Page 80 of The Fire Line

Jesus Christ.

Jay stretched both arms over his head while Priya said something over the roof, exposing a narrow strip of skin above his waistband that Harris had no business noticing from this distance. Then Jay dropped his arms, turned toward the shed, and caught him looking.

His expression changed immediately. Some of the fatigue left his face, and the corner of his mouth lifted in a small smile that was unmistakably for Harris.

Harris wanted to go straight over to him.

He nearly did. Then the rest of the yard seemed to snap back into focus around Jay: Walt beside the barn talking to Noah, Eli unloading equipment, Priya only a few feet away, one of the lodge staff already crossing toward the SUV to help.

Anyone could look over and see him standing there.

Worse, they could see how he was looking at Navarro—like Harris had spent four days waiting for him to come back, like he knew exactly what was under those clothes now and was thinking about it in the middle of the goddamn yard.

His hand tightened around the wire as Jay started toward him.

Harris’s first instinct was still to meet him halfway. His second was the considerably more familiar urge to make sure nobody could tell that.

He forced his expression back under control, probably too hard, because Jay slowed after only a few steps. The smile faded from his face, replaced by the slightest crease between his brows.

Shit.

Harris had been trying not to give himself away and had managed to make Jay wonder whether he wanted him there at all.

Priya called Jay’s name from behind the SUV. He glanced back, then looked at Harris once more as if waiting for something Harris had no idea how to give him with half the ranch standing nearby.

Before Harris could figure it out, Jay turned toward the equipment cases.

Harris bent to gather the rest of the wire and kept his attention on the ground, annoyed with himself now for an entirely different reason.

Four days wanting Jay back, and within thirty seconds of getting him there, Harris had already made it complicated.

14

Freshly Debauched

Dinner was pot roast, potatoes, green beans, and a salad nobody except Elise appeared especially committed to. Willa and June had been comparing the relative size of their potatoes while the adults spent the better part of ten minutes discussing Priya’s recent dating mishaps.

Harris really should have anticipated where this conversation was going.

“What about you?” Della asked as she passed the potatoes toward Jay. “Do you have anybody waiting for you back in the Big Apple?”

Harris looked up before he could stop himself.

Jay, sitting across the table between Priya and Eli, finished chewing. “Not currently.”

Elise gave him a conspiratorial smile. “Currently?”

Jay sighed. “I walked directly into that, didn’t I?”

“Completely.”

“There was someone. We broke up a while ago.”

“Was it serious?” Della asked.

“Pretty serious. We were together five years.”

“What was her name?”