Page 62 of The One Who Saw Her: Boone

"It will probably end with my panties in your hand."

Something twitched behind his zipper.

He let that sit between them for exactly one beat—watching the color rise in her cheeks, watching her realize he wasn't going to pretend he hadn't heard it. Then he stepped forward, because he couldn't help himself.

She was so fucking tempting.

So fucking beautiful.

"Boots." His voice dropped to something quiet and certain. "You lick you lips one more time and it won't be your panties you have to worry about."

Her breath caught and there it was, confirmation that she was just as undone as he was.

He closed the last of the space between them. "All you gotta do is say yes."

"Yes," she whispered—but her hands rested on his chest, holding him back. "But this isn't why I came here."

"Are you sure?"

"No. But I don't want to mess this moment up."

He brought his hand up and curved it gently around her jaw, tilting her face until she had nowhere to look but at him. "There is nothing you can do to mess up this moment. Whatever you say, it'll be perfect." He held her gaze, making sure she believed it before he moved on. "Tell me why you're here."

"I'm here to rescue you," she said, with an adorable bright smile.

"Rescue me? From who?"

"From yourself." She patted his cheek then held up the picnic basket with one hand and gestured around the room with the other. "From this. The hammers and nails and your tragic solo DIY adventure."

Boone chuckled and, damn, it felt good.

"Buckle up, Cowboy," she said, pointing to the truck parked outside with fishing poles in the bed. "We're going for a ride because you told me the other night you haven't had time to fish."

He froze, staring at the truck like he'd just been handed something he hadn't known he was waiting for. His truck, gassed up, ready and waiting—just for him.

His chest did something he wasn't prepared for. She had listened. She'd actually listened to the words he'd muttered almost carelessly the other night, the ones he'd barely thought anyone would register.

He looked at her, really looked at her, and felt something shift in him that he was nowhere near ready to name. Before he could fully process any of it, Eli stepped out from the shadows of the barn, hands shoved in his pockets, a smirk tugging at his mouth.

"Well, well," he strung out. "Look at you. Didn't think I'd see the day."

Before Boone could answer, Colter appeared on the other side with that infuriating grin.

"Come on," Colter said. "You've been saying you have no time to fish for months, and now Vivi shows up like a personal life coach slash professional fisherman. Should we clap, or just hand out cowboy boots as trophies?"

"Is this a setup?" Boone muttered, but something old and warm was flickering in his chest—something that had been snuffed out the day his parents died, rusty from disuse but unmistakably there.

"They're not a setup," Vivi said, mock offended. "They're just here to take over your hard work. That's all."

Boone looked at his brothers, who were openly snickering now, elbowing each other like idiots.

"It sure as hell looks like a setup," he said—though he could feel a smile tugging at his mouth.

"Call it a thoughtful intervention," Vivi said, stepping closer, basket swinging. "I brought food, fishing poles and your brothers, apparently, for comic relief."

Boone took a slow breath, surveying the recently cleared barn, the projects that suddenly seemed lighter knowing he wasn't alone in it. Then he looked at her—her the careful planning, the effort she'd quietly poured into pulling him out of a day that would have been nothing but sweat and silence.

His heart tugged in ways he couldn’t name and somewhere deep inside, a slow, quiet thing was growing—something that had nothing to do with words or plans, something that only she could touch with small, perfect gestures like this.