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Until the towel starts burning too. “No, no, no!” Holding it between two fingers, I take it to the sink and turn on the faucet. Water is no good for a grease fire. That much, I know.

And because that’s not enough, an ear-piercing screech fills the air once the smoke gets thick enough to set off the fire alarm. “Dammit!” I shriek, looking in the cabinets under the counter for a lid to smother the fire and finding nothing.

“What the fuck is going on? Get out of the way!” Theo flies in out of nowhere, wearing nothing but a T-shirt and a pair of pajama pants. He shoves me away from the stove before reaching under the sink for the fire extinguisher, which he uses to put out the flames in a cloud of vapor that makes me cough.

Once that’s done, he turns off the screeching alarm.

“I’m sorry,” I croak before coughing again. Here I was, trying to make things better, and I almost burned the guy’s house down.

“Something you need to know about June.” Adrian joins us, looking disheveled in an attractively hot-and-bothered way. He isn’t wearing a shirt, and his sweatpants hang so loosely from his hips, I can see the outline of his little friend. Well, little compared to the size of Adrian as a whole, not small for a cock, as far as I know. Glancing up at his face, I realize he is breathing heavily, sounding like he came on the run. “She tends to cause trouble when all she’s trying to do is help.”

“Does being rude run in your family?” I ask. “But you’re right. I was trying to do something nice this morning.”

“Do me a favor and don’t do me any favors.” Theo heaves a sigh before opening the window over the sink to air out the room, then rakes his fingers through his tousled black hair. “How about I fix breakfast instead? You can just sit there and not touch anything. How does that sound?”

Considering the mess I made, and how I probably scared him half to death, I’ll take that without acting offended. “Sure. And I really am sorry.”

“Probably not as sorry as I am for letting the two of you spend the night,” he grumbles while getting out another pan. “To think, I came all this way to be safe, only to have you burn my house down.”

“All right, give it a rest,” Adrian warns. “June has said she was sorry, and the house isn’t in ruins, is it?” He gives me a look I’m sure is supposed to be reassuring, but it doesn’t make me feel much better. I was trying to get Theo to like me, and all I did was make him resent me more than he already did.

“You remember how to make coffee?” Theo asks Adrian, who gets to work throwing a pot together while I sit still and stay quiet.

At least as quiet as I can, which isn’t very quiet at all. “What other kind of animals do you have out here?”

Theo shoots me a wary look from the stove, where he has started over with the bacon. “More questions? I’m pretty sure I told you last night I’m not interested in being your research project.”

“You’re not a research project,” I insist.

“Fine. I don’t feel like being pestered.”

“I am a damn delight!”

“She’s only curious,” Adrian mutters. “Why don’t you try lightening up a little bit? And before you complain about the fire,” he adds when Theo opens his mouth, “don’t bother. Everything turned out fine. Let it go.”

After sulking for a little while, Theo grunts, “It’s a ranch. Your typical ranch animals.”

I look at Adrian. Adrian looks at me. “What does that mean?” he asks. I’m glad, since I didn’t want to have to be the one to do it and maybe get my head bitten off for real this time.

“It means there’s nothing special about this ranch. It’s something I’ve always wanted, and I had the resources and the excuse to get away, so I did. I bought this place and I’ve been running it ever since. That’s the end of the story,” he insists.

Something tells me he’s not being completely honest. I’m not a genius or anything, but I am observant. I can read body language like a pro, and his screams insecurity—shoulders up around his ears, plus the fact that he won’t look at either of us as he speaks. I guess being a secretive person isn’t the kind of habit that magically goes away just because he switched careers.

Adrian isn’t satisfied, judging by the look he wears when he brings me a cup of coffee before sitting down with his own at the round, rustic table. “Why are you dodging the questions? I know you’re kind of secluded out here, but did you forget how to talk to people?”

“I am out of practice,” Theo admits, flipping the bacon.

“Don’t you have hands out here to help you with all the work?” Adrian asks.

“Yeah, it must be a lot for one person to handle all by himself,” I muse before sipping the strong brew.

“Fine!” The spatula clatters against the stovetop before Theo whirls around on us. “I fucking suck at ranching, all right? Is that what you’re trying to find out? All I have left are two fucking alpacas, and you don’t need ranch hands to help tend to two alpacas.”

At first I’m afraid Adrian is choking. “Are you all right?” I ask while he looks like he’s seizing.

No, he’s just laughing at his brother. Coffee bursts out of his mouth, spraying the table and making me jump back before he pounds his fist against the wood. “You’re fucking serious?” he laughs.

“Listen, smart-ass,” Theo warns, “I would like to see you try it.”