Page 53 of The Banker and the Blue Collar Man

His hard breathing gusted over my back while I panted, desperate to stay as silent as I could so nobody would come running to inquire why the bunkhouse had been shaking on its foundation.

The idea of that made me smile, and in the darkness, I found one of his hands and brought it to my mouth and kissed it. I tasted salt and effort and heat, and I took a deep breath that turned into a sigh.

When, eventually, his cock slipped out of me, he tugged off my boots and the rest of my clothes. Pulled off his own until we were naked in the bed together, then spooned me again. He drew a sheet up to cover us both and kissed the back of my neck.

“Sorry,” he said. “Ripped your briefs.” After a pause and another sweet, soft kiss, he asked, “You good?”

“Yeah.” I drew in a satisfying breath. “Yeah.”

We lay like that, Jake’s arms around my middle, his knees tucked into the curve of my knees. I sensed him fully awake behind me, looking at the moving shadows high on the wall. Watchful. Alert.

And I realized the shadows were actually the lights from the bonfire coming through the uncurtained windows. Flickers of movement reflecting the reality outside.

This, inside the bunkhouse, was our world. Everything else could vanish, and I wouldn’t care. Well, except for Buddy and Snowball. Jake would miss them if they weren’t around, so they should stay.

Chapter 17

Dalton

Jake had gotten up before dawn. He’d answered a knock at the door, washed briefly at the sink in the little kitchen, and pulled on yesterday’s clothes. He must have thought I was sleeping, for out he went with only a soft kiss to my forehead.

I’d lain in his bed, watching the whole thing. Or at least portions of it, as he tiptoed around getting ready for the day. But where had he gone so early?

By the time I made my way to the dining hall, the sun was warm and bright, and it was already a beautiful day. Such a nice change from the rainy days we’d had. The sky was blue, the fluttering leaves on the cottonwood trees glossy. I heard birdsong and, not too far away, the low rush of Snow Creek, still receding from its rain-clogged heights.

I kept my eye out for Jake as I ate breakfast with Lucas, thoughwithwas an exaggeration, since I was mostly looking at his back while he chatted with Jesse. When I was just about done, I spotted Dillon and Cameron and went to intercept them.

“How you guys doing?” I asked as nonchalantly as I could. “Everything all right in bunkhouse number four?”

I was wearing yesterday’s everything, including my ripped boxer briefs, held together with a safety pin I’d found in Jake’sbathroom. So it was obvious that I’d not been home the night before.

“Sure, Mr. Dalton,” Dillon said with a smile I could only describe as sly. “We’re not telling anybody where you are nights.”

“But if you needed something,” I said, not sure why I was clinging to the idea that I was somehow responsible for them. There was a coordinator for the LGBT kids, Beau Rawlings, and he was the one making lists and giving those kids chores to do. Duties that would make adults out of them and set them up for better opportunities in their lives. “In an emergency, you’d know where I am, right?”

“Mr. Dalton,” Cameron said in his matter-of-fact way, “everybody on this ranch knows where you were last night. That’s why we didn’t tell them. No need to.” Snickering together, they went on out of the dining hall, and I bused my tray.

I’d not been setting a very good example with my trysts with Jake. But I wasn’t going to stop, because there was nothing to be ashamed of. I had feelings for Jake. Complicated, passionate feelings that had an end date. Didn’t they?

Friday would be my last day at the ranch. My PTO would be up, and I would have to head home. Except I wanted to stay because this place was beautiful and relaxing and the work was meaningful.

And mostly because of Jake. The way he made me feel. The way he looked at me. Touched me. I felt good when I was around him, impatient to see him when I was not. That hadn’t happened to me in a long while. I couldn’t even remember the last time.

But the workday had started, and Jake was out in the foothills or wherever, doing what, I really didn’t know. So I pulled some more files from the office in the staff building, grabbed a charger for the laptop I’d forgotten to plug in the night before, and headed for the barn.

As I reached the door to go out, Lucas was at my side. “Hey,” he said. “Just wanted you to know you guys haven’t been as subtle as you probably thought you were. Neither one of you.”

“This all was my idea,” I said quickly, a hot panic seizing me. “Don’t take it out on Jake. Don’t fire him or anything.”

“FireJake?” His eyebrows rose to his hairline, just about, as he looked at me like I was some kind of idiot. “Jake is Jesse’s left arm. He knows stuff. He gets stuff done. Sure, some of the other hands might have more education and, dare I say it, ambition, but Jake? This place couldn’t run without him.”

I wasn’t really surprised to hear this praise, but it was nice to have it confirmed. Jake deserved it. He worked so hard, was so devoted to the ranch.

“But here’s the thing.” Lucas circled his fingers around my arm to draw me closer, like he was about to whisper a secret. Which wasn’t like him. Bold and loud, that’s how he communicated. With me, with everyone.

“What?” I didn’t pull away, because if Lucas had something to tell me, I was going to stay and listen.

“Inside, he’s honey and butter mixed together,” Lucas said. “He’s the sweetest guy. Also one of the toughest, but if you break his heart?—”