There.A noise.Someone was in here.Walking around up in the hayloft.
Her heart began to race as she remembered the horrific visit from last night.Tried to remember where she’d put her gun after she’d removed it from the living room before making breakfast.
Damn!She’d quickly put it in her bedroom night table, fully loaded.A lot of good it would do her there.
Terror ripped through her as she stood still and listened.
The heavy footsteps moved toward the stairs that would lead down to the main area.
To her.
She kept her gaze on the open doorway of the stairwell.
Heard a slight creak as the perpetrator quickly descended.
Would the intruder dare to come back here in broad daylight?Where was Axel?She had seen him awhile ago outside the ranch house with notebook in hand.
Should she scream?Run?
Before she could even decide, a tall figure appeared in the doorway.
No!
Jenna almost turned to run and scream when she recognized the intruder.Her breath left her lungs in one huge whoosh.
Axel!
How had he come in here without her noticing?
When he saw her he brightened.
“Hey, I was just putting our gear up in the hayloft.Figured it was a good spot for Nick and I to sleep, unless you’d rather us inside the house?Let me know and I can take things back inside.I was about to come out to talk to you.The list is done—”
He stopped mid sentence.Concern ravishing his features.
“What's wrong?Are you okay?Did you see someone?”
He attempted to rush by her, but she reached out and grabbed his arm, stopping him.
“It's okay,” she whispered, finding it incredibly arousing at having his muscles flex beneath her fingers.
Wow, one second she was scared she was going to be murdered and the next second she was aroused over a man she hadn’t seen in twelve years.Something was seriously out of whack with her.Her breath caught as his brown gaze dropped to where she held his arm and then up to study her face.
Her pulse fluttered at her throat, betraying her even as she tried to steady her breathing.
Could he read her arousal?In the past he had been so good at that.The shift in his expression snapped her back to herself, and she forced her hands to fall away.
“What scared you?”he asked, a wrinkle furrowing his brow.
That wrinkle was new.It made him look older...and sexier.
“No, it was...you surprised me.I didn't know you were in here,” she admitted.
“Ah, shit.I'm sorry, baby doll.I didn't mean to surprise you again.I should have let you know I’d come in here.I just wanted to get our stuff off the porch and then I was going to show you what work needs to be done.Some of it quite urgently.”
“No worries,” she forced herself to deepen her voice into one of authority, trying so hard to ignore that sweet nickname he’d given her in the past and was still using like nothing had ever happened between them.
“How about we talk about this over lunch.I've still got two horses to work with before I break for lunch.”
