Page 55 of The Rogue

He doesn’t need to ask twice. My flailing arms wrap around his body, and holy crap, the upper strength of this man. I’m no Charlie. I’ve got at least a foot on her and slightly more body fat, but man, this cowboy made me feel like a toothpick just now.

“Your horse doesn’t like me.” If the way it glanced back and nearly wiggled me off was any indication.

“She was just startled. Horses need to be prepped for two riders. She didn’t expect it.” He flexes his arm and rolls his shoulder back.

Maybe I’m not that light after all.

I pull tighter against him, tucking my face between his shoulder blades to shield myself from the sharp drops falling from the sky. Removing his hat, he reaches back and places it over my head.

Indie’s hat.

Our horse finds a steady, even pace, and I relax, soaking up the breeze, the thrill. And the man I can hold close for as long as he’ll let me.

I reach up to adjust and hold the hat in place. I wonder if I can keep it after he fires me today.

Levi settles the horse back in her stall, then adds a fresh stack of hay. He pets her nose and mutters something that sounds like a praise.

I wonder if that’s Willow.

The rain stopped, and I’m less shivery as the summer heat slowly returns. Especially with the blanket Levi wrapped around me when we got to the stables. The one he grabbed from behind a cabin door labeled theWrangler Room.

Blue eyes turn to me, but instead of backing away, I move toward him. “Before you start—”

Gripping my waist with both hands, he lifts and sits me on a wooden table near the haystack and leans in. “Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t fire you for making my kid lie to me last night.”

I blink and swallow hard.

Shoot. Wasn’t expecting that.

My lips part to respond, and his gaze drops to them. “I don’t have one.”

“The correct answer is there is no good reason.”

“I didn’t realize it was a pop quiz.”

His jaw ticks and it’s clear he’s waiting for me to explain. When my eyes start to burn, I give in. I meet his heated glare with one of my own. “I made a mistake. I told you Jackson’s safe with me. He’s not.”

He pulls back, crossing his arms over his chest.

“I crashed.” I shake my head vigorously. “Not the car. Crashed as in my body just shut down. It was a long day, I was tired and I…”

“Tess…” He doesn’t need to hear the end of that as much as I don’t want to say it out loud.

“I dozed off, I should have pulled over or called you or something, but—”

“Tessa.”

I meet his eyes, surprised to find them soft. “You were right—okay? Is that what you wanted to hear?”

“It happens.”

“It’s not like I—wait, what?”

“I know you were tired. It happens. No one was hurt.”

“I don’t understand. You just threatened to fire me. You should. Levi, I could have—”

“Youdidn’t.”

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