Chapter 2

The air in the main barn had grown thick, heavy with the scent of cured hay, polished leather, and the musk of a hundred sweating horses. It was that specific hour of late afternoon at the ranch, where the golden hour stretched long and lazy across the dusty floorboards, turning the floating dust motes into suspended gold dust. I stood near the heavy oak door of the tack room, my fingers tracing the seam of my silk dress. I had just changed out of the rougher jeans and tunic I’d worn while helping with the evening feed, opting instead for something that clung a little tighter, a little lower. A deep emerald green that made my skin look paler, more vulnerable. My heels were clicked off, left by the door, but my legs ached from the day’s work, a delicious, dull throb that radiated up my thighs. I could feel him before I saw him. A shift in the air, a pressure against my back that wasn’t accidental. I didn’t turn around immediately. I let the anticipation coil in my belly, tight and electric, before I finally pivoted to face him. He was leaning against the doorframe, arms crossed over