Chapter Nineteen
Sweet mercy! Had that happened?
Jenna’s pulse fluttered wildly. The memory felt unreal, like something she’d dreamed rather than lived.
Her skin still tingled in the places Alex had touched, as if her body hadn’t realized it was over. She could still feel his hot kisses, his scorching mouth on her pussy, his tongue pistoning into her vagina.
He certainly hadn't changed. He knew how to prime her engine and make her purr. Heat rushed into her cheeks. How mortifying that Nick had caught them in such a compromising position. She’d never been caught in anything so intimate, so vulnerable, except when her dad had caught her and Axel kissing that one time in the backyard. But this…was so much worse.
Her heart had been racing when she’d seen him standing there. How long had he been there watching? Had he seen everything? Had he heard her?
Had that been desire she’d seen flaring in his eyes before he’d gone into anger mode?
She chewed her lip, torn between hope and doubt. She barely knew him, yet something about him pulled at her. And just the thought of Nick’s mouth on her, made her gasp.
Was Nick yearning for her the way she was yearning for him? Had he wanted to kiss her, like she’d wanted to kiss him while she’d tended to his head wound?
It was a similar attraction to what she had with Axel. Not as bright, but similar. Axel was a wildfire she’d known for years; Nick was a slow-burn heat she didn’t understand yet.
Nick’s face had gone red too. Had it been rage? Jealousy? Or had he also been embarrassed? Was Axel right when he’d teased that she had a thing for Nick? Had it been teasing? Or was he seeing something?
As she rode the horse around the track, she kept glancing over their way.
The ladder was propped up against the house, and the men were now on the roof ripping off the shingles on the opposite side.
The scrape of their tools punctured through the humid air.
Heat waves shimmered off the roof. It was very hot up there.
She gazed at her watch. It was almost lunch time. She’d have to prepare them something to eat.
Her gaze kept drifting back to them. Two silhouettes against the sun. Their movements were purposeful and despite the noise from their work, she also heard something else. The men were silent.
No jovial laughter. No voices. Nothing.
A knot formed in her stomach. The silence between them was wrong. They were always talking, teasing, laughing.
Her chest tightened. The last thing she wanted was to come between them.
Her stomach flipped. How did she look either of them in the eye after what had happened?
The truth pulsed through her. She wanted Axel again, wanted Nick too, wanted the connection she’d glimpsed between them.
She swallowed hard. Whatever happened next would change everything between the three of them.
Whew. She was seriously getting hot.
* * * * *
Axel saw Jenna approaching the ranch house long before Nick clued in.
His breath hitched. She was a sexy lady. Had always been. At least to him.
She moved with that easy confidence he’d always loved, and sunlight was catching in her hair like a lure he couldn’t look away from.
But there was something different about her since he had last seen her before he’d gone to prison. A softness, a glow? He just couldn't put a finger on it, but he suspected something. Maybe even knew, but his mind just wasn’t wrapping around it quite yet.
As she neared, she caught him watching her and he swore her cheeks went bright red. The flush on her cheeks sent a bolt of heat straight through him. She wasn’t as unaffected as she pretended.
Involuntarily he licked his lips. He could still taste her. Woman. Pure woman.
“I'll make lunch. How do sausages on a bun, fries, and a salad sound?” she called up, acting as if nothing had happened between them. But her voice gave away the truth. She sounded husky.
Oh yeah, he’d gotten her revved up. She wanted more from him.
“Sounds good!” Axel called down.
“What about you, Nick?” she shouted.
At the sound of Jenna's voice being directed at him, he noted Nick’s whole body go rigid, like someone had yanked a wire tight inside him.
He had a funny, surprised look on his face that made Axel feel like teasing the crap out of him.
Nick also suddenly seemed clumsy as he dropped the tool he'd been using to pry up the shingles.
He scrambled for it and swore as it landed in the eaves.
Axel bit back a grin. Nick never fumbled unless he was rattled, and Jenna had clearly rattled him.
“Um, yeah sure. Sounds good,” Nick mumbled, averting her gaze.
Axel noticed a slight smile on Jenna’s lips. The tiny curve of her lips told him everything. She wasn’t angry, just flustered…and maybe a little entertained.
He was glad she wasn't pissed at him for quickly breaking the professional code he had promised to abide by.
“You guys be down in thirty minutes and lunch will be served,” she said firmly.
She gave Axel a curt nod. The nod was brisk, almost businesslike, but her eyes flicked over him with a heat she couldn’t hide. Then she slipped into the ranch house.
“Ha, you see, she's back to professional mode so quickly, you must be losing your touch, my man,” Nick said with a wink.
The familiar spark of mischief lit in Axel’s chest. Teasing was their language, their way of smoothing rough edges.
Nick picked up his tool and hoofed it back to the area he’d been working and returned to ripping up the next layer of shingles.
“I'll show you my touch tonight, and I bet I'll hear no complaints,” Axel replied in a low voice knowing one of the kitchen windows was just beneath them. The words came out threaded with a promise he knew Nick would hear beneath the humor.
“I look forward to it,” Nick replied.
Their gazes clashed and Axel’s gut twisted at the heat flaring in Nick’s bright blue eyes. The passion was once again flickering between them. It wasn’t just desire, but trust, history, and something deeper neither of them named.
“In the meantime...” Axel said as he suddenly placed his tool onto the platform and straightened. He began to roll his shirt up over his belly, showing off his flesh to Nick. He moved slowly on purpose, savoring the way Nick’s eyes tracked every inch of exposed skin.
“Come on, take it all off. I dare you,” Nick chuckled.
The dare lit him up. Nick knew exactly how to push his buttons. Axel could never pass up a dare, so a moment later he was twirling his T-shirt through the air, like a male stripper.
For a heartbeat, he felt weightless. No more prison walls, no rules, just sun, sweat, and the man who’d kept him sane. And then, somehow, his T-shirt left his fingers, and the shirt was sailing through the air. It landed somewhere below. Hopefully not in front of the kitchen window and Jenna.
“Oopsie,” Nick said with such a cute smile that Axel couldn't help but laugh. Nick quickly joined in.
The sound of Nick laughing loosened something tight in his chest. Nick wasn’t angry anymore, and that mattered more than he’d admit.
That was a good sign because something was shifting between the three of them.
Something fragile, dangerous, thrilling.
He just wasn’t sure yet where it would lead, but he knew he didn’t want it to stop.
* * * * *
Jenna’s lips curved into a smile as Axel’s laughter floated in through the open window.
The sound echoed through the kitchen, mingling with the rhythmic bubbling of sausages frying in the pan on the stove.
The sharp, savory scent carried her back to a time when life felt simple, safe, and full of people she loved.
Back to the cottage weekends spent with her family two hours north of Toronto.
She could almost see the flickering glow of the campfire under star-laden skies, could hear the cheerful crackle of burning wood as they roasted their wieners or sausages on long sticks.
Her parent’s and sibling’s laughter still lingered in her memory, as did the closeness she once shared with one of her sisters.
Where she and Ginny fought like cats and dogs, she and her second youngest sister, Megan, had a bond so fierce it had survived some rough patches without so much as a fight between them.
The thought of what had happened to Megan hit like a bruise pressed too hard.
Love and loss tangled together in a way that never healed.
With Megan behind bars, that connection felt like a phantom pain. It was sharp and unrelenting, and it stabbed straight into Jenna’s heart.
Determined not to dwell too long on Megan, Jenna turned the sausages in the pan and let the comfort of rituals ease her thoughts.
The sizzle of her hand-cut potatoes frying in olive oil filled the air, their aroma familiar and reassuring.
Her mother had always insisted on making fries this way. They were never frozen store-bought.
Jenna had followed suit, ignoring deep fryers and air fryers in favour of the tradition, manual process, which in itself was a small act of devotion to the past.
Her thoughts circled back to Megan and the lengths Jenna had gone in the hopes of helping her.
It was for people like Megan and Axel that Jenna had created Cowboys Online.
It was a support network designed to facilitate early release for incarcerated men and women, offering employment in secluded areas of Canada where ranch help was needed.
Jenna had poured countless hours into building the platform, believing with all her heart that if people like Axel and Megan knew that they could apply about halfway through their sentence, that they had a lifeline of hope, they would take it.
Jenna had written letters to Axel about it, saying there were no guarantees, and she would leave Cowboys Online if he was interested as that would remove conflict of interest.