Jack looks at me with the same chocolate-colored eyes as Gracie and smiles. “Because she kind of lives here now.” He ducks his head like a little boy and wins my heart as if he hasn’t already claimed a piece of it.
A piece of my heart?
There’s no way that can be possible. There’s no way this man I hated at first sight can be the same person I look forward to seeing first thing every morning.
Can it?
I mean . . . it’s just the circumstances. I’ve been lonely and he. . . he . . . makes me feel good. It’s his belief that I can do this when everyone else seems to want me to fail that is making me feel this way.
“You’re mad?” Jack asks. To him it might seem that way, but I know my face has gone bloodless as if I’ve seen a ghost for an entirely different reason.
It isn’t possible.
Falling for Jack isn’t part of this deal.
No way.
“No. Not mad.” I shake the spooked look off my face and force the smile on my lips to be real, which isn’t that hard when I have the most pathetically sweet dog’s face on my lap and Jack Sutton staring at me like a little boy about to be scolded.
I turn to Gracie because she’s much easier to look at than he is.
“I know she’s another mouth to feed when you have plenty already, but I set up food delivery for her . . . on me. That way, she isn’t a burden on you. I just hoped—”
“I do believe you are rambling, Jack,” I tease with a laugh. “Do I make you nervous?”
He stops and looks at Gracie, who’s patiently staring at me. “Only when I think you’re going to make me take her back.”
“I’m not going to make you take her back,” I say.
“Good. Great, isn’t it girl?” Jack says with another ruffle of the fur on her head. “I thought you could use some company.” He winks. “Someone to talk to. Besides, I’m not too fond of you being here all alone at night.”
And for the second time in as many moments, I have to cover the emotions he pulls out of me. I have to keep in mind that Jack’s time here is finite. He has a life to get back to and a ranch of his own that he needs to go run.
I swallow the sadness the thought brings and know I can’t hide the tears welling in my eyes as I look at him. Hopefully, he’ll mistake them for happy ones over Gracie.
“Thank you.” My voice breaks when I say the two words.
And I mean them.
I think I just might need Gracie more than she needs me in the coming months.
34
TATE
Ruby’s coat glistens in the sun. The bangs of her mane fall over her eye as those deep brown eyes stare at me like she knows what I’m thinking.
Click.
“You’re such a pretty girl,” I praise as I hand her a slice of apple. She takes it and moves to trot along the worn path that circles the ring, hooves kicking up dust to contrast against the bright green of the trees beyond.
Click.
I close my eyes and picture my next shot. How it will look once I edit it on the computer. I would take a panoramic so I could capture the reflection of the sunset and then pull out all the vibrant colors with the computer program.
Now, if only I can capture what I need.
“They’re negotiating.” Will’s voice is edged with a palpable excitement as I turn to him.
“Negotiating?” I ask, my pulse kicking up a notch.
“With Steely.”
A smile fights its way onto my lips as I try not to get too excited over what exactly negotiating means.
“Does the negotiating sound like it’s a good thing?”
Will’s grin adds fuel to the hope beginning to bubble up inside me. “Jack’s a hard man to please,” he says, and I bark out a laugh.
Pleasing Jack—pleasuring him—doesn’t seem very hard from where I stand. His groans from last night as I took him into my mouth and sucked him off while his hands fisted in my hair and my name on repeat on his lips are proof enough of that.
“Tate?” It’s Jack’s voice this time. It’s his excitement that carries across the ranch.
It’s my fingers crossed for luck as my hands hang by my side.
“At the house . . .” But my words fade as he closes the distance in a few strides, his face void of all emotion.
And just when my heart falls—when I think we’ve lost Steely and the contract that will keep Knox Ranch afloat—Jack lets out a riotous whoop before picking me up and spinning me in circles.
Gracie lets out a bark from where she’s lying in the shade on the verandah as I shriek. “Really? We got it?”
“We got it, baby!” he says and then plants a kiss squarely on my lips.
And then we both jump back, more than aware that Will is standing there staring at us. We are both shocked but excitement is brimming beneath the surface.
Will emits the loudest laugh, which I swear echoes across the ranch. “Don’t stop on my account. It isn’t as if I don’t already know you two are a thing.”
I stare at him, shocked that he knows when we’ve done everything to act as if we aren’t sleeping together. “Will,” I say like a mom scolding her child.
He snorts and rolls his eyes before heading toward the stables. “Your secret is safe with me,” he tosses over his shoulder.
“Good to know,” Jack says as he steps up to me again. This time, he frames my face with both hands. “Now, where were we?” he asks and gives me a proper kiss, loaded with every ounce of violent-edged desire that I feel in return.
When my senses are thoroughly put through every pleasurable wringer imaginable, he steps back and looks at me. His grin is wide, his eyes are alive, and every part of him vibrates with pride.
“We got the contract, Tate.” He shakes his head as if he can’t believe it. “It’s on a probationary status, but we got it.”
“I don’t even know what to say.” Emotions I can’t describe hum through my blood. My head spins and heart races. “I—”
“Don’t say anything yet,” he says and runs a thumb up and down my cheek, “because you’re going to hate me for the next forty-eight hours.”
“What? Why?”
“They’ll be here on Wednesday. Four men. Twelve stallions ready to stud.”
“But I thought they wanted to wait till the next crop of foals were born before they made their decision.”
He winks. “I talk a good game, baby.”
“I know, but—”
“Are you saying you doubt me?” Another kiss pressed to my lips in the most casual of ways. It feels as if standing here and kissing in broad daylight is something we always do instead of our nighttime rendezvous behind closed doors.
“I don’t doubt you. I just don’t understand why an outfit like Steely would choose us over Hickman. I mean . . . I know that was the plan but now that it’s a reality . . . I just—”
“Take a deep breath.” He puts his hands on my shoulders and exhales loudly as if to show me. “This is what you hired me for, remember? To run the ranch and bring on a steady clientele. Yes, I oversold us a bit, but that’s why we’re going to work our asses off for the next two days so that we deliver.”