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"In a quid pro quo kind of way"

I rolled s English "Why’s that?"

"Because every ti ht back at you"

I didn’t need to look to confir my backside Lily’s borrowed jeans suddenly see the hell out of ?" I elbowed his stoht

Jesse laughed and shook his head "We’re not a dairy farm here, Rowen We’re a beef ranch"

Sorry, I didn’t speak hick His chuckling unsettled o unload another truckload of ginors" A clamp for myon ht," he said, his voice so daured it was you"

I glared at those six pancakes Still no bubbles "And ould you figure it was me?"

"Well, you know," he said

"No, I don’t know"

He leaned his hip into the counter "Given your track record of spying on me"

"For Pete’s sake," I said, tempted to du on you in the laundry roo from me?" He crossed his arht when you atchingfrom me then?" My hands actually moved for the batter bowl

"I had 911 on standby in case you keeled over fro one of those suckers," I snapped back "It wasot solanced at the pancakes, and he looked like he was about to bust up laughing before he caught hi But do you think it’d be all right if I offered a heartfelt apology?"

Say what?

I studied his face to see if it was so it out with him, but his expression was flat His eyes clear

"Proceed," I said with a wave of"I’ht to stickassumptions about your life" His words floith such ease it seemed he’d rehearsed the at all I don’t know you well enough to pretend like I know you and your problems But I want to know you I want to know your problems That isif you want to know me"

One corner of my mouth pulled up Luckily, it was on the side he couldn’t see Jesse could ive him that

But I couldn’t let him off so easily

"Why do you want to know riddle was still plugged in because those suckers were not bubbling "So you can tease me more specifically? So you can expose e of it?"

Jesse ainst ain "So when I ask you on a date, I’ll knohere to take you to really impress you" His mouth was so close to my ear I felt the warmth of his breath

I whipped my head around to aze drifted to ain

"Save soood-naturedly as a staggered line of men in hats and boots streamed into the kitchen

Jesse stepped away fro toward the table, he tilted his chin at " His dimples set into his cheeks "What can I say? I have that effect on things"

I was ready to glare at him when that burnt sriddle revealed that

"Shoot," I said, unsure how I ed to censorup in flames Or, up in smoke "They never bubbled!" I fumbled with the spatula and tried to slide it under the center pancakes

Even through the hustle and bustle of the rest of the ranch handstheir way into the room, I heard Jesse’s amused chuckle from back at the table

"They don’t bubble once you flip the the spatula, she had all of those pancakes off the griddle faster than I could have removed one of theriolden brown, and the other side was a crispy char black