Page 25 of Rancher's Heart

GRIFF

“Did you five grow up together?” She asked as she came back out to the living room. Her dark jeans hugged her hips, and the scoop neck shirt she wore showed off her beautiful neck and my fingers itched to touch her.

“No, we worked together.” It was the run-of-the-mill answer we gave people when they asked about our background. Our past together had been complicated, and we didn’t talk about it much.

“Always ranching?” Elle sat down on the couch and looked over at me. “Doesn’t seem like ranching requires a PI?” She arched her brow and narrowed her gaze.

“No, not always ranching.” Moving to the fridge, I grabbed two beers and handed her one before sitting across from her. “If I tell you this, it can’t go further than you and I.” I knew Kipp and Nash hadn’t told their wives what we actually did, so me telling Elle would require a lot of trust.

“I promise,” she said quietly.

“We were fixers for companies, doing what was required to get them out of trouble or taking care of any opposition to their business.” I wasn’t proud of some of the things we’d done, but we were good at it. “People overlooked us most of the time. A bunchof tourist cowboys in a big city, we were able to hide fairly well. Other times, we were chameleons who looked like they fit in with businessmen and women.”

“I can’t imagine you in a suit, walking into a board room.” She studies me as if she was trying to picture me in the outfit she’d just described. And the smile that spread across her face must mean she liked that image.

“That was mostly Ryder. He cleans up pretty well.” I laughed thinking of how many suits were still in his closet, just in case we needed to dust off our skills.

“When you say take care of, do you mean…” She let her voice trail off, and I wasn’t sure she really wanted an answer.

The pit building in my stomach was now a sinkhole. I never told anyone about this, but I felt the need for her to know. “If I tell you, will it change your opinion of me?”

“No.” One word, one syllable, said so fast I wasn’t even sure she’d said it. Her brows furrowed together, and I tore my eyes away from her. I didn’t want to watch those sparkling dark eyes change when I told her the answer.

“All the ways you can take care of a problem.” I pulled at the paper on the bottle in my hand.

“What was your specialty?”

“I followed people, surprised them when they least expected it, moved around without being noticed.” When I finally looked back at Elle I had expected to see disappointment crossing her face, but her eyes were wide, and her mouth slightly open, more disbelieving of what I’d just said.

“Let me get this straight. You, all what, six foot five of you were the stealthy one? The one who could be missed in a crowd? I don’t believe it.” She crossed her arms and leaned back against the couch cushions, shaking her head.

She gasped and covered her mouth. “You waking me up yesterday, did you super spy your way into my room? I’m a light sleeper, and there’s no way I wouldn’t have heard you.”

“Guilty.” I nodded as I relaxed when she started laughing.

“How did you get in?”

“The door.”

“I’d locked it.” Her eyes were wide, and I was sure she was running that night back in her head.

“Yeah, picking locks is amateur spy stuff.”

Playfully, she slapped my chest and huffed out, “You can’t do that again.”

“So, you’ve informed me. But I have to keep my skills up, so I can’t promise I won’t try again.” I rubbed at the spot she hit and laughed.

“I’ll be ready for you next time.”

“Sure you will.” I rolled my eyes, and I missed her lunging across the sofa.

She grabbed my face between her hands and stared at me. “No more spy shit on me.” Her eyes danced, and she tried to keep a smile off her lips. Reaching up, I ran my hand across her lower back. I expected her to move, but she kept her eyes focused on me.

Before I knew what I was doing I threaded my fingers through her hair. “I don’t promise,” I whispered as I let my eyes lower to look at her lips. They were so close, one simple movement, and they’d be on mine. God, I wanted this woman.

We hadn’t kissed since the other night, and I had to fight myself every moment around her not to touch her.

I didn’t have to make the first move. She lowered her head, her petal-soft lips brushed against mine, and I wrapped my arms around her, pulling her down onto my lap. Her kiss made me feel alive. Every nerve in my body hummed for her, and I pushedeverything else from my mind and was solely focused on us at that moment.

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