Page 73 of Love Me Dangerous

“To be a vet, like my dad, I would have to.”

“You’re certainly good with animals,” I pet Galaxy’s neck. “Is that what you want?”

He shrugs. “Brian was going to help me become a firefighter.”

“Who’s Brian?”

“A family friend. From back home.”

I get the feeling something big happened to disrupt these plans he was considering. “Why couldn’t he still help you?”

“I let some people down when I left home, including Brian.” He swallows, and his face calms. “But it was the only way to protect my little brother.”

I hold his gaze so he knows I’m not afraid. That I can be trusted with something so important. “That sounds really tough, Zach.”

He heaves a full breath. “He’s safe now, but I don’t know for how much longer.”

This feels heavy, and I’m desperate to ask for more, but he’s including me, and the last thing I want to do is spook him with my rabid curiosity. “Is there anything you can do for him?”

“Stay away until things settle down,” he says in a strained voice.

Is this why he seems ready to bolt at any moment? What things need settling?

Zach gazes across the corral to the horizon, giving me a moment to take in his strong jaw and his dark lashes. “How are you going to let Jesse go?”

“I don’t know.” I remember Kirilee’s words about not holding Jess and Linnie’s lives in my palm forever. She’s right, yet not doing so feels terrifying.

To my surprise, Zach steps close and reaches an arm around me. I’m mindful of his wounds, but his warmth and manly scent and the strength in his body make it impossible not to reach for him too. I slide my arms around his waist and press my cheek to his chest.

“How did you get my phone number?”

“It’s on your refrigerator.”

“You memorized it?”

He leans back to catch my eye. “Does that brain of yours ever stop working?”

I laugh. “Would you like me better if it did?”

Galaxy shifts his weight, tugging on the rope Zach’s holding. He grunts in pain.

I cover his hand with mine on the rope. The contact between our hands quickly warms, turning what should be a simple exchange into something charged.

His gaze meets mine, the blue there so deep and true. “I like the way you are just fine.”

My heartga-wumpsinto my throat.

From deep inside the barn, Barb says something to Henry, who gives a hearty guffaw.

Zach’s gaze flicks to the barn and back, like he’s asking if I’m okay being this close to him with the Huttons nearby. But I don’t feel self-conscious around them. I almost get the sense they’re glad I’m here.

That would be a first.

“Should we walk?” Zach asks.

I take Galaxy’s rope and follow Zach through the gate on the other side of the corral. “The trail goes to the edge of the valley and loops back. It’s not far.”

I click my tongue to keep Galaxy moving. The stubby, dry prairie grass crunches beneath my sandals. I really should be wearing boots for this, but as long as Galaxy behaves, I’ll be okay. Where the prairie breaks over a rise, a trail leads into a grove of trees. Inside, the forest swallows us up, and the cool air tastes of dust and pine. The trail widens, allowing Zach and I to walk side by side with Galaxy trudging along behind.

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