He glanced at me, those blue eyes lingering on mine for a beat too long. “You good?”
I nodded, but right now, I wasn’t sure what that even meant. I also wasn’t sure why I was suddenlylessconfident about this being the right decision than I had been before.
I guessed that it had something to do with the way Trent seemed to have changed since Chicago, his presence seeming bigger here. Realer, somehow. I’d officially stepped into his territory. Here, the rough hands, the stubble, and the build that filled the narrow aisle of the jet weren’t out of place.
They were part of the landscape. Exactly what they should be. It was disarming.
To say the freaking least.
Sweeping one big hand out ahead of him, he motioned for me to precede him, helping me down the stairs with his handwarm and steady at my back.Despite the two bags he’s also still carrying.Holy cow.
As we stepped onto the runway, the wind carried the scent of sunbaked earth, grass, and something clean I couldn’t name, and I inhaled deeply, off kilter because even the smells were unfamiliar. Another not-so-little thing that immediately jumped out at me was how completely quiet it was here.
Grass rustled slightly in the breeze, tree creaking a little, but other than that, all I heard was total silence. Trent’s world stretched in every direction, solitary, beautiful, and wild.
“Welcome to Shepard Ranch,” he said, leading me toward a huge truck parked nearby.
I’d rarely seen these monstrous kinds of vehicles in real life, but it was massive, powerful, and in a weird way, utterly him. Guys in Chicago bragged about leasing these, then they traded them in when they realized they couldn’t fit in any of the city’s parking spaces.
Meanwhile, this one looked like Trent had built it himself, with nothing but his bare hands and a welding torch. It also fit right in, exactly as big as it needed to be to get the job done. It even had hay and dirt in the back, all of which made me feel evenmorelike an alien who’d crash landed here.
After dumping the bags unceremoniously on the back seat, he strode around the truck and opened the door for me without saying a word. I nodded my thanks and climbed in carefully, smoothing my dress and trying not to think about how easily he’d tossed my luggage around.
Two weeks was a long time, so those bags weighed a ton. I’d had to sit on them and bounce a little to convince them to close. Back home, my brothers would’ve complained about them and the other men I knew would’ve gotten staff to help haul them around, but that wasn’t how things worked around here.
Clearly, Trent wasn’t the man I’d thought he was—bossing farm hands around and probably allergic to actually getting his own hands dirty. It was quickly becoming apparent that the guy didn’t just own the land, he worked it.
Plus, I’d always known he was rich. That his family had a big ranch and all that, but being here and seeing it was very different. I was burning to ask him about it all. Perhaps even to find out if this was how he felt in Chicago, like a fish out of water. He’d never let on, but he had to.
Right?
Instead of babbling, however, I kept my mouth firmly shut. Trent had barely said a word on the flight and he still seemed sort of distracted. Not rude at all, just quietly thoughtful in that way men got when they were thinking about everything and pretending it was nothing.
We drove for what felt like miles through open land, past fences, cattle, and barns that were nicer than most restaurants before he finally spoke. My nose had practically been glued to the window, but I turned to face him at the sharp sound of his voice piercing the silence.
“Just a couple of ground rules,” he said, not looking away from the road, but his drawl certainly not as lazy as usual. “You’re my girlfriend now, so you’ll hear me introduce you as such. Don’t be weird about it.”
I stared at his profile, noticing the bulge at the back of his jaw that told me he was biting back a lot more than just that. “Why would I be weird about it?”
He flicked the briefest look at me, like he was checking if I was serious. “Because approximately forty-eight hours ago, you and I were both still single.”
“We still are.”
“Not as far as anybody else is concerned.” He glanced at me again, those deep red eyebrows rising a little bit. “You get that,right? As of right now, you’re my devoted girlfriend who loves me so much that you couldn’t even bear the thought of letting me come wrap up business on the ranch without coming out here with me.”
I rolled my eyes. “I’m pretty sureyou’rethe one who insisted that Imustcome home with you to see the ranch and meet the family.”
Surprised laughter tore out of him, but it didn’t last long. “Alright, fine. We’re both equally smitten. Just, uh, just don’t overthink it and roll with whatever happens.”
“Right.” I exhaled a long, slow breath, surprised that endless fields were still rolling by outside. It really felt like their property stretched on forever. “Explain to me again how this helps you. Aside from having eye candy on your arm at your parents’ party, why would you agree to this?”
I doubted he would have struggled to find a date to this Labor Day shindig. Especially now that I’d seen his family’s spread. No doubt women around here would be willing to do whatever he asked for a chance to become the lady of this manor.Ranch. Whatever.
Trent lifted his shoulder in a shrug. “Outside of that, it doesn’t really help me. If anything, it’s a favor for a friend and Alex will owe me eventually.”
I blinked hard and turned back to the window. “Wow, it’s nice to know where we stand.”
When I risked another glance at him to see if he was at least a little contrite about it, he was smirking just enough to make me want to smack him.And maybe kiss him after that.
