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Maggie laughed. “Steaks it is, then. Name a night and I’ll come over.”

His eyes sparkled and she resisted the urge to fall back into them, though it was futile. The weight of her grief pushed her closer to arms she knew she could fall back into, if only to feel something other than hurt for a little while.

Not smart, her brain warned. She ignored it.

“Friday sound good?”

“It’s a date. You know, since I won and all.”

A dinner alone with a man as alluring as Bennett might not be the smartest move, but she also needed to enjoy… something. That it happened to be an adorable cowboy was neither here nor there.

He tied up their horses and sidled up beside her. He smelled both like the boy she knew and the man who worked hard for a living. She inhaled deeply, committing the scent to memory along with the rest of him.

“Well, this is it. The field I was talking about. You’ll have everything your herd needs here, and it’s just a ten-minute ride if you need to check on them.”

“I like it. And it makes sense. Is there anything to John’s argument about fire danger?”

Bennett shrugged, and she tried not to notice the flexing of his shoulders. Gone were the boyish arms of his youth. Replacing them was a strength that kept drawing her in.

“If there’s a fire, yes. But you can’t risk everything on a slim maybe.” Hadn’t she done that already, and lost? “The rain is gonna be late this year, and water is important. This canyon’s the exact reason I wanted to buy your father’s land.”

“Then why don’t you bring your herd with mine?”

His smile was off-kilter and fully distracting. “You’d be okay with that?”

“Sure. There’s plenty of room.” Maggie waved her hand over the expanse of land in front of them. Deep red and gold canyon walls rose above them and leafy shades of green as brilliant as Bennett’s eyes bordered a pale blue stream of water. The gentle bubbling of the water moving over stones and the riverbed was calming nerves Bennett brought with him.

“Okay, then. Thanks.”

“Why’s that guy get under your skin so much?” Maggie asked as she sat on a fallen birch log.

Bennett joined her, his arm brushing against hers. It worked against the cool breeze and warmed her up.

“Johnny?”

Maggie nodded.

“You know the snakes that keep your yard clean from pesky rodents?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, he’s the rodent.”

Maggie slapped his shoulder and laughed. “It seems like you two have history.”

“It’s complicated, that’s for sure.”

“I’ve got time, you know. Spill, Bennett.”

He kicked at the water’s edge, splashing her shins. It felt good—the water and being this close to him.

“The short story is that he comes after everything I want. If it was just that, I guess I’d find a way to live with it, but he has a way of destroying that thing after he gets it.”

“I’m well aware he wants Newman Ranch.”

Bennett’s gaze on her was bright and intense. The sun felt weak in comparison.

“You are?”