“I’m so sorry about your loss.” We still sat with our backs leaning against the barn, looking out into the distance.

“I’m healing. It’s hasn’t been easy. I guess losing myself in the cheating cases at work helped. I think I needed that more than I would admit, because believing in true love again was impossible and the cheaters proved it.”

“Do you believe in it now?” Eric asked.

“I don’t know. I want to, but I’m not sure I can just yet.”

“Love unscathed is not love. Love is pain and suffering, because one day, one of you will lose the other, and that is the day you wish you were both taken from this world. And all you can do is hope that you don’t go before a ripe old age, and within hours of each other.”

“I’m not sure I can believe in that kind of passion again.”

“It’s not something that can be rushed, Em. But I think you should definitely let your heart open up and give it a chance. Believe me, you definitely have the passion.” He grinned, and I felt my body warm with lust.

“Have you been in love?” I asked.

“I don’t think so.” Eric shook his head. “It’s been hard to find time for it, and no one has ever caught my attention for long enough to give it a go. Not until you, Em.”

I gasped.

“If you haven’t noticed yet, I’m quite fond of you.”

“You’re just saying that because you want to get in my panties again.”

“I have no doubt I will, Em. But I wouldn’t say it if I didn’t mean it.”

My heart went off its regular rhythm. “Oh, is that the house you used to live in?” I pointed, changing the subject.

“Yes.”

“It’s cute.”

“It’s old.”

“May I see it?”

“Clever girl. We’ll get back to this subject soon. I promise.” He helped me up. I straightened my clothes, making a note to change my soaked panties as soon as we got back to the ranch.

We walked through the field toward Eric’s old family home, where he reached under a broken pot and removed a key. Inside, lifted by the breeze, dust swirled in the air. The smell of mold was overpowering as I strolled past the threshold, leaving a trail of my steps behind me. Pieces of old furniture remained, some covered with white linens, other not. Even a few photographs that had never been taken down from the fireplace mantle remained. I picked one up–it looked like Eric as a young boy with two friends. I wiped the glass with the corner of my shirt and asked, “This is you?”

“Yes,” he said. The side of Eric’s neck tensed as if he didn’t want me touching the photo. I brought it closer to my face and pointed to the boy in the middle. “I recognize him.”

“You should. It’s Derek Fields. We were in the scouts together. This was one of the good years.”

“He looks familiar as well.” I moved my fingers to the other boy.

“That’s Reeve. It’s the uniform, Emma. We all look the same because of the uniforms.”

I squinted my eyes looking closer, trying to place the face, but nothing would click. Eric removed the photograph from my hands and lowered it back to the mantle, face down. He pulled me into his full body, squeezing his arms around me.

“You were playing the role of my girlfriend quite well back there.”

I looked up into his sky-blue eyes waiting for him to continue.

“And I was thinking whether that’s something you’d think about permanently.”

“Being your girlfriend?”

“Yes. I mean, we’ve been on a date, and sealed it with a kiss and a delicious eat-out session. As much as you’d like to deny it, I know you feel something for me, and I definitely want us to have a chance. There’s nothing really standing in our way.” With his arms around me and mine around him, we swayed from side to side. I felt him grow hard against my belly, and listening to him describe his ambush on me just minutes ago revived my craving for him.

“Nothing except that I’m working on your case.”

“You’re afraid of what your brothers would say of this?”

“I don’t fear my brothers, but I do take my job seriously, Eric. I want to find Huntz for you. I want your family to heal. Nothing would give me more pleasure than that.”

“I beg to differ.” The sly look on his face made me pause as I thought about the kinds of pleasure he could give me. Was it possible that it could be better than what he’d done to me back by the barn?

“So you’re basically saying that I can’t kiss you like this anymore?”

And with those words he lifted his hands to my face, cupping it, and lowered his mouth to mine, taking my breath away, stealing the smart words I’d wanted to say right out of me. He tilted my head for that perfect angle and I opened myself to him. My hands weaved up his back, feeling those hard muscles tense under my palms. Eric’s mouth hardened as he lowered his hands, wrapping them around me and pulling me as close as possible.

I heard myself moan into his mouth, so desperate for the kind of kiss I hadn’t had in years, and Eric slid his tongue deeper, devouring me, tasting me as if it was for the first and last time. I couldn’t imagine pulling away. And I didn’t want it to be the last time he kissed me. I wanted this to last forever because no one had ever kissed me with such passion and devotion. Not even David.

At the thought of him I pulled away, stepping back.

“What is it, Emma?”

I shook my head.

“It’s just that I haven’t let myself feel this way in a long time.”

“What do you feel, Emma?”

“I don’t know. I’m confused when you kiss me like that. Like I’m the only one in the world.”

“That’s because you are. I’m sorry if I’m moving too fast. I know this is complicated with me hiring you and all, but this, Emma” – he pointed between the two of us – “feels so right. I haven’t felt like this either – ever. We click. And I will do everything in my power to give us a fair chance.”

I understood exactly what he was saying. I wanted to give us a try as well, but I was afraid it would cloud my thinking, and when dealing with Huntz I needed my wits about me. I had to have a clear head on this case, and around Eric I found myself filled with lust and longing so deep that it was beginning to affect my decisions. Was there any way I could make this work? Concentrate on both the case and Eric? After all, my brothers always said that multitasking was one of my greatest skills.

“I’m just…”

“Scared?” he asked. “There’s nothing wrong with being afraid, Emma. Especially since in your line of work you don’t allow yourself to be. But you have nothing to fear with me.”

Eric took my hand and lifted it to his heart, pressing it there gently. I felt the beating of his heart and the warmth of his skin penetrate the fabric. “I will never hurt you. I promise.”

“Someone promised that once to me.”

“David?”

“And he died.”

“I’m sorry, Emma…”

“It’s all right. I guess I’m still healing. I couldn’t talk about it for a long time, you know. I locked myself up and lost myself in my work, and when I tried to move on, I couldn’t. None of the men I dated evoked that feeling I was looking for. But with you, the moment I saw you, I knew that you were different.”

“How?”

“I don’t know.”

“So what you’re saying is, you’ll give this Cowboy a try?”

I smiled. “I guess I will.”

He smacked his lips to mine and lifted me up in the air, twirling around. “Good, because I want to try all of you.”

“Not here,” I laughed as we spun.

“Let’s go home, then.” Eric set me down and I had one last look at the dusty house. “One sleepless night is enough.”

“Why sleepless?” I asked.

“Because knowing you were right in my bed last night, where I’d imagined caressing and kissing every curve of your body, was torture.”

A flash of heat slammed into me. Eric’s candid words were such a turn-on. The hormone meter inside my body spiked to the max.

“This doesn’t mean we’re jumping right in the sack, Cowboy.”

“We’ll see.” He grinned, pulling me by the hand back toward the car.

“Wait, aren’t you forgetting something?” I asked, stopping him mid-step. “What about the lunch your mom is making?”

“Crap! I guess me getting inside you will have to wait then.”

His words surprised me, and my mouth opened a fraction. There was something so arousing hearing him speak to me this way, knowing so well how much I affected him and what he wanted to do to me. When it was just the two of us, Eric was like a completely different man. Not the shy guy I’d pictured him as, but a gorgeously built hunk who swept me off my feet each time he spoke and moved.

As Eric led me back toward the house, I wondered about this beautiful place.

“Why do you think Huntz wants your parents’ farm so badly?” I asked just before he opened the door.

“Can you keep a secret?”

My eyes flew wide open.

“Cowboy, I’m all about secrets.”

“All right. I have a feeling he thinks there could be crude oil underneath the farm.”

“That’s impossible. I checked the geological surveys.”

“Have you checked the ones for my ranch?”

“No. Are you saying there’s oil underneath your ranch?”

“Lots of it. I don’t know how the word had leaked to Huntz of our family’s wealth, but it had to. There’s no other reason he’d want it. Except he got the wrong property.”

“Some of that actually makes sense. He could have been after the oil originally, but now that there’s no way he’d get the property, there has to be more. We should tell your parents. ”

“We can’t.”

“Eric, secrets can destroy families. Trust me, I know. And it takes a hell of a lot to put the pieces back together. You should tell them.”

Eric shifted uncomfortably. If I was to bet, I’d say that something was off.

“I think they’ll have more peace if I find Huntz first and end his pursuit. Once that’s done, we’ll tell them. I’ll be able to withdraw the crude openly, and give my parents the retirement they deserve. I don’t want them working any longer.”

“It seems like it’s something they enjoy doing.”

“It is, but at least their financial worries would be eased.”

Eric was right, financial freedom could definitely reduce stress.

I wasn’t sure why I didn’t tell Eric about finding out that Huntz had visited Ogden, but my instinct told me it wasn’t the right time. Panic wouldn’t help me find the bastard, and neither would Eric running around asking questions and following me everywhere. I had to be subtle. The element of surprise was the only weapon I had at this time. Maybe my brothers were right. If Huntz would be coming back to this town, perhaps I should have brought reinforcements.