Page 31

“What just happened?” I blurted out, my heart still racing while not sure if I should laugh or freak out.

Cassidy snorted and his palms slid from my hips. He planted them behind his body and leaned back, staring up into my eyes. Hazel eyes that were definitely still thinking about what had almost occurred between—

“Oh, no,” I whispered, letting go of his shirt and slapping a hand over my mouth. That had not just happened, or almost happened.

“Oh, no?” Cassidy furrowed his brows. “Bud will be fine. He knows this place and is bookin’ it home right now.”

My jaw snapped open, and I dropped my hand from my lips. “That’s not…” And I stopped. It was an involuntary response of mine as my eyes slid down his exposed torso. That chiseled body of his that had been beneath my palms ignited that fire low in my core. The very flames that had been put out by a squeal of a horse and a squirrel flying off Bud’s rump.

Sighing, I ripped my gaze back up to Cassidy’s eyes. “Never mind,” I grumbled, and he lifted a single brow.

As if he knew exactly what I’d been about to say.

But he kept his mouth shut and simply watched me.

“We need to follow Bud,” I quickly mumbled, changing the subject, feeling overwhelmed by the flush of unexpected emotions.

“Why?” Cassidy asked as I became acutely aware of my intimate positioning with him. How I could feel everything that was taking its sweet time to die down.

I ripped my legs from around him and quickly stood up, scrambling away from Cassidy. “B-b-because of the poachers, or hunters, or whoever those guys were. They could catch Bud,” I answered and ran a hand over the back of my neck.

Cassidy remained still, not moving from his position in the dirt as I looked at everything but him. My eyes scanned the unrecognizable terrain that I’d run us into.

“By the way, how’d you lose them? And how’s the bullet wound?” I added, filling the silence with more things to distract from what had just happened.

“I zigged a few times, zagged the others, fired a few shots, and eventually put enough space between them and me that they turned around. I doubt they’ll go back to the herd anyway since we always leave a couple hands to watch them.” Cassidy sat up a little more and finally brushed some dust off his chaps. “And it’s fine. Stopped bleedin’ a while ago.” He snatched his hat from the ground and stood up, the gravel grating beneath his boots.

“I’m sorry, again,” I whispered as he tugged the hat over his unruly hair. His jaw knotted, thoughts rolling around in his head, and I wondered if he was suspicious about more than he let on. “You know, for getting us lost,” I quickly added.

“Hmmmm,” he hummed but said nothing else as he sauntered over to his horse. The only horse between the two of us now.

Running my fingers along the braid that swung loose and disheveled down my back, I sucked my swollen bottom lip between my teeth as Cassidy swung himself up onto the horse. His tawny eyes darted back to me, and he tipped his head. His gaze slid to my fingers as I twisted a strand of hair between my thumb and index finger.

“What’s that look for?” I asked.

His lips remained sealed, pulled tightly for a moment. Immediate warmth rose within my stomach, reminding me of what we’d just done.

What I’d just done.

“That will never happen again!” I blurted out.

His dazed look snapped into focus. “What? A squirrel jumping on a horse’s butt and spooking it? I mean, the chances of that happening again—”

“No!” I gasped, cutting him off. “The…The thing that, you know…happened between us…” I gestured between him and I and then shot my gaze to the ground. Scrambling toward my hat, I snatched it up and placed it on my head while he still said nothing.

Each breath of mine came in short bursts, as if I was breathing through a straw.

He still said nothing.

I stared at the ground and dug my toe into the dirt.

“Alright,” he finally muttered. I whipped my gaze up to him.

“That’s it?!” The audacity of this man. “It meant that little to you?”

“Huh?”

“I ripped open your shirt, we nearly started to…you know, and all you have to say is, ‘alright’?” I could not believe it.