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Joel barked out a laugh. “Unresolved? Please. They bicker like an old married couple.”

I froze. Ruugar’s brow twitched. Pete nudged Carol,who was wiggling her eyebrows. They only made it worse.

My face overheated.

“Do that long enough, Ruugar,” Joel said, “and a person would have you married by sundown.”

Carol grinned. “I’ll volunteer to officiate. I'm licensed and everything. I married my niece.”

Laughter rippled through the group. Ruugar didn’t move.

Neither did I.

His throat bobbed, his eyes flicking over my face, lingering on my mouth before he spoke. “Guess I’d better make my last shot count.” He picked up another stone, pulled the band back, and fired in one smooth motion. A touch outside the bullseye.

“I’d say it’s a draw,” Joel said. “Shoot again, you two.”

I lined up to shoot, but Ruugar moved with me. Close. Too close. It was all I could do to focus.

His voice dipped to just above a rumble. “Still think you can beat me, Breela?”

Breathing was suddenly a challenge. Heat built in my limbs, and my knees had turned to Jell-O. How did he always do this to me?

Before I could answer, Mary sidled up beside me wearing a knowing smirk. She didn’t say a word, but as I glanced at her, she lifted a single brow and winked. A strange flutter danced in my belly. What did she know that I didn’t?

I shot, hitting the outer edge of the bullseye. Jumpingaround, I laughed to the cheers. “Beat that,” I said, blowing the “smoke” off the tip of my slingshot.

With a chip of his head, Ruugar frowned at the target. Aimed. And let his stone fly free.

“Miss,” Joel gasped, his pleased gaze falling on me. “Looks like we have a winner!”

Everyone cheered.

I glanced up at Ruugar, who shook his head.

“I didn’t…” He swallowed and held out the maybe gold nugget. “This is yours. You won it fairly.”

With a big grin on my face, I took it and slid it into my pocket.

The group split after that, the others going to their cabins to change and go for a swim in the lake. When the space around us had emptied, Ruugar exhaled and broke our stare.

I needed to do something to shift the energy between us before it swallowed me whole. “I guess we should go get dinner started, huh?”

His gaze stayed on me a moment longer before he nodded, following me toward the cooking gazebo.

After their swim, the others sat together by the firepit, chatting and laughing, relaxed in a way that made everything feel normal again. Ruugar sliced cheese to have with crackers while I stirred the ashenbird stew—a special dish in the orc kingdom. Our movements were in sync like they had been every other night, and that warm feeling started to settle into my bones again. Things were going to be okay between us.

I welcomed the heady feelings surging through me.The warmth of his presence. The nearness of his body. Acceptance curled around me like a second skin. My heart ached at the thought of leaving all this behind, but I might not have to. It was too easy to dream of staying in Lonesome Creek, running trail rides with Ruugar, and sharing the tent each night because we wanted to. Not because we had to.

In between rides, we'd snuggle inside our cozy ranch house. We'd laugh and have fun and live a long life together.

Silly me was dreaming of romance when I probably should be thinking of practical things.

Like how I was going to survive if he said goodbye when we returned to town.

Chapter 29

Ruugar