"I am not a teenager," I answer, but my heart already likes that he asked.
"I know," he says. "Text me anyway."
"Bossy," I say, and can't stop the smile from climbing to my mouth.
"Stubborn," he returns, and there we are again, the same two people as an hour ago, only not the same at all.
I slip inside using my hidden key and close the door softly. The living room is dim and golden from the lamp near the couch. Candy is asleep now, book face down on her stomach, curled up on my couch.
I cross the hall and look in on Emma. She is snoring her little snore, the one that sounds like a mouse sighing.
In my room, I lean my forehead against the cool wood of the closed door and count to ten because otherwise I might call him back, and that is not how I want to play this.
Me:Home. Everyone is asleep.
His reply comes fast.
Bear:Good. Get some sleep.
Me:You too.
Setting the phone face down, I let my head fall back onto the pillow. I try to build my old argument again, though it’s not holding. Now he’s in it, threading through all the reasons in a way that makes them different.
I reach for my phone without looking and tap out one more message before I can stop myself.
Me:This does not mean I agree with you.
His answer is three words that feel like a promise and a challenge.
Bear:Good. Fight me.
I tuck the phone under the edge of the pillow and close my eyes. Even though I’m still a woman who has a daughter, a job, and a hundred reasons to keep her heart and life neat, I’m also a woman warmed from a kiss that still hums on my mouth. Both can be true. Tomorrow I will figure out the impossible—how to live with both.
Chapter 18
Asher
The ranch is quiet, but my head isn't. It hasn't been since last night. I should be focused on the horses, on the fences that need mending, and on the list of chores sitting on the kitchen table.
Trying to bury myself in chores, I’m hoping sweat and dirt will clear my head. I double-check the latches on the gates, even sharpening the blades in the tack room. Nothing helps. Every detail brought her back—the way she looked at me last night in the barn, her breath catching on a kiss she claimed couldn't last.
It's maddening. And addictive.
I run a hand down Phantom's neck, since he's joined me tonight for my chores, and he flicks an ear, patient as ever. "You're the lucky one," I mutter to him. "No one expects you to have sense." He huffs out a breath and nudges at my shoulder, nearlyknocking me off balance. Shaking my head, I laugh under my breath.
I'm so far gone in thought that I don't hear Zach until he's right behind me.
"Earth to Asher." His voice cuts through the night.
I turn, bristling. "What?"
He leans against the fence post, arms folded, his smirk already in place. "You didn't hear a word I just said, did you?"
Finn's laugh carries from a few feet away, where he's hauling a bucket of feed. "Don't bother, Zach. He's been like this all day. Yesterday too. Honestly, it's starting to scare me."
I scowl. "You two ever think about minding your own business?"
"That's exactly what brothers are for," Zach fires back, grinning wider. "To notice when one of us looks like he's got a secret burning a hole in his pocket."