Jesus Christ.
I scrape my chair back. “I need some air.”
Ace grins. “Need a cold shower, you mean.”
“Fuck off.”
Their laughter follows me out into the night as I head to the back door, pulling out a cigarette. With my back against the wall, I look up at the stars and light it. Letting the smoke burn into my lungs.
Boots crunch on gravel behind me.
I already know it’s her. I’m trained to hunt, but she deserves more than to be my prey.
I don’t turn right away. But my heart fuckin’ gallops in my chest.
Watching her dance in there? Watching every man look at her?
Not good for my self-control. I’ve got a reputation to uphold. But, if someone so much as touches her, I might shoot the place up.
“I thought I told you to stay away from cowboys?” I ask, glancing over my shoulder.
She stands a few feet away, curls wild from dancing, cheeks flushed, green eyes bright in the dim light.
“It’s hot in there,” she says, folding her arms, though the smile tugging at her lips gives her away.
“Fresh air’s usually out front. Back here is for the smokers.”
She shrugs. “Guess I got lost.”
I huff a quiet laugh. “Sure you did, firefly.”
Her eyes flicker at the nickname, and instead of stepping back, she moves closer.
Mistake number one.
I hold my lit cigarette out as a dare. “You smoke?”
“If I’m feeling bad, then yes.”
I nod. Checking her hands, looking for a ring on the wrong finger. But it’s bare. She’s not taken. “Then tonight’s your lucky night.”
Our fingers brush as she takes it, and the contact snaps between us like static.
Jesus.
She coughs lightly after her drag, then hands it back, fingers lingering deliberately.
She’s teasing me, and I should shut it down. I don’t do this anymore, haven’t since Wyatt’s mom walked out and left me holding everything together.
My priorities are simple: My son. My ranch. My brothers.
Women complicate things.
But this one? She pulls at something in me I thought burned out years ago. She’s making me rethink my whole way of life with one smile.
Maybe not everyone is going to walk out on me. Perhaps this cherry red haired girl might be the one who stays.
I believe in fate, for the most part.