“Yeah, but Gunner is still wary about fire.” He shuddered. “Fucking horrible night.”
I hadn’t worked on the ranch then but visited to see Dreamy. The idea that someone could set stables alight with horses inside was horrific and they were lucky, if you could call it that, to only lose one. It just happened to be Gunner’s childhood horse, Ariel. He was devastated.
“Maybe a log burner,” I suggested.
He grinned. “There was never any choice really. I’m just excited to get started now that both my brothers are settled.”
“So, is this you handing the responsibility of your brothers’ happiness to their women?” When he barked out a laugh, I caught the catch in the deep baritone of it. Like he knew I was right but was scared he’d become irrelevant if he did. I wanted to hug him and tell him that wouldn’t happen. He was too big. Too Wilder, to ever become irrelevant. When he left my cabin his presence hung there like a physical being, keeping me warm and secure until the sun rose.
“What about you?” he asked. “What kind of place do you want when you settle down?”
“If I settle down.”
He narrowed his eyes, nudging me with his shoulder. “You will. One day you’ll find your place and your person.”
My stomach flipped as the cold fingers of his words gripped my throat. Something about them felt like despair. And they hurt. There was a pain in the idea that he didn’t think of us as anything more than what we were. I knew we were just sex, but he didn’t have to announce it, like some spoiler alert.
“Think you’ll ever go back to Kentucky?” he asked, wandering a few steps ahead of me and taking off his hat to wipe his brow with his forearm.
I stared at the back of him, his wide, muscular shoulders, slim waist and narrow hips. All finished off with a magnificent ass that filled his worn Wranglers to perfection. He slipped his hat back on and looked over his shoulder.
“Well? Do you?”
“No. An emphatic no.” I shuddered. There were too many empty promises and too much hurt in Kentucky.
“Silver Peaks your place then?” He cleared his throat and carried on walking. “This ranch? I mean your job on this ranch obviously.”
My heart floated around my chest for a second. “I love working here,” I told him honestly. “What Gunner is doing with his training is incredible. The kid’s camp is just the best idea. Ruthie is a whizz with the admin meaning that instead of filling in training schedules and dietary requirements I get to do what I’m good at all day.”
Wilder turned his head to wiggle his eyebrows at me. “Night, too.”
I nudged him. “Really?”
“Yeah, really. You’re very, very good at your nighttime job.”
“You make me sound like a prostitute,” I protested.
Chuckling, he put a hand on my shoulder and gave it a squeeze. “Seriously, Brownie, there are things you and I do that a prostitute would never entertain.”
Our laughter filled the air for a few seconds, tapering off to contented sighs as we carried on walking.
“Why did you leave Kentucky?”
The blood running through my veins stopped flowing for a second. It wasn’t a story I was ready to tell. “Obviously because I stole a million dollar horse and needed to get as far away as possible.” I also needed to get as far from the man who was responsible for making Dreamy a nervous wreck. And for making me believe, for a short time, thatIwas the one punching above my weight in the relationship. That he was a good man.
“I guess that’s a good enough reason. You showed guts doing what you did for him, Brownie. That counts for a lot.” He started to measure out theground with his strides. Stopping a couple of feet away from me. “Here is where I’ll have my mud room.” Whipping around to face me he grinned. “No one wants dirty muddy boot prints in the house do they?”
“I guess not. Although I notice you don’t take your boots off when you come into my cabin,” I said wryly.
“That’s because I wear clean boots to visit you.” I could literally see his eyes darken as he gave me a wolfish grin. “Clean boots, clean jeans and thoughts that are anything but.”
Shaking my head I moved up beside him, standing with my shoulder brushing his arm. “It’s going to be beautiful, Wilder,” I whispered. “Truly beautiful.”
He let go of a long breath, his chest rising and falling slowly. “Yeah, I know. And it’s got me wondering about what it might be like sharing it with someone too.” He took a beat. “I don’t know, maybe a puppy to keep Bertie’s company.” Looking ahead he cleared his throat before we fell into silence, staring at the plot of his future home. It was as if the words had slipped out before he could stop them, but now they had the air felt different.
My mouth opened to suggest it was time to get back when his pinky linked with mine. It was a small thing, just a pinky. Nothing like the things he’d done to my body. But somehow, it felt bigger. Deeper. Like he’d touched something no one else ever had. A small gasp puffed through my lips. Surprise? Shock? Or maybe wonder.
We stayed like that for a few more minutes. Looking out over the land where he was going to lay his roots. Quiet and retrospective as I thought about kissing him but wanting him to be the one who took what he wanted.
