Page 68 of Cowboy Devil's Embrace

God, this was embarrassing.

“Excuse me, um, Lenny is here. And I am out. Gotta get Rosalie,” Avery interrupted, grabbing her bag, and waving at me like the lunatic she was.

“Alright, let’s go somewhere more private. I don’t think we want to give Lenny a show,” Max said and offered his hand.

I took it, calling out my goodbyes to the staff, and followed him to his truck.

“Oh, but my car?—”

“I’ll get it later. Come on. Come home with me. I’ll make you breakfast, and we can talk,” Max said.

It was the first time anyone had ever offered to make me breakfast and I admit I was curious. Max inhaled a deep breath and helped me into his truck, and it was like he was relieved.

I bit my lip, sucking in a breath of my own when he leaned over me to buckle my seatbelt. Dear God, the man smelled divine. My heart skipped a beat, and I swear my pussy clenched at his nearness.

“Okay. I’d like that,” I said, agreeing to go to his place instead of mine.

It was safer that way, right? I mean, if we went to his place and I wanted to leave, I could. That would probably be hard without my car. But whatever. I’d figure it out later.

Just to be safe, I texted Avery so someone would know where I was going. My phone binged, and I snorted a laugh when I read the message.

“What’s it say?” Max asked, and I shook my head.

“It’s just Avery,” I mumbled.

I couldn’t tell him my best friend textedYOUGO GIRL GET SOME OF THAT BIG Din bold caps with a dozen eggplant emojis following it.

Okay. Clearly, I was not the only woman around here who needed some adult time with a healthy, interested male, which led me to the very uncomfortable conversation I was about to have.

“You ever been here? Back when it was the Miller Ranch, I mean,” Max asked a few minutes later as we drove onto his property.

I shook my head. No, I’d never been to the Miller Ranch, but I’d passed it often enough and all I could say was wow.

“You’ve really fixed this place up,” I marveled.

“Do you like it?” he asked, and he seemed to really care about my answer.

“What’s not to like?” I asked in return.

The sprawling ranch house had wood shingles that looked like they’d been recently refinished. The roof looked new, as did the windows and doors. Heck, even the porch seemed to be sporting some new planks and a fresh coat of varnish.

“It’s gorgeous. You must have paid a fortune for a construction company to get everything done so quickly,” I mused, recalling the time I had to have my old roof replaced.

“Nah. Me and my Crew, I mean, my employees did it. We’ve been rebuilding this whole place,” Max explained, pointing out some of the renovations he’d been working on in the different fields and pastures.

I grinned at the group of goats currently chasing an old timer around one of the smaller animal pens.

“That’s Jed. He kind of came with the place,” Max said with a smile.

He nodded at a group of men in the distance. One of them lifted an arm in a wave, and Max nodded solemnly.

“That’s Emmet. He’s the manager or foreman if you prefer the title, but I’ll introduce you all later. Come on,” he murmured, leading me up the stairs to his front door.

I paused, peeking inside before crossing the threshold. It felt big to me. Like this step was important.

“Ouch,” I gasped at the feeling of electricity that zipped through me.

“You okay?” he asked.

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