Well, fuck.
It didn’t happen often. Not at Silver Stone, where one of the first talks with new hires regarded the women working the ranch. Kelli had been a lead hand for years, and before Ginny left, while she hadn’t worked in the barns, she’d been around often enough that Ashton and her brothers had made sure nothing ever got dangerous.
Ginny knew the rules. It was a ranch, and with animals around acting like—well, animals—sexual jokes were a given. But she and Dare had been told from the very start they were to report any hand who went beyond the comfortable level of teasing.
Shit, shit, shit. Because the person she should report this to now was probably Tucker.
She quickly thought back. Jim hadn’t really said anything terrible, had he? Was she overreacting? There were plenty of times she’d been out in public and admired a good-looking man. Was it wrong for Jim to check her out when she knew she was put together in a way that made guys take a second look? Maybe she’d done something to encourage him…
…and the fact that she was even having this mental debate with herself meant the answer was she needed to talk to Tucker. But damn, it wasn’t a conversation she wanted to have.
The door opened behind her, and she snapped her head up, worried that the man had returned.
It was Tucker with an oversized gym bag in one hand and wearing a pleased expression. “Hey. Sorry it took me a little longer than expected.”
“That’s fine,” she offered cheerfully. “What’s the big secret?”
He tilted his head toward the hayloft. “Head-on up. I’ve got something to show you.”
She snickered but kept any dirty comment to herself. She also decided she would tell him about Jim, but first things first.
They were in the oldest section of the barn now, solid as a rock, with only a couple of window openings on the west wall. She followed Tucker, admiring his broad shoulders as he led her to where someone had obviously put in some time and created a perfect seating arrangement out of the bales.
She stepped into the neat little hideaway, with a wide comfortable bench seat facing the window, backrests behind it and a footrest in the front. When Tucker reached into his duffel bag and pulled out pillows for them to sit on and put at their backs, Ginny smiled.
“This is comfy.”
“This is Operation Prove it headquarters,” he told her seriously.
“Get out.” She ignored the pillows and jumped up to catch Tucker around the neck, squeezing hard and enjoying the feeling as he wrapped her up tight.
They stood there for a few moments, just holding each other. Ginny took a deep breath and felt herself synchronizing with him. Chests moving easily as they found a rhythm and a pace.
He tucked his knuckles under her chin and lifted her face to his. “Missed you.”
Then he kissed her. Gentle and soft. Sweet even, which after the hug made her feel one hundred kinds of wonderful.
“Missed you, too,” she confessed.
Then instead of heating things up, he motioned toward the pillows. “We’ve got some reporting to do.”
His afternoon spent with Luke had only confirmed Tucker’s decision. It didn’t matter how busy he was, at the end of the day, he wanted to go home to Ginny, and he didn’t give a damn who knew it.
No, correction. He sure the hell wanted everyone to know he was the one coming home to the woman.
But this was more than that. He’d seen her, truly seen the way she stepped in and did things, often without anyone noticing. Ginny was always there for her family. Always doing what she thought was right for them.
Doing what was right for herself? Those moments seem few and far between. She knew how to go after what she wanted—seducing him, for example. Heading off on the apprenticeship program.
But her insistence they keep their relationship quiet had been to make his life easier. Well, screw that.
He didn’t want easy. He wanted her.
He wanted her to know she was potentially the most important thing in his life. Kind of hard to do that when they were living in two different places and barely able to speak to each other except over the phone. Fuck it.
“You’re glowering,” Ginny teased.
Shit. He settled back on his pillow and put up his feet, deliberately set up so he could look her in the face. “I hope you know I don’t plan to stay this busy.”
“Some times of the years take more energy than others,” she returned. “And you want to do a good job, so diving in at five hundred percent is a given, knowing you.”
“Doesn’t change the fact that Luke gave me hell today. Rightly so,” he added quickly as her expression turned indignant. “It was good to spend some time with him. And I need this time with you.”
She put her feet up beside her and curled her arms around her knees, smiling sweetly. “I miss talking with you in person. The phone and texts are fine for so long, and then I want a real body in the room with me.”
He spread his hands. “Real body, right here.”
Ginny made a terrible face. “Okay, before we start, I need to tell you something. It’s just a heads up, but I don’t want this to get away and be forgotten.”
She gave him a quick summary on her run-in with Jim.
He stifled his first impulse which was to immediately track down the bastard and teach him some manners. “I’ll talk to Ashton. We’ll make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
She nodded quickly. “Thank you, and thanks for not making a big fuss over it. I want to focus on us. So tell me, what’s on your report?”
Tucker stared at her for a moment. “Not dropping that topic yet, darling. I won’t make a fuss, but we will do what needs to be done, understand?”
Ginny wrinkled her nose. “I know. I just—I don’t think I did anything wrong, but I don’t want to get Jim in more trouble than he deserves.” She narrowed her gaze. “Don’t you dare go beat him up in some he-man ritual, got it?”
“He-man ritual?”
“Fists. Cursing. Blood and bruises.” Her expression got harder. “You and Luke used to do that all the time, and I hate it.”
“It’s sometimes inevitable.”
“I don’t have to like it. And inevitable means stuck in the past, where nothing changes until something changes.” Ginny inhaled sharply. “Don’t expect me to approve.”
“Want to make an herbal weapon for me?” he asked, trying to lighten the situation.
Ginny tilted her head and gave him a very well-executed dirty look. “You’re not funny.”
“I’m hilarious,” he insisted even as he took a deep breath and rebooted, although the incident with Jim was pushed aside, not forgotten. “I want to start with a success,” he said, aiming them back into safer territory. “I’ll have you know Ashton now thinks I am a minor god when it comes to mechanical repair.”
She leaned forward eagerly. “What? Did you fix something he couldn’t?”
“Of course, although it was a close call,” Tucker said dryly. “I googled the problem when he went to the head, so when he came back, I instantly fixed the wires that had gotten crossed.”
She hooted, the sound echoing through the loft as she pressed a hand over her mouth. “Oops. Sorry, our headquarters has very open acoustics.”