Page 16 of Ashes of the Past
“You’re pulling it too tight,” he says gruffly, not bothering to look up from his work.
“I know what I’m doing,” I snap, though I immediately loosen the wire.
He mutters something under his breath, and I bite back a retort. The sun beats down on us, sweat trickling down my back as we continue to work. I’m so irritated with the cockiness of this man that I want to smack him. I’m hoping that he disappears again like he did thirteen years ago.
I can do this all by myself. I don’t know why Dad thought he needed to waste money on another ranch manager.
My eyes flit around the pasture before they fall back on Jack and the way his muscles flex under his shirt, the way his jaw tightens with concentration. It’s infuriating how he manages to look so damn good even when he’s being an insufferable know-it-all.
By the time we’ve finished, my arms ache, and my patience is worn thin. We load the tools back into the truck in silence.
The less conversation between us, the better; every time he opens his damn mouth, I want to smack him.
As I toss the last coil of wire into the bed, my boot catches on a loose rock, and I stumble.
“Damn it!” Jack’s voice is sharp, and before I can hit the ground, his arms are around me, steadying me against his chest.
Immediately, I feel an electric current rush through me, and I temporarily wonder if I fell onto the electric fence.
I’m too stunned to move. His hands are firm on my waist, his body solid and warm against mine. My heart pounds in my chest, and when I look up, his face is so close I can see the flecks of gold in his brown eyes.
“You okay?” he asks, his voice softer now, almost gentle.
I nod, unable to find my voice. The world seems to tilt slightly, and I’m hyper-aware of how close I am to his lips.
I wonder if he’s a good kisser.Shit! Cowboys are off-limits. Pull away from him now!
His hands linger a moment longer than necessary, and when I don’t pull away, he lowers his head.
His lips claim mine with a heat that steals my breath. My hands grip his shirt, pulling him closer as the frustration and tension between us dissolve into something far more dangerous. His kiss is demanding and unapologetic, and I lose myself in it, the world around us fading into nothing.
Heat pools between my legs, and the alarm on my phone starts going off to alert me to get back to the house so I can get to the flower shop and put in some work there. Somehow, the logical part of my brain is still working, and it screeches me to a halt. I push against his chest, breaking the kiss, my breathing ragged.
I can’t believe that just happened. I’m going to pretend like it didn’t.
I turn and climb into the truck, my hands trembling as I grip the steering wheel. Jack doesn’t press me further, but as he settles into the passenger seat, I can feel his eyes on me, his presence a constant reminder of the moment we just shared—and the one I can’t afford to repeat.
Chapter Six
Jack
Ican’t believe I kissed her. What in the Hell was I thinking?
The truck rattles over the uneven dirt road, the low rumble of the tires filling the silence between us. I grip the edge of the seat with one hand, the other resting on the doorframe, my knuckles tight and pale. My jaw is clenched so hard it feels like it might crack. I tell myself it’s because of the damn fence, because of the mess I just saw and the irresponsibility it screams. But that’s not the whole truth.
It’s because I can’t get her out of my damn head. Why in the hell was I so quick to kiss her?
I can still feel the warmth of her body against mine, the way she fell into me like it was the most natural thing in the world. The way her lips tasted—sweet, soft, and maddeningly addictive. The kiss wasn’t supposed to happen. Hell, none of this was supposed to happen.
I’ve spent years building walls around myself, brick by bitter brick. My marriage to Savannah started out great, but aftermany failed attempts at getting pregnant, we just kept drifting further and further apart.
I think I knew for at least a year that she was sleeping with my best friend, Dave, but I didn’t want to admit it. I didn’t want to believe that either of them was capable of such betrayal, but I was wrong.
Savannah and I have been divorced for a year, and I swore off women altogether. Love, commitment, trust—they’re all just fairy tales people tell themselves until reality slaps them in the face. Savannah slapped me hard enough to knock me flat, cheating on me and taking damn near everything I had in the divorce. Since then, I’ve focused on what I can control: making money and staying the hell away from anything that even remotely smells like vulnerability.
But Brynn… she’s like a crack in my foundation, a fissure I can’t patch up no matter how hard I try. She’s stubborn and reckless, always biting off more than she can chew. And yet, when she was in my arms, all that fire melted away, leaving something soft and raw in its place. It scared the hell out of me.
I’m not going to allow another woman to wreck me. She got in this once, but she’ll never get through my defenses again.
