Wonderful. This rough and rugged cowboy had at least a decade on me, and I had come along and stolen the last vestiges of his innocence. I eyed the ground speculatively. The dirt looked hard, but I could probably land on my feet.
His large hand cupped my triceps, preventing my escape. “Don’t even think about it. If I have to live with this conversation, so do you. You want to meet the horses? Stables are coming up.”
4
LENNON
The silence woke me up.I lay there, disoriented in the quiet darkness, staring at what logic required to be the pine ceiling, but there was no way to know for sure because not even the faintest sliver of yellow streetlight cracked through the window.
Back in New York, the city sounds had become a soothing white noise. Blaring car horns, the steady whoosh of the subway beneath my feet, and the hum of human voices all blended together. Sunglasses on, head down, I tuned it out until it didn’t exist for me. But the Wyoming silence was deafening.
With a groan, I rolled onto my side, but it was no use. I was wide awake. Fucking jetlag. I fumbled for my phone next to me on the bed, but the screen didn’t lightup. Dead, because I had fallen asleep listening to an audiobook. And the charger was in the car. I groaned again and then swung my legs out of the blankets and rolled to my feet, swiping my keys from the nightstand.
The braided rug was thick and warm, but the pine floor was freezing as I tiptoed to the door.
“Shit! Shit!” I whisper-hissed like I was afraid of waking the squirrels before shoving my feet into the Uggs I had left by the door.
Being June, it hadn’t occurred to me that the outside world would be a few degrees colder than my cozy cabin. The car was parked only ten feet from the door—today I would move it to the gravel parking lot behind the lodge, per the ranch’s policy—but I almost high-tailed my ass back inside to grab my hoodie. Or at least some pants.
But the stars.
Holy shit, thestars.
Trillions of them, each one a silver pinprick of light in the velvet darkness, a sky so cluttered with stars that it was impossible to distinguish one constellation from the next—although the only constellation I could reliably find was Orion’s belt. Hell, I couldn’t even find the rest of him. Most nights in the city, I didn’t bother to look up. The light pollution hid the stars. Even my mom’s trailer was too close to Norfolk to get stars like this.
Out here, there were more stars than sky. I was dizzyfrom the breadth of it. The sheervastnessof it. My head rolled back as far as I could take it as I gaped at the heavens, my breath white wisps of steam.
I was awed.
I was humbled.
I was?—
“Where the hell are your fucking clothes?”
I was annoyed.
Because now that I had nearly jumped out of my own skin, I was suddenly very aware of how cold that skin actually was, and I was not all that thrilled about it because now I had to stay cold until I had proved my point. Also, I didn’t appreciate being barked at like a disobedient child, hence the point to prove, which was that I did whatever the hell I wanted because I was the boss of myself.
I kept my head tilted to the sky, not moving a muscle. My bare skin goosebumped so hard, I swear to god I could feel the hair growing back on my legs. “Didn’t anyone ever teach you that sneaking up on a girl in the dark is a bad thing to do?”
Jeremiah didn’t say anything, but his approaching footsteps turned purposefully loud. I bit my lip to hide my grin and lowered my gaze back down to earth so fast that I was momentarily lightheaded. I swayed dizzily. Large hands grasped my biceps, steadying me.
The inky darkness had faded to a pre-dawn violet-gray, and my eyes had adjusted enough to make out hisexpression in the dim light. Concern. Aggravation. Attraction.
Or maybe that was just me.
“Why are you skulking around my cabin?” I demanded.
“Heading to the pasture to bring the horses in. I come this way every morning.” When he was sure I wouldn’t keel over, he dropped his hands from my arms and gritted out, “Where are your clothes?”
“I’m wearing them,” I said pertly.
His gaze raked over my tiny sleep shorts and tank top. He speared his fingers through his hair and tugged at it with a growl of irritation that gave me great joy. Maybe it was bratty of me, but in my real life, I didn’t have the luxury of annoying men. Being here with Jeremiah was freeing. I didn’t need his approval. I didn’t need his money. I could say and do whatever I wanted.
“Not enough,” he gritted out. Before I could think of another snappy comeback, he’d taken off his own coat and wrapped it around my shoulders.
Oh mygod, that felt good. But admitting that would knock me off a high horse that I had already grown pretty attached to, so I said, “That’s not necessary. I’m just grabbing my charger from the car.” I moved to take his coat off, but his fists tightened at the collar, holding it closed. My lips parted in surprise.
