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He leaned forward, slowly enough that she had plenty of time to refuse, but she didn’t. She leaned in as well, and suddenly they were kissing, their mouths pressed together, feeling hotter than the sun-soaked stones beneath them. Sawyer wasn’t entirely aware of his actions. Suddenly his hand was in her still damp hair, his body turned to face her, while Josie’s small hands were on his face, her nose crushed against his as the tension that had been brewing between them for days broke and they were flooded with it all in one hit.
It was Josie who broke away first, leaving them both gasping for breath. If it had been up to Sawyer, they never would have stopped. She looked up at him with a surprised and shaky smile, while Sawyer felt like he’d been hit over the head with a sack of bricks. He’d had a concussion once before and this felt alarmingly similar, a dizzy sort of fog that made it hard to think. He licked his lips, trying to come back to reality.
“Well,” he said, at a loss for words but needing to saysomething.
“Well,” Josie repeated. It took a few more seconds for them to both get their bearings before Josie spoke again.
“I think we’re dry enough to get dressed and head back now, don’t you?” she said, that cautious little smile still hovering around the corners of her mouth.
“I think that’s a really good idea.”
“That’s why I’m the boss, right?”
Sawyer chuckled, still a little unsteady on his feet as he stood. “That’s right. The brains of the operation forever and always.”
They got dressed without much more conversation and the walk back to the truck was a quiet affair as well, but it was obvious that whatever dam had been broken between them had no chance of being put back into place.
CHAPTER 9
JOSIE
Josie wouldn’t admit it out loud, not in a million years and definitely not to Luke’s face… but she had been quietly hoping that all of the work that they were putting into the ranch would be for nothing and the place wouldn’t sell. That it would just sit on the market, year after year, untouched, and life could keep going how it always had, in a cocoon of warm familiarity. It was selfish, and you weren’t supposed to be selfish, but it was what she wanted.
Especially right now, as she stood in the barn where she’d been grooming the two horses, picking out their hooves and even trimming their tails and manes. She was trying to spend as much time as possible with them while she could, but it was only making her sadder. She threw her brush down into the bucket and leaned against Indy’s neck, the chestnut mare not moving a muscle as Josie rested her cheek against the smooth fur. At least when they’d all been working their butts off getting the repairs done, she hadn’t had time to think about what would happen to the horses.
She heard footsteps behind her and turned to find Sawyer walking into the barn, hands in his pockets. He took one look at her, stopped and tilted his head.
“You okay?”
Josie shrugged. “Either you’re getting to know me real wellreally fast, or it’s super obvious, huh?”
“Maybe a little bit of both.”
He closed the distance between them and leaned on the side of the stall. Josie didn’t move from her spot against Indy; she wanted to stay here forever.
“So,” said Sawyer. “It’s officially for sale.”
Josie sighed. So he was thinking about it too.
“Yup.”
“Luke seemed super happy about it this morning. Sandy too,” Sawyer said, trying to sound positive, but Josie didn’t hear any spark in his voice.
“Mm-hmm.”
“And you’re not?”
She peeked up at him. He’d said it so gently, as if it was okay to be unhappy about it.
Josie said nothing, just stroked Indy’s neck. She’d forced a big smile for Luke when he’d told her; she’d said “congratulations” and all the things you’re supposed to say. She’d made herself look happy about it all. But right now in front of Sawyer, just the two of them, she couldn’t fake it.
They hadn’t talked about the kiss in the days since it happened. There hadn’t been much time to talk about anything, really, in between fixing everything for the sale of the ranch and her shifts at the diner. But it was pretty obvious now that any walls that had been between them had crumbled. What would be the point in pretending when he could already see straight through her?
“I’m going to miss the horses,” she said, the words hurting her throat as she said it. It was the first time she had admitted it out loud.
Sawyer looked confused. But he didn’t roll his eyes, didn’t tell her she was being silly, that they were just horses. “Are they part of the sale too?” he asked.
She nodded. “Yup. Just like the cattle.”
