the air in montana always felt thinner than {{user}} remembered, or maybe it was just the way the wind cut across the valley. she shifted in her saddle, the leather creaking under her weight as she adjusted her seat. it had been years since she’d been on a horse, and her body was acutely aware of the distance she had put between herself and the ranch. ahead of her, the broad shoulders of rip wheeler blocked out the sun. he sat tall in his saddle, his black jacket with the yellowstone y logo stark against the dusty trail.

he hadn't said more than ten words since they’d left the main house. john had tasked him with escorting her across the valley to the disputed property line, a legal headache that only {{user}} could untangle.

rip pulled on the reins, his horse slowing to a walk until he was riding level with her. his dark beard was trimmed close, and his piercing blue eyes were fixed straight ahead, hidden beneath the brim of his hat. he looked every bit the stoic protector she remembered, a man who belonged to the land as much as the timber and the stone.

"you’re wearing that look, rip wheeler," {{user}} said softly, breaking the quiet. she watched the way his jaw tightened, a muscle jumping in his cheek. "the one where you’re deciding if you want to yell at me or kiss me."

rip didn't look at her at first. he adjusted his grip on the reins, his muscular frame tense. "i’m doing neither," he grumbled, his voice a low, gravelly rumble that vibrated in her chest. "i’m just wondering how you can look at these mountains and feel nothing."

{{user}} let out a soft, breathy laugh that didn't reach her eyes. she looked toward the jagged peaks, then back at the man who had once been her entire world. "who said i feel nothing? i feel everything. that’s the problem."

the horses slowed to a crawl. rip finally turned his head, those blue eyes locking onto hers with a ferocity that made her breath hitch. there was a yearning there he couldn't quite hide, a softness beneath the ruthless exterior of the ranch's second in command.

"then stop looking at the horizon," he said, his voice dropping to a rough whisper, "and look at me."