Page 75 of The Mountain Echoes

I whirl on him. “You kissed me and then immediately started talking about Longhorn. I don’t know how much more textbook manipulation you think I can take.”

That stops him. His hands hang loose at his sides, jaw tight. His eyes are stormy and serious.

“My kissin’ you has nothin’ to do with your ranch.”

I laugh bitterly. “No? Because it sure feels like you want Longhorn more than you want anything else.”

He takes a step forward. “You’re wrong, darlin’. My wanting to help you has got nothing to do with Longhorn and everythin’ to do withyou.”

He looks so earnest.

I believe him, and that scares me more than the insurmountable problems at the ranch.

I shake my head. “This isn’t some fantasy, Maverick. I have real debt, a broken-down herd, fencing that’s falling apart, and equipment that should have been replaced years ago. I don’t need your pity.”

He closes the space between us, gently grabs my arm, and his voice drops. “I don’t pity you. Aria, I admire the hell out of you.”

I freeze.

“You’re out there working cattle. Fixing things. Hauling gear, branding, dosing, fixing feed schedules like it’s muscle memory. You’ve got more grit in your pinky than most men I know.”

That burns through my defenses more than the heat between us could.

“You were awful to me, and now you’re…what?”

“I told you. I’m attracted to you. I was fightingthis. But not anymore.”

I feel the fire between us. It’s tempting. It’s dangerous. “We’ve only known each a couple of weeks, Maverick.”

“It feels like forever since I had my mouth on yours, my tongue inside you,” he murmurs and claims my lips.

This time it’s slow.

Fierce.

Familiar and, yet, completely new.

He wraps his arms around me like he’s trying to hold on to something that already slipped through once.

My hands tangle in his jacket, the rough wool scratching against my palms.

I press closer, hungry, aching.

He kisses me like I’m not a means to an end.

And that might be the biggest lie of all.

When we finally break apart, I’m breathless.

He rests his forehead against mine. “Let me in. Let me help you, Aria.”

I nod slowly.

“Okay,” I breathe. “Please don’t make me regret this.”

I can’t help the plea that falls out of my mouth.

This man has taken over my senses like no one ever has, and it distresses me.