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He smiled and nodded his agreement. “What else is on your mind?”

“Hmm. Deer Creek, actually.” She grabbed her phone and opened it to the camera, stealing a shot of him with his eyes closed and a relaxed smile that caused a dimple where she hadn’t seen one before. The dirt smudge on his face was a nice juxtaposition to the cloud of dust behind him where some cattle were making a fuss.

“What about it? There’s not much here worth thinking about.”

She cocked her head when his eyes opened. “Maybe. I mean, there’s no night clubs, no theaters, no fancy restaurants.”

“Austin’s only a couple miles away and has all that. Deer Creek is its quieter sister. Much quieter.”

“Exactly. You have peace and quiet and nature to explore if you want, and then the city when that gets claustrophobic. It’s the best of both worlds, isn’t it?”

She was starting to believe it, which unsettled her stomach as much as it settled her heart. She’d built a life around the city; if it turned out it wasn’t for her, then what?

Jax propped his elbow languidly on one knee while his other leg played in front of him. He tilted the ball cap back on his head and turned toward her, looking every bit like a poster model of cowboy living.

How many women would be willing to give up life in the city and the bankers that came with it if they could rope a cowboy like Jax?

Too bad he didn’t want to be in Deer Creek, either.

“Hmm. I hadn’t thought of it like that. I guess I’ve always seen this place through self-imposed prison bars. It’s nice but pretty solitary.”

She’d been of the same mind when she first got here, but she’d found a rhythm, and now she couldn’t believe she had only a couple weeks left.

“Yeah, I get that. But I dunno. I feel that same kinda solitude in the city if I’m being honest. No black bears there, but it’s pretty lonely most of the time.”

Especially since Maggie had moved out.

Jax shrugged, his signature move, she was beginning to notice. It meant he was sloughing off what bothered him. Did it work? If so, she might give it a whirl.

“That’s why I think I need a little of both. I want to travel and see what the world has to offer before I settle in one place. Have a family,” she added.

“You want kids?” he asked. His brows drew close, his lips pursed.

“I do. A whole brood. I hated being an only child growing up. I want my kiddos to know and love and fight with each other and the joy that kind of noise brings to a household.”

“The chaos, you mean?”

She laughed, threw her shoulders back. “I dunno. Sometimes, I’m sure, but my house was so quiet growing up it felt like a tomb the few times we were all at home. I’d prefer the crazy, I guess. When they’re older, at least they’ll have someone to count on if I’m not there. If anything happened to my parents, I’d be alone.”

She followed Jax’s gaze as it left hers, but it didn’t meet anything in particular on the horizon. Where were his thoughts, then?

“I don’t think kids are in the cards for me.”

A stone dropped in Jill’s stomach, though she couldn’t figure out why for the life of her. How Jackson Marshall felt about kids wasn’t any of her business. She’d only really known him a few months, and even though they’d been getting along, what was she expecting? That he’d gaze lovingly into her eyes and say he, too, wanted a big family?

No, she’d known he was a lone wolf from the minute Maggie told her about the shenanigans he got into as a teen. All evidence since confirmed that. And besides, physical attraction—even one as intense as what Jax made her feel—did not a relationship make.

She cleared her throat, which had gone dry in the past few minutes. “Why not?”

“I had the opposite experience growing up.”

“Weren’t you and your brother close?”

“Brothers, and yeah, we were, but it wasn’t the fairy tale you think it was.”

Jill tucked her knees up and wrapped her arms around them, cold all of a sudden.

“Why not?”