Page 62 of Second Chance with the Rancher

“I was going to say attention in a while.”

“Potato, pot-ah-to,” he mused.

“I disagree, but I digress. You’re dealing with an attention-starved cat here, don’t read too much into it.”

“I’m not reading too much into anything.” Oh, but he was. He wanted all of her. Cat, heart, body and mind. But he also didn’t want to scare her away. Cats might be skittish, but they were brave, bold beasts compared to the timid, tender--hearted animal that was Mieka.

“It’s just that easy, then, is it?” She took a sip of her wine. He’d brought a few bottles of red wine and she’d bought a beautiful set of stemless glasses for each cabin. “You think because you’ve won over my cat, the rest of me will just follow suit?”

“Maybe. A guy can hope. Besides, why does it have to be hard? The only hard thing about any of it should be my dick. The rest should be easy, and it is, because it’s meant to—”

“Don’t say it.”

“Be.”

She glared at him with those gold-flecked brown eyes. “I told you not to say it.”

He shrugged and took another spoonful of the stew. “And I don’t always do as I’m told.”

“How can you say that we’re meant to be? That it’s meant to be when you know so little about me? When I know so little about you? Just because we have chemistry and finally had sex that we’ll both remember doesn’t mean we’re compatible in the way you’re making it out that we are. I could have a horrible nose-picking habit that I’ve been keeping under wraps.”

Washing down the stew with wine, he swallowed before saying, “Do you?”

“No.”

“As long as you’re not eating it, I’d say that’s not a big enough deal-breaker for me. Try again.”

“I’m messy, I’m disorganized, I’m almost always late for things. I hate olives. I sometimes talk—and dance—in my sleep. I’m usually up at four in the morning running. I have serious body issues or what could be classified or diagnosed as body dysmorphia because of the decades-long need for me to be slim and have a ‘dancer’s body’. I’m oddly addicted to reality television shows like Selling Sunset and Love is Blind. You’ll never see me in anything pink—ever. And I’m honestly not even sure that I want children. I figured one day I’d have them because you know, that’s what society expects of women, or whatever, but I don’t feel maternal. Sure, babies are cute, but do I want my own?” She shrugged. “I don’t know.” Her brows lifted as she brought a bottle of water to her lips and took a sip. “What say you now?”

Wow, that was a lot to unpack, but it also made him happy that she was finally opening up to him. That she trusted him enough to let him get to know the real, the flawed, the quirky Mieka Young, and not just the polished and poised dancer that everyone else saw.

“Well, I’m not a neat freak—that’s Asher. So messes don’t usually bother me. You seem pretty organized to me with the color-coded furniture for the cabins, so it seems that you’re able to be organized when things are important. I love olives, so just give me all of yours. If I have a few puffs before bed, I will sleep like the dead, so not an issue. I’m up at five every morning to feed the animals, so four is nothing. I don’t know what to say about the body dysmorphia thing, but whatever I can do to ease your personal judgment of yourself, or help you, just let me know. I think you’re stunning and would still be stunning if you gained fifty or a hundred pounds. I don’t watch television, so we’ll never fight over the remote. Pink is overrated. And kids are not a make-or-break deal for me. If I have them, great, I’ll be a kick-ass dad and love them with everything that I am. But, if I don’t have them, I don’t see my life being any less full or fulfilled without children. I’ll have nieces and nephews from Asher and Triss, so I can just be the cool uncle.” It was his turn to lift his brow. “Are you trying to scare me away, Minx? Because you’ll have to try a hell of a lot harder than that.”

A huffed breath puffed out of her nose and her shoulders rounded slightly. “I’m also really stubborn.”

“I’ve gathered that. But I train and work with horses who can be incredibly stubborn. Also, have you met my brother? You’re as flexible as Gumby compared to that rigid fuck.”

Her lips twitched, threatening a smile, and she took a sip of her wine to hide that smile growing wider. Her eyes found his, they were sad, but also held a glimmer of defiant determination. “Tell me something about you that— “

“That would scare the average person away?” he asked, reading her mind and body language.

She nodded. She’d been looking for a way to scare him off, but since she hadn’t succeeded, she was switching gears and wanted him to scare her away.

Well, she’d find out eventually, so he may as well tell her now and see if it really did scare her.

“I need to know what I’m getting myself into, right? Any PTSD? Demons? Triggers? We know that abrupt loud noises are a trigger for Asher. What’s your trigger?”

He was quiet for a moment, finishing his stew and having more wine while enjoying the curiosity that burned silently in her expressive eyes. He put down the bowl and spoon on the floor, then finished his wine and started to unbutton his flannel.

“You can’t distract me with sex, Nate,” she started. “Besides we have more work to—”

“Just be patient,” he said, letting the shirt slide off his arms, then he reached behind him and pulled off his white tank top. With a deep, calming breath to help control his raging pulse, he twisted his body around, still sitting forward, but staring behind him so she could see his back.

He expected her to gasp, and she did.

But he hadn’t been expecting her to reach out and touch him and he was startled at the cool, softness of her fingertips along the raised ridges of his scar tissue. He relaxed a moment later and allowed her to study his scars and the full-back tattoo he commissioned to cover it. While Asher had narrowly escaped an explosion at a hospital, ducking under his transport truck in the nick of time and just taking a shard of metal to the face, Nate had experienced something slightly different.

“What happened?” Mieka asked, still trailing her fingertips over the elaborate profile image of a male lion and a phoenix rising from the ashes. Roses encircled the two creatures and all of it was in grayscale.

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