Page 28 of The Cowboy’s Reckoning

“He’s afraid he’s going to lose his job,” Jordan said.

She felt her eyes go wide. “You’ve talked to him?” Why?

“He told a guy who told a guy who told Burke. Burke told me.”

Liz rubbed her neck, then took hold of her beer again.

The town grapevine was an amazing thing sometimes. “I’ll tell him things are okay.”

“Good.” Jordan pulled in a breath as he studied the table next to his beer. “You asked if I knew Carl Jordan well.”

Lil set the beer she’d been about to lift to her lips back on the table, a little jolt going through her. “I did.”

“I didn’t know him at all. Had never heard the name until recently.” He paused, frowning at the table, giving her the feeling that this moment was costing him. “According to the will, he’s my biological father. He spelled it out quite clearly.”

Lil went still.

She hadn’t expected a confession, hadn’t thought the man trusted her enough for that. When she met his gaze, she could see that he was waiting for something.

“Did you already know?” he asked. “Through your sister, I mean?”

“No.” She let the word slide out slowly. She’d guessed, but she hadn’t known. “Maya is unaware.”

He studied the table again, a faint frown still pulling his eyebrows together. “I just wondered.”

Lil let the comment lay as she brought the beer to her lips, drank, barely tasting the stuff. His previous statements about not wanting this ranch made sense now. He wasn’t refusing the inheritance; he wanted it in a form that didn’t remind him of a man who’d never claimed him as his own.

Her throat felt oddly tight as she set the beer down. “Jordan?”

He lifted his gaze, and the open vulnerability in his expression made whatever she’d been about to say leave her head.

“Sorry. I … this has to be hard.”

He nodded, then dissipated the awkwardness with a casual shrug. “I don’t know what I’m going to do with the ranch in the long term, but whatever it is, the conditions of the lease will be honored. I know rumors are flying, but until I decide what I want to do next, I’d appreciate it if you kept all this between us.”

“No worries. I’m good with confidences.”

He surprised her by saying, “I believe you are.”

“Why’s that?” she asked curiously.

“Gut instinct.”

His gut was right in this instance. She was good at confidences. Part of the beauty of being an isolated rancher. She didn’t talk to a lot of people. Except for the farrier, of course.

He pushed his chair back. “I should go. It’s getting late. Thanks for the beer.”

“Thanks for not kicking us off the property.”

The corners of his mouth tilted up, and she felt a stirring in her midsection. The Jordan who shared his secrets, who dropped his guard and let her see his vulnerable side, was harder to resist than the landlord version. She gave herself a mental shake before walking with him to the door, where he stopped before opening it. The look he gave her reminded her that once upon a time she’d had time in her life for guys.

“Did that gelding buck you off the other day?”

She opened her mouth, then closed it again. What kind of trainer wanted to admit that?

He smiled. “Been there. Have a good night.”

*