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Is she feeling anything real for me, or am I walking down memory lane alone?

Life will be back to normal for me soon, and I’ll be immersed in the work of running an incredibly busy and profitable ranch. I’m going to be swamped catching up on what I missed and making it up to the guys for abandoning them with a shit ton of work.

But she’ll be there with me, right on the property.

I don’t know if I’m making a mistake aligning myself with her again. Probably. But if I don’t, something terrible could happen to her, a fact that was made tangible by the middle of the night visitor. It would be the same if any other human being was in jeopardy – I would help.

I just happened to love this particular one a long time ago.

When I go back inside the cabin to get Ashley, she’s doing a final walkthrough to make sure that we didn’t forget anything.

“Are you comfortable driving in this weather?” I ask.

It’s greatly improved from the whiteout conditions we previously had, but the roads will still be difficult to navigate for someone who isn’t used to them. The last thing I need is her driving off the side of a cliff.

She hesitates for a beat too long before answering.

“I’ll be okay.”

“Alright, forget it,” I decide. “You can ride with me. We’ll come back for your SUV when things clear up.”

“Are you sure? I don’t want to–”

“It’s fine, don’t worry. I’d rather you stay safe.”

She strides toward me, and the look in her eyes gives away that she’s going to touch me in some way. Maybe her hands on my chest, her fingers in my hair, or her mouth on mine.

And I can’t deal with the affection right now.

“Ready to go?” I ask, my words freezing her in place.

“Yeah. Sure.”

We head to the front porch, and she pauses to lock the door before following me to the truck.

“You okay to get in?” I ask.

She frowns. “I can get inside a truck, Gavin. What kind of question is that anyway? I might not be able to start a fire or fend off murderers, but I think that I can manage climbing into a truck.”

I shrug and walk over to the driver’s side. “Alright.”

The vehicle is already running, so it’s warm inside. I’m starting to buckle the seatbelt while Ashley stands at the open passenger door, letting all the heat out.

“I thought you could get inside a truck, Ashley.”

“Uh…”

My truck is jacked up, and I never bothered to install running boards. I’m tall and so are the guys I work with. A pretty little thing hasn’t been riding shotgun with me in a very long time.

“You did this on purpose,” she accuses.

“Caught me. I knew you’d be coming back to town and that I’d have to save you twenty-seven times, so I bought a truck that you couldn’t get inside.”

“Well, when you say it like that…”

I jump out and walk over to her, resting my hands on her hips, and she leans back against my chest.

“Gav?”