“I appreciate you checking, but no. Bit was never on my radar.”
He stopped and faced me. “So, it’s the other one. Kristie right?”
Nodding, I said, “Right. But that was a long time ago.”
He nodded, but didn’t press further. Instead, he just led me inside to go find her.
Chapter 6
Kristie
The lovely woman, Angie, who’d explained she was the head chef and housekeeper at the ranch, showed us around before leading us to our room. She also scrounged up some clothes for us. Some fit, some didn’t. She told us Sawyer had bought the place and a lot of the items were left. Still, what did fit was clean, at least. I hadn’t exactly dressed for a bike ride, or expected to be this far from home.
Most of what little buzz I had from the bar was zapped a while ago. Between seeing Rooster–Rick, the commotion with Bit being nearly attacked, then hopping on his bike, I was now stone cold sober and still trying to piece together how the hell my cousin and I were sitting in a ranch in upstate Jersey. It wasn’t like either of us to be so impulsive.
“This is crazy,” I said as I slipped on a fresh pair of socks.
Bit was about to reply when there was a knock on the door. She sighed and went to answer it. “Oh,” she said as she opened the door wider. “It’s for you.”
My eyes locked with Rick’s as he stood tight-lipped outside the door.
“Can I help you?” I asked.
He glanced at Bit, who stood stiffly, her eyes flicking back and forth. He shuffled his weight to his other foot before he finally asked, “Can we go for a walk?”
My brain wanted to firmly decline. My body, however, was not on the same page and stood up from the cozy chair I was sitting in. Unfortunately, the dress boots I’d worn would have to suffice. I was able to tug them on but couldn’t zip them over the fluffy socks I was given.
Bit giggled as I grabbed my cell.
“If I’m not back in half an hour, send the search crew for me,” I said as I passed her, pecking her on the cheek.
He didn’t move as I got closer to the threshold, so I stood, finding it hard to look at his face, but wanting to at the same time. My body felt drawn to him like a magnet, but my brain at least had the sense to hold steady. Finally, he stepped back, giving me enough space to pass him without brushing against him.
“Where to?” I asked.
He nodded, extending his hand toward the stairs, so I walked ahead. Probably best I wasn’t behind him. My hands itched to touch him, and who knows what they’d do given such an opportunity as following him.
As we walked quietly down the stairs and out of the house, my stomach started doing somersaults.
Angie had given me cotton pjs with long sleeves and pants to sleep in, yet I still wrapped my arms around myself, rubbing them to stave off the chill in the air. Looking down, I thought how silly I looked with the pajamas and dress boots shoved over the thick socks. Then I remembered it was a ranch and just shrugged. They probably all dressed for comfort and practicality.
Rick stopped, glancing around before grabbing my hand and pulling me with him. “Over here.”
I wanted to shake it free, but I couldn’t. All the times he’d taken my hand before flooded back, and it felt so right.
Finally, we stopped walking through the partially-lit yard to what looked like a barn. The door was ajar but I still worried. “Should we be poking around?”
“C’mon,” was all he said.
Following him anyway, I waited for my eyes to adjust to the darkness once we stepped inside. There was a little light streaming in from the lights around the property, but it was still much darker than the grounds of the ranch.
I stood there, looking around at the barn filled with hay and the scattered items I couldn’t name but recognized as livestock gear, and almost forgot he still hadn’t freed my hand from his. When my wandering gaze landed on his face, though, the connection was amplified.
“I’m sorry,” he said.
Finally able to pull my hand free at the loaded statement,I asked, “For what? Stranding me at a stranger’s ranch, leaving me with a stranger’s housekeeper while you did ‘biker business’,” I said with air quotes, “or for crushing my soul?” I crossed my arms over my chest, hoping to somehow control my erratic heartbeat.
“Kristie–”
