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It wasn’t too late to leave. I could just pretend I hadn’t found him if Mrs. Jacobs asked later. Even on the walk out here I hadn’t figured out exactly what I wanted to say.
“Juliana. I didn’t know you got up this early,” Mulaney said before I had a chance to change my mind.
“I’m still on Paris time.”
Mitch’s jaw twitched. So that wasn’t the best way to start a conversation.
“You come to help us out this morning?” Stone said, offering me a kind smile. “We could always use another hand.”
“How’s Blue?” I asked.
“Take a look for yourself,” he said, motioning toward her stall.
As if she knew we were talking about her, the horse poked her head out. I rushed over to her, thankful to be able to put off for another minute whatever conversation I’d come here to have.
I felt Mitch’s stare as I stroked Blue’s nose, and I suddenly got self-conscious about my appearance. In my haste to leave the house, I’d pulled on boots over my sweatpants and hadn’t thought to brush my hair. It remained in the messy knot I’d slept on.
“I’m sorry about your baby,” I whispered to the horse. She nuzzled me in response, and then she nudged me like she knew I was procrastinating.
When I turned around, Mitch and I were alone in the barn, save the animals. My throat went dry. He had on a long-sleeved T-shirt, and his jeans and boots were filthy. His brow was slick with sweat underneath hair that was sticking up all over the place.
My heart flip-flopped as intense eyes stared at me. Not that long ago he had been my best friend, but now I was at a loss for words.
He leaned on the shovel he’d been using. “If you don’t have anything to say, I need to get back to work.”
Chapter Ten
Mitch
The thunderingin my ears grew louder the longer she stood there. Why was she here at this time of day?
I waited, and she fidgeted. Like we were strangers. I’d never seen her so uncertain, except when she’d delivered her Paris news. As twisted as things were between us, I hated that she was uncomfortable around me.
“Jules, what’s going on?” For all my tough guy act, I caved. She was my strength and weakness.
She pushed off the stall and charged at me. Slender arms tangled around my neck as I caught her. Soft lips plowed against my rough ones. I groaned at the feel of her exactly where she belonged.
I wove my fingers in her silky hair and spun us so that her back was against the wall. Her whimper of need had my dick pressing against my jeans. It had been too long since I’d heard that sound. Too damn long.
She tightened her legs around my waist. “Mitch.”
My name on her lips was the sweetest sound I’d ever heard.
I tore my mouth from hers and cupped her face. Her skin was smooth under my calloused palm. And those moss green eyes…I got lost for a minute.
I tipped her head back and tasted her neck, getting drunk on that sweet smell that was only hers. Her fingers dug into my shoulders as I nibbled along her jaw. She writhed against me, making a growl of pure need rumble from my throat.
I carried her into an empty stall while I kissed her senseless. Kicking the door closed with my boot, I backed her against the wood slat wall. She pulled at my shirt until it was over my head and discarded. Those hands I couldn’t get enough of traced the muscles of my back with familiarity and exploration. How had I ever survived without her touch for so long?
Regret for lost time threatened to crack the surface, but I shoved it down and enjoyed the victory of having her tight body against me again. I slid a hand under her sweatshirt, my dick punching to be released at the feel of her.
I yanked on a clean blanket that hung on a nearby hook and tossed it to the hay-covered floor. Without bothering to completely spread it out, I lowered her on top of it. She wriggled out of her sweatshirt, exposing her bare breasts.
I ran a thumb over her taut nipple. Faint tan lines reminded me of the many summer days we’d spent together on Lake Travis. Her looking sexy as hell, me trying to disguise a hard-on. I didn’t hide it now, nudging against her center despite our clothes. It wasn’t enough.
Closing my mouth around her stiff peak as I palmed her other breast, I flicked my tongue, and a little cry of pleasure escaped her. I smiled in satisfaction. Her fingers plowed into my hair, tugging, begging me for more.
Our bodies recognized one another despite the months of separation. All the parts of me that had been dark without her lit up. I sucked on her other breast until her hips lifted off the floor.
