Page 22 of The Wrangler

Jesse’s eyes stayed on hers, steady, unyielding. “When I say so.”

A fire lit in her chest, an equal mix of frustration and something else she wasn’t ready to name.

“Of course,” she muttered, rolling her eyes. “You’re just loving this, aren’t you?”

Jesse took a slow step forward, closing too much distance, making her stomach dip.

“You think I enjoy keeping you here?” His voice was low, edged with something dangerous. “You think I enjoy knowing there’s a man out there who wants you dead?”

Keely inhaled sharply, but he wasn’t finished.

“You think this is fun for me, Keely?” Another step, his heat searing into her, his presence too much, too overwhelming. “Because I can promise you, darlin’, I’d rather be anywhere else than spend the next few days fighting every damn instinct I have to keep my hands off you.”

Her pulse slammed into overdrive. She should say something—something to remind him she wasn’t his to protect, wasn’t his to control. But instead, she just stood there, body humming with something she couldn’t ignore. Jesse’s gaze dropped to her mouth, just for a second, then he let out a rough breath and turned away.

“Get some sleep, Keely.”

She watched as he disappeared outside, leaving her standing there, breathless, restless, furious.

This wasn’t just isolation. This was something else, and she had a feeling she would not come out of it unscathed.

8

JESSE

Jesse had always been a man who thrived on control. It was what made him good at his job, what made him the man his team depended on when things got ugly.

But Keely Malone? That woman had a goddamn gift for tearing his control to pieces, and she knew it. The moment they settled into the ranch, Keely turned it into a battlefield.

She wasn’t reckless—not in the way some people were—but she was deliberate. Calculated. Every move, every choice was designed to push him, to see how far she could go before he snapped.

The first time had been minor. She’d left the front door wide open while Jesse was outside, despite him telling her twice to keep it locked. It was a test. He knew it. She knew it.

“You think I don’t check these things?” he’d asked, closing the door behind him, voice even, controlled.

Keely had shrugged, leaning back against the couch, her body all casual defiance. “It’s not like there’s anyone out here. I mean you can see for miles and miles and there’s nothing to see but miles and miles.”

Jesse had taken a slow breath, rolling his shoulders back. “There’s always someone.”

She hadn’t argued, but the second time he went outside, the damn door had been left wide open. She’d taken one of the ranch’s ATVs—one Jesse had explicitly told her not to touch—and gone tearing off into the hills without telling him. Open rebellion.

By the time she returned, the sun was beginning to set, and she got off the ATV, stretching her arms open wide and spinning around. Jesse had been damn close to losing it right then and there. He’d grabbed her by the wrist so fast she let out a startled gasp.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” he’d growled, voice low and edged with fury.

Keely had blinked up at him, feigned innocence dripping from every syllable. “Taking in the view.”

Jesse had fought the urge to shake some goddamn sense into her. “You don’t just take off like that.”

Her eyes had danced with amusement. “Why? Were you worried?”

He’d gritted his teeth, dropping her wrist before he did something stupid. “Get inside. Now.”

She’d gone. Slowly. On her own damn time, with a deliberate sway of her hips.

And now? Now she was testing him again.

Jesse had been chopping wood near the barn when he heard it—the sound of Keely inside the house, blasting music loud enough to shake the damn walls, and wasting valuable energy. A hidden solar panel system supplied the only electricity.

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