He started another kiss as they began to move together. Any shyness he’d noticed in Julia earlier was gone. She was right there with him, as hungry and demanding as he was. Distantly, he heard thunder outside, but all that mattered at that moment was Julia and him together. Their bodies grew slick with sweat. He tried to control the pace but gave up when passion overwhelmed them. Jake felt her quiver and tighten around him just as he came, too.

  He struggled to catch his breath as the orgasm receded. It had been intense, possibly the most intense of his life. And if he had to guess, it had been the same for her. Her face was pressed into the side of his neck and he felt warm puffs of air coming from her as her body relaxed into his. He needed to change their position before she fell asleep.

  “Let me move us, sweetheart,” he murmured. He lifted her off him, shifting so his back was in the corner of the sofa, before tucking her in next to him. He grabbed one of the blankets and draped it over them as their bodies cooled.

  “Still raining,” she said in a soft voice a few minutes later. “Good thing we’re in here. I guess we’re staying the night.”

  “Looks like it. Julia, I’m sorry you can’t have kids.”

  “It’s okay,” she said, meeting his eyes. “I’d like to have a baby someday, but it’s probably not possible biologically. I try not to let it bother me. No point in mourning something I can’t change. Maybe someday, I’ll try adoption or fostering.” She shrugged. “We’ll see.”

  “How long have you known?” It had to be a tough thing to live with. It also gave him another reason to admire her strength. She seemed to face the obstacles in her life with such grace and poise.

  “Since high school,” she said as her head dropped against his chest. “I’m tired. Is it okay if I nod off?”

  “Fine with me. I’m happy to hold you.” He stroked her hair, kissing it, and listened as her breathing changed when she dropped off to sleep.

  He closed his eyes, feeling warm, satisfied, and strangely at peace. It wasn’t long until he slept, too.

  5

  Julia woke, feeling completely disoriented at first. She was startled to find herself on a narrow bed in a cabin with…with Jake. Right. The storm, the kissing, and then…oh, my. The whole encounter had been a surprise—but so was waking up somewhere other than the couch where she now recalled falling asleep. He must have moved them from the sofa to the bed at some point during the night.

  She stretched cautiously, not wanting to wake him. She might not remember getting in the bed, but what happened before she had nodded off was crystal clear for her. They’d had mind-blowing sex, the kind that put a smile on her face just thinking about it. As she stretched, she felt a delicious soreness in places that hadn’t been sore in way too long. She looked at Jake. In sleep, he was scruffy and sexy, but softened from how she usually saw him, maybe even a little vulnerable. Not his usual swaggering self. She liked him this way.

  Still, she reminded herself that she shouldn’t get used to being this close to him. Their heated interlude the previous day was probably a onetime thing. For a second, she wondered if it had to be. The thought that she could have sex with the guy next door whenever she wanted to made her feel absolutely light-headed. She’d have to relax her no-cocky-cowboys rule, but it didn’t really count as long as it was purely physical, right? As long as he kept things loose and fun and didn’t think he had any say over how she led her life, she might be willing to make an exception for a whole series of nights like that one. It almost seemed worth it.

  She might even have another round right then. She considered waking him with kisses to see if morning sex with him was as good as it had been the evening before. As she moved to kiss him, her stomach growled and she suddenly realized that she was starving.

  The day before, she’d eaten only breakfast and a granola bar on the trail. No wonder she was hungry. Hungry. She sat bolt upright, noticing how light it was outside the window. It was full morning, and she hadn’t cared for her animals since the previous day. She had to get back to her property as soon as possible.

  “Wake up, Jake.” She shook his shoulder urgently. “We’ve got to get moving.”

  “Huh…what’s the hurry?” he grumbled, opening one eye.

  “I’ve got animals to care for and patients to see. It’s Monday morning, sleepyhead.” Even as she spoke, she was already up and moving around the room, pulling on her clothes and gathering his. When she was dressed, she took his things to him and sat down on the edge of the bed, knowing she had to say something about the night they’d spent together. “Jake, last night was so much more than I expected.”

  “Yeah? That good?” he teased, a slow grin on his lips. He really was crazy sexy. If ever there was a cowboy who was justified in acting cocky…

  “That good,” she confirmed and kissed him before scooting away so he could get dressed as well. He stood up, and she didn’t at all mind watching him as he stepped into his boxers. He clearly knew she was enjoying the show, since he seemed in no hurry to cover himself.

  “I reckon I’ll take the credit for starting it all by kissing you.” He leaned closer, his lips hovering just over hers. “If I hadn’t, you’d probably still be talking. Spending a night in conversation with you would have been a hell of a lot less fun.”

  Her happy mood faded instantly. She pulled away and stared at him, but in that moment, she wasn’t seeing Jake. It was her ex’s face before her. Rodney had been a rodeo-riding bad boy, and she’d adored him at first. An infatuation she now chalked up to youth and inexperience. She hadn’t been savvy enough to realize how controlling he was, how he seemed to believe that he was the decision-maker for both of them and could run her life as he saw fit. She’d learned a lot from her relationship with him. The lessons were hard-earned and had guided her right when it came to men. Now she knew exactly what she was and wasn’t willing to put up with again.

  But she’d ignored those lessons last night with Jake, even though she knew better. His comment about her talking too much was the slap in the face she needed. Rodney used to say things like that. He’d tell her to stop thinking so hard and rambling on about her concerns. He’d insist that she just let him take care of everything. When they were first together, she’d been gullible enough to believe that meant Rodney cared about her, but eventually she’d started feeling it was his way to get her to shut up because he wasn’t actually interested in hearing her perspective. He’d wanted to dominate in the relationship.

  “Finish dressing,” she said, moving off the bed and away from him. “I want to get back to the trailhead.”

  Seeming to pick up on her shift in mood, Jake reached for her hand. “I was only joking, Julia. I didn’t mean…”

  “It’s fine.” She meant it—she wasn’t angry with him, just with herself for getting moony-eyed over a one-night stand. She stepped farther from his reach. “I’m worried about my animals. They haven’t been seen to since yesterday morning. You have people on your ranch to fill in for you when you’re not there. It’s just me at my place. I’ll wait for you outside.” Before he had a chance to speak, she left the cabin and stood on the porch, silently seething. She forced herself to remember that it was Jake she was dealing with—not Rodney. She wanted to continue to have an amicable working relationship with Jake, so she couldn’t let herself get caught up in old memories that might poison their interactions. But damn it, even the excuses had sounded all too familiar. Rodney used to claim to be joking when she objected to what he said to her. It wasn’t an excuse she’d accept, not ever again.

  Jake and Rodney weren’t the same person, and neither was she. Eight years had passed since she’d ended it with Rodney, but first loves leave a nasty mark when they go sour.

  “I’m sorry,” Jake said as he came from the cabin, pulling his pack on.

  She waved off his apology and started walking back to the main trail. They had to scramble up the muddy slope. More than once, he offered his hand to help her, but she ignored it. Once they reached the trail, she picked up the pace, not bothering to make conversation with Jake. Inside, she was thinking of all the things she wouldn’t say. She wanted to point out that he’d talked as much as she had last night and throughout the previous day’s hike, but it wasn’t worth it to go there. She had nothing to prove to him, so she’d let it be. Lesson learned. Again.

  In her haste, she tripped over a root and went staggering forward several paces. Jake was right alongside her, and moved fast enough to grab her arm to steady her. She kept moving, pulling herself away with a mumbled thanks.

  “Julia,” he said, but she didn’t pause.

  She didn’t know if it was worry about her animals or her desire to get away from him that drove her feet forward. She was relieved when the trailhead came into sight. Once they reached the parking lot, she headed straight for her truck, unlocked it, and tossed her bag inside. She was about to get in when Jake’s hand on her arm stayed her.

  “It was a bad joke. I really didn’t mean it—I had fun with you,” he said, his expression unexpectedly serious. “Yesterday and last night. If you want a repeat, you know where to find me.”

  She hesitated. She’d enjoyed herself, except for those moments in the cabin that morning, but his comment about talking too much stung even if he had been joking. She couldn’t think what to say to him now. The breeze caught a lock of her hair. Before she could reach for it, he tucked it behind her ear, his touch warm and gentle.

  She didn’t see Rodney now, just Jake. Just the cowboy next door who could be a good guy when he wanted to be. She’d enjoyed being with him and had been pleasantly surprised to learn that they had more in common than she would have thought. She remembered looking toward his family’s ranch with a certain amount of envy as a kid. The Thorne Ranch gave the impression of perfection—the entire family had, with their wealth and high status in town, which had contrasted sharply with her father’s reputation as a struggling rancher. Given their different places in the town’s hierarchy, she wouldn’t have thought they’d be able to relate to each other so well—but they had. Her nights were usually so lonely, but last night hadn’t been. She’d felt not just desired but appreciated and understood. It had felt good.

  So she was a little tempted to take him up on his offer…but only a very little when she remembered how easily his words had poked at old wounds. Anyway, there was no chance of their relationship developing into anything real. And she wanted real. Despite not being able to have a baby, she wanted a man to love her, to see her as the sun and the moon.

  For true love, she might have put up with a little hurt—might have been willing to talk through it and try to come to a better understanding. But it wasn’t worth the effort for a fling. Flings were supposed to be fun, not remind her of the ways she’d been hurt before.

  She got in her truck and closed the door, speaking to him through the open window. “Last night was…memorable, Jake, but not something we should repeat. That wouldn’t be smart for either of us.”

  “No pressure,” he said, holding his hands up in the air. “Drive safe going home. I’ll see you, Julia.” He walked away, and she forced herself not to look after him.

  She kept her gaze focused forward and her thoughts on the day ahead of her. Her animals needed her, and she had work to do to build her business. Having anything more than a one-night stand with Jake wasn’t in the cards. And it sure as hell wouldn’t be smart.

  6

  Jake stroked his hand down Queenie’s side, trying to soothe the mare. The horse was ill. That much was obvious to him. She wasn’t eating well, her coat had lost its luster, and she had limited energy. Queenie was pregnant with another six weeks to go before the birth, but those weren’t normal symptoms for a mare in her condition.

  “Help’s coming, Queenie. We’ll get you on the mend,” Jake promised the animal. He’d started getting seriously worried about her condition the previous day, but had given the horse until that morning to show improvement. When her state seemed, if anything, to have gotten worse, he’d made the call to Dr. Letts.

  Julia, the woman who’d driven off a month ago without a backward glance after their night together. His offer to continue their…whatever it was…had been shot down by her decisively, which still confused him. He’d thought they’d had a great time. The sex had been incredible, and the companionship had been awesome, too, both on the hike and when they’d sat together in front of the fire.

  Her feelings must have been different. There’d been nothing but silence between them ever since—silence he’d broken with his phone call that morning. The care of his horses came before his personal issues.

  “Jake?” Julia’s voice through the open barn door made him jerk his head around. He hadn’t heard her pull up.

  “Over here, Julia,” he said and stepped from the stall.

  She wore jeans, work boots, and a green polo shirt with the veterinary symbol embroidered on the chest pocket. Her hair was pulled back in a messy bun, and she seemed to have on no makeup. But damn, she was beautiful, the way she carried herself with confidence and purpose. He’d never realized before how sexy that was.

  “Good to see you,” he said, meaning it.

  “Hello, Jake.” She didn’t return the compliment, which stung a bit. “Let me get in the stall with Queenie and take a look at her.”

  Jake stood in the open doorway, watching her examination. He’d witnessed Julia and other veterinarians examine his animals numerous times, but this felt different. More personal. Julia checked the horse’s eyes and mouth, ran her hand over Queenie’s sides, limbs, and heavy belly. All routine stuff, so why couldn’t he pull his eyes away?

  “What do you think?” he asked after a few minutes.

  “At first glance, I’d say she’s malnourished, nutrient deficient.”

  “What?” He kept his tone low so as not to frighten the horse, but he wanted to yell. Calling Queenie malnourished was bullshit. Anyone who knew him, knew that he’d never neglect one of his horses.

  “What feed are you using?” Julia asked as she exited the stall.

  “Chek’s. What’s that about?” he demanded when she grimaced.

  “That’s low-quality feed. Considering how close she is to the end of her pregnancy, Queenie needs more and better nutrients. Is that what all of your horses are eating now?” She glanced around the barn. Most of the stock were out in the pastures and the stalls stood empty. “Maybe I should take a look at the others.”

  “That can’t be right,” Jake argued. “I switched to Chek’s last month because Luke specified it in his plan for the horse breeding program.” He’d found where Luke had researched the newer brands on the market and selected this one. He hadn’t gotten a chance to switch over before the crash, but his notes had been clear. “He picked this personally, and he only got the best.”

  She gave a little shrug. “You can choose not to believe me, but let me show you something.” She pulled her phone from her pocket and pulled something up on the screen before holding out the phone to him. “Take it,” she insisted.

  She’d pulled up several links about Chek’s feed from various sources. Reluctantly, he took the phone and started to read. He saw pieces from magazines that catered to the rodeo and horse breeding world, journal articles from professional organizations for veterinary science and reports from ranchers like himself, lamenting the poor quality of the feed brand.

  Shit. She was right. He’d been feeding his stock crap for the past month. He’d wondered briefly if it was truly the best quality option because the cost of the feed was lower than his previous brand, but he’d put his confidence in Luke’s research and knowledge and had done none of his own.

  “Luke couldn’t have known all that.” He handed the phone back to her. “Those reports must have come out after he picked the feed. He wouldn’t have risked the horses’ health.”

  “Maybe not,” she said, pocketing her phone, “but you should do your own research and ask questions. Don’t rely blindly on someone else’s choice. Luke didn’t know everything. Your father understood that well enough.”

  “What the hell do you mean by that?” How did she know anything about what his father thought? Now he was pissed. He’d been willing to concede her point about the feed, but he wouldn’t just stand there and listen to his family being bad-mouthed.

  She gave him a pained look. “You know I trained with Doc Wilson before buying out his practice. I overheard your father confiding in him that Luke had a good head for making money, but he made his decisions with too much focus on the financial bottom line. Doc Wilson and your father were concerned that might have a negative impact on the health of the animals. Your dad asked Doc Wilson to keep an eye on what Luke did. Until today, I never saw any reason to bring it up. But Queenie needs better feed and quick.”

  “I don’t believe you,” Jake said, reeling on the inside. His dad didn’t trust Luke’s judgment? That didn’t make sense. Not once had he seen Marshall Thorne disagree with Luke’s actions. Not one damn time. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Are you saying I’m a liar or suggesting that I don’t know about animals? Or both?” She glared at him, her hands going to her hips.

  He took a step closer to her, his temper raging. He wanted to tell her that she didn’t know a damn thing about anything to do with his family. He wanted to tell her to get the hell off his ranch. But with just inches between them, the memory of kissing her hit him hard enough to make him suck in a breath. His thoughts immediately went to everything that happened after that initial kiss, and he felt his face go red. From anger? Temptation? He didn’t know.

  Her eyes suddenly widened, and she turned away. Whatever she’d seen on his face was enough for her to start quickly packing away the few items she’d gotten from her bag to examine Queenie.