“A natural,” I tease, fingers threading playfully into his hair. “But you’re a lousy ranch hand.”
“How’s that?”
“There’s no way I’m letting you stay in the bunkhouse—ever.”
He chuckles darkly. “Good, because after today, there’s no way you’re keeping me out of your bed.”
“That right?”
“Yes, Ms. Spitfire. That’s right.” He pauses, green eyes warming to dark emerald pools. “I asked for this assignmentbecause I wanted something real. Something I could feel to the marrow of my bones. But I almost turned it down, got cold feet, considered a transfer…”
My stomach knots. “And now?”
“Now, I don’t want to transfer. And I don’t want to rescue you, Leonora. I want to stand beside you.”
The words settle between us like something solid. Like a fence post driven deep.
My eyes blur, words and feelings rising that I thought I’d never say. Because I’d given up… at least on the thought of someone staying. I lean closer, grounding myself in his pine and old leather scent. Like a home I didn’t know I needed. “I don’t need saving. But I don’t want to keep fighting alone.”
“Then don’t,” he says.
Simple. Final.
He kisses the top of my head, fingers coming up to comb through my hair. He wraps an arm around me, pulling me closer, and the calf shifts between us, nuzzling my jeans and settling. Contented.
“You remember those bunnies?” he asks quietly.
I glance at him. “From the day we met? Of course.”
His jaw shifts beneath my fingers. “Never thought they’d make it.”
He looks down at the calf, then back at me.
“Him, either. After my service, my injury… I thought I was like that.”
My heart stutters. “Like what?”
“Cold. Shocked. Beyond saving.”
His thumb traces the calf’s ear absently.
“You brought them back.”
His eyes meet mine.
“And you did the same thing to me.”
“You weren’t dead, Arlo. You were just waiting to be warm.”
My eyes blur, warm streams sliding down my cheeks. I turn, burying my head in his jacket, sinking into his strong arms.
He doesn’t act upset or nervous. Doesn’t draw back or get testy, beg for an explanation.
Instead, he says gruffly, “Tough day.”
Nothing more.
All I need, because he feels it with me.
