Chapter 21
WYATT
Pressing my foot down on the gas, I push the ATV to its limits as I speed through the fields.
I’ve had an alert for movement in one of our pastures that edges the Harts’ land.
It’s nothing new to us, but I’m the right kind of pissed off today after yet another sleepless night that if I catch some tourists causing damage to our property, there will be hell to pay.
I barely got four hours’ sleep. The scent of Maddie somehow seeped its way into my mattress, and despite changing the sheets, it was a teasing reminder of her.
It didn’t help that she kept showing up in my dreams. When it was time to drag my ass out of bed this morning, my dick was rock-hard.
I jerked off three times in the shower and every time I came, she was there.
Right now, everything is wound too tight. Running on a lack of sleep, lingering irritation and something I’d rather not name. It fuels me as I speed through the fields to our least accessible pasture. Whoever is out here can figure out how to get themselves back to Hartlands.
When I reach the last gate, I climb from the ATV and spot movement in the distance. It’s too far away for me to make out who it is or what they’re doing, other than the fact that they’re on horseback.
The hair on the back of my neck stands on end, and I climb back into the ATV, flying through the gate and leaving it open behind me. We don’t have any cattle this far from the main ranch, and I’ll be heading back in this direction as soon as I’ve figured out what’s going on.
The wind whips past me as I drive through the pasture, the long grass swaying in the light breeze I create. As I get closer, it’s clear what’s happened. A handful of cows have broken through the fencing and decided that the grass is, in fact, greener on our side of the fence.
I sigh heavily—this job’s not going to be an easy one—and ease off the gas, narrowing my eyes against the beaming sun as I approach the rider.
They handle their horse with a practiced ease, rounding up the cows like they do this every day.
There’s a fluidity to their movements, the long brown hair beneath their Stetson moving gently with every shift of the horse between their thighs.
My body knows who it is before I see her face, and my cock twitches in the confines of my jeans.
She haunted me last night. Hell, she’s been on my mind since the second she walked out of my house without so much as a backward glance.
We might have only had sex once, but my mind and body have committed the curve of her back and the dip in her waist to memory.
It’s not supposed to be like this. I should have forgotten everything about her the second she left.
Maddie glances in my direction as I bring the ATV to a stop, her body tensing. Did she think about me last night too? Or was I the only one being tortured?
I kill the engine, and the gentle click as it ticks over mingles with the sound of the hooves pounding the ground, the cows following her horse’s lead.
I’m captivated by her, watching as she works. Who would have thought that Maddie Hart knew how to handle a horse? Or that she’d be a pro at wrangling some cattle. I’ve known her for years and yet I didn’t expect that from her. She’d put some of our better ranch hands to shame.
A calf wanders away from her and I’m about to call out, but she steers her horse into a sharp right turn, one eye on the herd as she circles around the wayward calf. It lows before following Maddie’s silent direction and running back to join the others.
Within minutes, Maddie has the herd on the other side of the fence.
I jump from the ATV, rounding it and pulling out the piece of paneling from the bed that I grabbed on my way out here.
Too often the fencing needs a temporary hold, so it was almost second nature to pick it up.
I carry the sheet of metal to the gap in the fence, dropping it to the floor as I inspect the damage.
Maybe if I just focus on fixing this, we can avoid everything else.
A shadow falls over me, and I tip my head back, looking up at Maddie from where she’s sitting on the back of her horse. Her face is hidden in shadow by her brown suede cowboy hat, and for a moment, I consider asking her to remove it, just so I don’t feel at such a disadvantage.
“Let me know how much it is to get it repaired,” she says. Her tone is polite, as if she’s asking for the time, and giving away nothing.
Has she already scrubbed yesterday from her memory? I wish I could get a read on what she’s thinking; instead, I’m left facing the cool indifference exuding from her.
I set my hands on my hips and tip my Stetson to sit on the back of my head. “Don’t worry about it.”
If she wants to play pretend, then that’s fine by me. We can act like nothing ever happened. Keep things professional. I refuse to be the only one still hung up on what we did.
She doesn’t bother to hide the surprise from her voice when she says, “Are you feeling okay?”
I crack my neck. “Yeah. Never been better.”
Liar.
I picture her brow furrowed as she maneuvers the horse.
It snorts in protest and Maddie pats her crest before removing her hand and setting it on the horn of her saddle.
She tilts her head and asks, “Are you sure? Normally you’d have an itemized bill ready for me before I’d have a chance to even offer to cover the cost.”
The corner of my mouth kicks up as I move to lean on the fencing. I reach out, running my hand down her horse’s muzzle. The reminder of how we used to be relaxes me. “It’s a little different when the animals do the damage, darlin’.”
“Right, you just have a problem with people,” Maddie snarks, huffing out a breath.
Shaking my head, I chuckle. “I do when they’re being reckless.”
We stare at each other. The change in position gives me a peek under the rim of her hat, but I still can’t quite get a read on her. Tension swirls in the air between us. She’s all I can focus on. Hell, a grizzly could come for me, and I’d be none the wiser.
I don’t know about Maddie, but as I stare at her face, I’m remembering the very reckless thing we did and how it’s been all I’ve been able to think about. Flashes of her have been coming to me at the worst possible moments, reminding me of how she looked on my bed as she came undone.
“Either way, I would like to pay,” Maddie replies softly, breaking the tension.
I lift a shoulder, clearing my throat as I step back and look at the rotten fencing. It’s easier than watching her. “It’s fine. It needed to be done.” I pause, looking around at the vast landscape surrounding us before I ask, “Why are you out here anyway?”
No sooner are the words out than I regret them. It’s none of my business why she’s out here and even if it was, she’s the last person I should be making small talk with. I should let her get back to her day and get on with mine.
Maddie shifts in her saddle, her focus moving to the cows that are back to grazing on their own land. “I needed to clear my head.” She taps the radio attached to her belt. “And I was out here when the call came in.”
I want to ask her why she needed to clear her head, but that’s crossing a line I’m sure neither of us wants. Besides, what would I do with that information? We were a one-time thing.
So why the hell can’t I stop thinking about her?
That’s a question I don’t have the answer to. One I’m not sure I ever will.
We fall quiet as I stroke the muzzle of her horse again, more for something to do than anything.
“I’ll let you get on with fixing this,” Maddie says, readjusting her hat and giving me my first proper glimpse of her face. She looks tired but her usual determined self.
Taking a step back, I nod, watching as she moves her horse around and kicks her heels into her side. They ride off at speed, Maddie’s hair blowing in the breeze beneath her Stetson. I watch her go for longer than I should, something heavy sitting on my chest.
She looks like she belongs out here. Like this land fits her just as much as it does me. But that can’t be right.
Have I read Maddie Hart all wrong?
Fuck. I don’t know.