With Sara’s words ringing in my ears, I waved at Paul as he drove off in a cloud of dust after he’d dropped me in front of the big house. I grabbed my backpack and duffel bag and made my way to the bunkhouse. I was the first to arrive, so I put away my stuff and decided to take an afternoon stroll to work off the huge meal I’d eaten.
In deference to the heat, I wore cutoff jeans and a sleeveless T-shirt bleached almost white. As I rounded the corner of the horse barn, I stopped, cold. There before me was Bear, shirtless and sweaty, pounding a nail with a hammer as he repaired a portion of the fence that housed the pigs. I had to take a deep breath and close my eyes for a minute so I wouldn’t jump the man.
Fuck, he glistened in the afternoon sun, rock hard muscles and tanned skin bare and
