Page 40 of Wrangled Love

“Is this alright?” he asks.

“Caleb could wake up and find us out here,” I say quietly.

He presses his forehead against mine, his eyes closing as he breathes me in. The quiet stretches between us, thick with words neither of us wants to speak. Caleb is our priority, and not only do we all share a living space, but I’m his nanny. What’s already a complicated situation could easily spiral into a distraction Jensen can’t afford and one I can’t defend, no matter how my body betrays me whenever he gets close. Caleb’s been through enough, and risking his stability for our own desires would be unforgivable.

When Jensen breaks the silence, his voice is low and gravelly. “That kiss was fucking incredible, and I’m not sorry it happened. In another life—one without my son asleep upstairs—I’d have taken you to bed, spread you out beneath me, and made you scream my name until your voice went raw.” My thighs clench, betraying my body’s desire. “But you’re right, we can’t let this go further.”

“I guess sometimes the right things happen at the wrong time,” I say softly. “But I don’t regret kissing you either.”

He opens his eyes, his thumb brushing my cheek. “You’re so damn beautiful, darlin’.”

“Careful now, with talk like that, you’re starting to sound like a cowboy,” I tease, a playful glint in my eye.

“One thing New Yorkers and cowboys have in common is that we understand a well-placed curse word is the most effective way to make a point.”

He might not admit it, but there’s a lot more country in him than he lets on, and the longer he’s in Bluebell, the more that side shows. If I could get him in a pair of boots to go along with those Wranglers he’s been wearing, I’d probably never be able to think straight again. That could be problematic since I’m supposed to be finding ways to dial down my attraction towardhim, not make it stronger. A good first step would be getting off his lap and creating distance between us.

Yeah, definitely that.

I run my fingers through his hair, pressing a chaste kiss to his lips. “Had to sneak in one last one before going cold turkey.”

Jensen gives me a soft smile as I climb off his lap and grab my phone from the seat beside us.

“Briar?”

“Yeah?”

“Had to get one more look at you standing in the moonlight with those bee-stung lips—before I go cold turkey,” he teases, echoing my earlier words.

I brush my fingers over my mouth, giving him a wistful smile before slipping inside.

Itake my glasses off, pressing my fingers to my temples as Carlton, my chief operations officer, drones on about bug reports and sprint cycles. We have touch-base calls semi-weekly so I can stay in the loop on what’s happening at headquarters. It’s been a long morning reviewing upcoming product changes before we move them into production for our clients.

Before Caleb, my career was everything. It gave me control and structure. I built DataLock Systems from the ground up, vowing never to depend on anyone or risk losing what I’d built. But the past month has shown me that money can’t replace love and family. Those things are earned, not bought, and require time, patience, and a willingness to be present.

It makes me grateful for the support system we’ve built in Bluebell. Thank god for Julie, who takes Caleb to the summer camp, and Briar, who takes care of pickups. It allows me to concentrate on work during the day so I can give Caleb my full attention inthe evenings.

The longer I’m away from the city and my office, the harder it is to remember why I was convinced success had to come with solitude. Now that I have Caleb, I finally understand why the silence in my penthouse used to echo so loudly.

These days, the quiet I’ve been feeling is for a different reason. Since that kiss with Briar a week and a half ago, we’ve managed to remain friendly, but there’s been a distance between us. Every night, I see her on the porch, but I don’t go out. If I did, I wouldn’t trust myself not to pick up where we left off: with her lips against mine.

It would be easy to give in, but I’m afraid about the impact it would have on Caleb. He just lost his mom and the last thing I want is for him to think I’m trying to replace her or that he’s not my priority.

To distract myself from my impossible dilemma, I glance at my phone, a chill running through me when I see that I’ve missed five calls from Caleb’s school.

“Dammit,” I mutter under my breath.

My mind races with a million worst-case scenarios. The last call I received related to Caleb changed everything, so now every unexpected one feels like it could bring life-altering news.

Carlton furrows his brow, sensing my panic. “Jensen, are you alright?”

I glance up at the monitor, shaking my head. “We’ll have to finish this later. Something urgent has come up.” I end our meeting, not waiting for him to reply.

Just then, the school calls again. I swipe to answer on the second ring, dread tightening in my chest.

“Hello, this is Jensen.”

“Mr. Harding, this is Lisa, the summer camp receptionist from Willow Creek Elementary. I have Caleb here in the office with me. He was sent here because he got into an altercation with another student.”

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