The usual hustle and bustle – the chaotic atmosphere she had thought she'd grown to love makes her head spin during her commute back to her apartment after a long day at the office. Her hand comes to rest against a wall of the nearest business. The rough surface of the red bricks scratching the delicate skin of her palm as she takes a moment to collect herself. Her eyes close as she takes several deep breaths, trying to let the dizziness subside.

Morning coffee on the front porch as the sun rises from behind the mountains in the distance – seeing him in his usual corral with one of the horses. That's what she's imagines as she takes a few minutes to herself. It's what she's looked forward to when she wakes up every morning since getting back . And every time she's been disappointed seeing the skyscrapers and buildings that make up Chicago and hearing honking cars and subway trains instead of the serene soundtrack of the country. But she's trudged through her disappointment and gone about the last three weeks as if she doesn't miss her real home.

It took her some time to realize that she's home sick. A term she would have used to describe how she felt while back in Montana. She thought she missed it here – missed the chaos of city life. But now that she's back and fully immersed into the life she's lived for the last twelve years, she knows that this isn't where she belongs.

When she opens her eyes again she continues to slowly inhale and exhale before taking another step. She's about to resume her walk – eager to check on her dad when she realizes where she is. A smile comes to her face as she pictures herself and Jay – the person she knows is responsible for her homesickness. Her eyes peer through the window and scan the wall adorned with pictures of people's tattoos and then she spots the one of them.

She closes her eyes as the needle jabs into her skin over and over. The continuous tiny pricks over her rib cage make her question the placement of the tattoo. Her lip is pulled back between her teeth as she tries to block out the sensation that is more annoying than it is painful. A light chuckle gets her attention and has her looking over at him as he sits in front of her.

"You're an ass." She chuckles dryly as his jaw drops open just a little – both shocked and speechless as he looks down at the new ink on his wrist.

"This was your idea and you chose where you wanted it." He rebuttals as he gestures towards the place where her shirt is being held up – exposing her midsection.

"Yeah well I was a little drunk and feeling sentimental." She all but whines as she looks down again.

"I'm pretty sure you're still as drunk as you were a half hour ago babe. And how does that make me an ass?" He questions, the hint of a smile on his face lets her know he's not mad or offended by the comment.

"Because you're the one with a sleeve of tattoos and told me it wouldn't hurt. And now you're laughing at me while I'm in pain." She defends – her eyebrows furrowing in the cute way they do.

"I've seen you get bucked off a mustang before and witnessed several falls and broken bones. So I know you're not actually in pain right now." He argues as he leans in to peck her lips. "I can tell by the pout on your face that you're more annoyed than you are hurt."

"You two are so cute, it's sickening." The blonde artist with tattoos covering the majority of her petite frame points out as she switches to the blue ink.

Erin chuckles at the confusion that becomes apparent on his features.

"So why the daisy and blue jay?" The tattooist asks as she wipes away some the ink that's starting to bleed from Erin's skin.

Erin goes first, telling the talented stranger why she chose the blue bird for him. "The first thing I thought of when I learned his name as a kid was a blue Jay."

She lets her eyelids fall closed again as her heart starts to pound. The words on the tip of her tongue already making her feel self conscious but the alcohol still ruminating in her system helps her continue to explain. "I learned later that they're not just handsome. They're also intelligent and protective. All things they have in common with him." She looks down after her explanation – feeling a bit foolish with both Jay's and the stranger's gaze set on her.

Jay clears his throat and takes her hand in his, bringing it up to place a gentle kiss against it. He doesn't bother looking at the tattoo artist as he answers the question. Simply telling her that Erin's favorite flowers are daisies.

He blinks away the memory as he looks down at the black outline of the simple flower. His thumb runs over her initials softly before someone knocks and enters his office. It's still strange to him to be here – in his boss's old space. But so far the transition has been easy and he's already been able to make changes to the agency that should have been done years ago. And now he can focus on finding the rustlers responsible for the shooting and fire.

He nods his head at the woman standing in the doorway. The secretary or his assistant – he's not quite sure of her title – steps into the office.

"I sent the files that you asked for over to your email. Did you need anything else Commissioner?" She asks and he gives her a weak smile before shaking his head.

"Please call me Jay and no, that'll be all Bethany. Thank you." He dismisses and she nods but doesn't move.

He removes his glasses and drags his hand down his face and over the coarse hair of his beard as he releases a sigh. "Is there something that you need from me?"

"I uh…I've kind of been wondering if maybe you'd want to get a drink with me sometime?" She stutters, her hands nervously fiddling with the hem of her blouse in attempt straighten the light pink top.

He's not sure what to say because he doesn't want to hurt her feelings. It's a simple question – yet it causes a war to be declared between his heart and his head. The words of how he has someone – a woman who has his heart is on the tip of his tongue. That's what he wants to say but his head – the logical side of him knows that the object of his affection doesn't feel the same. Because if she did, would she have left, again? He lets out another sigh as the debate continues in his head.

She too sighs when he doesn't say anything. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have-"

"No I'm sorry." He scratches at the back of his neck as the awkwardness continues to set in around them. "I just can't."

"Right, I figured you probably had someone at home." She nods as she bites her lip. He doesn't get a chance to explain before she's moving out the door, tossing back words of how she'll see him on Monday.

The figurative weight that was pressing on his chest is lifted when he hears the front door slam shut. He releases a deep breath before refocusing on his computer. His fingers fly across the keyboard as he replies to a few emails before getting to the one from Bethany. Dozens of images pop up after he clicks on the link she sent and then he hovers over the arrows that enlarge the pictures. Each one is a collage of sorts – with a plain black and white clipart of the brand, a photo of a branded cattle and the ranch in which it belongs to.

He's not sure how long he's scanning through the pictures trying to decipher what ranch the rustlers own before he finds, not one but two potential matches. His eyes strain to take in the details of the minimalistic designs. One brand appears to be more of an isosceles triangle while the other is equilateral.

He pinches the bridge of his nose for a moment as he thinks back to the auction the morning of the fire. But his memory is foggy – all he sees when he thinks of that day is pulling her limp body out of the stable fire. His eyes open wide and his heart pounds as the memory of her gasping for air comes to mind. He shakes his head of the thought and picks up a pen to jot down the information for both. His blood is already beginning to boil as he exits out of that tab and he pulls up the registry that has all of the ranches listed within it. The first one comes up empty, nothing suspicious about the small cattle ranch.

It's not until he searches through the second ranch's file that he finds something. He scrolls about half way down, moving past the picture of the family before clicking the up arrow. It's an old photo, dated almost fifteen years back. A family of eight – six kids, three boys and three girls. If he had to guess they're between the ages of five and eighteen yet he can still recognize the three teenaged boys in the picture.

He grabs his phone and was just about to call Erin when a FaceTime request pops up on the screen. The specific tone echoing through the office. A smile graces his face when he sees the shirt she's wearing – the one he's been looking for, for the last couple weeks. The sight of her dimples instantly calms the storm within him and he forgets for a moment why he was planning on calling her.

"You answered quick, you must really miss me." She jokes and he chuckles but can't deny the thought.

"I was actually just about to call you." He admits as he continues taking her in. Her hair is tied up and her face free of the light make up she usually applies. It's a look that he loves the most on her – she's beautiful, drop-dead gorgeous but how she is now – fresh out of the shower with what he assumes is nothing but a t-shirt on never fails to take his breath away.

"I've been looking for that shirt." He tells her, nodding down towards the bottom of the screen and she giggles in a way that's reserved for him.

"It's my favorite of yours." She shrugs as she looks at the blue material covering her from her shoulders to the middle of her thighs. "And it still smells like your cologne."

"And when I get it back – if I get it back it'll smell like that lotion of yours." He teases but she pokes her bottom lip out in a fake pout before pulling it back with her teeth.

"You make it sound like that'd be a bad thing?" She questions but even through the phone screen he can see the mischievous glint in her eyes and he realizes again that he's been distracted from the reason he wanted to talk to her. But he tells himself it can wait – he can see she's safe for now and doesn't want to end the moment they're having.

"No, not a bad thing at all but eventually it won't smell as good as I do." He winks and her dimples pop once again as she sets the phone down on the nightstand and props it up against the lamp.

"Well, I guess I better take it off then." She suggests as she moves her hands to the hem of the shirt.

He watches her fingers pull the fabric up, exposing her thighs – her delicate, soft skin glowing in the soft lighting of her room. It's excruciating that he can't reach out and pull her into him – his breath hitches as her hip comes into view. His pants begin to tighten when he doesn't see any pantie lines letting him know that she's not wearing anything under the shirt.

"This isn't exactly fair." He tells her as he adjusts the front of his jeans while the shirt continues to be pulled up at an agonizingly slow pace.

She hums in acknowledgement as she looks up at the phone – their eyes meeting again.

"I miss you." It's a whispered admission from him and it gets her hands to stop – the shirt falling back down. "I miss seeing you, waking up next to you and holding you." He pauses briefly before going on. "And just being with you. I miss everything about you and while I'm enjoying this. I know I can't have you – not in the way that this is suggesting." He gestures between them, his voice is stern – feeling a bit frustrated because he can't do anything from hundreds of miles away. And he's never liked the idea of any sexual exchanges occurring over the phone – feeling like it takes out the intimacy. So while he feels bad when a look of shock and embarrassment crosses her face, he knows his frustration would have eventually turned into something more – something like anger had he let her continue.

"Right, I'm sorry." Her nose scrunches and her eyebrows furrow as she looks down.

Then there's a few moments of silence as they both try to recollect why they were calling each other in the first place.

"I umm…I was calling to see how things were going. My dad's been driving me crazy and it's been rough adjusting to being back here." She tells him with a broken voice. He's curious about who it's been rough for, her dad or her but he's not sure if he wants to actually know. His heart flutters a little – thinking that she misses Montana – misses him as much as he does her. But then his heart constricts after telling himself that she was probably referring to her dad. His thoughts continue to run rampant as he thinks back to her question.

His hand goes to the back of his neck again – hoping the change in topic will ease some of the discomfort between them.

"The house is almost done actually but the stables as you know are a complete loss, so we have plans to rebuild once the house is done." He shrugs, telling her almost word-for-word what he told her the last time they spoke.

"That's good." She says as she grabs her laptop and sets it atop of her legs.

He sighs, yearning to have that playful banter back from moments ago. "Look Erin, I'm sorry for making things-"

"It's ok Jay, I get it. You're right." She stays focused on the laptop as she talks.

He can see her shoulders slump forward some as she releases another sigh. "But it's not just you that's missing me or us." She tells him and he thinks he hears her sniffle but he can't be sure and it doesn't help that she won't look at the phone.

There's another pregnant pause before either of them speak again. "You said you were going to call me? Did you find something?"

"Yeah, I uh..I think I found the ranch of rustlers. And I was wondering how much you know about Andrew?" His inquiry regains her attention. He can see the tears in her eyes before she blinks them away and he wishes, again, that he could wrap his arms around her and pull her into him.

She shakes her head – looking really confused as she answers his question with a simple one worded question of her own. "Why?"

He doesn't reply instead adjusting his computer monitor a little and then turning the phone to face it. "This is what I got when I looked up the rustlers ranch."

Her lips form another pout as the pieces begin to fall into place.

She had met her most recent ex at a mutual friends outing and they hit it off. She never thought anything of it. But now she gets it. It's why he was so clingy and controlling. It's why he insisted on coming with her to Montana even though they had only been dating a short time. He didn't just come into her life by chance. No, she's just now coming to realize that he had been planted. And whoever it was that he was working with or for, wants her family's ranch. They've wanted it badly enough that they were willing to kill her and her dad for it.

She gets so lost in her thoughts that she forgets she's on the phone for a brief moment. But Jay just has to say her name once in order for her to snap out of it.

"Do you think we should come back to Montana?" It's the first thing she thinks of once she processes this new information a little more and he wasn't prepared for that question. He thought she'd ask more about what he found out but he's back to choosing between his head and his heart. Logic telling him that they'll be safer – she'll be safer in Montana. But the soft muscle beating in his chest aches at the suggestion because there's a strong possibility that it's not the answer she'll want. That coming back to Montana – back to him won't be what she decides to do.

And that thought almost scares him more than the danger looming over them.

XXXXXX

A/N: I'm sorry for the late update - again. I was just really struggling with this chapter and I'm still not too sure about it. But I hope you enjoyed it. As always I'm so sorry for the mistakes but I'm trying! Nice reviews are much appreciated and I hope you all have a fun and safe rest of your weekend. Thanks for reading!