Graham had no idea what he was doing. He only knew he couldn’t stand to be confined to his bedroom or his office. And in a house as large as the lodge, he shouldn’t have to. It was a rare bit of luck—or maybe God had truly answered his prayer—that he’d been able to get Laney alone without making a big deal of it or turning it into something awkward.

He hadn’t exactly been on top of the dating game lately, and he wasn’t even sure what movies he owned.

“What do you like?” he asked.

“I’m sorry?”

Just the sound of Laney’s voice sent goose bumps across his skin. Blast Bonnie, he thought, not for the first time. But he couldn’t really blame her, and he knew it. Maybe she’d just awakened the dormant feelings he had for Laney, made them come into the light, forced him to recognize them.

Problem was, he didn’t know what to do about them. Dating in Seattle hadn’t been this hard. He could meet someone for coffee or catch them on the coding floor. But here, going to town was a national event for him. He did it rarely except for church, and no one there had even remotely interested him.

Probably because someone has already caught your eye, he thought as he picked up the remote control and turned on the projector mounted in the ceiling. “Movies,” he clarified. “What kind of movies do you like? What do you want to watch?”

“Oh, I don’t care. You choose.”

He faced her, the beauty in her face stunning him for a moment though he’d seen her hundreds of times. Had she always been this pretty?

“I’ll probably just fall asleep,” he said with a smile.

She laughed. “Me too.”

“So maybe we don’t want to watch a movie.” The blue screen bloomed to life, casting eerie shadows on them in the dark theater room. He pressed another button on the remote and the lights brightened in slow degrees until the bulbs were at about half power.

Laney tucked her feet underneath her as she snuggled into one of the recliners. She looked up him, an edge in her eye he could only classify as flirtatious. He frowned. That couldn’t be it. maybe she didn’t feel well after eating all that salad. Or something.

“You okay?” she asked.

“Yeah.” He set the remote down and sat in the recliner next to hers. “Yeah.” He ran both hands down his face. “Just tired. It’s been a busy day.”

“Do you ever take time off?”

“Not usually,” he said. “I try to work as little as possible on the Sabbath. Sometimes things come up.”

“I always have ranch work on the Sabbath.”

“But you go to church every week.”

Her eyebrows flinched upward for only half a breath. “Yes. It’s important to me that Bailey go. Plus, I like…I like going to church.” She watched him, somehow taking more than he wanted to give her. “Do you like church?”

“Well enough. It makes my mother happy, and it forces me to slow down.” Graham couldn’t believe he’d revealed so much about himself. What he really wanted to tell her was that running this company was going to kill him.

He’d wanted to learn everything he could about Springside Energy, so he’d taken control of everything. The general manager, Dwight Rogers, pushed him on everything, and Graham was tired of fighting with the man.

Tired of looking at data. Tired of working in a stale office that smelled like last week’s pizza. He missed the vibrancy of creating new programs, of experimenting with exciting technology, of the younger crowd who worked on his floor and brought in their strange clothing trends, their thick-framed glasses, and their innovative ideas.

His job in Seattle had kept him young, and here, he felt old. He felt like his father.

Laney’s fingers landed on the back of his hand, branding him. A shock sparked between them and turned into slow heat the longer she kept her hand there.

Slowly, he lifted his eyes to hers. She had to feel the same thing he did. Didn’t she? No way this jolt, this fire between them, could be one-sided.

“I lost you,” she said. “I asked you how your brothers were doing.”

“Oh.” He shook his head. “They’re doing fine. Great. You’ll get to see them all in a few days.”

She looked at him with fondness in her gaze. “Remember when we all piled in that two-seater of your dad’s? Six people for two seat belts.” She chuckled, and Graham’s memories streamed through his mind.

“I know I kept getting kneed in the back.” He laughed too. “And that Sheriff Barnaby knew we were up to no good, even if he didn’t pull us over.”

“Great fishing that day, though.” Laney smiled, and it held so much happiness. Happiness from easier times, lazier days, a more charmed life. “I remember you caught a rainbow trout and acted like it was the white whale.”

Graham tipped his head back and laughed, a full belly laugh that sent endorphins and joy straight through his blood. “The white whale.” He shook his head as he finished chuckling. “I don’t remember you catching anything.”

“That’s because someone wouldn’t help me bait the hook.” She swatted at his hand, another touch that made him feel drunk with pleasure.

“And that’s because someone who’s seventeen years old should be able to bait their own hook.” He grinned at her, relieved this flirty conversation was so easy.

Laney lifted her chin a fraction of an inch. “Fishing never was my thing.”

“Obviously.” He watched her for a moment, wondering if he could flip his hand over and hold hers. “But ranching is. You were born for that. Remember how you used to tell me that?”

Turn your hand over, he coached himself. She was obviously holding hers in place against the back of his. And yet, he couldn’t make himself do it.

“I remember.” Her eyes glittered like emerald stars, and Graham employed all his bravery and slowly turned his hand over, his knuckles bumping against her fingertips. Still, she didn’t pull her hand away.

It seemed like ages had passed before he lined his fingers up with hers and laced their hands together. He met her eyes and found acceptance there, with an edge of heat that definitely testified that she wanted to hold his hand as much as he wanted to hold hers.

“All right, then,” he murmured, and she ducked her head to hide a smile curving her lips. He caught it though, and a thrill shot all the way down to his toes.

“Tell me about what you have planned for Christmas,” she said, and Graham groaned.

“Can’t we just sit here and hold hands and take a nap?” he asked.

“It’s almost nine o’clock.” She giggled. “If you’re tired, you should go to bed.”

He leaned back in the recliner, closed his eyes, and squeezed her hand. “Too early. Just a little nap….” He opened one eye and gave her a wicked grin. “You can tell me more memories from our teen years.”

“Oh, I can’t do that.”

He looked at her fully now. “Why not?”

She looked uncomfortable and lifted her shoulders in a shrug. “I don’t know. I just can’t.”

“Tell me about your ex, then.”

“Hard pass.”

So there was a history there. Of course there was. She’d married someone and had a kid with them.

“Why did you come to Coral Canyon?” she asked.

“My father died,” he said.

“Yeah, but he had a general manager. You didn’t have to stay.”

No, he didn’t. “I felt an sense of obligation,” he said, saying something he hadn’t told anyone before. “And I needed a change of scenery.”

“Oh? You didn’t like living in Seattle?”

“You knew I lived in Seattle?” He stayed reclined, but he turned his head toward her.

“It’s a small town,” she said. “When someone from one of the wealthiest families leaves, everyone knows where they are.”

Graham detected a small untruth in the statement, but he accepted it anyway. “Fair enough.”

“What did you do there, anyway?”

“Computer science,” he said. “I was the developmental team lead for new production.”

“Wow, sounds fancy. And made up.” She gave him a coy smile, and he shook his head as if in disbelief.

“That was the official title. We made productivity apps for robots. Lettucebot came out of my department.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“I worked to make everyday tasks easier for people in a wide variety of professions. Everything from fashion, to energy, to farming. Lettucebot can analyze hundreds of thousands of lettuce plants and inform farmers how to improve their productivity and crops while spending less money.” He tried to keep the pride from his voice, but he’d loved his job in Seattle.

“You sound like you enjoyed it.” Laney was nothing if not perceptive, and Graham should’ve known better. She’d always been able to pin down exactly what he thought and felt even when he hadn’t said things very explicitly.

“I did.”

“But you still needed a change?”

He didn’t know how much to say about his departure from Seattle—and why he’d done it—and how much to keep to himself. “My dad died just after Christmas.” He shrugged. “It was a good time to leave. Start fresh.”

She reached over with her free hand and brushed his hair off his forehead. The gesture felt wildly intimate and he stared at her, sure all of his feelings were plain to see on his face.

“You don’t look that fresh,” she said. “Do you even like running Springside Energy?”

His first inclination was to say that of course he liked running the family company. But the truth was, he’d found the whole thing tedious and overwhelming. “It’s not bad,” he hedged. “Just busier than I thought.”

She studied him and finally said, “I think you might be choosing that.”

He closed his eyes again. “I probably am.” But there was no probably about it. In fact, Graham had the distinct thought that he made everything harder than it had to be, including starting something with Laney.

Why couldn’t they hold hands and help each other on their farms and ranches? Why couldn’t he kiss her and still be her best friend?

“Hey, Laney?” he asked, deciding to do something instead of just think about it until his thoughts drove him mad.

“Yeah?”

“When the roads are clear, would you like to go to dinner with me?” He didn’t dare open his eyes to see her reaction.

Several long seconds passed before she said, “Yeah, I think that would be nice.”

Graham’s smile felt like the first genuine thing he’d done in a while, and he squeezed her hand, glad when she squeezed back.