Page 35 of Forbidden Rancher's Return
"The true one," I say.
"Which is."
"That you came back. That I let you stay. That it's nobody's business what happens on this land."
Rowan holds my gaze. "That won't satisfy them."
"It doesn't have to satisfy them. It just has to be true."
The lantern flickers between us.
"I want to go to town tomorrow," he says.
"Why."
"Because Halford is building something. And the best way to stop a man like that is to give him nothing left to speculate about."
"You want to be seen together."
"I want to draw a line." He turns from the window. His eyes are dark. "Right in the middle of town where everyone can see it."
The skin on my wrists is warm. Not fear. The feeling I get when a storm comes, and I decide to stand on the porch instead of going inside.
"That will make things worse before they get better."
"Yes."
"Beck will lose his mind."
"Probably."
"Halford will escalate."
"Let him."
I study his face. The set of his jaw. The lack of doubt. He has already decided. He's just giving me the choice of whether I stand beside him or not.
I already know my answer.
"All right," I say.
Relief moves through his face. Like he was prepared to do it alone but is glad he doesn't have to.
He crosses back to the table. Stops close enough that the heat of him cuts through the cool kitchen air.
His hand lifts and his thumb trace the line of my jaw, and my breath catches the way it always does when he touches me like I'm something worth being careful with.
"Calla."
"Yes."
"About the shed."
"I know."
His hand stays on my jaw. His eyes hold mine.
"That's not how it should have been."
