Boone observed her from the barn, wondering who this woman really was. This morning’s siren had morphed into something else altogether. Seeing her so unguarded, so much like a fresh-faced girl, did things to his insides, things he didn’t want to think about.
But he couldn’t help smiling as the pup scrambled across her chest and began rooting that wet nose at her neck. Maddie rolled on the ground, giggling like a ten-year-old girl. Then she scooped up the pup and hugged him hard.
Lucky pup.
Boone knew it was foolish even while he was walking toward her, but he just had to figure this woman out. Then he could write her off and forget her.
Maddie felt the shadow cross her body before she looked up, but somehow she’d already known it was Boone. Something about him seemed to tickle her antennae every time he was anywhere nearby.
She craned her head up. He looked ten feet tall. But he wasn’t frowning, so that was a nice change.
“Hi.”
“Hi,” he answered. “Devil bothering you?”
“Is that his name?”
Boone shrugged, then crouched at her side. The pup abandoned her in a heartbeat, rooting at Boone’s hand. “Seems to fit his sense of mischief.”
She had to agree. “It really does.” She couldn’t take her eyes away from those strong fingers, the wide palms. Envying the puppy who received the stroking. Remembering how those hands had felt in her all-too-brief encounter with Boone Gallagher’s potent physical charms.
Maybe we could just have a little fling while I’m here.
Maddie shook her head roughly. Good grief, Maddie. You’re insane. Besides, she wasn’t the fling type.
“Why are you here, Maddie?”
Sigh. Back to that. “You know why.”
“How can you just leave your life and come down here for a month?”
Maddie wasn’t ready to discuss her failures with Robert, so she turned the tables. “How could you leave for so long?”
He stiffened. Probably didn’t like being on the receiving end. But she noticed that his hands stayed gentle on the puppy falling asleep against that broad chest.
Then he met her gaze, shadows in his eyes. “Long story. Nothing you’d want to hear.”
“Maybe I would.”
“And maybe I don’t want to talk about it.” His tone made it clear she was trespassing.
But something in Maddie wanted to dig past his secrets. Find out who this man was. “Where were you?”
Boone huffed out a breath. “Don’t give up easy, do you?” He shook his head, then stared out in the distance. “Serving my country at first, then…”
“I’m sorry.”
He stared at her. “Why?”
“Because…” She gestured around her. “You had to leave this.” Her gaze returned to his. “And because I think it hurt your heart.”
Boone wasn’t sure what unsettled him most. That she saw too close to a weary soul, or that she thought the ranch was a place to cherish. But he did know he didn’t like how she saw too much.
“Wouldn’t think this place would look like much to a woman like you.”
“It has its own beauty. A little light on the amenities, if you need bright lights and noise.”
“And you do, don’t you?” He watched her closely.
“Why do you think you know anything about me, Boone? And who are you to tell me what I like and don’t like?” Her chin jutted out and those gray eyes sparked.
Damn, he wanted to kiss away that stubborn line of her lips. But he was already sure it wouldn’t be enough to cure this growing fascination.
“Let’s just say I know only certain women can handle an isolated place like this, and you aren’t one of them. You don’t belong here, Maddie Collins. You’d never stick.”
She crossed her arms over her chest. “Good thing I’ve sworn off men like you for good. I don’t have to care what you think.”
“What do you mean, men like me?”
“Doesn’t feel too good, does it?” She cocked one eyebrow.
Boone couldn’t decide whether to laugh or argue. Sass and a sharp mind, a dangerous combination. And altogether too intriguing.
“Boone, come here—quick,” Sonny called out. “We’ve got a break in the fence line and cows out on the road.”
He handed the puppy back to Maddie and rose quickly. “Anybody ever say you got a mouth on you, Maddie Rose?”
Her gray eyes crackled with energy. “Why, thank you.” Her smile went wide and way too inviting.
Boone shook his head, but when he walked away, he was grinning.
Maddie crossed the front porch after her evening walk. Dinner—or supper, as they called it around here—had been strained, the silences outweighing the conversation. Vondell asked questions about Boone’s assessment of the ranch, about Maddie’s life, her gambit to have each of them speak to the other failing miserably. Boone had reverted to the man of few words, listening when Maddie spoke, responding to Vondell, but initiating no conversation himself.