Reid knew he should step back, break the kiss, but instead he cradled her head in his palms and kept on kissing her. Maybe it was human nature that the more he knew he should stay away the more he wanted her. Maybe it was because he thought she needed a real man instead of those idiots she was engaged to . . . Reid didn’t know why he couldn’t keep his distance; he knew only that since he’d met Addison she was never far from his thoughts.

Reid was giving the hayloft some serious consideration when he heard a rustling sound. The noise could be one of several things, but Reid knew for sure that they weren’t alone. He reluctantly pulled his mouth from hers. Looking around, he spotted the culprit. Several of them. “Addison?”

“Hmmm?” she asked in a soft, dreamy tone that had him wanting to kiss her again.

“I think we should go.”

“Why?” She tilted her head. “Are you sorry you kissed me?”

Reid rubbed his thumb over her bottom lip. “I’m surprised that you let me, but no, I’m not sorry I kissed you, Addison.” He decided to leave it at that . . . for now. “There are . . . ah, some critters in here.” He thought that critters sounded less frightening than rodents and reptiles, and he’d just spotted both.

“Critters?” Addison’s eyes widened. “What kind of critters? A bug or something?”

“The kind you might not like.”

“Are you messing with me? Yeah, you are.” She gave his arm a playful punch. “Oh . . . you’re not?” She lowered her voice to a whisper.

“Sorry.” Reid shook his head. “Now, before you get scared, let me tell you that it’s a black snake and it’s harmless.”

“S-snake?”

“Harmless. It wants the mouse, not us.”

“Mouse!”

“Mice, actually.”

She swallowed hard. “So, what do we do? Run for it?” Her eyes were big in her pretty face.

“Well, it’s over near the door. Most likely came in when I opened it, knowing there would be lunch in here.”

With her hands clutching Reid’s shoulders she slowly turned her head to look. “Oh, dear Lord. It’s really long. Oh, and it just moved,” she whispered. “Do you think it sees us?”

“Addison, I’m actually starting to get hungry and we should check on Mom’s pot roast. It will most likely slither away when we approach it.”

“There are two things I don’t like about what you just said: most likely and slither. Seriously, how can you think about eating at a time like this?”

When Reid laughed the snake moved, raising its head.

“Shhh!” she whispered. “Did you forget that I’m a big scaredy-cat? Spiders, snakes, and mice are on the top of the list.”

Reid held his chuckle but his shoulders moved up and down.

“You’re having fun with this, aren’t you?”

“No!” he said in such a fake tone that Addison narrowed her eyes at him. “Okay, maybe a little bit.”

“So, what are we going to do?”

“I’m going to kneel down and I want you to climb on my back. You’re about to get a piggyback ride.”

“No, that’s silly,” Addison whispered, but then the snake slithered farther into the barn and there was a scurrying sound over in the corner. “Okay, you convinced me.”

Reid knelt down and tilted his body forward, thinking he probably should have been more specific with his wish: He wanted her legs wrapped around him, just not quite like this. Still, when she climbed onto his back he liked it.

“Hold on tight.”

“That’s the second time you’ve said that to me,” she whispered in his ear, and then wrapped her arms around his neck. “Is this going to be another wild ride?”

“To quote Jason Aldean, ‘It’s the only way I know,’” Reid answered, and then bolted toward the door. Just as he expected, when the snake felt the vibration of his running, it slithered farther into the barn, away from them. He tried not to bounce her around too much, but when he realized that she was laughing he played it up a little bit and ran around in the grass in front of the barn until he was laughing too hard to keep going. After coming to a stop he stood there for a moment, holding on to her legs and enjoying having her clinging to him. One of her shoes hung halfway off her foot, and for some reason he thought it was funny and started laughing harder.

It was a moment before he caught his breath enough to speak. “I think it’s safe to put you down now,” he said, and reluctantly loosened his grip. She slid down his back until her feet touched the ground.

“Thanks. I feel like such a weenie.”

Reid turned around to face her. “But a very cute weenie.” With her flushed face and tousled hair she looked fresh-out-of-bed sexy. Reid wanted to kiss her again but took a step back to put distance between them, and followed it with an awkward pause.

“Um, thanks for coming to my rescue.”

Reid looked at her and, knowing he shouldn’t, said, “Would you like to come over to my place for dinner? The pot roast is probably about ready.”

“I . . . I should get back to the shop.”

“But you said you needed a breather.”

She hesitated. “I want to but shouldn’t.”

Reid inhaled a deep breath and blew it out. “Well, I would say that you’re safe with me but that would be a lie. I’ll be honest with you, Addison. I haven’t felt this kind of attraction in a long time. The more I fight it, the more I want to be with you.”

“And that’s why I should stay away.”

“Really? Maybe not. Maybe you shouldn’t let those jackasses from your past rule your future. They don’t deserve the power.” He lifted one shoulder. “Forget about what you should or shouldn’t do and do what you want to do.”

She gave him a low chuckle. “That’s what I was doing when I grabbed you and kissed you.” She took a step closer. “Look, you deserve better. You shouldn’t be an experiment . . . a fling or my rebound guy. Using you to get over Garret would be wrong.”

“Not if I’m a willing participant,” he joked, because he really didn’t think he was any of those things to her, but she shook her head.

“I won’t do that to you.”

“Wait.” He paused for a moment. “Addison, what did you mean by experiment?”

She blushed and looked away. “Nothing . . .”

“No, I want to know.”

“Wild horses couldn’t drag it out of me,” she said firmly.

Intriguing. “Okay, I’ll drop it. For now, anyway.”

“So, what’s your story, Reid?” she asked softly.

Reid glanced away, looking at the old barn, the trees, the beauty that he’d missed while living away for so many years. Addison had been so open with him about her past. He wanted to do the same, but it was hard to put into words, especially since he’d kept his feelings hidden from his family for such a long time. The gentle touch of her hand on his forearm had him looking into her eyes.

He sighed. “When the economy tanked and my clients lost so much money I took it hard personally, when deep down I knew it was something out of my control, my hands. I did the best I could and worked overtime trying to find ways for them to recoup the losses. I withdrew, kept to myself. Rarely dated. I wasn’t about to take another risk with my money, my clients, or my life. When the drought just about took my parents’ farm I was so frustrated with them for holding on to this land when the writing was on the wall. To make matters worse, Braden quit school, Sara quit her job, and Jeff headed off to Nashville. I thought they’d all gone bat-shit crazy.”

“But if you love something enough you do whatever it takes to hold on to it,” Addison said, and then her gaze fell to her shoes. “Some things are worth fighting for.”

“Yeah,” Reid said, but he knew she wasn’t thinking about the farm and it suddenly pissed him off that two jerks had taken away her confidence. And here he was basically offering to be her no-strings-attached booty call. She deserved better. Yeah, dinner at his cabin would be a bad idea.

Finally she looked back up at him. “I am pretty hungry and I just bet your mom is an amazing cook.”

Damn. “Yeah, she is.”

“Good. Then I’m accepting your offer,” Addison said, and looked at him long enough to let him know she wasn’t just talking about dinner.

“Addison . . . look—”

“No, wait. Let me stop you. This physical attraction we’ve got going on is mutual.” She came closer and tapped his chest. “So you can be my rebound guy and I’ll be your introduction back into dating. Since we’ve laid the ground rules up front, no one will get hurt. I think it’s a great idea. All of the fun and none of the heartache.”

No . . . this was not where he wanted this to go! “I don’t really think—”

“Reid, you admitted that you overthink, so squash it. And, yeah, I’m a pleaser, but this way I don’t have to worry about pleasing anyone but myself.” After patting her chest she took a step back and stuck out her hand. “Deal?”

Reid looked at her small hand and was about to decline, but the vulnerable set to her mouth and those dark, expressive eyes sucked him in. He told himself that it was because he didn’t want another guy to hurt her and that he could somehow protect her from that. But the fact that Reid wanted to drag Addison into his arms and hug her hit him like a sucker punch to the gut. He turned into a big ball of sappy mush whenever he was around her. He needed to be careful or he’d be the one to fall in love.

Reid grasped her small hand and squeezed, feeling better when she smiled. He wouldn’t let her know about his growing feelings for her, complicating her life when she needed to get it straightened out. Addison wasn’t the cheating Hollywood socialite he had accused her of being. Her only fault that he could see was being too sweet and way too trusting of the wrong people. This way he could protect her from any other ass who even thought of doing her wrong or spreading ugly rumors.