But I didn’t move because, truth be told, I didn’t know what I was doing anymore.
Kissing her under oak trees.
Licking bourbon-laced peach syrup off her lips in my mother’s kitchen.
Kissing heragainafter she’d wrecked me with that flinch.
Andi Ford was supposed to be a stranger passing through, but then she went and flipped my whole damn world upside down.
I’d been a dick that first week, and even worse the next. I’d pegged her as nothing more than a burr in my boot—a nuisance hitching a free ride. So I’d watched her. Tested her. Pushed her buttons on purpose just to see what she’d do. But somewhere in between the icy glares and verbal sparring, I started looking forward to her being around. Started noticing the way she twirled the ends of her hair when she was focused or nervous. I’d catch myself waiting for her to look my way when she was slinging drinks behind Red’s bar, or leaning in to hear what she whispered to the horses when she thought no one was paying attention.
And that night in the barn? When I scared her by accident?
I didn’t need the words to know what she’d been through. I saw it in her eyes. I felt it when she flinched. And, yeah, I kissed her after that. Not because I was trying to make a move, but because I needed her to feel something good. Somethingsafe. Even if it was just for that moment. Even if she forgot it—forgot me—the second she walked away from this little town and the life she was slowly building here.
“Want me to get you a bib?”
I startled at the sound of Luke’s amused voice way too damn close to my ear—not enough to make me jump, but definitely enough to piss me off. I immediately scowled to cover it up. “You trying to get your teeth knocked in?”
Luke just smirked and settled in next to me. “You were starin’hard,” he said, biting into a corn dog. “Figured I’d save you the embarrassment of drooling on yourself.”
“I’m scoping out Mom’s competition,” I shot back, crossing my arms over my chest and deepening my scowl as I tried to sell the lie.
“Uh-huh.” He chewed around a grin. “Mrs. Tennyson’s been Mom’s main competition for the last fifteen years. Funny how you haven’t looked at her once.”
I grunted.
“Just admit you like her.”
I chewed on the inside corner of my mouth.
“She likes you too, y’know.”
“Don’t,” I warned.
“What? I’m just saying?—”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“Oh good. Denial,” he said, nodding and holding up his hand as he started ticking off fingers. “Let’s review. First, she was a thief, or a con artist, or whatever that too-many-concussions brain of yours cooked up to push her away. Then you went allhorse whispereron her with that ‘something tells me you’ve never broken a nose before’ line.ThenI find you two making heart eyes by the trailer, and now?—”
“She’sleaving.”
“So?”
“So, I’m not starting something with someone who’s packing up and heading out the minute her car’s fixed.”
“Did shesaythat?”
I paused. “That’s the deal.”
“Okay…or maybe,” Luke said, toning down the humor in his voice and sliding into something more serious, “that’s what shethinksthe deal is, because no one’s given her a reason to believe otherwise.”
I stared at him—irritated and perplexed.
He lifted his hands. “Hey, man. You’re the one who’s been dragging your boots ever since that altar stunt last year with Brianna. I get it. You don’t wanna get burned again.”
“It’s not just that,” I said. “She’s…” I paused again. Her past wasn’t my story to tell. “I don't wanna push her.”
