Page 36 of Tangled Up With You

“Hey,” I greeted with a wave as he pulled off his work gloves and tucked them into the back pocket of his jeans.

“Hey, honey.” He gave a long, scrutinizing look. “You look a lot better than the last time I saw you.”

“Thanks.” I offered a grin. “I feel better.”

He crossed his arms over his chest, his lips curving upward. “I heard congratulations are in order.”

I lifted my hand unconsciously and placed it on my belly. “Uh, yeah. It’s still a little bit of a shock. But it’s good news.”

“For the both of you.” His eyes held mine intently. “He’s a good man, sweetheart.”

“I know,” I replied instantly. “I know, Zach. Things are just... complicated.”

“I get that.” He reached out and gave my forearm an affectionate squeeze. “But I have no doubt the two of you can work this out together. Just have patience with one another, yeah?”

The lump in my throat made my voice come out raspier than normal. “Yeah, Zach. We’ll do that.”

He gave me a nod, leaning in to place a brotherly kiss to my cheek before moving past me. I headed through the barn, stopping for a moment at Gretel’s enclosure to say hi and give her a little loving before moving on to the pen where they trained the new horses.

Connor stood in the center of the pen beside the big black animal, and the sight of him shirtless in a pair of faded jeans anddusty boots caused my mouth to dry right up. The jeans hugged his firm, round ass and thick thighs. His skin was a beautiful golden tan and stretched over defined muscles that flexed and rolled as he stroked a hand along the horse’s nose in a soothing gesture.

I was already well aware of the man’s physique, but something about seeing him like this, on display, his body shimmering with sweat from a hard day’s work, made all the moisture in my body travel south. My panties were damp and my nipples hard just from looking at him. It was like I was in a trance. I didn’t realize I was staring until his voice broke through.

“If you want me to flex for you, butterfly, all you have to do is say so. I’m more than happy to put on a show.”

My cheeks heated instantly, and I pulled my bottom lip between my teeth to keep my smile at bay. “Who said anything about wanting a show?”

He glanced at me over his shoulder, his smirk making his dimples pop. “Figured it was what you wanted with how hard you were starin’.”

“I wasn’t staring.” His cheeky grin told me he knew I was full of shit. I rolled my eyes on a huff and gave in. “Oh, all right. I was staring. But come on, you know what you look like.”

The chuckle he let loose worked wonders in easing the tension that had been wrapped around my muscles since he drove away the night before. He gave the horse a loving pat on its side before sauntering toward me. I figured since I’d been caught once, might as well make the most of it, and ogled the living shit out of him as he drew closer. I knew from the stories he told me that his body wasn’t honed in a gym, but on the back of a bull. He exercised occasionally to stay in shape, but his firm pecs and the ridges formed across his abdomen were mostly from riding.

He stopped across the railing from me and braced his forearms on the top rung of the metal panel that separated us, making his biceps pop. “You get your fill or you want me to go back and take that walk again?” He hiked his thumb over his shoulder. “I can go slower this time.”

I scrunched my mouth to the side to keep from laughing. “Nah. I’m good, but thanks.” I was still attracted to him—big time—there was no use denying that, but it didn’t matter. We’d had our fun and the consequences of that had reared up and slapped us in the face. It didn’t matter that he made my knees feel like jelly or caused my pulse to race. It was like Rae had said... it wasn’t about us anymore. We had another life to consider.

Those rich brown eyes skated over my features, growing serious as he looked me over. “You look good. Your color’s back.”

“Thanks. I feel a lot better.”

He nodded, pulling in a deep breath through his nose. “I’m glad, butterfly.”

My belly swooped at his use of the nickname he’d given me during those months we’d been getting to know each other. He said it was because my wild nature had me flitting from one thing to the next, like a butterfly. When he used it at Rae and Zach’s rehearsal, after he’d run out on me, it had hurt. But the pain seemed to have drifted away when I wasn’t paying attention.

“I...” I paused, licking my lips and giving myself time to think through what I wanted to say. I didn’t want to screw this up a second time. “About what I said last night?—”

He lifted a hand and attempted to wave me off. “Hey, don’t sweat it. Water under the bridge. Just forget about it.”

“It’s not though.” I took a step forward, gripping the rung beneath the one he was leaning against, making the difference in our heights all the more obvious. That was one of the things I’dalways loved about him; how he towered over me. “I don’t want to forget about it. I want to apologize.”

His brows dipped in at the center, but he remained silent. His chest stopped moving, and I got the impression he was holding his breath as he waited to see what I might say next.

“I’m sorry, Connor. What I said last night...” I shook my head. “It came out all wrong. I don’t think you’re a piece of shit. I don’t think you’d abandon your responsibilities or bail on your child,” I said, repeating the words he’d used from the night before. “I could never think that. You might have hurt me, but... I feel like I know the real you, deep down.”

“You do,” he said quickly, his fingers gripping the metal tight enough to turn his knuckles white. “You do know me, Ivy.”

I nodded and inhaled deeply, holding it for a beat before blowing it back out. “I think you’re going to be a great dad, Connor.” His chin jerked back in shock, but I pushed on, wanting to get it all out there. “I think, if we put all the shit from the past aside, we can make this work.”

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