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“I’m pretty sure I hit one of them in the shoulder. A through and through most likely, but they won’t be chasing Bud anytime soon.”

“You don’t know that.” I threw my hands on my hips. “Since when do bad guys who are trespassing, doing illegal things, chase after the people who caught them doing the illegal things?”

“I don’t know, Goldie. Since when do random girls show up with a horse they stole, confuse the livin’ daylights out of someone by accusing them of being perfect but also not perfect and hating them for both reasons, don’t give out a last name, and won’t tell the person that they asked for help, who’s chasing after them?” he blurted out, and my mouth fell open, stunned.

Shock roared through my veins. It’d been a week and he already knew? How in the world did he know?

Cassidy raised a brow, and his lips twitched, threatening with a smirk. “Get on. I’ll start tracking Bud, and you can tell me what I should know,” he demanded.

I rolled my eyes. “How do you know that I haven’t told you everything?” Stomping toward him, I crossed my arms in front of my chest in one final protest as he extended a hand down to help me up.

A quiet chuckle escaped his lips. “I knew you were running from something the moment you showed up.”

“How?” I asked, finally accepting his gesture and placing my palm against his steady arm. I jumped, and he helped hoist me up, where I swung myself over. Landing with a soft plunk on the back of his horse, I scootched myself as close to the saddle as possible and paused. My hands hovered near his body.

“So, you’re not gonna touch me now, is that it?” Cassidy smirked.

“Just shush,” I muttered and wrapped my arms around his waist. Goosebumps erupted on my skin despite the heat of the summer day. I didn’t need to see his face to know he was smiling. And he bumped his horse forward without a word, without answering my question.

The animal chatter that spanned around us was rather delightful. Birds chirping, a couple of woodpeckers drilling into tree trunks, and the occasional squirrel upset that we might be encroaching on their habitat filled the confusion that was swirling in my belly.

Especially at the sight of Cassidy tracking a horse through woods that looked all the same to me. Low whistling of a tune I recognized but couldn’t place casually left his mouth and met my ears as he casually guided his horse through the brush. Occasionally, he’d slow down and dip his head lower to the ground.

Progress was slow, but there was a part of me that didn’t mind it. Ignoring the sweat that dampened the middle of his back, being this close to him turned my insides warm—not from the blistering heat of the sun or his body heat, but by being this close to him.

And I hated it.

“Ugh,” I grumbled, annoyed.

“You’re the one that wanted to do this, Goldie. We can still—”

“I told you to shush. Besides, it’s not about that. Now, just follow whatever invisible trail you’re chasing, and go back to whistling,” I quickly chastised.

His body rumbled with laughter. “You’re gonna be the death of me.”

“I said shush. And I already said sorry.”

“I thought that was for kissing me?”

“Well, yes.” Why was he so good at getting under my skin?

“I’m pretty sure both of us were involved in that.” He dipped his head to the side and slowed our pace.

“So?”

“So, do you think what we did was wrong?”

“Well…no. Technically, this sorry was for the dudes that showed up,” I grumbled. And he brought the horse to a standstill.

Without hesitation, he swung his right leg over the front of the saddle and shifted sideways to face me. “Alright, explain.”

I narrowed my gaze, annoyed. “Just turn around and—”

“Nah, we ain’t doing that. I already had one blonde girl I dated try to ruin this ranch, so if you’ve brought crap with you, I need to know.”

The crickets that chirped between us could be heard clear across the country.

“You…” My voice trailed off. “You, what?”