“You always were too curious for your own good,” he murmurs.
“And you always were too good at keeping secrets.”
Something shifts in his expression, a darkness passing over his features like a cloud across the moon. “What makes you think I’m keeping secrets?”
“Because I know you, Jesse. I’ve known you my whole life.” I reach out and touch his arm, feeling the solid muscle beneath his shirt. “And I know when you’re lying.”
His jaw tightens under my touch, but he doesn’t pull away. “Maybe you don’t know me as well as you think.”
“Maybe I know you better than you know yourself.”
The tension between us is almost unbearable now, thick as summer air before a storm. I can see the war playing out in his eyes, the struggle between whatever he’s hiding and his desire to trust me.
“Aubree,” he says, his voice barely above a whisper.
“What?”
“You need to let this go.”
“Like hell I do.” The words come out stronger than I intended. “I didn’t let things go when we were kids, and I’m not about to start now.”
Before I can react, his hand comes up to cup my face, his thumb tracing along my jawline. The touch is gentle but firm, and I can feel the calluses on his fingers from years of ranch work.
“You might not like what you find,” he says, his voice rough with warning.
“I might surprise you.”
For a moment, I think he’s going to kiss me. His eyes drop to my lips, and I can feel the heat radiating from his body. But instead, he leans forward and presses his lips to my cheek, justbelow my ear. The kiss is soft but brief, over almost before it begins.
“Good night, Aubree,” he whispers against my skin.
Then he’s gone, standing up from the swing and walking away, leaving me sitting there with my heart racing and more questions than answers burning in my mind.
I touch my cheek where his lips were, still feeling the warmth of his kiss. Whatever Jesse is hiding, whatever secrets he and Devlin are keeping, I’m going to find out. He should know by now that telling me to let something go is the surest way to make me dig deeper.
Some things never change.
And right now, I’m grateful for that.
SIX
JESSE
“How’d things go last night?”Truett asks early the next morning, as we have coffee together at the barn.
The fucking sun hasn’t even come up over the hills yet, and he wants me to get my thoughts together? Luckily for both of us, I’m used to it.
I take a drink, wincing. “Fuck, that’s hot.”
“But it’s strong,” Truett laughs.
Shaking my head, I set the cup down on the desk in his office. “Too fuckin’ strong. Anyway, last night was successful. We picked up the package, and it’s out in the east pasture.”
“Did you have any problems?” he asks, leaning back in his chair. “I was worried since Aubree was here last night. We’ve gotten sloppier than we should since she’s been gone.”
Now, this puts me in a tough situation. Do I tell him that I spent most of the evening when I got back out with her behind the house? My cock gets slightly hard thinking about almost kissing her. In the end, I figure I should be honest. “She was on the swing last night when Devlin and I got back.”
“Shit.” He closes his eyes. “What did she say? What did you do?”
