Despite it all, a bitter chuckle escaped. “You’re not supposed to say that.”
A wisp of hair around her face caught her fevered exhales. “Why not?”
“Because I’m trying my best to be a gentleman?—”
“Thatwas being a gentleman?”
I braced a hand on the bench behind her, dropping my head in laughter. How was I laughing right now? I could barely think, scarcelybreathe,yet she was sitting there, teasing me. She smiled, even as her legs quaked like she was made of jello.
Man, I was trembling, too.
Pretending the former dialogue exchange never happened, we moved again, our lips meeting halfway. I drew her bottom lip into my mouth then she did the same. We were well on our way to losing control again when a burst of masculine laughter down the corridor split the silence.
I jumped away from Hollie, putting as much distance between us as the tack room would allow. She struggled off the table, her sandaled feet dropping to the floor. Her eyes were wide with fear as she pinched her dress straps, righting them as quickly as she could.
My hands fumbled over my buttons, clasping the ones Hollie hadundone and tucking my shirt back in. But our attempts to look innocent made as much sense as sweeping a dirt floor. Her hair was disheveled, the updo she’d had now flopping to the right side.
And if my lips looked anything like hers, there was no way we could cover what we’d done. Walking out of the room would be walking into plain sight and our chances at being undiscovered were higher if we stay put. I lifted my index finger to my lips, and she nodded, understanding the signal.
For a long moment, we stood there, facing each other. Just breathing and wondering what we’d say when we were found. And I’d recognize that bout of laughter anywhere.
It was Cooper and Harlan.
Shame burned my neck. Grown adults or not, I just crossed some personal boundaries. I considered myself the kind of man who didn’t toy with a woman or give affection away easily. With Laurel I doled it out so carefully, slowly.
My stomach turned and acid rolled up my throat.
I was seconds away from leading her somewhere private and doing something I could never take back. A beat of panic sliced through my chest. What if Cade had walked into the barn? He would’ve seen me with my hands all the places I had said they shouldn’t be. After our conversations about waiting for marriage, here I was—a breath away from intimacy with a woman I hardly knew.
This was impulsive, ravenous. What was my plan here? I didn’t use and discard women—I wasn’t that guy. And Hollie deserved better than stupid games.
“Hello? Who’s there?” Harlan’s voice. “Jesse?”
I paused. Do I give us away? Or call out?
My voice cracked. “Back here.”
Hollie’s eyes widened, and she crossed her arms over her chest. We had nowhere to hide and could only accept our fate, whatever it might be. As soon as the duo stepped into the light of the doorway, she rolled her lips and looked to the ground.
“Well, well, well.” Cooper crooned and the pleasure in his voice made my skin crawl. “What are you two doing back here?”
“Talking. Now go on. I’ll be out in a bit.”
Cooper’s gaze dropped below my belt and he laughed, spreading a hand over his gut. “You werenottalking.”
I clenched my jaw, struggling to hold my voice steady. “Hollie, it might be best if you go.”
The two men cleared a path as she slipped out of the room.
Harlan said, his voice rough and raspy, “I’m gonna head too. Nothing to see here.” He turned, leaving me face to face with Cooper, who I had no problem putting in his place if need be.
Ever since Cooper got released from his short stint in the county jail, I’d been in charge of training him to be a cowboy.
But a cowboy he was not.
Cowboying required grit, determination, courage. And he had as much as a tulip. To say he’d pushed me to my limits in the last four months would be an understatement.
“Wow.” He huffed in disbelief. “I didn’t realize Hollie was the easy one. I’ve already tried one of the sisters and she about ripped my head off.”
