Page 29 of Cowboy SEAL Homecoming

She didn’t stop striding toward the stable. “Nothing,” she returned, not looking back. “I mean, I don’t have a deal.”

“You’re being weird.” He quickened his pace so he could catch up with her. Luckily, his long legs and her shorter ones gave him the advantage. He stepped in front of her so she had to stop.

She frowned up at him. “Am not.” She let out a piercing whistle and the dogs appeared from under the porch while the damn goat hopped over the gate of its pen. While he was staring at the goat, Becca stepped around him and resumed her quick strides toward the stable.

Alex watched her go, completely and utterly confused all over again. What on earth had he done to get her flustered again? Was it because he’d left abruptly last night? Was she mad about that?

He frowned after her, trying to ignore the little sliver of guilt. He hadn’t wanted to talk about his father or what Dad might have felt about his return. All he’d done was say good night, quite cordially if he did say so himself. She had no reason to be mad at him, or weird around him.

Damn it. He was going to have to apologize. Even if he didn’t think he’d done anything all that wrong, clearly he’d hurt her feelings.

* * *

Becca checked the non-work-animals’ water, refilled feed buckets, and chattered idly to the animals. Usually, she dumped her problems on them, but knowing Alex, Gabe, and Jack were wandering around meant not airing what was currently on her mind.

Which was mainly shirtless Alex.

With a tattoo.

She blinked, trying to get the image out of her head, except every time she did that, she only seemed to bring up the image more clearly.

Abs and hair and…stuff. Maybe it was her imagination and her memory combining to create an image, but his shoulders seemed broad enough to fill the whole hallway, and she didn’t understand what it was about a guy with broad shoulders and narrow hips that made her skin all hot and her imagination go places it normally didn’t.

Because normally, shirtless guys weren’t walking down her hallway, and even more normally, she didn’t blurt out they were naked. In front of them. Out loud.

She groaned loud enough that Ron Swanson bleated at her, which caused Ranger to give him a doleful look.

Thesewere the things that roamed her halls. Animals on four legs with fur. Incapable of speaking or embarrassing her because, hey, they ate each other’s shit. They were not paragons of acceptable behavior.

Now she had three former Navy SEALs walking around her house, completely fine with being shirtless. All skin and scars and muscles and tattoo.

A star. Apparently the North Star. It’s supposed to lead you home.

Why did he have to be so fascinating? And hot? Couldn’t he just be one or the other? She could probably ignore one or the other. Mostly. It was just…not only did she not know how to be around people all that well, but she’d also never had to pretend like she wasn’t staring at a guy shirtless before.

Lord, what if they all started walking around shirtless? Becca’s mind drifted to that possibility. It would be summer and—

“Get a grip.”

She’d worked outside all morning with the animals, but she had more things to do today. Horsemanship things. Foundation things. They hadn’t even come up with a name yet, and they’d need to, so they could start filing the correct paperwork.

There were things that definitely needed to be done if they were going to start by winter, and that was far more important than spending her morning all worked up over a shirtless guy.

Probably.

“You ever planning on coming in for lunch?”

She jerked, spilling feed and making a little screeching noise in the process. Did he sneak around everywhere so darn quietly? She turned to glare at him, working on the reality of Alex fully clothed in front of her—and not the memory of him not clothed. “You scared me!” She glared at the dogs, who’d given her no warning at all. They lay lazily, panting in Alex’s direction as if he was just part of the landscape now.

Nothing to bark at or move for. Just part of the place.

“You are easily scared,” he returned with literally no remorse.

“I’m not used to people wandering in,” she muttered, turning away from him and the dogs. Everything felt off today. She didn’t like it, and she didn’t have to face it or him if she didn’t want to.

“I was hardly wandering. It’s past noon and you didn’t come in for lunch.”

Okay, maybe she did have to face him. “I guess I lost track of time.” Which was mostly true. She’d been so busy in her own head she had lost track of time. Of course, her stomach had reminded her a few times, but she’d ignored that reminder.

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