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She shook her head. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
He dug his heels into his horse, pushing her to leap forward and block Sarah from riding farther. She gasped, her hands tightening as he took over the trail before her. “I know exactly what I’m talking about. You are so much stronger than you give yourself credit for. Smarter, too.”
Her gaze dipped to the ground. “Thanks,” she murmured. “I appreciate that, even though you don’t have to say it.”
“No, I don’t.” He jerked his head toward another trail. “Let’s pull off here and let the horses get a drink. There’s a creek that runs through this side of the property.” He turned his horse toward the trail, not checking to see if Sarah was close behind.
Since when had he become more generous with flattery? His jaw tightened. If he was getting soft, he’d have to reconsider how he led the ranch hands on a day-to-day basis.
When they reached the clearing, he hopped down from his horse immediately, then walked over to Sarah. He held up his hands, a gesture that made it clear he would help her down. She hesitated for a moment but gave in quicker than he’d expected. Her hands settled down on his shoulders and he lifted her from her saddle to deposit her in front of him.
His hands lingered on her waist as he gazed into her brown eyes. He could get lost in those eyes,ifhe was interested in her.Ifhe was interested in a romantic relationship at all, it would be with someone who would be around for more than a few months.
As much as his head continued to spout out those thoughts, his heart disagreed.
The way his heart beat a little faster, the way his fingers twitched as they grazed her waist, the way his eyes dipped toward her mouth, his body was betraying him in ways he wasn’t sure he disapproved of.
He jerked away from her. “See that your horse gets led over to the creek. We’ll head back on the trail in a few minutes. The fields we’re checking out aren’t too far from here.” Dax turned away from her.
Just because he could relate to her and had this undeniable attraction to her didn’t mean a dang thing.
Brielle was wrong.
Dax strode toward his horse and grasped the reins in his hand, then led her to the water. His eyes met Sarah’s, but neither of them smiled. The tension between them had returned with a vengeance, but this time, it was a little different. They weren’t at each other’s throats. It was more like they were two magnets that had been placed in a glass jar and now they danced around each other.
How had this happened? He searched his head for a moment in time when things had shifted, but he couldn’t put a finger on it. The pounding in his chest grew more ragged. He hadn’t wanted to be with a woman since… since he couldn’t remember. And now, suddenly, he’d been blindsided by this girl.
Sure, if he really wanted to scrutinize what had happened, he might trace it back to when he’d seen her in the chicken coop for the first time.
Sarah was a spitfire. That was the thing that had drawn his attention to Brielle. She was a spitfire too, only in a different way. With Sarah, it was in the way she approached life, while Brielle had used her energies to attract the men she was interested in.
He ran his hand along his horse’s neck and down her back as she dipped lower to take a drink. What if he allowed himself to open up more to Sarah? What would it hurt? He might just figure out that she wasn’t his type after all. Then he could stop these traitorous thoughts from infiltrating his mind.
He’d been through this before. With Brielle, she’d overtaken every part of him until the point when they’d both had enough. That had to be the only solution.
Dax had to get her out of his system one way or another. Either he had to explore the possibility of something more, or he had to determine without a doubt that she wasn’t meant for him.
But even as his gaze raked over her from this distance, he had a feeling the more likely of the two scenarios was the former.
There was only one problem. He couldn’t fall for someone who refused to open up to him. Could Sarah find the courage to trust in him even a little bit?
He hated how much he hoped she would.
15
Sarah
Sarah loathed everything about the way she felt utterly caged in this moment—not by Dax, not by the Callahans, not even by the sheriff.
She had been cornered by her own stupid curiosity. This was downright ridiculous. She just needed to put some distance between them, that was all. Except how was she supposed to do that when her probation required her to be with him for most working hours?
Scowling at the water where she stood, Sarah tried to come up with as many excuses as possible to duck out early that day. It should be easy. She hadn’t ever been the type of person who chased after a guy, and she still wasn’t. As long as he didn’t make any advances, she should be fine.
Sarah took a deep breath and released it. The relief that filled her took the edge off the worry. She’d overreacted. It was fine—this whole thing was fine.
Her horse wandered farther down the creek, leaving her alone to stare into the babbling water with unseeing eyes. There was a reason she was drawn to Dax. Even if he got on her nerves sometimes, he was a decent guy.
She rubbed her nose and attempted to glance over her shoulder with as much nonchalance as she could muster, only to find him missing. Her heart beat a little faster for reasons she wasn’t certain of, and she spun around only to nearly bump into him.
