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It also explained why Colt disagreed with her.Saving the Landry legacy seemed to be all he caredabout.

“Who ordered dessert?”Colt’s voice boomed through thedoorway.

Ifroze.Shit.

Shit, shit, shit,shit,shit!

Jonas bounced in ahead of his uncle carrying whipped cream.When Colt finally appeared he was wearing my favorite pajama bottoms, a white t-shirt, and carrying a tray of what appeared to be chocolatepudding.

His grin lit up his whole face as he watched Jonas.“I’ve brought an apology in the form of chocolate.Forgive me, Christina?”He dramatically fell to his knees in front of her, hands clasped.He was in a much better mood than before, and much closer to the lighthearted Colt I saw onvacation.

She shook her head and rolled her eyes.“Get up.You’re embarrassing yourself in front of ourguest.”

Colt’s head snapped up and around, looking for theguest.

When his eyes landed on me, they narrowed, his whole body going stiff.“Lily?”He climbed back up.“I didn’t realize you’dbehere.”

“We have dinner sometimes,” Christina said.“Since you were going up to bed I thought she might enjoy thecompany.”

His head swung back.“Christina...I thought wediscussedthis.”

“We did.We discussed you going up to bed.Alone.”

He turned back to me.He was trying to figure something out, but I wasn’t sure what.“A word, Lily?Outside?”

I couldn’t read his expression.Was it angry?I didn’t think so.But it wasn’t excited either.“Of course.”I followed him out, shooting Christina a shrug as she watched silently from thetable.

I could feel his mood before I saw his expression.Colt had that ability—to change the air around him with his feelings.When Colt was angry, the room was hot, electric.When he was sad, the air hung heavy.But when he was frustrated like he was now, well it was like any wrong move might spark the air and send us all up inflames.

I followed him all the way down the hall and out to the high garden that stood between the main house and the barn.“I’m sorry about earlier.”He stood a careful distance away.“I wasajerk.”

No chocolate or theatrics for me, just a simple, genuine, apology “Are you feelingbetter?”

“It’s amazing what a hot shower and a good meal can do.”He stepped closer, toeing the dirt.“I let my emotions get the better of me.It’s the one thing I can’t seem to stop doing over and overagain.”

“You love this ranch.You had a bad day.”I shrugged because I didn’t know what else to say other than the obvious.I didn’t think, “Hey, I overheard that private conversation you had on the stairs.Want to talk about it?”was anoption.

“That doesn’t mean I get a free pass to let those emotions explode all over everyonearoundme.”

Except that it was one of the things I’d come to love about Colt.He might see it as a weakness but to someone like me, someone who was surrounded by people who lacked empathy, those emotions were everything.“Some people don’t care about anyone but themselves.They use everyone around them, suck up everything they can in hopes that one day it will finally be enough.”I moved closer until I could feel the air shift, the heat from my body colliding with his.“Do you know the exact moment I knew I’d sleep withyouColt?”

His eyes dropped to my lips, darkened.“No.When?”

“You’d just brought me that shrimp cocktail and something I said got you all defensive.But then I told you I was at The Westerly to escape my real life and relearn how torelax.”

His jaw tensed and his eyes snapped back up to lock with mine, filling those blue depths with that same clouded, protective energy he hadthatday.

When I reached up to cup his jaw he didn’t flinch.Instead he leaned into me.“Your eyes did that,” I whispered.“And I was done.You had merightthen.”

He hesitated.“What am Idoing?”

“Youcare.”

I swallowed down a gasp as his eyes turned to fire.“Who are these assholes in your life that make you feel this way?”He grabbed my hips, tugged me against him as if he were claiming me.“I remember that moment.You looked so...alone.I forgot about myself, the ranch,everything, for the first time my head was empty except for onethought.”

“And what was that?”I could feel Colt everywhere.It was as if his energy had slipped inside me.It filled my veins and flooded my heart until I thought I might explode from theoverload.

“You,” he said simply.“It was as if my whole life I’d been looking for something, except I didn’t even know that I’d been searching at all.Not until that moment.And suddenly everything made sense.I was there tomeetyou.”