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My gaze returns to Charlie.
Something tells me getting this cowboy out of my system might not be so easy.
Eleven.
That’s how many times Ruby gasped on our hike today. Sweet, awe-filled exhalations that had my cock jerking to attention and my heart in my throat.
Even her gasps are adorable.
Like an idiot, I counted every little bright blast of joy from her pretty pink mouth. I thank fuck my brothers aren’t around to haze my pathetic ass. Especially Davis.
Against all my good judgment, I enjoyed today. Showing the ranch to an outsider never gets old. And Ruby—the way she understood it, the look on her face as she took it all in—was pure wonder. I drank it up.
Especially our conversation. Opening up about the ranch. She pulled something out of me. Something raw and real. How she does it, I don’t know. All I know is I can’t get around the fact that I’m attracted to her. She’s drop-dead gorgeous. Her carefree nature radiates. Every time she smiles at me, I have to glance around to make sure I’m the lucky son of a bitch who deserves it. And when she wears those sundresses ...
It’s all I can do not to haul her against me and kiss her senseless.
Bad idea.
I started over after Maggie and this is where I’ve landed. The ranch life, my daily routine—it’s straightforward, rigid, and mine. Work from sunrise to sundown. The bar on Friday nights. Family on Sundays.
Distractions can’t happen. Especially beautiful ones.
The end of summer can’t come soon enough.
Frustrated, I trudge across the kitchen, covering up the leftovers Chef dropped by for us. Dusk has fallen, the sun muted as it dips in the sky, and when I look up to the window, my eyes find her.
Ruby’s on the front porch of her cottage wearing a long T-shirt that shows off her slight curves, the soft swell of her breasts. Her bare legs are lean and long. Her hair is a tangled mess of wild waves that tells me she just got out of the shower.
Fuck.
It feels too damn intimate seeing her this way. I can’t think straight. She’s on the phone, her mouth moving, her pretty face amused. Who’s she on the phone with? Boyfriend?Christ, what if she’s still working? I don’t know which thought I hate more.
Don’t care.
Can’t care.
I shouldn’t care. But I do. Even after a week on the ranch, Ruby’s as mysterious as she is an open book. A girl who shines like the sun and smiles at strangers and gasps at flowers and could charm even the Wolfington brothers without even trying.
That girl’s got secrets I should stay far away from.
Her refusal to tell me why she’s here was a good move. I’ll give her that. But I recognize a runner. Hell, I’ve been one.
Don’t let it be a man.
The thought has rage sparking through my veins. My fists clench at my side.
If someone fucking hurt her ...
Just seeing her on that cliff edge today set off a primitive protectiveness inside of me. It wasn’t enough pulling her back to my side. I had to hold on to her.
My chest tightens, and I glance up again at Ruby through the window.
If I told her my truth, I’d get hers.
But the truth about Runaway Ranch gets into why I left, which brings up Maggie.
Which tears open an old wound that’s barely healed.
