Page 15 of The Rancher's Code

He isn’t thinking about me that way.

I slowly uncrossed my arms, trying to play it cool. Cole’s eyes were on me, though, his gaze lingering so long that I felt my face getting hot from the attention.

“Don’t.”

“What?”

“Don’t be mean.” I crossed my arms again. “I get it. You’re all… muscly and super manly.”

“That’s not what I was thinking.”

“Then, what were you thinking?”

“Nothing.” Cole casually brushed away the topic. “Do you want to sleep head to foot? I have a feeling we’re going to be here all night.”

“Head to foot?”

“In the bed.”

I let out a nervous laugh. “No, thanks. I think I’m good here.”

“What? On the floor?”

“One-hundred percent.” I laughed again, the sound coming out cracked. “You can take the bed. I’ve heard sleeping on the floor sometimes is good for you anyway?—”

“Dylan.”

“Yes?”

“We’re both adults. We can deal with sleeping in the same bed.”

“Especially because I’m not your type!” I tried to joke around with him.

But Cole’s face remained a straight line. “Come on. You need your rest and so do I. We both have important work to do in the morning and having a bad back isn’t going to help it any.”

Is this hell?

Is this what hell is like?

I was completely unable to sleep with Cole’s body so close to mine. We’d placed a blanket between us to give us a little more space, but I couldn’t pretend like he wasn’t rightthere. My thoughts were running a million miles a minute as I stared up at the cabin ceiling, quietly wondering how many hours we had left until the morning.

I had no idea how I was supposed to get through the rest of the night.

“Dylan?”

“Yeah, Cole?”

“You awake?”

“Yeah, Cole.”

He shifted beside me, rearranging himself until we were head to head and feet to feet. I held in a whimper as his face appeared next to mine, every part of me wanting to reach out and run a hand through his hair or rest my head on his chest or?—

“I can’t sleep,” he interrupted my thoughts with his words. “I… don’t know why.”

“Sometimes people have trouble sleeping in strange beds,” I replied. “Something about it not feeling right.”

“I don’t really have that problem.”

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