Robin had counted to twenty with her back against the solid wood door of her house, and still the desire to head on over to the picnic raged through her.

“It’ll be fun,” she muttered to herself. She didn’t have any food in the house, and she didn’t really want to go back to town right now. A nap sounded good, but her stomach gurgled and growled a warning that if she didn’t feed it soon, there would be a riot.

Misfit hadn’t even moved from her bed, so Robin spun and burst out of the house, calling, “Shane!” as she spilled down the steps. Surely he wouldn’t still be nearby. The man had legs as long as years, and he’d already been moving fast across the lawn when she’d last seen him.

After tumbling around the corner of the shed, she saw him standing a hundred yards away, across the field. He looked at her, and that tawny cowboy hat cocked to the left a little. Her heart pitter-patted, and she wished it wouldn’t. She didn’t want to hurt the handsome cowboy, but she wasn’t interested in him either.

You just keep lyin’ to yourself, she thought as she closed the distance between them.

“You really don’t think Felicity will mind?” she asked, though the woman had invited her earlier.

“Nah, it’ll be fine,” Shane said with a smile. “C’mon.” He stepped slower this time, and Robin tried to hide the fact that her breathing was labored from walking so quickly across a field. Shane probably ran ten miles a day and then lifted whole heifers with those thick arms and shoulders he had.

“How’s your ma?” he asked, his voice low and his eyes trained on the ground.

“She’s doin’ real great,” Robin said, glad for an easy vein of conversation. “She’s getting ready to retire from the vet’s office.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah.” Robin thought it would be easy, casual, if she reached out and laced her fingers through Shane’s. But there was no way she could do that, even if she did crave the touch of another human being. How long had it been since she’d had physical contact with someone? She couldn’t even remember.

“It’s time. She’s got all her cats, and those four dogs, and now she’s got quite the herd of goats.” Robin laughed, hoping a measure of joy filtered into the sound.

Shane chuckled, the sound deep and delicious, like dark chocolate. “Goats. Wow.” He looked up and then shot a quick glance in her direction. “So you must’ve sold your place in Temple.”

“I did,” she said, moving onto shakier ground now but going with it. “I used the money to buy that tiny house, and the truck. It sure has been nice to be able to set up my own place when I’m out in Hill Country.”

“How many ranches you doin’ this summer?”

“Oh, let’s see.” She drew in a big breath and exhaled heavily. “Nine, and Levi’s stable.”

“Levi’s stable, is that right? You must spend days there.”

“He can do it all himself,” she said. “He just likes to see my pretty face.” Robin laughed, glad her melancholy mood has evaporated under this pristine summer sky. “Least that’s what he always says.”

Shane stared at her, and Robin grinned at him. “Oh, come on. He’s teasing. I know he’s married.” She slipped her hand through Shane’s arm, the craving for the human touch too strong to resist.

Or maybe she just wanted to touch him.

Either way, he stiffened for a step and then relaxed. He may have even pulled her closer. It was hard to tell with the uneven ground and the way their steps didn’t match up.

The sound of chatter and laugher lifted above the barn that stood between them and the picnic. Shane slowed to a stop and faced Robin. “Well, some of us aren’t teasing when we say we’re glad to see your pretty face.”

Shock lashed her insides, especially when Shane didn’t wait for her to say anything. He simply eased his arm away from her hand and left her standing in the shade of the barn.

So he still liked her. She could still hear him whisper, You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever met in that husky, Texan voice of his. He’d told her that after he’d asked her out three times and she’d refused him…three times.

She still hadn’t gone out with him, and he’d stopped asking after that. He’d avoided eye contact for the rest of her time at Grape Seed Ranch, and when she’d come back the next two years, he’d been sure to get himself assigned somewhere far from her. She’d hardly seen him at all last year.

But this year…. This year, he was overseeing her job here. Robin’s pulse thundered like a herd of wild horses. Why was he doing that? Had he volunteered? Or had he simply drawn the short stick?

“You comin’?” he called from somewhere along the side of the barn, and Robin kicked herself into gear.

She’d always enjoyed coming to Grape Seed Ranch, and the sight of the two dozen cowboys lounging at several picnic tables, with the American flag waving overhead, was a big reason why.

Someone said, “Hey, Robin’s here,” and several boys got up to greet her. Robin lost sight of Shane in all the hugging and handshaking that ensued, but his magnetism pulled pulled pulled at her until she’d loaded her plate and needed to find somewhere to sit.

And dang if her feet didn’t take her over to the table where Shane sat backward on the bench, flanked by both his brothers.

“Is this seat taken?” she asked, indicating the mostly empty opposite side of the table. A couple of paper plates sat there, obviously used but without owners.

“Chad was there,” Austin said, springing into action to collect the dirty plates. “But his phone rang. He probably won’t be back.”

“No?” Robin set her plate down and swung her leg over the bench. Gabe sat down at the other end of the table, facing Dylan. She smiled at both of them and tried not to notice that Shane hadn’t even twitched toward her.

“Nope,” Austin said. “That was his girlfriend’s ring, and he seemed pretty happy she’d called.”

“Oh, who’s he dating?” Robin asked.

Austin told her, but Robin didn’t know the woman. Conversation with Gabe and Dylan was easy, and she laughed, undid her hair and pulled it back again, and generally enjoyed herself.

Shane didn’t look at her once. Didn’t talk to her. Just observed the picnic as if she weren’t even there, as if he hadn’t just told her she was pretty, as if they hadn’t linked arms on the way over.

Dwayne stood about an hour later and made a short speech about how grateful he was that everyone had worked so hard this summer. Then he said, “Time to get back to work. Kurt’s got afternoon assignments.”

Cowboys picked up their trash and put it in the garbage cans. Robin joined them and then said to Austin, “Well, I have to go get some groceries so I don’t starve.”

“Good to see you, Miss Robin.” He grinned at her, elbowed Shane, and said, “Wasn’t it good to see Miss Robin?”

Shane glared at him, a heated, harsh look that probably could’ve melted steel. Then he switched his eyes to hers for less than a heartbeat. “Yeah, great to see you, Miss Robin,” he deadpanned before stepping away.

Robin’s lungs stung, like she’d inhaled popping candy and they were sparking inside. Unable to speak, she lifted her hand in a farewell gesture and turned away from the crowd of men. One step after the other got her emotions back in control and gave her the distance she needed from Shane.

Her phone buzzed in her front pocket and she took it out when her feet met the flat ground of the road. Her heart tripped over itself and she almost snagged her feet against the ground too when she saw Shane Royal blip down from the top of the screen.

I meant to set up a meeting with you. When’s good for you?

Tomorrow? she thumbed out and sent.

Seven o’clock too early?

Of course he’d be up at the crack of dawn. To be fair, dawn was more like five o’clock this late in June. Seven’s fine, she said, sending the message and sneaking a peek back toward the festivities.

Shane stood facing her, his head bent down as he looked at his phone. He lifted his head, and their eyes caught. Even across this distance, even though he’s just ignored her for a solid hour, something charged and wonderful flowed between them.

She lifted her hand in acknowledgement, and he did too. Then she ducked her head and got the heck out of there.

Seven o’clock the next morning came much too quickly. Robin had paced the twenty-four-foot length of her tiny house for an hour last night, causing quite a bit of distress for poor Misfit. Eventually she’d scooped the Yorkie into her arms and tried reasoning things out with the canine. But she hadn’t been able to come up with an explanation that didn’t sound selfish and demeaning.

You know, horseshoeing school is not cheap.

That one was a cop-out, even if it was true. She’d spent thousands at the best school in Oklahoma, living on-site and learning from the best farriers in the country. It came at a price, and though she’d been working in Hill Country for seven years now, she still had debt from her training she needed to repay.

My house is too small for a husband.

That excuse was pathetic. She hadn’t even been out on a single date with Shane, and she’d already graduated him to husband status? She shook her head as she left her house behind and started toward the barns. Yesterday he’d said he’d meet her in barn two, so she was headed there.

I’m just not looking to date.

That one was the most true. Robin craved her independence above most things. She’d never seen the need or use of a man in her life, as her mother had raised her alone. Her mother had taught her to cook, clean, sew, change a flat tire, repair the engine in the lawn mower when it went out, fix fences, and anything else that needed doing.

Robin had never known her father, and she’d never wanted to. She was just fine on her own, thank you very much, just like her mother.

And yet….

Yet something seethed beneath her skin too. Something that wanted to have someone to cuddle with on her couch tucked behind the stairs. Something that wanted someone to hold hands with, and hug when she felt sad, and look forward to seeing after a problematic horse had kicked her.

But nothing in her life was conducive to such a relationship. Robin had actually made sure of that. No roots. No permanent address. Nothing to tie her down or hold her back.

Not anymore.

“Hey.” Shane’s voice interrupted her thoughts and startling her into spinning toward him. “It’s just me.” He didn’t smile or move toward her, but kept the ten-foot distance between them.

“Sorry, I was…thinking about something.”

“Hopefully which horse you want while you’re here.” He stepped then, but not toward her. Toward the stables lining both sides of the barn. “Dwayne said you could have any of them you want.” He paused outside a stall labeled with the name Mandarin. “Except Mandarin. She’s mine.” He clicked his tongue at the bright orange bay horse, and she nudged his palm with her nose.

“She’s beautiful,” Robin said, taking a chance and joining Shane at his side. “How long have you had her?”

“Just over two years now,” he said. “Levi bought her from a ranch in northern California when they were closing their doors. I saw her at his stable and fell in love with her.”

Robin hadn’t heard Shane string together so many words in such a long time. She relaxed into the stable door. “How old is she?” The horse didn’t seem interested in anyone but Shane, and Robin felt a special kinship with the animal.

“Six or seven, we think.” He inhaled and added, “Okay, so who do you want?”

“Is Midnight available?”

Shane laughed, the sound ricocheting around the barn. “I shoulda known. You love that stupid horse.”

“He’s not stupid.”

“He’s literally the only horse on this ranch that could get lost if you took him too far from the homestead.” Shane chuckled again, his hand still in Mandarin’s black mane.

Robin shifted her shoulders and lifted her chin. “He would never allow me to get lost.”

“Oh, you think you’re the Midnight Whisperer, is that it?” He leaned his hip into the stall door, facing her, the sexiest sight Robin had seen on a ranch in a long, long time. Why wasn’t she interested in dating him again?

Her mind blanked, and she was pretty dang sure that if he asked her to dinner right now, she’d blurt, “How about lunch instead?”

He quieted, and the moment sobered between them. Robin wasn’t sure if he’d asked her a question she was meant to answer or not. All she knew was that she couldn’t look away from him.

As if they existed underwater, his hand lilted toward her, moving in slow motion as it tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. Fire blazed in the skin cells he’d touched, and it took everything Robin had not to sigh and lean further into his touch.

She blinked; Shane cleared his throat; he said, “I’ll get the horses saddled and meet you outside,” before he practically ran down to the tack room.

Robin, still stuck in some sort of freaky slow-motion capsule, turned toward him, wondering how much longer she could deny the flame of attraction between them.