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“Did you pay five-thousand dollars just so you’d have an excuse to date me? Trust me. I know how ridiculous that sounds, and I’m not tryin’ to be conceited, but?—”

“Aubrey, if I thought money’s what you wanted out of life, I would’ve offered it up months ago. I know how independent you are.” I winked at her when she looked up, and she tried not to smile. “And how stubborn. But I also know you’ve been strugglin’. So have I. I thought I might be able to help you, and you might help me.

“And if that puts me in your crosshairs inotherways, I’ll always be waitin’ for that, but if you don’t want me, then I won’t push.”I might nudge a little.

“When’d you get so grown up?” she asked, her eyes steady on mine.

I shrugged. “Dunno. Sometimes I’m not sure I did, but I think I have an old soul. It’s just that nobody can see it ’cause I’ve always been Grady Graves’s baby boy. I’ve got all these ideas about how to make the ranch better, more efficient, and more profitable, but nobody listens to me.”

“I’m sorry,” she said. “That’s gotta be frustratin’.”

“You ain’t kiddin’.”

She took another bite of her cracker and then shoved the rest in her mouth and chewed. “I’m so glad you didn’t feed me oatmeal.”

“I should’ve taken you out for a better meal. But why would I bring oatmeal on a date?”

“No reason.” She laughed softly. “Never mind. And this is a perfectly fine meal. Not too heavy, not too light. Also, this isn’t technically a date.”

“You kissed me,” I said. “So I think it does make this a date.”

Twisting her lips to one side, she narrowed her eyes again. “Have you always been so… persistent? I don’t remember that about you.”

“You never really got to know me.”

She nodded. “You’re right. I was young, and I was in my own little world. But now I’m thinkin’, if I’d peeked out of it once in a while, my life may have been very different.”

“Maybe,” I said. “But I think we get to where we need to bewhenwe need to be there. So maybe you had to go through some shit to get you here, but you made it through, and don’t that feel good?”

CHAPTER NINE

AUBREY

“The sky’s beautiful tonight,”I said, scooting back to sit against the bulkhead.

Tipping my chin up, I tried only to see the stars above us and not Rye’s blue eyes, which was difficult because he sat facing me, his elbow resting comfortably on his raised knee, still watching me.

The night was silent. A warm breeze barely rustled the trees through Stillwater Pass behind us, and it felt magical. In early May high up in the mountains, we should’ve still been clutching jackets around us with hats and gloves this late at night. And I was surprised it wasn’t raining, but the sky was clear, and the silver stars sparkled like they’d been set to music.

Rye agreed with a quiet hum as I leaned back further and relaxed into the pillows he’d stacked behind us. I felt his heavy gaze on the side of my face as he took the plate from my hands and set it on top of his picnic basket.

Oh, who was I kidding? I felt his stare in every cell inside my body, down to my pink toenails, which I’d hurried to paint and dry after I closed up the shop today. For what earthly reason, I had no idea. Why would he see my toes?

I couldn’t remember the last time I’d felt so at ease though. Being with him was easy and comforting somehow. Maybe because he hadn’t exactly been shy about how he felt about me. I knew he’d protect me to within an inch of his life if necessary.

He’d always been kind of a quiet kid. Observant like he was now, but there was no kid here. Rye Graves wasallman. Masculinity radiated out from the middle of his chest. He was alluring, and I felt safe and warm.

Thoughts of taxes, my shop, and the twins flitted from my mind, like dust in the wind.

“What ideas do you have for the ranch?” I asked, sliding flat down on my back so the stars and Rye’s voice were the only two things I could sense.

He lay next to me, not touching me, but I felt him all the same. Like the left side of his body had been set on fire, he warmed me so much I was glad I’d worn short sleeves. He smelled good, too, like some kind of sexy, mossy scent mixed with the leather of his truck’s seats and the stiff felt of his hat.

“You ever heard of regenerative or restorative agriculture?” he asked.

Still looking up at the stars, I said, “No.”

“Well, now I don’t wanna put you to sleep, but basically, it’s a more responsible way to raise cows. You let the land and the animals work together naturally, how it was done years ago. There are ways to make it all work in my favor, so that the land can actually sustain the cows, and they can enrich it instead of destroy it and our environment.