Page 34 of The Cowboy and the Stray

Okay, yeah, it had been pork. At least I'd recognized that much. It'd taken a gallon of BBQ sauce to wash the tough things down.

"It's, uh..." I flailed, looking to the others for backup.

"Protein hour," Reid supplied with a straight face. "New ranch rule. Gotta keep our strength up."

"Really." Tess's other eyebrow crept up to join the first. "Protein hour involves sneaking jerky in the barn?"

Eli, bless him, chose that moment to swallow. Loudly. "They're a great source of..." He trailed off, looking desperately at the ingredient label. "Sodium nitrite?" I was surrounded by geniuses.

If a black hole had opened up beneath my boots, I'd have gladly jumped in. Heat crept up the back of my neck as Tess's eyes drilled into me.

I cleared my throat and stepped forward, letting the cabinet bang shut behind me. "We were just heading to bed." I threw a meaningful glance at the others. "Right, boys?"

Mutters of agreement as they not-so-subtly brushed jerky crumbs off their shirts. I turned back to Tess with my best "nothing to see here" smile.

She didn't budge from the doorway. Her gaze flicked to my mouth, then away. "Got a little something there, chief."

My tongue darted out before I could stop it, tasting salt and teriyaki at the corner of my mouth. Tess tracked the movement, her eyes darkening before she blinked it away.

An awkward beat passed as we stared at each other. This close, I caught the scent of her underneath the barn smells of hay and horse. Something warm and a little spicy, like cinnamon. It pulled at me, winding tendrils around my hindbrain. The wolf in me perked up, nostrils flaring. Mine.

No. Not yours.

I pushed him down with a hard mental shove.

Tess moved first, uncrossing her arms and stepping back to let us pass. I didn't miss the way her cheeks had flushed, or the jump of her pulse at the hollow of her throat.

The silence stretched, going from awkward to tense as the others filed out toward the bunk house, even Eli. I followed last, hyper-aware of Tess falling into step beside me.

Neither of us spoke as we crossed the gravel drive, following the weathered fence to the path that led up to the ranch house. When the barn lights faded behind us, I chanced a sideways look at her.

She was staring straight ahead, arms wrapped around herself even though the night was warm. A strand of hair had come loose from her braid, curling against her cheek. My fingers ached with the urge to tuck it back.

I shoved my hands in my pockets instead. "Sorry about that back there," I said finally, my voice sounding too loud in the cricket-laden dark. "We weren't trying to be sneaky."

I struggled for better words, but my brain had gone blank, all higher functions shorted out by the fact that she was close enough to touch.

Close enough to kiss.

And damn me to hell, but I wanted to. Wanted to pull her against me, bury my face in her neck, and breathe her in until the only thing I could smell, could taste, was her. The urge hit me like a punch to the gut, doubling the heat under my skin.

Jesus Christ.

I locked my muscles against it, forcing myself to meet her gaze. "Tess, I..."

Her expression shuttered, going cold and distant as a cloud scudded across the moon. "Good night," she muttered, turning to walk away.

Panic shot through me, sharp and bright. I reached for her without thinking, my fingers grazing her elbow. "Wait⁠—"

Slowly, carefully, I closed the distance between us. She watched me come, her eyes black in the moonlight.

I brushed her cheekbone with my thumb, sliding my hand back to tangle in the soft hairs at her temple. Her eyelids fluttered shut. I leaned in, my nose grazing hers. Her lips parted, head tilting back in silent invitation. My wolf rumbled, eager, hungry.

Then a twig snapped in the underbrush, shattering the moment like sugar glass.

Motherf—

Tess jolted back as if waking from a dream, her eyes flying open.