I point at him. “You cannot be a cowboy and a secret agent.”
His stare drifts over me, slow. “Watch me.”
My stomach flips, traitorous.
I look away first, because if I don’t, I’ll start thinking about him pressing me against the counter again, and I’m trying to be a functioning human being today.
When we’re done, my hands smell like barn and effort. My hair is probably a disaster. My bag is still strapped to my body like I’m afraid it’ll evaporate.
Knox doesn’t tease me about that. Not directly.
Instead, he says, “You wanna wash up?”
“I want a shower,” I say. “A real one.”
He glances at the sun, then back at me. “Too hot for a shower.”
“That makes zero sense.”
“It makes Ranch sense,” he says. “Come on. I’ll show you Mesquite Creek.”
My pulse jumps. “The swimming hole you mentioned at the Grill?”
His eyes flash. “Yeah.”
I hesitate, because my brain immediately supplies danger. Open water. Open space. No walls.
Knox reads it anyway. He lowers his voice. “You’ll be fine. I’ll be right there.”
Right there.
Like that’s enough to make the world safe.
It shouldn’t be.
It is.
Mesquite Creek is exactly what he promised to be.
Clear water, cool and inviting, edged with smooth rocks and cottonwoods that throw shade like a gift. The air smells like sun-warmed leaves and clean earth.
I toe off my shoes and stare at the water like it might bite.
Knox is already unbuttoning his jeans. “You look like you’re thinking too hard again.”
“I didn’t bring a swimsuit,” I say, folding my arms.
He grins, wicked and lazy. “That’s not a problem unless you want it to be.”
“You’re just going to skinny dip? In broad daylight?”
“There is no one here, and I just taught you how to milk a cow. You’ve earned a reward.”
I narrow my eyes. “That’s what this is? A reward?”
He kicks off his jeans and briefs and walks straight into the creek, bare and unashamed. Sunlight spills over him, turning his skin gold as the water climbs his thighs, slicking over muscle and scars and strength.
He doesn’t rush. Doesn’t hide. Just moves through the current with that quiet confidence that says he knows exactly how he looks, exactly what he’s doing to me, and he’s letting it happen anyway.
