She winced and leaned down to stroke Bear’s soft fur. “That’s not fair.”
“Nobody ever promised life would be fair.” Then he waved a hand. “It’s fine. I’m not looking for sympathy. Just stating the facts.”
She nodded. “You’re right about life not being fair. I lost my mom way too young as well. My dad died when I was a baby, so it was just the two of us for years. I miss her every day.” She smiled. Personally, she thought he was an amazing guy and that any woman would be foolish not to see that, but she managed to refrain from blurting her thoughts out loud. “We have that in common,” she said instead.
This wasn’t a date. They were working together to find a killer and answers to what happened to Jenny’s baby and the other two.
“The last woman I was seeing didn’t like the isolation of the ranch.” He cast her a quick look. “I can somewhat understand that.”
“I think it’s amazing here.” She tilted her head to the side. “I can relate to that, too. My former boyfriend didn’t like my job, either.”
“His loss.” Jordan sounded sincere, and she was touched by his words.
“Thanks.” She needed to refocus. “Speaking of work, I need to get back to it.” She quickly finished her dinner.
Jordan set Cutie back on the floor then continued mounting his father’s trail cameras. Soon, the four devices were installed on each of the four sides of the house.
Battling a wave of fatigue—her lack of sleep catching up with her—she entered the tattoo information into the database. When she hit the search command, dozens of hits popped up on the screen. She groaned, realizing the task of identifying her bad guy wouldn’t be as easy as she’d hoped.
“Jordan, can you sketch the dagger for me?” She rubbed her eyes, not wanting to admit the words on the screen were getting blurry.
He nodded and went to grab paper and pencil. He stared down at the blank page for a moment, then began the sketch. “I’m no artist,” he confessed. “But I remember the handle had curves. The blade was pointed up the arm. I didn’t see it all, so there could be more detail.”
“This is great, thanks.” She was impressed at how much he was able to remember. Then a wide yawn caught her off guard.
“We should get some sleep,” he murmured.
She wanted to keep working but knew the trail cameras would likely wake them during the night. Bear crawled out from beneath the table and made his way to the door. He was so good about letting her know when he needed to go out. “Guess that’s our cue.”
Jordan chuckled. “Look, Cutie has joined him. I’m impressed she hasn’t had any accidents recently. Maybe she’s getting the hang of this.”
“It’s not her fault—puppies have small bladders,” she reminded him.
“I know.” He shrugged into his jacket. “But Bear has been a good influence on her.”
She nodded, sensing that was true. She pulled her coat on and followed him outside.
“Get busy,” she told Bear. Not that he needed the command—he was already sniffing around for the perfect spot to do his thing.
“Get busy, Cutie,” Jordan echoed.
Autumn tipped her head back to gaze at the stars. They were brighter here at the ranch, away from the lights of the city.
It was difficult to imagine Jenny choosing to sleep on Sasha’s sofa rather than moving in with her brother. Raising a baby on the ranch would be much better than being in a cramped apartment.
He’d mentioned his ex-girlfriend had said the same thing. Autumn truly didn’t understand it. Then again, she preferred the peace and quiet. She got more than enough action on the job.
She took a few steps backward, accidentally bumping into Jordan. He caught her arm, steadying her. “Easy,” he murmured.
“Oops, sorry.” She flushed, grateful for the darkness so that he wouldn’t notice. His light touch sent a shiver of awareness coursing through her. “I should pay more attention to what I’m doing.”
He looked at her for a long moment, the darkness making it difficult to read his expression. “I’m glad you’re staying, Autumn.”
Her breath caught in her throat. He was so close yet far enough away that she found herself leaning forward. “Me, too.”
“This is what I love most about being on the ranch.” Jordan waved a hand at the sky. “Peace and quiet. Just us and the animals for company.”
“It’s really nice out here,” she agreed in a hushed voice. “I chose my house on the outskirts of town for the same reason. I get enough of the day-to-day city life at work.”
