Except it wasn’t. His voice strained from the tension coiling through him, like he might snap any second. But it wasn’t pain that made him groan like that—it wasme, the kiss. The heat in his eyes seared my soul for all its longing, and the fire deep inside me roared back to life.
My stomach flipped over, the breath stilled in my lungs. How had I read everything all wrong? It wasn't dislike of me that kept his hands gripped tight around the steering wheel, but something so far the opposite, I questioned everything I thought I knew of him. The realization hit me like one of Bullet's sudden kicks.
Ty was attracted to me.
Ty, who seemed hell-bent on keeping me at arm’s length and doing everything he could to get me off his ranch, was attracted to me? How long had he been hidingthat?
I blinked hard, emotions clouding my thoughts until my head swam. Picking up my purse from the floor of the truck, I tried to act as normal as possible after seeing that flare of desire in his eyes. A tall order when his delicious scent filled the air, and my lips still tingled from where I’d pressed them against his stubbly cheek.
“Thanks for the ride home.” My voice sounded strange in the cab of his truck. Too loud, and too strained. “It would have been cramped in the back of Harper’s car.”
“No problem.”
I made the mistake of meeting his eyes again. His features looked tortured, so torn between desire and despair, I ached for him. I tugged on the door handle and climbed out before I could do something stupid like slide back over and kiss him again.
THIRTEEN
ty
Even though myevery thought centered on her, I did my best to keep my distance from June. I walked out to greet her when she arrived in the morning and gave her a few instructions before holing up in the house again. Between her and Aaron coming and going all afternoon, I would have been better off to just stay out in the barn, sitting on the bench and keeping an eye on things, but after last night, I couldn’t face her.
Truth was, I couldn’t resist her.
Everything would be easier if she thought I didn’t like her. Probably anything was better than her realizing it had taken every ounce of strength in me not to pull her into my arms and kiss her senseless right there in front of her father’s house. When she’d leaned up close, that scent of flowers washing over me, I’d nearly lost my mind. If she’d gone for my mouth instead of my cheek, it would have broken the last thread of my control. Her sweet, warm lips brushing over my skin had been full of such tenderness, doing absolutely nothing in return had knocked me out with a whole new kind of pain.
But indulging in that impulse would have been worse. Bret was the one who took what he wanted without thought for the consequences, not me. Everything I valued in myself—trustworthiness, loyalty, honesty—would blast apart in a single kiss.
But good Lord, I wanted that kiss.
Again and again, I told myself what I’d seen in her last glance had simply been pity. She considered me a friend, and nothing more. Or if not a friend, friendly. Sort of. But I couldn’t walk that slippery slope with June. Her small kiss left me tortured with fevered dreams of her dark hair and soft mouth until I woke up in the morning aching for everything I couldn’t have. Actualfriendlinessjust might kill me.
The sound of a truck rattling into the yard startled me out of my thoughts. I went to the front window, and my stomach sank as a horse trailer rolled in. Adam Wright. Might have guessed that man would be the next to come by.
Wright ran a cattle ranch a few towns away. He brought his horses to me to be started and trained, but he made a point of mentioning how far he had to drive to get here, how he sure would like to have someone more convenient to his ranch. Apparently, my injury had been the push he’d needed to find that someone.
I walked out to greet him as soon as he climbed out of his truck. We shook hands, and he looked me over, a satisfied expression on his face.
“How are the ribs doing?”
“Working on healing.”
“You know, I got kicked like that once about a dozen years ago. Left a nasty bruise, but didn’t break any bones.”
He smiled as if maybe I would congratulate him on his ribs of steel.
“Wish I could say the same. I see you brought your trailer.”
“I have to collect Ladybird,” he said, looking me dead in the eye. “I’ll settle up with you, of course, but I’ve made other arrangements to finish her training.”
“I understand.”
And I did. She was destined to be a working horse, and Wright wanted her ready for the range as soon as possible. I couldn’t fault him for handling his business the way he thought best. I just wished it wouldn’t hit my own business so hard.
We walked into the barn to collect Ladybird’s tack. June looked up from mucking stalls, casting a curious look on Wright before glancing at me. Her expression changed, and just like that, she understood. She went back to her work, but I’d seen the tug at her mouth, the twitch in her brow. How she could read a situation like that so clearly, I couldn’t guess. Or maybe she could just readme. That would be a problem all on its own.
After Wright had the bulk of Ladybird’s tack loaded into the trailer, he grabbed a halter and lead rope and headed out to the pasture to call her in. I watched from the open barn door as he struggled to reach the horse. Ladybird didn’t pay him much mind, jumping away whenever he got too close. Not sure what he’d expected from an untrained horse. I might have helped him a little more if he’d asked, but as it was, I just watched his attempts.
June came up beside me as Wright crept closer to his mischievous animal.
