CHAPTER TEN
The Ranch
After my chat with Muddy, I went to find Brooks in the barn. He was petting the nose of a sleek brown mare, crooning to her in a low voice.
I paused, enamored.
His hands were large. Calloused. Capable.
Scarred.
They looked like they could inflict injury, but at the moment, they were gentle and tender.
I thought about him touching me with those hands and shivers raced up my spine.
He looked up and smiled at me. “Hey.”
“Hey.”
“How was your talk with Muddy?”
“Good.”
“Did she lecture?”
“Kind of. But in her own way. Muddy suggested you takeme for a ride.”
“A ride, huh?”
I paused. “Okay, I just replayed how that sounded. And I didn’t mean for it to come out that way.”
Brooks let out a low chuckle.
“Why does everyone think you don’t laugh, Brooks?” I asked suddenly. “You’ve laughed so much with me.”
He stroked the mare’s neck. “Until recently, I didn’t have much to laugh about.”
His whiskey gaze held mine and something deepened between us. Something that wasn’t physical.
I swallowed hard and then lifted one of my feet to show him the cowboy boots I was wearing. “I’m ready.”
“For a horseback ride?”
“Versus. . .”
“You ever been on the back of a motorcycle?”
I looked at him in surprise. “Motorcycle?”
“Yeah,” he said. “I still have my Harley. So, what do you think? You brave enough to get on a motorcycle?”
“I like trying new things.”
“Yeah?” He rubbed his jaw. “What other kind of new things are you willing to try?”
The simmering sexual tension that hummed beneath the surface flamed between us. I thought about waking up next to him again. The feel of his warm body close.
I wanted more of that.
