Note: This is a fanfiction based off of a series that I have wrote. The main lead male character's name has been changed to follow the storyline. I don't own or have anything to do with the WWE, its parters or the Undertaker.

Also, books one through three of the A Cowboy's Heart series will be available on Kindle in one complete book for only 2.99

Chapter Forty

Mark wanted so much to tell her to just stay there with his dog and him and to not return back to the city. Actually, he really wished to command her to remain there with him and that she was not going to go anywhere else.

However there was no way that he could do such a thing. It was not in him to be that forceful and aggressive to a woman, especially to someone as wonderful and beautiful as Emily.

Moving away from the back door, Mark made his way in the direction of the living room, letting the screen door close on its own. He walked over to where his white fireplace mantle was, and placed his forearms on the ledge of it.

You know very well that you can't let Emily leave Oleander. His conscience spoke to him from within the recesses of his mind with a firm, demanding tone. If she leaves and goes back to her home in Houston…You will spiritually and emotionally die.

The whisperings of his inner voice brought his head down against the tops of his strong arms. He closed his piercing stare and let out a low groan through the opening of his mouth while responded back to his conscience in the same exact way that he had heard it speak to him.

Do you think that I am not aware of that?

Why are you not telling her more bluntly or at least asking her to stay here with you?

I don't want to force it on her…That is the last thing I want to do to someone who has brought a side of me back from the edge of death.

You can't go on like this, Mark.

I want Emily to make the decision on her own, not by me forcing it down her throat and giving her no other choice.

Just ask her to stay with you for a little while…Maybe for two weeks.

That suggestion didn't sound like a bad idea at all. Giving Emily the option to stay for two more weeks at the end of her stay there with him and allow him the chance to show her how good a life could be for them both would be perfect for him.

I think that you might be right on that…I believe that if I offer her the choice of giving me a couple of weeks that she might be more tempted to stay here with me, and see just how good-

The mixture of Emily's sweet voice whispering to him and one of her soft hands moving onto the backs of one of his shoulders snapped him out of the conversation with his conscience, and brought him to turn around, and focus his complete attention onto the southern goddess that stood before him.

"Mark…" Emily spoke to him with her soft voice lingering its way out of the confines of her mouth. "I know that you want me to live with you at the end of my time with my grandmother with every fiber of your being…but I just don't know if it is even a possibility at this moment."

She moved over to where a beige suede sofa was positioned in a corner of the living room beside a window, and sat herself down close to the middle of it. Her eyes moved down towards her feet while she let the words flow freely from her mouth.

"I have a job back in Houston, as well as an apartment. My rent will be due at the end of the summer and I won't have time left at work to take off for me to stay here any longer."

She wanted to stay there longer, especially with Mark. The idea of returning back to her lonely life in Houston didn't appeal to her at all. Emily wanted to stay there, and not go anywhere else.

"Mark, I just…I just don't know about staying here once the summer is over. It would mean starting over, having to find work and-"

Her frantic plea fell silent upon feeling his tall, muscular frame sitting down beside her, and easing one of his hands over the top of one of hers with their fingers slipping between one another. She lingered on how their hands looked at the moment before moving her eyes up to gaze upon his gorgeous face. Every muscle in her body tightened with absolute desire from the intense need burning in his eyes and slipping into his deep voice.

"Emily," Mark replied, "there is a way that we can spend some time together for you to find out for yourself if you do indeed want to stay here with me or if you want to go back to Houston."

Her curiosity peaked at the suggestion he had made to her. The idea of a solution to the problem tempted her, and caused the inner emotion to slip out and into the open.

"How…How can I stay with you when-"

"Spend the rest of your summer with me, Emily."

Emily's body, as well as her voice, froze instantly when she heard the answer that Mark had to her dilemma: Stay for the remainder of the summer with him, and decide then if she really wants to go back to Houston or stay there for good with him. She struggled to speak out for her voice to be heard, but could only manage a few words out at a time.

"S-Say that again, Mark."

"I believe you heard me just fine, Emily."

"You want me to spend the rest of the summer here with you?"

"Yes…I would love you to stay longer with him…but this would give you a chance to see for yourself if you can stay here beyond this month with me or if you really belong in the city."