Page 42 of The Rancher’s One and Only

He bent back down to look through it, and this time, they didn’t speak. She showed him Saturn, and it was crazy to him that he was quite literally seeing whole worlds that he never beheld before because he was standing there with her.

Yeah. That was pretty crazy.

He straightened up and cleared his throat. “This was really cool. Thank you.”

“Of course. I’m really excited that you liked it.”

“I did.” He felt a strange, tight weight in his chest. He felt more than he had imagined that he could.

She was such a strange human. Profound and odd, and with the perspective all her own. Not like anyone or anything he had ever known.

“Sincerely,” he said. “Thank you, Ernestine.”

“Sincerely back to you, thank you. You shared the ranch with me earlier, and this is just my way of saying thank you. And it’s really nice that you enjoyed it so much.”

“I did,” he said, his throat scratchy.

He needed to leave, because something felt heavy inside of him, and he didn’t want to unspool it in front of her. “See you tomorrow,” he said.

“Oh yes. What time?”

“I’ll come to your cabin.”

“Oh. Okay. But what time?”

“After lunch.”

“Yes. But what time?”

She was looking at him very intently, and even in the dark, he could see that.

“One o’clock.”

“Thank you. I really just need an actual time. I don’t want to guess. Because I’m going to be frozen the whole time wondering exactly what you mean.”

“Okay,” he said. “I’ll remember that.”

He would. He would always give her a time. Instead of a ballpark. Clearly, she didn’t like a ballpark.

He was going to have to get a grip on himself before he helped her train tomorrow.

Because not only had she reached his body today, but she’d also managed to reach his heart.

And he honestly wasn’t sure which one was more disturbing.

Chapter Nine

Ernestine could barely focus on the dig. She was so distracted thinking about seeing Jax again today, and that was ridiculous. A man should never steal the focus from something as important as fossils.

And she was finding fossils. So many of them. She’d gone out very early that morning and begun digging with first light, because it was getting so hot during the day. And it got so wretchedly cold at night.

She was going to need to get back to the cabin with enough time to shower before they did the martial arts demonstration. She didn’t want him anywhere near her when she smelled of rank sweat from her dig. So she finished up, and squirreled her way back to the cabin, taking a very quick shower, and then trying to decide what she should wear for the demonstration. Of course, she didn’t even really know what the demonstration would entail. It was all a mystery to her.

She didn’t know much of anything about martial arts. She’d watched his video, seen how brutal he could be, but the name of that game was mixed martial arts, so she had a feeling it was broader than his actual martial arts disciplines. Context clues. She was very good at that.

That was a little bit of sarcasm. She smiled to herself as she put on a pair of sweatpants, and a T-shirt. Then it was one o’clock, and he wasn’t there. She positioned herself on the couch, and watched the clock with anticipation until he rolled in at 1:04. It was okay that he was late. Mostly. He wasn’t that late. She clicked her teeth together, and then went and opened the door right as he got out of his truck.

“I’m ready,” she said.