When he pulls away after what could be either a minute or an hour, I’m not sure, his eyes are hard, and his jaw is clenched. My heart is beating like a drum, and my skin is tingling. My lips are swollen and aching for more.
We barely even hear the car doors slam and the engine turn on. When we look, Lorne is backing the car down the driveway while Deirdre furiously types on her phone.
Colt slowly turns back to me, and I realize his hands are still on my waist. I like them there. But as the white SUV leaves, his hands drop.
“What the fuck are you doing?” He growls, glaring at me.
“Charity.”
He smirks, but he narrows his eyes. “You don’t need to get involved here.”
“I think we’re past that, don’t you, dear?”
“Tansy…”
“If I don’t do this, you lose your ranch, right?”
He nods. “Next month.”
“Well, someone offered me a place to stay past a month from now.” I nod at the SUV as it roars out of the front gate and away from the ranch. “Think she’d let me stay?”
“After that little display? She’s probably painting your name on a box of bullets.”
I giggle. “Oh, lovely. Well in that case, with Cherry Falls rent being what it is, I guess I’m helping then.”
“Tansy—”
“I think the trigger is already pulled, Colt,” I say quietly.
His eyes search mine. Slowly, he nods. “Well, shit. Fake fiancée it is.”
“Fake fiancée it is.”
I reach out and shake his hand while I grin. But underneath, I’m trembling. Underneath, I’m throbbing with heat, and wondering what exactly the hell I’ve just gotten myself into.
6 Tansy
Three days later, and I’m still not exactly sure. All I do know is, I’m now officially “fake engaged” to quite possibly the hottest guy I’ve ever met. Well, or at least as “officially” as you can be with something like this, I suppose.
On the surface, nothing’s changed. I’m staying in Colt’s guest cottage. We’ve had dinner together every night, but, whatever. That’s just him being a good host. Or me being a gracious guest, the night I had him over to the cottage to cook for us both.
Needless to say, the alcohol consumption around each other has been non-existent, which might be for the best.
Sometimes it’s nine, another day it was eleven. But each day, I head to the stable with Colt to see what I can do about Chance. And I have to admit, but day three, this weird irrational anxiety about horses of mine might just be fading away. Or at least, around Chance it is.
Aside from being stable together, or having dinner by candlelight like two totally platonic, utterly non-romantic, completely normal adults who’ve seen each other basically naked and made out like teenagers, Colt and I don’t see each other. The “job” of looking after Chance is really the only work I have right now. So I spend the rest of the next couple of days catching up on some veterinary medical journal reading. Colt is out with his horses sometimes, and other times he’s buried in his home office.
I decide to ignore how excited I get each day around dinner time. We are not romantically involved, I remind myself. I mean, obviously not. Of course not. We’re just two adult friends who have an arrangement worked out.
It just so happens that every single time I look at him, all I can imagine is basically every delicious detail of what he looks like naked.
No big deal, right?
On my fourth day living on the most idyllic ranch ever, with the hottest man ever, I get a text from Cassidy.
Hey girl! Back in town! You around? I’m driving up to the ranch—would love to catch up on what you’ve been up to and say welcome to Cherry Falls!! ;)
I blush and groan when I read it. What have I been up to? Oh, not much, Cassidy. Just lusting over your boss, who, oh by the way, I’m now fake engaged to. How was your trip?
I try and distract myself from my thoughts with boring veterinary journals. But by the time I hear a knock on the cottage door, I’ve succeeded in reading the same paragraph five times. And I have definitely not distracted myself from confusing thoughts about Colt.
He’s my boss. He comes with a whole bunch of baggage. He’s a lot older. Falling for him in any way shape or form, or repeating that kiss would be a disaster. And I’m a smart enough, savvy enough girl to fully understand that.
So, why the hell can’t I stop thinking about him?
Cassidy knocks again, and I startle off the couch. “Coming!”
I skip over to the front door and yank it open. “Hey! How was—”
“Dude what the fuck!?”
I gasp as my five-foot-two little blonde friend comes barging right in. For a second, it feels like she’s mad at me about something. But that’s before I realize she’s got a big, shit-eating grin on her face.
“Uh, what do you—”
“Colt?!” She giggles. “Damn, lady. You New Yorkers do move fast!”
I roll my eyes. “Okay, what?”
“Don’t what me! I just heard about the whole thing!”
I frown, perplexed. “Okay, back up. Hi, Cassidy! How are you? I’m great thanks. Oh, and thank you so much for hooking me up with a job,” I deadpan at her. “My, what a swell little town you have! I’m so glad to see you for the first time in like a year! How’s everything?”
She rolls her eyes. “Get that out of your system?”
“I guess? I still have no idea what the hell you’re talking—”
“My dad just filled me in on the whole thing.”
I groan. “Cass, the whole what?”
She frowns. “Are
