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His.
But he hadn’t said the three words she so desperately needed to hear. Instead, he’d left her, like always.
She slid down the wall, the splintery wood scraping her back through her cotton shirt, into a sitting position. Pulling her knees up, she wrapped her arms around them and fell to the side, onto the hay-covered floor. She lay there, in a fetal position, waiting for the tears to come.
They didn’t. Was she truly all cried out over Chad?
She didn’t know how long she stayed in that position. Eventually she felt a nudge on her arm. “Hey there, Ms. McCray.”
She opened her eyes and stared into the black orbs of Rafe Grayhawk.
“You need any help with anything?”
Catie bolted upward, sniffing. Thank God, the tears hadn’t come, or her face would be pink and splotchy.
“I think your husband can afford a better place for you to nap, sweetheart,” Rafe said, extending his hand.
Catie took his hand gratefully and stood up. “I must have fallen asleep. Chad and I… We had a long day yesterday.”
“Thought you were gonna take that pretty mare on a ride?”
“Yeah. Yeah. I am.”
“I’ll saddle her up.”
“Chad said—”
“I know what Chad said, Ms. McCray.”
He winked, and she couldn’t help smiling at the handsome ranch hand.
“I’ll mind my Ps and Qs, don’t you worry.”
“Please.”
“Okay, I’ll leave. No harm done.”
“No.” She shook her head. “I meant, please call me Catie.”
“Not sure the boss would approve.”
“I don’t care. I didn’t ask for his opinion on the matter.”
Catie brushed the dirt and hay off her thighs. To hell with what Chad said. She and Rafe weren’t doing anything wrong. He was helping her, that’s all. She touched his forearm—as hard and sinewy as Chad’s, though it didn’t induce the sparks on her skin the way Chad’s did.
“I’d love your help saddling Ladybird, if you don’t mind. After all, you need to get to know her now.”
“True enough,” Rafe said with a cocky grin and walked toward Ladybird’s stall. “If I had an hour or two free, I’d saddle up my bronc and go along with you. Course we know the boss’d frown on that.”
Catie smiled. This young man was kind and easy to talk to. So much easier to talk to than her distant husband, who wanted to love her body, but not the rest of her.
“No doubt he would,” Catie agreed, “but I’ll tell you what.”
Rafe turned back around and met her gaze. “What?”
She winked. “We’ll just keep it between us, okay?”
His lazy grin lit up his handsome features. “Darlin’, that’s about the best idea I’ve heard this year.” He turned and continued saddling Ladybird.
