She halted, her eyes cautious. I hated that we weren’t on even ground straight up, but hell, if I had to work to earn her trust again, then I’d put in the hours. I smiled, risking brushing my hand across her waist where a leather tie belt cinched in her denim dress that flowed to her ankles. Buttons were done up in a neat row from her ankles to mid chest giving a tantalizing glimpse of flesh. Her damp curls dried fast in the heat as the temperatures plummeted outside. I knew it would snow tonight.
I swallowed hard as she let me touch her, the warmth of her body seeping through the scarred pads of my fingers. “This is new. I—” My throat closed up, leaving me as speechless as a schoolboy talking to his first crush.
“I missed you too.” She stared at me with fathomless eyes I swore I could fall into and never emerge.
Hell, I didn't want to.
“Was I this useless to you last time I was here?” I murmured, grazing my fingers across her hip in a back and forth motion, enjoying the way her breath hitched a little too much.
Her gaze flicked up and over my shoulder. “Maybe you were better then,” she acknowledged, her cheeks flaring with color. “Archer?—”
“I know. Not in front of the locals.” I dropped my hand and stepped back to let her pass.
Eve stepped down from the last step, and looked up at me. The color remained in her cheeks as she tipped her head back, defiance and awareness vying for dominance in her honey and burnt cinnamon gaze. “Damnit, Rhys. It's my house. I should be able to talk to a man when I want. Without worrying. But I do.” What started out as a huff transformed into a worry, her brows meeting in the middle.
I ached to fold my hands around her waist and draw her into me, shielding her from the world, but we weren’t there, not yet.
“When you’re ready,” I said in a low voice, keeping our conversation private from the rest of the room. “I’m yours, Eve. But not until you ask. Until then, I’ll respect those boundaries.”Even when they sting like fuck.
Eve swayed toward me. “Even if I want you to shatter them?”
I swallowed hard. “Ask me again at the end of the night when everyone's left,” I murmured. “See how you feel then.”
Fuck me if I didn’t want to take her up on that offer right here in front of everyone. But right now, what she chose mattered. If Eve changed her mind then I’d respect that choice, even if it wasn’t the one that I wanted.
The faintest smile played at the corners of her mouth, tipping them upward in the sort of motion I wanted to lick. “Good,” she murmured as she passed me, her hips sashaying in a way that left me clenching my teeth to hold back the urge to ignore everything we just said and kiss her in front of everyone, claim her as mine. But then she’d run, and the fragile trust we’d garnered would never settle between us.
Someone at the long table groaned, and it took everything in me not to slap the fucker on the back of the head. Thankfully Jude called dinner, and I made my way with the rest of the small crowd to the kitchen, grabbing a plate and filling it full of food.
Eve ate alone, with Jude. Neither of them sat at the main table. That was something new. More trust issues, or maybe Jude was protecting her. Either way the new process had my approval. Even though it meant that I spent less time with her, it also meant the other ranch hands kept their eyeballs to themselves.
“You staying the entire season, Archer?” Joe called from the other end of the table as I finished my steak and dived into my sides of vegetables.
The drive and digging Eve out of the mud took a hell of a lot of energy, more than I expected. I devoured my food before I bothered answering the man I'd developed a strong dislike for.
“As long as it takes.”Forever, asshole.
“You got family up this way?”Why are you here?
“Only the people in this room.”Keep your hands and eyes to yourself.
“Good to know there’s a measure of trust already established.Don’t fuck with what I have.
“I’ve got a history with Red Hart.” I sat back and sipped the beer Jude handed me, sliding onto the long bench seat at my side to solidify my claim in silence.
The unspoken conversation Joe and I hosted died a quick death. I hoped he got what he looked for from his probing, as much as I took from his side. The silent run of messages were a two way street. Jude leaned back with his arms folded, his eyes closed as men finished up with their plates and began to disperse for the evening.
“Ten minutes, tops. Get your shit and get out. Leave the lady of the house alone for the night,” he called, his voice rasping with disuse.
“Does that include you?” Joe stopped beside us, seemingly unwilling to let the conversation drop. Someone sniggered nearby as I held his gaze and let my beer bottle rotate slowly in my hand.
“I have business with Archer.” Eve appeared on my other side. The beer slipped from my hand, hers grazing mine as she took a sip. “But Jude’s right. The big house is closed for the night. There’s a few things I need to catch up on.” Her gaze swept around the table until it landed on me. “You. Stay.”
Jude’s hand clapped my shoulder. He leaned in. “Good luck. I’ll see if she’s mauled you in the morning.”
“Fuck off,” I muttered back under my breath without any heat.
The rest of Joe’s crew filed out of the house, their conversation raucous. I never shifted from my seat on the bench, not until the last man left the house, Jude shooing them out of the ranch’s double doors. Only then did I start to rise, my plate in my hands.
