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Did he really want me to help with the animals? Or was this simply a way to spend more time with me? Did that matter?

No. No, it didn’t matter. “I’d like that.”

He smiled wider.

“But I don’t want to deal with poop.”

Noah laughed, the sound echoing off the rafters and coming back. “Don’t worry. That’s day two.”

“Perfect.”

“Whenever you’re ready,” he said. “Come meet me at the stables. Take your time.”

I did take some time. There wasn’t any rush for me to get back to the city. All that waited for me there were cleaning products and broken glass. Quickly, I checked in on work to make sure the sky wasn’t falling before I packed up and put my laptop and suitcase in my car so I wouldn’t have to worry about it later.

Noah was at the stables, just like he’d promised. “Ready to get dirty?”

“Are we?”

He grinned. “No. We’re not. Just feeding everyone and making sure they have water and that it’s not frozen. I took care of the messy part already.”

“Oh, okay.” That was a relief. I wasn’t sure how to act now. It had been a long time since I’d done this kind of thing with anyone, and I felt like we were dancing around it.

I followed Noah across the barn, expecting to see where the food was. What I didn’t expect was for him to turn, catch me around the waist, and press me back into a pillar between the stalls. My breath caught. “Hi.”

Noah raised one eyebrow. “Hello.”

“What are we doing?”

“Right now? We’re talking. After that, we’ll see.”

This was so much like last night that I shivered. The way he had me pinned up against something hard. I liked it. “What are we talking about?”

“Well, I was going to ask you why you feel as skittish as one of our new arrivals this morning. Are you all right?”

“I’m fine.” Better now I was in his arms, but I didn’t say that.

“Fine usually means not fine.”

Blowing out a breath, I looked up at him. I liked being this close during the daytime. I got a chance to really see him. Those dark blue eyes I could drown in. “I just don’t know how to do this. I’m out of practice.”

“This?”

I lifted my hand from where it rested on his arm and gestured between the two of us. “After last night.”

For a moment his face darkened. “Any regrets?”

“No.” The answer was immediate. “None at all. It’s just been a long time since I even thought about... that.”

He leaned in an inch. “May I kiss you again?”

“Yes.”

I’d barely whispered the words before his lips were on mine. Now that it was familiar, neither of us held back. Noah deepened the kiss, stroking his tongue along mine in a way that made me shiver. Every anxiety dropped away.

After the tension of last night, I’d been worried daylight would somehow make this less real. But the same chemistry sang between us now. Solid. Physical. Just like then, I didn’t want to break away from him.

“Okay,” I said when he pulled back, my eyes still closed. “It’s real.”