Page 33 of Fall or Nothing

“I get twisted around women. Always have. My mom calls me shy.”

“You’re kidding? Dude, you’re a goddamn SEAL. Have you seen yourself in a mirror? Tall, muscular, and not too shabby to look at, and I don’t mind saying so as a guy.” Where the hell was Jake, the confident, rugged cowboy from earlier today who could dig a fence post hole faster than I could count to ten?

“The thing is, I don’t want just any woman. There’s one particular one I’ve had my eyes on.” He twiddled his thumbs on the steering wheel.

Oh shit. My gut flipped, eyeing him sideways. “Sage?”

“Yeah. But not a big deal. A stupid crush. She doesn’t see me. Never has. And now, with you in town, never will.” He chuckled and turned the wheel through a long curve.

Gobsmacked. “How long have you known her?”

“Since she was born, practically. She and my little sister were always friends growing up through school, always underfoot, into everything. Drove me insane.” He paused while I freaked out inside. “I returned home last year, and only recently I stopped seeing her as Jamie’s friend and started seeing her, well, all grown up. It’s been a problem, but like I said, only a little crush.”

“I’ll-I’ll back off. She’s yours.” Those words didn’t feel right either; none of this did.

He snorted. “Don’t you dare. She’s never once looked at me the way she has you. Yeah, I have eyes. I saw the gazes at church Sunday, at the coffee shop this week,and everything tonight. She likesyou.I’ve only ever been a brotherly type to her.”

“I don’t know what to say, Jake.” I squeezed my eyes shut. Another complication. “Listen, I’m only here for a month. Then I have a job back East.”

His head jerked my way, his knuckles turning white on the steering wheel. “You fucking dog. If you’re using her?—”

“She knows I’m leaving. I told her. We tried staying away from each other, but it’s complicated.”

He was quiet for too long, and frankly, it scared me. I’d taken to boxing at the gym, but this guy could flatten me. Hell, he could kill me and bury me somewhere on the ranch where I’d never be found.

He finally sighed heavily. “Don’t hurt her, man.”

“Don’t hurt her, man.”

“I have no intention of it.” The words tasted like a lie, an all-too familiar taste now. “But seriously, I’ll back off so you can try with her.”

Jake snorted. “She’s never looked at me the way she looks at you. I’ve only ever been the brotherly type.”

The truck rumbled on through the dark. I wanted to tell him the truth, that I wasn’t even the man she thought I was. But the words stuck in my throat.

A guy like Jake was exactly what Sage deserved. How the hell could I justify keeping her for myself, even for a little while?

ELEVEN

Delivered

SAGE

“Stables first, you promised,”Ro insisted the minute we turned into the ranch. “Eli and I want to say hello to every horse and give them treats, don’t we?”

“Yep,” Dusty’s son agreed from the backseat.

“I know what I said. Horses first, homework second. But that doesn’t mean we linger long with the horses, okay?” I parked at the barn next to a Mercedes.

Its black exterior gleamed, so out of place against the mud-spattered trucks lined up beside it I did a double take through my windshield. Nobody around here drove anything that clean.

“I’ll get the box of treats,” Ro said, scrambling out of her seat and climbing over Eli to get at the container of peppermints first.

“No fair, you held it last time,” Eli yelled, running after her.

“Both of you, slow down. Figure it out.” They left me to follow at my pace. These two had been around horses enough that they hardly needed watching.

I caught sight of Ash first down the median of the barn, dressed sharper than usual, as in a clean shirt, no hat, hair slicked back, shiny boots. Beside him stood two men in pressed jeans and puffy coats who looked like they’d never mucked a stall in their lives. With them was an elderly woman in a cream wool jacket with gold buttons that easily cost more than my car. The diamonds in her ears definitely did.