He was at my side in an instant, untangling me from the stirrup as his strong hand rested on my lower back, steadying me. “You gotta be more careful.”
“It’s these damn boots,” I said, frustrated as I motioned to the old, worn-out leather on my feet. “I need to get some new ones.”
Stetson didn’t respond. His attention seemed to be elsewhere even though he was looking right at me, his hands wrapped around my waist despite both of my feet being planted firmly on the ground.
I interrupted the moment, anxious about what would happen if I didn’t.
“Don’t think that just because you stopped me from breaking my leg, I forgot what you just said, because I’m still desperate to hear how one might be able to define this situation as lucky.” I stepped back, defensive in my stance with my arms crossed.
“I mean that if this man was stupid enough to leave you at the altar, do you really think he was someone you wanted to spend the rest of your life with?” he questioned. “I’d say you dodged a bullet there.”
“I guess I’d never thought of it like that,” I admitted, heaving a giant exhale. My shoulders collapsed from my ears as mymind tried to comprehend how he’d uncovered this perspective so effortlessly. “I’ve spent so much time focused on what I did wrong, or rather what I didn’t do right, that caused Zane to leave me. I never opened my mind to what our marriage would’ve been like had we gotten married. As much as getting left at the altar was seriously fucking awful, I guess I’d rather that than be married to someone who didn’t want to be married to me.”
I uncrossed my arms and tucked them in my oversized barn jacket before turning my attention to him. His expression was one I wasn’t quite ready for; the way his lips were curling up under his mustache on one side, the intensity in his almond-shaped eyes resembling little pools, and the low hypnotic grumble that came from the back of his throat making him so damn desirable.
Seemed wild to me that he just stood here listening to all this shit and then proceeded to support me, and even more than that, side with me.
Zane would never.
“I knew you were a smart woman,” he said, his eyebrow arched. “And I obviously don’t know what your relationship was like and I don’t want to overstep here, but what I do know from the few encounters we’ve had is that you’re an incredibly insightful woman, and the way you see beauty in all things is truly inspiring. On top of all that, you conversed with a stranger in the dark and made said stranger feel a little less alone. So, as far as I’m concerned, if some man couldn’t see all that, then trust me when I say, you’re lucky he’s out of the picture,” he said. “He is out of the picture, right?”
I broke his gaze as soon as I felt that familiar rush of heat invading my cheeks. Were those compliments? Or was he just trying to make me feel better because he felt sorry for me? And what the hell was that last part?
“Right,” I responded, frantically searching for another topic. “All right, well, that’s definitely enough about me. Your turn.” I playfully slapped his arm, surprising myself. Really, I think it was just my subconscious using any excuse it could find to touch him.
“What do you wanna know?” he asked.
“Wait, really?” I said, skeptical. “I did not think it was going to be that easy.”
“You literally just told me that you got left on your wedding day by the person you thought you were going to spend the rest of your life with…”
“True,” I said, wrapping my arms around my waist to try to keep myself warm. The crisp breeze had picked up, and the air seemed chillier than before. “I just assumed someone like you would keep things to themselves.”
“You do a lot of assuming when it comes to what you think you know about me. Has no one told you what assuming does?” he asked as he shrugged out of his large camo jacket, revealing fluffy cream fleece lining the inside.
Before I knew what he was doing, he’d laid the jacket over my shoulders and attempted to close it over my already jacketed body. His body was stable behind mine as he stretched his arms even farther around my chest.
I gazed up over my left shoulder, unaware of how close his face would be to mine.
The scent of spearmint mixed with that same leathery, wooden musk from the first night we met flooded my nose. Neither of us said anything, his arms still tightly draped over my body.
“Huh?” I quickly pulled away, stepping to his right. “What does assuming do?” My head was spinning, and I was just grateful to be making any sense at all.
“It makes an ass out of you and me,” he said, sending a wink in my direction after he finished.
There came that rush of heat again.
My god.
I had to get out of here.
At this rate, I’d be a puddle before we even got back to the barn.
“Jesus,” I whispered.
A thought like that didn’t come without exposing the sliver of guilt that unfortunately still idled in the depths of my brain.
“You’re ridiculous.” I faked a giggle. “But you know what I mean. Your whole life is constantly on display; don’t you sometimes just want to keep things to yourself?” My voice was less playful than before as I put a little distance between us.
