Austin stepped into the equipment shed and heard Shay talking, her back to him. His first inclination was to step right back out and let her finish her phone call in private. After all, he’d seen the stiffness in those shoulders before, and nothing good could come of it.
He could also scent her anger on the air, and it wasn’t a smell he liked on her. No, he much preferred the fruity florals she washed into her hair and sprayed onto her collarbone. Or the grease-scented shape of her hands as they stroked his beard.
But the words, “…of course I still want the ranch,” made every muscle, tendon, and bone in his body seize.
Of course she still wanted the ranch. And he was a fool if he ever thought she’d want him instead of the land and house where she’d grown up.
His fury came instantly and
