“You feel something for me.” That voice, pitched so low for her ears alone, was like a fingernail stroke down her spine. “It’s probably nothing good, but I am one hundred percent confident you aren’t indifferent.”

He’d dropped the gauntlet, and they both knew it.

The silence between them stretched. She’d tried acting once, when she’d first fled her father’s run-down desert shack for Los Angeles at seventeen. She hadn’t been any good at it then, either, but she’d never had as much motivation as she did right now. Taking a deep breath, she spun on her heel to look Gage in the eye.

“Sorry to disappoint you.” She flipped a few curls over her shoulder. “But I’m in Montana for work, not to rehash a long-dead past. So if we’re done here, I’ll see myself out.”

She sidled past him, but at the last moment, his palm landed lightly on her elbow.

“Wait.” His touch fell away, quickly breaking their connection.

Because he didn’t care to make contact with the woman who’d betrayed him? Or because he felt the same jolt of attraction she felt?

She stopped and turned back around to face him.

“You really plan to stay in town to chase this story?” His voice had lost some of its antagonistic edge.

“I’m not going anywhere until I have answers.” She would be in Mesa Falls for as long as she could afford it, anyway. Rooms at the main lodge weren’t cheap, but she didn’t think Gage would ban her from the ranch property altogether given how hard his PR team had worked to bring the place into the public eye. She didn’t think he’d risk the potential bad press.

He gave a decisive nod. “Then stay with me.”

She blinked, certain she’d misheard. “Excuse me?”

“If you are that indifferent to me, it should hardly be a problem to stay under the same roof while you research your piece,” he told her mildly, heading back to the couch to retrieve their drinks. He drained the rest of his bourbon and then returned with her water.

“So you can keep an eye on me while I’m here? Make sure I don’t find the answers I seek?” She clutched the glass, savoring its coolness against her palm while she struggled to keep her edge. She had no illusions he was opening his home to her out of the goodness of his heart. “I don’t think so.”

“Why waste your mental energy figuring out how to sneak into my home when you could have full access?” he asked, his tone deceptively reasonable.

“Why not just kick me out, the way you threatened to upstairs?” She didn’t trust the offer. Couldn’t trust him.