Gunner reached for him, but Jace only patted him on the back.
Bonnie nodded. “Yes, I saw it long before Gunner got anywhere near it.”
“Thank God.” He withdrew his gun and held it close, barrel toward the ground. “Where is it?”
She pointed to where the snake was stretched out.
“Take Gunner inside, please, that way the shot doesn’t hurt his ears. I’ll come in when I’m done.”
Bonnie shifted Gunner in her arms and headed for the house. They weren’t inside long before the sound of a gunshot told her the snake was gone.
Gunner obliviously kicked a ball around the kitchen floor.
True to his word, Jace walked in not long later. “All taken care of. Cabe, the guy who has been running the ranch since Grandpa passed, said he’s killed several in the last couple of weeks. I guess keep an eye out.”
Bonnie nodded. “I thought about getting a shovel and killing it that way, but I didn’t want to risk setting Gunner down to do it.” And the idea of getting close enough to kill it with a shovel didn’t sit well with her. But she would’ve done it if she had to. “Again, I’m sorry to have interrupted you at work.”
He shot her a firm look. “If you, or Gunner, ever need something, it’s not an interruption.” The tone of his voice told her he was being serious. “It’s not like before where I’d have to walk out of conference calls or leave the office. I’m only a few minutes away here. It’s never any trouble.”
He watched her with an intensity that captured her gaze and made it hard to look away.
Gunner drove his car across the floor and crashed it into Jace’s boot, snagging the attention of both adults.
Jace reached down and ruffled his son’s hair. “Whoa, big guy.” He knelt down. “I’ve got to get back to work. Behave yourself, okay?” He pulled the little boy into his arms for a brief hug before Gunner was off and running again.
Bonnie pushed some hair behind her ear and cleared her throat. “Thanks for taking care of the snake, Jace.”
He nodded once before walking back toward the front door. Bonnie followed. He’d just opened it to leave when he turned again and lightly touched her arm.
“Thank you for keeping Gunner safe.”
With that, he pivoted and left, but not before his fingers had effectively set her skin on fire. She placed a cool hand over it and forced herself to take a calming breath. She watched as her boss–-a businessman turned rancher–got back in his truck and drove away.
Her phone pinged just then, and she looked to find a message from Lew. “Dinner Saturday at five?”
Saved by the boyfriend—the man she ought to be focused on. It was hard to ignore the fact that a simple touch from Jace had more effect on her than Lew ever had.
Chapter Seven
The moment Bonnie opened the door and saw Lew’s face, she knew he wasn’t happy. It wasn’t so much the way the corners of his mouth were angled down as the critical look in his eyes.
She’d offered to meet him in Clearwater, but Lew insisted on picking her up. She suspected he wanted to see where she was living now. She couldn’t blame him. But he clearly found it lacking.
Bonnie tamped down her annoyance and tried to put a normal smile on her face. “Hey, I’m glad you found it. Isn’t it pretty out here?”
“It took even longer to get here than I thought. We’re going to be late for our reservation.”
“I was hoping to give you a tour of my apartment…” The moment the words left her lips, it was clear Lew had no interest. “Let me grab my bag, and I’ll be ready to go.”
Once she was, Lew escorted her to his Mercedes where she slid into the passenger seat. Normally, she would’ve pointed out some things–-like the sheep she could see in a nearby pasture. Instead, she clasped her hands in her lap and dug a thumbnail into the side of one of her fingers.
All the way back to Clearwater, Lew spoke of nothing but his work and how long it was taking for them to get to town again. Not once did he ask if she was settled into her new place.
Considering he hadn’t bothered to talk to her since the night she’d worked late, his reactions were entirely too petty.
They’d been growing apart for a while, but Bonnie hadn’t realized just how self-centered he was until she’d made the decision to move to the ranch without his approval. Ever since then, he’d made it clear he was unhappy and seemed completely uninterested in anything she had to say about the subject.
Once they’d parked, Lew opened her door and then captured her hand in his. The first thing that entered Bonnie’s mind was the way a touch from Jace had sent tingles zipping up and down her skin. Here with Lew? There was none of that.
