Page 75 of Wild As Her

I’m just starting to feel... calm. Which is exactly when Jack opens his mouth. “I’m proud of you, you know that?”

My head snaps toward him. I blink. “What?”

He doesn’t even flinch, just keeps riding steady, like he didn’t just casually drop a bomb on my heart.

“The ranch,” he says. “Your plans for it. All of it.”

Something tightens in my chest—sharp and deep and stupidly unexpected. My fingers flex on the reins. He sees it. Not just the land. Not just the old Wilder legacy. He sees what I want to build. And somehow, that hits harder than anything else has all week.

I swallow around the lump in my throat. “Thanks.”

Jack nods like it’s no big deal. Like he didn’t just undo me with five words and that stupid soft tone of his. “It’s a good plan, Cami,” he says. “Smart. Big-picture. You’ve got great dreams. Ican’t wait to see them come true.”

I let out a breath and look up at the stars again because if I look at him too long, I might say something embarrassing. Like marry me. Or stop looking at me like that with your damn green eyes and your barn-built biceps.

A warmth spreads through my chest. Unwanted. Uninvited. Completely undeniable.

Because when Jack tells me he’s proud of me? It hits different.

The silence falls again, but it’s not heavy this time. It’s full of unsaid things I’m not quite brave enough to name. Not yet. And the best part? Jack doesn’t push.

He doesn’t fill the quiet or prod me for a reaction. He just rides beside me, calm and steady, like he’s content to be in my orbit for as long as I’ll let him stay.

And maybe that’s the thing that wrecks me most of all.

Chapter 19

Jack

Devil You Know by Tyler Braden

Ipause halfway down the lodge hallway, carrying a broken latch I'm repairing and a bad attitude, and narrow my eyes when I hear Cami laugh at something. That laugh was a flirty one. The “I’m flirting or at least thinking about it” laugh.

I follow it and stop when I see some dude in my kitchen with Cami.

Flannel sleeves are rolled up, forearms dusted in flour, and his hair is pushed back like he is some celebrity chef. And Camistands beside him, grinning at a bowl of dough.

“What's going on?” I say coolly.

Cami doesn't even flinch. She just turns with a spatula in one hand and one hip cocked like she’d been waiting for this moment.“Well, hey there, Jessop. Didn’t see you sneak in while we werebaking.”

“Storm is coming. I was getting everything ready," I tell her as I watch them work side by side, hating every second of it.

She smirks, "Do you mean the weather or is that just your mood entering the chat?"

"Very funny, Wilder," I reply, glaring at the dude next to her.

Beau clapped flour off his hands and gave me a nod that wasjustpolite enough to make me want to throw something. “Morning, I'm Beau.”

He said it like he expected we were going to befriends.

“We’re making cinnamon rolls,” Cami announces proudly. "Beau is going to help me with the baking."

I nod at Beau because I’m not a total asshole.

“Why do you need more help?” I ask, keeping my voice neutral. “Thought you had Mack.”

Cami rolls her eyes like I’ve missed something obvious. “Because Beau hasskills,Jessop.”

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