Chapter 2
Logan
The dust from her tires hangs in the air long after the sound of her car fades.
I stand at the edge of the drive with my hands on my hips and watch the empty road like it might give her back if I stare hard enough.
Gravel presses through the soles of my boots.
Wind moves through the pasture grass in slow waves, and every shift of it sinks into my skin like I’m standing here naked.
I know she is gone.
My body does not seem to care.
My palm still remembers the shape of her back when I steadied her as she staggered on a board at the largest barn. I flex my fingers once, then curl them into a fist, fingernails biting into my palms as if that might knock the sensation loose.
It doesn’t work.
She smelled like a spring meadow and cold air and something warmer underneath, something that settled low in my chest and spread from there.
My lungs feel too full now, like I haven’t breathed right since she stepped into my space and looked up at me with those steady, assessing eyes. Deep green eyes that held my gaze.
Most people glance away. They fill silence with noise. They talk to impress.
She listened.
The image hits me again. Her palm flat against the barn wall, having me worried about splinters bedding in her skin, while she talked about heaters, quiet rooms, and animals that come in shaking. Her voice stayed level, but her eyes softened in a way that made my chest tighten.
I drag a hand down my face and blow out a slow breath.
“She’s something.” Asher’s voice carries from behind me. He knows me well.
I do not turn right away. I do not trust my face.
“Yeah,” I manage, my voice rougher than I expect. I clear my throat and try again. “She is.”
The words feel small. Inadequate. Like trying to hold a storm in my hands.
I finally look back at my brother. Asher leans against the car, one ankle crossed over the other. His jacket hangs open, not hiding the bulge behind his zipper.
He watches me the way he does when he knows I am already in deep and is just waiting for me to admit it.
I roll my shoulders, trying to shake off the restless energy crawling under my skin. It doesn’t leave. It settles instead, like a low hum that keeps time with my pulse.
“She didn’t flinch.” I close the distance between us and prop my hip on the hood of the car.
Asher’s brow lifts. “From what?”
“From the work. From the cost.” I pause and hold his gaze. “From us.”
The last word lands as I intended.
Asher’s mouth curves. “You noticed that too.”
“Yeah.” We’ve been looking for the right woman for a long time. We tried dating and going to sex clubs, both separately and together. Sharing a woman is fun, and we want to try it for more than casual play or a night of passion. Although… blood rushes to my cock. Yeah, I want the passion too.
I shove my hands into my jacket pockets, then pull them out again a second later. I need something to do with them. Something that is not remembering how small her hand looked in mine and how firm her grip felt.
I shift my butt until my trousers aren’t strangling my dick and try to focus on what we’re talking about. “She looked at the place like it was already hers.” I glance to the side, watching the road again. “Like she could see it finished.”
“Like she could see the animals there.” Asher bobs his head.
I nod once. My throat tightens. I picture her walking the fence line, those vibrant red curls catching in the wind, boots crunching over old gravel, eyes moving over every board and post like she was already counting what needed fixing.
My chest pulls tight with a feeling I do not name.
“She’s been talked down to,” I say, more to myself than to him. “You can see it in how she squares her shoulders before she speaks. Like she’s bracing for someone to laugh.”
Asher goes quiet at that, and his eyes narrow. Oh yeah, that gets his attention. Asher is even more protective than I am, and he hates bullying.
I remember the moment she looked at me, chin lifting just a little, like she was daring me to dismiss her. Heat rolls through me again, slow and deep, and a need to prove something to her without her even asking comes on strong.
Fuck me. That woman has me by the balls without even knowing it.
My body reacts before my brain catches up. My pulse kicks. My skin tightens across my shoulders. I breathe in through my nose like I can pull her back with it.
I scrub a hand over the back of my neck.
“She’s older than the women we usually—” Asher starts.
“I. Don’t. Care.” I cut in, sharper than I mean to.
Asher’s lips twitch. “Good to know. Doesn’t change anything for me, either.”
I glance at him, then back at the drive. Relief moves through me, loosening something I did not realize was tight.
I toy with my keys, trying to ground myself. The world feels tilted, like I will tip straight into something I cannot pull back from if I take one step.
Her laugh floats through my head, soft and surprised when I told her the old barn roof had survived worse storms than we had. The sound had settled right behind my ribs.
And I don’t care if we tumble heads over heels into something dangerous.
I have known a lot of women. Dated. Shared. Walked away from.
None of them have left my body feeling like this. I’m alert like every nerve is tuned to a frequency only she hits.
I blow out another breath and look at Asher. “She’s buying this place.”
He nods once. “That’s my guess.”
I shove my hands back into my pockets and turn toward the house.
“She has no idea,” I mutter.
Asher follows me inside. “About what?”
I turn back to him. “That she’s ours.”
He blinks slowly before a megawatt smile takes over his face. “That she is.”