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I barely have a moment to register the face in front of me as my body responds, almost in exactly the same way it had to Hudson, and for a fleeting moment, I almost forget the driver entirely in lieu of this god before me.
My jaw slacks to see another gorgeous man in his late twenties lounging seductively in the doorway. His dark eyes twinkle mischievously as he folds his arms over a barrel chest that has known nothing but manual labor his whole life. My gaze trails over the ripples in his breastbone, my breath catching as I immediately imagine him shirtless… and on top of me.
NowthisI’ve seen in Westerns. Handsome ranch… guy? Hand? Whatever. I can picture him getting out of a creek after washing himself off, and I’m fully prepared to go on that cattle drive.
My tongue juts out inadvertently, rolling over my lower lip. His smoldering irises lock with mine. Shivers run the course of my body as I try to think of something clever to say, but I have a feeling that if I speak a word, it will come out in a mass of sputtering gibberish.
“Connor! There you are!” Katherine’s face lights up at the sight of the young man. “This is?—”
“Rose Winterbourne, I presume.” He steps down as another man lurks in the shadows behind him, but I can’t see him well. “Don’t take it personally, but we Googled the hell out of you.”
I find myself laughing at his honesty.
“I don’t blame you,” I reassure him, extending my hand. “I suppose I would have done the same for you if I’d known your name in advance.”
I raise an eyebrow suggestively, and it’s his turn to laugh.
“Connor Adams. I have the ranch to the east of here.” He throws his thumb back behind him. “And the creeper behind me is Eli Everhart. He’s to the south. We’re all tucked around Miss Katherine, keeping her safe and sound.”
I strain to look, realizing that there is, in fact, a third man, yet to be seen. Eli finally comes into full view, and I almost gasp aloud.
Seriously? Am I still sleeping in the truck? What would it take for him to tuckmein and keepmesafe and sound?
I discretely pinch myself to ensure I’m awake.
Like Hudson and Connor, he is sumptuous, with dark hair and intense, intelligent piney eyes which take me in with hooded, wary glances.
All three men have the bearing of what I would expect a cowboy to be with their tall, muscled forms and lean bodies.
How can all three of her neighbors be young and hot? No wonder Katherine lives out here.
I shoot Katherine a covert gaze, but if she notices, she doesn’t pay it any mind. I barely know what to make of this and am too dazed to ask.
“Will one of you get Rose’s bag from the back of Hudson’s truck?” Katherine asks the guys, glancing about for the missing neighbor. “He seems to have wandered off somewhere—maybe home.”
“I’d be happy to, Miss Katherine,” Connor says, tipping his wide-brim hat. He bounces down the creaky, perilous steps, intentionally brushes by me on his way to the car. “Pleased to meet you, Miss Rose.”
In spite of myself, I blush, unsure of how to respond to such a thing.
“Uh… thank you.”
Katherine chuckles. “These boys are good boys. I don’t know where I’d be without them.”
I raise an eyebrow, trying to understand why they’re at my grandmother’s ranch and why they are so helpful.
But it isn’t my place to ask… yet, anyway. I tuck my questions into my back pocket for the time being.
“I never got a chance to thank Hudson for the ride,” I say. “Will he be back?”
“He’ll be around at some point. He always is. Come inside, darling,” Katherine instructs, sparing me from having to say any more. “I just made the best huckleberry pie this side of Boise, didn’t I, Eli?”
“Yes, ma’am, you did,” Eli agrees, uttering his first word since my arrival, but he’s staring at me when he answers her. There’s a troubling expression in his eyes that I don’t understand.
“We have a lot of catching up to do, don’t we, Rose?” Katherine says wistfully, opening the screen door.
Inhaling, I follow her inside and leave it for Eli to enter also, but when I turn back around, he’s heading down the steps, away from the property.
What a strange bunch,I think, shaking my head.All except Connor. Are they taking advantage of Grandma?
