At six-twenty the next morning, I was at the barn, leaning against the side of it and waiting for Rebecca instead of helping myself inside like I’d done yesterday.

She’d said everything she needed to by telling me the horse, Stormy, belonged to her husband, and my first impression of meeting her had been correct. She might have allowed me to be here, but my presence wasn’t wanted. So, I was determined not to overstep bounds and instead, learn everything she could possibly tell me.

And who the hell knew? Maybe someday I’d be picked for a role where living on a ranch would be useful.

I’d gone back to the guesthouse last night, not exactly wanting to leave her alone, but knowing she needed it by the way she intentionally kept space between us. Expecting to toss and turn, like I had for months, I fell asleep almost as soon as I’d stripped off my clothes and fallen into bed. I hadn’t even had the energy to pull up my laptop and start streaming a television show, the typical way I drifted off to sleep.

And for the first time in months, I didn’t wake to the memory of Camilla.

I woke up to the scent of fresh air, the sky still dark, and five o’clock showing bright on the small alarm clock on the nightstand. I was up a half hour before I’d set the alarm for, and felt more rested than I had in who knew how long.

I’d been exhausted for years, fueled by dreams and accomplishments and the thrill of the next movie, but even before I caught Camilla cheating on me, I’d been considering slowing down some, perhaps looking into some producer roles instead of putting all my eggs in my acting basket, regardless of how lucrative it was. I’d even talked to Max about my options more than once.

He hadn’t mentioned any of this when he brought up the idea of me heading to Kansas, but I knew it’d been on his mind. He needed me back with a clear head on what I wanted to do moving forward.

I owed him the respect to take that time and consider it.

I was wide awake and highly caffeinated and cleaned up by six fifteen when I headed out of the guesthouse. Three smaller barns were sprinkled around the land I could see, one of them definitely the chicken coop based on the sounds echoing from that direction. There were lean-to’s where several tan and white goats moved slowly, hooves on a circular feeder that enclosed a large pile of hay.

For a moment, I’d considered searching for Rebecca and the goats, but I held back, choosing to give her that space she wanted. So I was at the barn, waiting, one foot propped up on the side, arms crossed, in casual jeans and a black short sleeve shirt and the ball cap I’d worn as my disguise pulled down low over my eyes to block out the bright rising sun, well before six-thirty.

The sound of footsteps kicking up gravel on the walkway grabbed my attention and I turned toward the noise as she came around the corner.

“Good morning,” she said, jumping as she noticed me.

She was dressed much like me in short sleeves and denim jeans along with a different pair of cowboy boots from yesterday. From the jeans to her boots, everything she wore was worn and faded, the boots scuffed, the leather bent and wrinkled.

And damn, she wore it all well, including the gray cowboy hat, rimmed around the edges, her dark black hair pulled back into a ponytail at the back. It contrasted starkly with her pale pink shirt.

For the first time, I put a word to her.

Fucking gorgeous. Which were two words, but the descriptive curse necessary.

Shit. I did not need to be attracted to this woman. Not only was it pointless, it would serve as nothing other than a distraction from why I was there.

“Good morning,” I grumbled out and tugged down on the bill of my hat. She didn’t need to either see my cringe at my gruff tone, or the look on my face that would scream desire.

I pushed off the wall and shoved my hands to my hips. Last night she needed the lack of eye contact, today I did. “Ready to put me to work?”

She hesitated for a moment, only her legs and boots in my vision, but I still caught the hitch in her breath. “Let’s go, Hollywood,” she finally said. My head snapped up and crap…I really didn’t need to see her grin. It was the first time she’d smiled at me and it was dangerous. “Show me what you got.”

She walked around me, intent on her destination, with the confidence of a woman who was ready to put me in my place and it took me a minute to catch my breath.

For that moment when she smiled, it hadn’t just made her more beautiful, it had reached her eyes.

And that felt like the greatest award I’d ever won, better than any Golden Globe.

I followed her into the barn and found her in a room that held dozens of saddles and other foreign looking equipment, my eyes catching on the way the denim snugged her ass before I could block it out of my mind.

“You do know I’m from outside Buffalo, New York and not Hollywood, right?” I rested my shoulder against the doorframe, watching as she yanked down equipment and set it on a bench.

She looked at me and grinned. Again. “You are?”

The surprise in her voice was honest and I shook my head, pushing off the wall and walking to her. She’d need help with all that crap she was plunking down. “Not very often someone who makes it in Hollywood is actually from there.”

“Huh.” Her mouth pulled down and she shrugged. “Well, whatever. The nickname suits you since you live and work there now.”

I let it go. She wanted to give me a nickname, I’d let her.

“What are we doing in here?”

She turned to me then and that grin turned into a full-blown smile, almost knocking me back a step with the beauty in it. “We’re going to ride some horses. I need to check on the cows that are expecting, probably move the heifers to a different pasture, and I need to check on hay fields today. We haven’t had rain lately—”

Woah. I lifted my hand. “You realize I understood about five of those words, correct?”

Her jaw fell open and her eyes widened. Then, the sweetest blush hit her cheeks. She grabbed a saddle from the bench and practically shoved it into my chest. “This is yours. And by the end of the day, you’ll understand it all, I’m certain of it.”

She grabbed her own saddle, a handful of what I assumed were reins and she walked out of the room, raising her voice as she kept talking.

“I’m going to put you on Blue. He’s about ten years old and although he’s one of the largest horses, he’s also one of the most gentle. He’ll be good to start on.”

She dumped her saddle on another bench, and I kept walking, waiting until she unlocked a sliding door and pushed it open.

I was suddenly face to face with a gray and white horse and blue eyes so light they were almost clear.

“Holy crap. He’s enormous.”

“Seventeen hands, like I said, one of our largest, but you’re a tall guy and can handle him.”

I chose to trust her. Her voice was all business and confidence. I was scared shitless but trying to hide it.

“Okay then.” I turned and smirked at her. “Teach me everything you know.”

For a moment, that easiness in her expression faltered, but she pushed through it.

Twenty minutes later, we were on our horses, and she was guiding me out of the penned area.

And there I was, learning how to be a cattle rancher.