“The Last Chance Saloon. It's more your kind of place.” She'd spotted the dingy little bar while wandering through town one afternoon. It looked like the sort of hole-in-the-wall Troy had practically lived in back home—cheap beer, a battered pool table, and customers who preferred to mind their own business. “Trust me. You'll like it better. It’s like O’Malley’s.”
His grin answered before his words did when she mentioned his favorite haunt. “Now you're talking my language.”
“And if we happen to cross paths somewhere?”
“I've never seen you before,” he said with a shrug.
“Good.”
She headed for the door, then paused with her hand on the knob.
“Don't make me regret this.” It was a pointless thing to say. She already did.
His laugh followed her outside, echoing behind her even after the door clicked shut. She stood on the concrete walkway for a long moment, staring across the parking lot.
Troy wasn't just a problem.
He was the match about to drop and destroy everything.
Chapter 22
Saturday afternoon arrived with the first real heatwave of the summer.
The forecast called for several days of temperatures pushing toward triple digits, and by lunchtime, the air above the ranch shimmered in wavering sheets. Sweat had become unavoidable before breakfast.
Seth gave the newly installed barn door latch one last tug, satisfied when it held.
As he put away his tools, his thoughts drifted, as they had all morning—to Shylo.
He'd kept his promise Thursday night and shown up at Bar None after work. They'd shared a drink after her shift ended, and when he'd offered to take her back to the motel, she'd surprised him.
“Why don't we go to your place instead? You're the one who has to work at the crack of dawn. That way, you don't have to rush or miss breakfast again. I don’t mind driving back to town in the morning. Besides, your bed is more comfortable.”
He certainly hadn't argued since she was right.
She'd turned down his invitations to join everyone for breakfast both mornings, though, insisting she wasn't ready to face everyone after spending the night with him. He hadn't pushed. She'd join them when she was ready.
He couldn't blame her, though. Her truck parked outside his cabin made it obvious where she'd slept. Sharing breakfast with the rest of the ranch was a much bigger step. It hadn't stopped him from wondering what that dining table might look like a few months from now with her there every morning.
He'd never been the type of guy to think much beyond the next date. As soon as a relationship started feeling too comfortable—too serious—he found a reason to end it before either of them got hurt.
Yet somehow, with Shylo, he'd started making plans that stretched farther than a day or two. The Rodeo Bonanza was still weeks away, and he already knew she would work Bar None's booth for much of the weekend. Even so, he looked forward to whatever free time they could steal together. Wandering the fairgrounds. Watching the rodeo. Staying for the music afterward.
And when the weekend was over...
He wondered whether she'd ever decide to trade that cramped motel room for some place permanent.
The thoughts should've sent him running. Instead, they took root somewhere deep inside him that felt suspiciously like hope.
But that hope came with a healthy dose of doubt.
Was he reading more into whatever this was than she was?
Maybe she was simply enjoying the moment while it lasted. Maybe once she'd gotten whatever she'd come to Hazard Falls for, she'd move on without a backward glance. Or it was possible she'd heard enough stories about his love-’em-and-leave-’em reputation to keep him at arm's length, no matter how different he felt with her.
It would explain why she always seemed a little tense when he first walked into Bar None. Both Thursday and Friday, she'd smiled the instant she saw him, but something guarded remained in her eyes until they'd had a drink and were on their way out the door. Whatever weighed on her seemed to ease once they reached the ranch. She laughed more easily, perched beside him on the porch swing outside the bunkhouse as though she'd done it a hundred times before, and slept curled against his side.
He hoped the tension was only caution. Because if it weren't...
