“None taken,” I lied. “And I’m with Jesse because… jeez, I’m not talking about this. And for the ranch, I’m working on possibilities,” I said after a moment, the statement almost as big as Jesse’s announcement that he was gay, and he was sleeping with me. Or not sleeping, as it happened.
Jesse drained his mug and set it down, the casual moment snapping neatly into work. “Okay,” he said, already standing, “Miguel, can you add the south pasture to your checks today, make sure that float valve is still behaving in the water trough.”
“Yes, boss.”
“Jake, can you get a call in to the veterinarian?”
“On it, boss.”
They both left, and as soon as the coast was clear and Ruth had gone into the back of the kitchen, I stole a kiss. “You told them.”
“I did.”
“They didn’t care.”
“Nope.”
I cradled his face, went up on tiptoes, and kissed him.
“So, calling the vet out, it’s not Boone that’s ill, is it?” I’d gotten fond of Boone with his head bumps and gentle ways, particularly since he’d carried me back from the whole nearly-dying-on-a-bluff incident.
“Boone’s good,” Jesse said, “regular checks on all the horses is all.” He paused then, gaze flicking to me for a brief second before he moved past close enough that his shoulder brushed mine.
I finished eating and stood, the room already shifting back into motion around me, and wondered when my reason for being here had started to feel like something else entirely. I didn’t name it. Naming it would change things, and Iwasn’t ready to admit how much I didn’t want to leave. It wasn’t about money anymore.
Leaving wasn’t the solution. I knew in my heart that even if this didn’t resolve the way I wanted, I wasn’t walking away.
Not from Jesse.
Not from the man I’d fallen in love with.
Chapter 26
Jesse
Imade it back to the stables just before dark, and Lucas seemed to be waiting for me, sitting on a hay bale with Mouse in his lap. That was the first time I’d ever seen Mouse deign to interact with a human—seemed Lucas had a magic touch with both the most private barn cat of them all and me. I leaned down to give him a kiss, aware I smelled of cow shit and sweat, but he kissed me anyway.
“I have something to show you when you’re done,” he said, standing with Mouse in his arms.
“I’ll fix Boone, get a shower, be in soon, yeah?”
“Can I stay and watch you work with Boone?”
“Sure, City, you can watch.” Sue me if I didn’t flex every muscle I’d honed through ranch work, and if I stole a couple of kisses along the way, that wasn’t my fault because Lucas was my addiction.
He watched me tend to Boone—fussing over the big baby cat that refused to leave him alone—and followed me back to the house, and as much as I suggested he join me in theshower, he clearly had something on his mind. He said he’d wait for me in the kitchen, looking determined, and I got the awful feeling that we were going to end up having a fight over Snow Creek.
Lucas didn’t ease into whatever he wanted to talk about.
“I’m not selling,” I said from the door, “it doesn’t matter what we are.” Because what we were was already dangerous, and I didn’t trust myself not to choose him over the ranch if I let it go any further.
“Shhh, Cowboy,” he said and set his laptop on the table, turned it so the screen faced the chair I typically sat in, and gestured for me to sit down. My first instinct was that this was the endgame, and I wanted to keep my feet under me and my options open, but then, he smiled at me.
“Please? It won’t take long.”
I grumbled and huffed, but those puppy dog eyes seemed to have a power over me I didn’t understand. I dragged the chair out and sat, folding my arms to give my hands something to do.
He stayed standing. Not looming, but edgy.
