Chapter Nine: Under His Skin
By noon, the entire ranch felt different.
Tighter.
Like everyone was waiting for something.
Workers moved quickly between barns while trucks rolled across the muddy fields carrying fencing supplies and equipment. Conversations stayed low and serious. Even the horses seemed restless after the storm.
And Nolan?
Nolan had disappeared completely.
Kylie hated how much she noticed.
She sat near the massive kitchen windows pretending to scroll through her phone while absolutely not thinking about the way he’d looked at her earlier.
Which was impossible.
Because every single interaction with him somehow replayed in high definition inside her brain.
You remember that?
God.
The roughness in his voice alone should’ve been illegal.
Maria walked through the ki
