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But she couldn’t even walk in a straight line. Something like that was going to take an embarrassing level of concentration, and she didn’t know whether or not she wanted him observing that.

“Fine,” she said. “Here I go.”

Because in the end, her pride got the better of her.

As well as her desire to see him smile again. Which he did.

This whole exercise had been a trial.

Because he was beautiful while he worked. The play of his muscles beneath that tight T-shirt did strange things to her stomach.

And then there were his forearms.

She couldn’t say she never really noticed forearms on a man, as she was regularly surrounded by muscular, hard-working men on the ranch. But Gideon’s were something else entirely.

A distinct sense of sadness made her stomach feel hollowed out.

Was italwaysgoing to be Gideon?

Was he always going to make others pale in comparison?

“Stop it,” he said.

“What?”

“Stop second-guessing yourself.”

The accuracy with which he’d narrowed in on her train of thought, even if he didn’t know the exact topic, made her feel like she was gasping for air.

“I don’t...”

“Listen. This is boot camp, okay? Summer of Rory boot camp. I’m prepping you to complete that list. Right?” He came close to her, his blue eyes locked with hers, and suddenly her mouth went dry.

He breathed in deep, and she noticed a hitch in that breathing. And she wondered if it had anything to do with her.

Stop it.

“I want you to repeat after me.”

She looked at him, forgetting for a second to get lost in his handsomeness. Because suddenly he was acting like this was a kindergarten class. “Why?”

“Because,” he barked, suddenly in drill-sergeant mode, “I’m giving you a mantra, Rory. Afucking mantra. And you’re gonna say it.”

She was staring down the soldier again. This was not kindergarten.

This soldier had that ruthless intensity about him, but she had a little bit more understanding of what that meant now. This soldier who had known that if the men in his care didn’t take the training seriously, they could die.

He was intense, but it came from a place of being protective.

Did anyone know the weight that he carried on his shoulders?

“Mantra time,” he said, snapping her back into the moment.

“Okay.”

“I can do whatever I want.”

“I can do whatever I want,” she said, her voice trembling.