He put his hand out for her. She took it, and he pulled her up, then kissed her lips.
“Where to now?”
“Let’s head to the pond. We can relax a little before heading back to the house.”
“Sounds good.”
As they rode along, she kept her eyes on his broad back. The man was coming to mean so much to her already. She wished this case was over so they could see if this would amount to anything.
“Have you figured anything out yet?”
“I have an idea—”
“About who it is?”
“Yes—”
Rory reined Busy Bee to a stop. “Who?”
She saw Wilder glance over his shoulder, then ride back to her.
“Have you always interrupted this much?”
She clenched her jaw, narrowed her eyes, and glared at him. She knew it was to hide a grin when he looked away from her.
“Just answer the damn question…agent.”
Wilder chuckled. “I can’t tell you that.”
“Are you serious? Those are my cows they’re stealing. I deserve to know.”
“You might, but I’m not telling you. I know you, Rory. You’ll go after them.”
“Them? There’s athem?”
“Yes.” He held his hand up when she opened her mouth. “I will not tell you anything until I know for sure. You can get pissed all you want. Let me do my job.”
“Fine,” she snapped, and he burst out laughing.
“Any man worth his weight in gold knows that’s a lie.”
She huffed, making him laugh more, then she followed him to the pond. They let the horses graze as they sat on the bank.
“It’s beautiful here,” she said as she removed her hat.
“I love coming up here. I spend a lot of time fishing here or just thinking.”
“About?”
“Mostly cases.”
“Is there a lot of rustling?”
“More than people realize. Job security, for sure. I love it, though.”
“I know you called Nick big brother, but how much older is he?”
“Four years. We’re close. We always have been.”