“You stay here. I’m going to take a shower and get started on some chores.” He presses a gentle kiss to my forehead before getting out of bed. I watch the way he strides across the room, so confident in his body.
I lean up on one elbow, wondering if I could entice him back to bed. “My leg feels a lot better. It doesn’t even hurt anymore, and it’s no longer swollen.”
“Still take it easy today,” he says, completely oblivious to what I’m doing. “Besides, it’s early even by cowboy standards. Go back to sleep. I’ll wake you when it’s time for breakfast.”
I snuggle back into the warm blankets that smell like Bronco. I think about the way last night he kept touching me. We did everything. Well, almost everything. There was one thing I wanted to do that we never quite got around to.
Now seems like as good a time as any, I decide before I walk into the bathroom. Through the steamy glass, I watch the water running down my big, strong man. I give myself a moment to appreciate his bulging biceps and thick thighs before I join him in the shower stall.
He finishes rinsing the shampoo from his hair and opens his mesmerizing blue eyes. “What are you?—?”
I don’t let him finish the question before I’m dropping the towel and kneeling on it. Instantly, I’m eye level with his cock, which hardens considerably the longer I stare at it.
He threads his fingers through my hair, pulling it away from my face. “Sweetheart, you don’t have to?—”
Once again, I don’t let him finish his sentence. Instead, I lean forward, pressing gentle kisses along his cock to everywhere but the tip. When I finally run my tongue along it, he makes a soft groan like I’ve put him in heaven.
I work him until he’s moaning and muttering swear words under his breath. I can tell the moment he’s close because he tries to pull away. But I just grip him tighter, nails digging into the sinewy flesh of his ass then he’s coming down my throat with a roar.
Afterwards, he pulls me into his arms and takes me again against the shower wall, holding me close and murmuring sweet words against my hair.
It’s hours later before we’re in his truck. Menace is in the back seat, chewing contentedly on a rawhide bone while I’m plastered against Bronco. We spent the morning in his house. He never even made it out to do his chores.
Now we’re on our way to the retirement community. I have my usual work to catch up on, and Bronco is needed for some more pipe work. When we walk into the reception hand-in-hand, I’m not prepared for our audience.
“Love looks good on you,” Mr. Dunn says as soon as he sees me from where he and Mr. Humphrey are sitting at a table. Looks like they found the chessboard. I’ll have to hope the pieces don’t start flying again.
My heart beats hard in my chest, and I open my mouth to respond. I’m not sure what to say, but it doesn’t matter because Bronco speaks first. “Damn right, it does!”
“Hmm, sounds like a keeper,” Joyce murmurs from her place, watching daytime talk shows with her friends.
“And don’t let her forget it while I’m gone,” Bronco says before giving me a passionate kiss then leaving to find Dalton.
I settle at my desk and wait for our crowd to go back to their normal routines. Without Bronco hovering nearby, most of them return to their activities. I glance at Ryan and ask softly, “How was everything while I was gone?”
“Just the usual boring days.” Despite his words, he doesn’t sound all that bored or that disappointed. I always thought that he read thrillers because he wanted more action in his life, but maybe he prefers his action on the page.
I catch up on my work easily, and it only takes me a couple of hours to do that. When Joyce invites me to her poker game in her room, I agree. I settle at the table across from her, along with her friends, Miss Patty, Mr. Dunn, and Mr. Humphrey.
“Wait, I don’t have any cookies to ante,” I say when I see that each one of them has a large box of cookies from Courage Cookies to play with.
Joyce gives me a sly look. “Let’s just say that you can ante with information.”
I narrow my eyes at her. “I’m not gossiping with you about the other residents.”
“Of course not,” Mr. Humphrey agrees.
“Just maybe tell us a little bit about Bronco,” Miss Patty urges with a dreamy sigh.
Mr. Dunn gives me a fond smile. “You never should have taken that seat.”
I roll my eyes. “That’s what the invitation was about?”
“And the chance to win cookies. Don’t forget that,” Joyce says as she deals a round of cards before I even have the chance to tell her no.
“Are you sure you’re not cheating?” I ask Joyce as I evaluate the stack of cards I’ve just been dealt. I’ve lost every single hand I’ve played, and these nosy Nellies have asked me a million questions about Bronco and what we spent our time together doing.
I told them about the horse ride, the beautiful pond on his property, the campfire and the amazing veterans who work on the ranch. I even told them about falling and injuring my ankle. I didn’t tell them about what Bronco and I did together afterwards, but they pretty much figured it out by the blush on my face.
