Chapter 3

Three

Harper

G od, help me, how much longer can I live with this aching need? Sunlight beats down on me, warming me to the core. But that's not why I'm sweating as though I've run a marathon. I'm nervous. So nervous the palms of my hands are sweaty around the box in my hands.

Paper streamers dangle from trees and a few workers are finishing the after-party clean up. Other than that, it's a quiet Friday. After spending half the morning and afternoon helping get the yard back to rights and my rounds with the horses the sun is already dipping close to the horizon.

I smile when I come around the side of the house to see Boone's gift waiting for me in the driveway. Its bright, cherry red color gleams in the setting sun and I can tell Boone was the one to pick it up from the dealer's because it's his cologne filling the cabin. I walk around the back and pop the tailgate down, sliding the box of tack meant for a neighbor all the way to the back to make room for more.

"Are you ready, honey?" Austin and Hunter both have their arms filled with more gear that I'm meant to drop off before heading off to see a friend who moved a few hours away in Houston.

An easy smile glides across my face. "Just about. Got a couple more boxes in the kitchen I need to grab. Anything else I need to take to the vet's ranch?"

Austin pats me on the shoulder and pushes me toward the house. "Nah, go ahead and grab what you need while we check over the truck. Make sure you're good to go for a long trip." I roll my eyes and smile at the worried looks on their faces. As though I haven't been driving one thing or another on this ranch since the day I came here.

I have to force myself not to look back to make sure they're not taking a peek at the duffle bag I have packed in the front seat. Normally it would be filled with a girl's weekend out in the big city kind of things like party dresses, makeup and heels instead of what I have—bathing suits, sun tanning lotion and not a dress in sight. If my plan works out, I'll be naked most of the weekend anyway. So no heels needed either.

I head inside, my mind already clicking over the excuse I'll be giving my friend when I don't show up in Houston as expected in three hours.

I stop by a mirror and work my ponytail free and check over my shorts and tank, considering if I should put some makeup on before I head out. I stop. God, what am I thinking? I never use makeup regularly and when I do it's usually some lip gloss and mascara. What am I trying to do here? I am trying to work some seductive magic over a man I have no business wanting, is what.

I turn and head for the door, clicking my inside doubting voice over to mute. All I know is that it tore my heart out to watch Boone drive away from the party last night. Drive away from me. It felt wholly personal, like it was me he was running away from. How can a girl not take that to heart?

Yeah, I tried all night to convince myself I am overreacting but, when I woke this morning, I knew what I had to do. Either I act or live like a coward and I'm not some sappy woman to sit in a corner and let life pass me by. I might be scared and nervous but nothing is going to stop me from doing this.

And Boone can say what he wants and paint whatever picture he needs everyone else to see. But I know the truth. He's waiting for me to leave the Urban ranch so he can get on with his life and not face the feelings that have him stealing looks my way or running for the hills every time I come around.

I'm not going to let that happen. Not without telling him, no showing him, how I really feel. Then If he still wants to run, well, okay then. Nothing I can do to stop him.

Something fierce rumbles through me. I grab the box of extra birthday cake I set aside for my trip and head for the door.

Five minutes later I'm waving to Austin and Hunter, heading West at the end of the mile-long drive leading down from the ranch, when I should be pointed East.

He didn't even have any of the cake, barely danced and he stormed off after I told them all I was having second thoughts about college. Not that I don't want to go, but I want to have a breather and enjoy a year of working the ranch with no interruptions.

After dropping off the boxes, I hit the road again and make a left down a long dirt road that will take me to the back portion of the land. It's an hour's drive with potholes the size of the moon, but I have time. Boone can run, dammit. But it's up to me if I want to let him believe he can get away.

I roll the windows down and let the cooling evening wind blow through my hair.

By the time I make it to the back two-hundred acres night has fully fallen. Multiple windows are darkened with only the porch light as a guide up the gravel road. The first of seven stables is set back about two hundred yards and I point the truck in that direction.

I glide the truck to a stop behind the single-story white building and quietly make my way to the cabin. It's more like a downsized version of the Urban mansion on the front half of the four-hundred- and fifty-acre ranch and farmland with only six bedrooms and the same number of bathrooms. There's even a bubbling pool I take advantage of each summer.

I slip the key into the lock and find the large kitchen and connected living room empty. The only sign of life so far is an apple pie on the stove. Tempting as it is, I do a little more scouting to find who might have baked that pie only to find no other soul. Usually this time of year every room is filled with all hands-on deck for foaling season which is about to start. But it's just me, the darkness and a mess of crickets chirping away the summer night.

Well damn. Maybe I was wrong. Maybe he didn't come back here and where the hell is everybody else?

With the tip of my boot, I ease the door to his room open, the large oak slab cracking on the hinges. If he's inside, no doubt he knows I'm here now. I step inside to find a small table lamp on in the corner, a large bed in the middle, last night's shirt hanging on the back of a chair. No hat, no boots.

He might not be here now, but the scent of his cologne is recent. I slide the door closed until the latch touches the frame. Boots, shorts, tank top, panties, and bra—all hit the floor and in that order.

I know I'm playing a dangerous game. I know this could blow up in my face a million times over. But I know what I saw in his eyes last tonight. The way he held me out on that dance floor. And the way his cock hardened the longer he held me in the barn.

I lick my lips and spread my naked body over the fine clean smelling sheets. There's a volcano inside Boone. Unpredictable and ready to erupt. When he does it can go one of two ways for me. Either he'll carry us both into ecstasy or burn us both alive.