The words hit him like a physical impact. He was in. He belonged here.
Their hands met in a hard clasp.
Ever since he arrived at the Black Heart Ranch, he felt like he was exactly where he belonged.
Now? He felt like the ranch, the team…thewoman…were his future.
Chapter Seven
Three days. It had been three days since Decker kissed her in the lodge library, and she hadn’t managed to run into him once.
And not for lack of trying.
She’d lingered in the dining hall during the times she usually saw him. She invented reasons to check the stables when she knew he’d be caring for the horses. And she’d walked into the lodge library a number of times hoping to bump into him.
Nothing.
It was like the man had vanished into thin air, which was particularly frustrating considering they lived on the same ranch.
She was on the verge of barging into Carson’s office and demanding to know if Decker had been sent away for training, even as she knew how silly that sounded. Her brothers would train a new member of Black Heart Security themselves.
The rational part of her brain—the part that sounded suspiciously like Carson—kept reminding her that Decker was probably busy preparing for his new role.
Orientation and training, but she didn’t really know what Carson put new recruits through, since Decker was the first one outside their family.
The irrational part of her brain, the part that kept replaying the way he’d cupped her face and flipped her world over when he kissed her, was starting to wonder if he was avoiding her.
Maybe he’d realized that getting involved with the boss’s sister wasn’t the smartest career move. Maybe—
Her phone buzzed with a delivery notification, cutting off her spiral of increasingly dramatic scenarios. The tactical gear she’d ordered had arrived, and the driver was at the main gate waiting for a signature.
Willow barely scanned the notification before grabbing her truck keys. She had to intercept those packages before one of her brothers got there first because this was her chance—her excuse to seek out Decker without looking like she was seeking out Decker.
She would simply be delivering equipment to a new team member. Perfectly professional. Completely innocent. She really didn’t want to mess things up for him.
But her resolve to stay away wavered as her pulse quickened at the thought of seeing him.
As she jumped into her truck, she automatically glanced around for him—he always seemed to turn up whenever she went into Willowbrook. But the parking area and yard spanning between the house and the lodge were strangely empty.
She quickly bumped down the driveway and collected the packages. When she returned, she parked and rushed straight to the office.
Her long strides ate up the hall, boots thumping with every step. She peeked into Carson’s office, and he looked up from sharpening a tactical knife.
“Decker’s gear arrived. I’ll give it to him.”
His mouth twitched at one corner. “Okay. Tell him we’re all going to the bar tonight to celebrate our new team member.”
She set a hand on her hip. “That’s the first I’ve heard of this plan.”
“You would have if you’d attended the meeting this morning.”
“I was working with Serenity.”
It wasn’t a complete lie—she had exercised Juliette’s gentle mare—but in hopes that Decker would show up and fold his arms on the top rail of the fence, tracking her every move.
“I’ll let Decker know when I give him the gear.” She already had a foot over the threshold when Carson’s voice rang out.
“Willow?”
