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“I bet you do. Do all the women hug on you?”

Brett shook his head slowly, keeping his gaze locked with hers. Her determined stare did crazy things to his heart rate. “Nope.”

Thea narrowed her eyes and tilted her head. “I find that hard to believe.”

“One good thing about being the jokester is that no one takes you seriously. Expectations are low.”

Thea tapped a finger on her lips.

Dang it. Why did she have to draw attention to her lips? He was already dreaming about them every night. Daydreaming too was enough to kill him.

“That’s not how I see you. At all,” she whispered.

“I made sure the expectations were different with you.”

Thea sat up and rested her head against the couch, bringing them close enough that he had to fight the urge to wrap his arm around her waist.

“This feels like living in a bubble again,” she whispered. “It was like that a lot when I first moved to Alabama. I felt safe sometimes, but then I would remember who I was running from, and the safe feeling would disappear.”

Brett swallowed hard. Had she been running from him?

He knew in his gut it was mostly about their families, but had she been afraid of him all this time? Had she seen it as her chance to escape?

“And you feel safe here?”

“Mostly. Always when you’re around.”

He didn’t stop himself from wrapping his hand around her waist. Every inch closer to her made him want more and more.

She glanced down at his hand but didn’t move it. “Is Linc missing his roommate?”

Brett laughed. “Not at all. He likes being alone.”

“But you don’t,” she said.

“I don’t,” he confirmed.

He didn’t want to be with just anybody. He wanted to be with her.

“Do you miss your job?” he asked.

She threaded a hand through her hair, making his attention zero in on the movement. “I do. I love my job. Those horses are some of my best friends. Thankfully, Misty is giving me daily updates. She even let me talk to a few of them yesterday after I was moping around feeling sorry for myself.”

“Oh, I talk to the horses all the time. Jess doesn’t talk unless she has something important to say, so the horses are my only entertainment.”

“They make the best friends. No judgment. No expectations beyond feed me and love me. It’s easy.”

“I’m easy too. I would be happy with feed me and love me,” Brett said.

“You’re a lot like a loyal horse. I’ll give you that.”

“Are they in a bind because you’re here?” he asked.

“Not really. My boss is teaching her niece how to be a trainer, so it’s okay that I’m away right now. She wants her niece to kind of be pushed into the job so she can get the full experience.”

“That’s kind of how Jess and I started here. The foreman had just let the barn manager go because he was stealing, and he needed someone fast. He spent a few hours a day telling us what to do before he walked away and just expected us to figure it out. Thankfully, Mr. Chambers checked on us every once in a while. Turns out we make a good team because we’re pretty much opposites and we trust each other.”

“I bet you’re great with the horses. Anyone would be lucky to work with you.”