been there. She saw it in Jesse's eyes every time he looked at Beca and Beca had the same look in her eyes.

"Jesse…I understand where you're coming from son, but her hand in marriage has been promised to Luke Babineaux."

"She doesn't love Luke and she never will. In fact, she loathes him. She punched him in the mouth when he tried to dry hump her in front of me."

"She is a little pistol; has been since she was a baby." Nora said looking like a proud mother.

"Unbelievable! That boy has no class!" Charlie said. "Ok my boy, I can't believe I'm going to say this but, what can you mother and I do to help?"

"Right now…just be supportive."

"Jesse…did you put a gun in her hand?"

"Yeah Dad, but I didn't just put a gun in her hand and say have at. I taught her how to use it. I took her out for target practice. Dad…she shot her first hog with a bow! She's amazing!"

"Well…I can't say that I'm happy about this but I also can't say that I didn't see this coming." Charlie said shaking his head. "Proceed with extreme caution. She's the bosses daughter."

Nora and Charlie explained to Jesse that his relationship with Beca couldn't interfere with their jobs and duties on the ranch. Without their jobs they'd be homeless and forced to sell the family property where their cotton farm once was. They encouraged him to talk to Beca and her parents, perhaps there was something that could be done.

"Dad…I love her. I'm not going to do anything to screw that up."

Nora stood up and walked around the table, took Jesse's face in her hands, kissed his cheek and said, "Make me proud my sweet boy. I love you and Beca so, so much."

"Thanks Mom…Love you too."

Later that evening, Beca told Rae that she had to meet Jesse and swore her to secrecy then threatened her to within an inch of her life if she told anyone.

"I swear Beca I won't tell." She said. "They can whip me, beat me, take away my credit card and I still won't tell."

"Don't be ridiculous. If Mom and Dad threatened to take away your credit card, you would sing like a damn canary and I'd have a chastity slapped on me and be locked in a tower before I knew what hit me."

Rae chuckled "Now who's being ridiculous?!"

"Ok, that may have been a slight over exaggeration but I wasn't too far off the beaten path."

"That's true." The girls had been lying in Beca's bed when Rae laid her head in Beca's lap and asked. "Beca, how long do you think you and Jesse can keep up this charade?"

"Honestly, I don't know but Rae, I absolutely refuse to marry Luke." She said playing with Rae's hair, "I'll run away, they'll never see me again if they try make me marry him."

"I'm actually surprised you haven't run already."

Beca took a deep breath and let it out, "Jesse is the only reason I haven't. I want New York but I want Jesse more. I'm willing to give it all up and live in this small town for the rest of my life just to be with him."

"Wow! You must really love him if you're willing to give up New York."

"Being with him is magical Rae. It's simple, it's easy, it's natural and most importantly, it feels right."

Sitting up to look at Beca, Rae said, "I really hope everything works out for you and Jesse because I'd really hate to lose my big sister."

Rae hugged Beca and for the first time that she could remember Beca really hugged her back. Beca loved her sister, they may be polar opposites but little moments like this made her realize just how important Rae was to her.

"I'm gonna go to bed now. Enjoy your date with Jesse." Rae said as released Beca from the hug. "I love you Beca.

"Love you too kiddo!"

After everyone was asleep, Beca went down to her father's study to grab a bottle of whiskey from the liquor cabinet. He had so many bottles that he would never notice if one went missing. Then she went to the kitchen and grabbed some bottled water, turkey sandwiches, veggies and fruit before going to meet Jesse.

Since it was storming they agreed to meet in the hayloft above the stable. When Beca climbed the ladder she was left completely speechless. The hayloft had been divided in half by a wall in the center. She knew it had been divided but she hadn't been up there since the renovations had taken place. She had no idea why the renovations were done or how the space was currently being used until now.

As she walked in she put down the items she's been carrying and took a closer look around. In the front half of the loft, the only light was coming from candles that had been placed inside of mason jars. Jesse had somehow attached wire to the jars and used eye bolts to hang them from the rafters. He also made a pallet for them to lie down on and left the windows to the loft open so they could feel the crisp fall breeze.

The back half of the loft was set up with all his work out equipment. It was clean and tidy, nothing like she could have ever imagined. Her eyes found Jesse and what she saw absolutely took her breath away. He was doing pull ups from a bar that hung from one of the rafters. She couldn't help but watch for a minute; listening as he counted "285…286…287." The sight of him in only his jeans was just well…"Mmmm" and the way the sweat ran down his muscles as they rippled with every move he made was simply delicious.

Because the stereo was on, he didn't hear her walk in. She toed her Chuck Taylor's off then quietly walked toward him. As he hung from the bar, mustering up the strength to continue his pull ups, she walked up behind him, kissed his sweaty back and ran her hands up his sides.

"Oh shit!" he said still hanging from the bar.

"Sorry…I didn't mean to startle you." She said with a wicked little grin as she walked around and planted a kiss on his perfect abs.

"It's ok. I was just getting in some exercise while I was waiting for you."

"Yeah… I… uhh…I see that." She stuttered watching as he started pulling himself up again.

"So, do you like what you see?"

"Oh yeah." She said as she wrapped her body around his and climbed him like a tree, wrapping her legs tightly around his waist as he continued to hang from his pull up bar. When she was face to face with him, she kissed him and said, "You need to do that more often."

"So…you're sayin' I'm fat?" he asked jokingly as he continued doing pull ups with her still attached to him.

"Oh…hell no." she said taking in every inch of his solid body. "I'd say… you're just right. Perfect actually." She said kissing and sliding her hands over his sweaty chest.

"298…299…300; I'm getting you all sweaty." He said as he let go of the bar with his right hand, snaking his arm around her waist careful to make sure that he had a good grip on her before letting go with his left hand.

"I don't care." She was covered in his sweat and she really didn't much care. He ran his free hand up her arm, over her shoulder and up to her neck. He cupped her face and began kissing her.

"You know…" he said kissing her neck his hand rested on her hips, "I need to have you climb me like a tree more often."

"Oh yeah…" she said very breathy, "Why's that?"

"Motivation." He smirked, "Every time I did a pull up you gave me kiss, I could get used to that."

"So could I." she said with a wink. "You hungry?"

"You. Are. The. Best." He said kissing her after each word.

She giggled, "I'll take that as a yes."

"Mmm." He mumbled as he nuzzled and kissed her neck.

She whispered, "Hey cowboy…."

"Hmm…"

"I'm not on the menu…"

"Damn it!" he said feeling a little defeated. He knew that she wasn't ready to take the next step but it was getting harder and harder to hold back and quite frankly, he was growing tired of cold showers.

"You didn't let me finish."

"Finish what?"

"What I was saying."

"What were you saying?"

"I was saying I wasn't on the menu…yet."

He continued kissing along her jaw line "Mmm…sounds promising."

"Patience is a virtue."

"That it is." He said with a wink. "But it's in very short supply at the moment and cold showers suck!"

She was running her index finger along his jaw line, which was driving him crazy. His skin felt like it was on fire. "And I promise…" she said placing feather kisses on his lips, "your patience will be rewarded…soon."

"Well, then here's to patience." Jesse said as he smacked her butt playfully as she removed her legs from his waist and got down taking his hand and dragging him to where she put the food.

They managed to pry themselves off of each other long enough to eat. When they were finished, Jesse took her hand and stood up so they could dance; making out soon commenced. He loved holding her in his arms. They were like puzzle pieces; they fit together so well that nothing could get between them.

"You're so beautiful." He told her as he pushed her hair out of her eyes and trailed kisses from her mouth to her cheek. Beca blushed. She didn't see herself the same way he did. She saw herself as an everyday plain Jane, the typical girl next door. Her sister was the beautiful one; she was statuesque and Barbie-like.

As they danced, Jesse's hands roamed her body. One hand was in the waistband of her shorts the other resting on her ribs, his thumb rubbing the side of her breast. He was nuzzling her neck, when she asked, "Jess…what's behind that door right there?"

He groaned. He couldn't give two shits or a fuck about what was behind door number 2. He wanted what was in hands. He wanted her. "Which one?" he finally asked still kissing her jawline and trying like hell to distract her.

"The one with the pad lock on it."

Without looking up he said, "I don't know."

"Well…" she said with a mischievous look in her eyes "I say, we find out."

With a very determined look in his eyes he took her hand, placed it on his erection and said, "Do you feel that? You do that to me. I want you Beca. I want you so damn bad."

Beca looked a little embarrassed but never broke eye contact with him. "I want you too...but I'm scared Jesse. I'm scared you'll get what you want and then this (motioning between them) will all be gone or will never be the same."

"Beca, I love you and I promised you that I would never hurt you. I fully intend to keep that promise. You're stuck with me." He told her. "And you're right, we won't be the same. We'll be better."

"You swear?"

"Babe, I have never wanted anything so much in all my life." he said as his thumb brush her cheek. "I love you. I always have and I always will."

They stared deeply into each others eyes before Beca kissed him hard. She wanted him just as badly as he wanted her. It was now or never. If she decided to wait then it may never happen. He pulled her down on to the pallet that he had made for them. She broke their kiss to straddle his hips. Keeping eye contact she pulled her tank top over her head and Jesse ran his hands up her sides.

Jesse took a deep breath, "Oh my God...you're even more beautiful than I ever could have imagined." He leaned forward some putting his weight on one hand which was slightly behind him and his other hand on her hip. He groaned as she leaned forward to kiss him. His hand slid from where they were on her hip up her side and around her back. Her skin was so soft under his rough hands. The roughness sent tingles up her spine.

He pulled back, looked her in the eyes and said, "Are you ok?"

"Never better."

Jesse flipped them over so that he was laying on top of her. He trailed kisses from her jawline down to her chest. When he got to the lacy trim on her bra he looked at her for permission. She nodded. He was taking things slow which Beca was thankful for and in turn, he was thankful that the clasp on her bra was in the front. When he unclasped and removed her bra he couldn't believe the absolute perfection that was her breasts and he wasted no time taking one of her nipples into his mouth. Beca moaned. The more he sucked and tweaked her nipples the more she moved around. There was no way to lay still while he was using his mouth to do such wonderful things to her. She could feel the moisture between her legs and suddenly she had the urge for more, much more.

Jesse slid a hand down her stomach to find the button on her shorts. Again he looked at her for permission. He didn't want to do anything she wasn't ready for. If she wasn't ready then he'd wait, as hard as that would be he would wait because he wanted their first time to be perfect and memorable. He unbuttoned her shorts and began to slide them down her legs. He tossed them to the side as she reached for his face and pulled him up to kiss him. He really was doing everything to make this special for her.

"Are you ready?" Jesse asked, laying in his side, leaning on his elbow

She closed her eyes, pressed her head into the pillows, "Mmhhmm"

Jesse slid his hand into her panties. "You're wet. Really wet."

"Jess...I need you."

With those words, he plunged his fingers into her causing her to cry out. She knew it would feel good but she had no idea it could feel like this. His thumb found her clit and began circling it. Her arms and legs were moving but she wasn't controlling them, it was the weirdest sensation. Her right hand found the tongue of the zipper on Jesse's jeans. She slowly slid it down and put her hand inside his boxers. She needed to feel him, skin to skin. She could feel him twitching beneath her hand. She removed her hand from his boxers and he groaned. Reaching up she placed her index finger to his lips and told him "Shhh... take your jeans off."

Jesse was more than happy to oblige even if it meant that he had to stop what he was doing for a minute. He slid his jeans and boxers down his legs and stood completely nekkid in front of her. She bit down on her index finger, never taking her eyes off of his gorgeous form. The glow from the only light in the room coming from behind him made him look like an angel.

She laid there in nothing but a barely there pair of panties. He knelt down in front of her and began to remove her panties. "Why do you even wear these things? It's just some string and a small triangle of fabric."

"Well, if you don't like them I'll be sure to pick up some granny panties the next time I'm at the mall."

"Oh, no...I'm not complaining but it's going to be a lot more difficult to see you in those booty shorts knowing that this (holding up her panties) is all that's underneath them."

She laughed. "Are we going to talk or are we going to do what nekkid people do?"

"I pick option number 2!" he said lowering himself down onto her. "Beca...I love you so much."

"I love you Jess...more than you'll ever know."

As Jesse entered her slowly she winced. She was tight and he worried that he was too big for her. "Babe are you ok."

"I'm fine but if you don't take care of business soon, I can't promise that you will be."

"Yes ma'am!" he winked. He thrust in and out of her slowly at first then increased his rhythm while still rubbing circles on her clit. Her hips met his with every thrust. He could feel her tightening around him which made him groan, his head falling back. "Oh my God!" Beca pulled him down into a kiss quickly. They didn't need anyone to hear them and come running. How embarrassing would that be?

Beca could feel the buildup inside her body and she knew it wouldn't be long before he pushed her over the edge. He broke their kiss, "Babe, I'm almost there. I'm not sure how much longer I can hold it off."

She couldn't respond, then he felt her release and followed. He was spent. He laid down next to her pulling her into his side. "I love you so much."

"Mmmm. Love you too." she sighed before falling asleep.