He passed through and watched his speed as he veered left at the fork toward the bunkhouse. Had she kissed the cowboy yet? It was only ten-thirty. They were probably dancing, drinking.

Would she get drunk around the guy? Would the asshole try and fuck her if she was?

Yellow lights pierced the darkness. She’s home. Maybe she’d bailed on her date early.

Fuck, yes. He accelerated. Once at the bunkhouse he parked, grabbed his overnight bag, and jogged toward the door.

He’d known that guy wasn’t right for her. Brodie could tell just by his smirk that he was too superficial. He didn’t go deep. Rosie did, though.

You don’t need deep for a hookup.

Brodie threw open the door. “Rosie?”

Her head popped up from the couch, hair all tousled, eyes wide in surprise. One hand clamped her blouse shut where it gaped at her bra.

Adrenaline assaulted him. What the fuck?

She pushed a dude in a blue and white-checkered shirt off her. “Brodie.” She scrambled to her feet. “What’re you doing here? I thought you were gone for the weekend? I mean, it’s your house. Of course, you’re welcome here. I just...I thought you weren’t coming home until Monday.”

Her date lifted off the couch, tucked his shirt back into his jeans, and then reached out a hand. “Hey, man. Dusty.”

Brodie gave him a chin nod, his gaze slicing over to Rosie. Her cheeks were pink, and her mouth looked puffy from some other man’s kisses.

She tried to button her shirt, but she kept fumbling, so he cut around the couch and batted her hands away to finish the job. His fingers were too big, and he wound up skipping a hole and popping off a button. She gazed up at him, and the connection struck the center of his heart like a fist, the jolt reverberating throughout his body.

“I made it worse.” He shook his head, fighting a smile and abandoning the project. “I’ll leave you to it.” He grabbed his bag. “I’ll stay at the main house tonight. Which is good. I can have breakfast with Ruby. Maybe I’ll take her on an early hike. Have our breakfast on the ridge. She loves that. So, you go on and…” Shut up and get out of here.