“About me?”
Heat crawled up her neck as she blushed.
“Ah. It was about me.”
“Totally.”
“Share.”
“Nope.”
“Why not?”
“Because you don’t need your ego stroked, I’m sure.”
“Sure I do. Stroke me, baby.”
She rolled her eyes and smiled. I know he doesn’t need a bigger head. “All right. I totally pictured you without a shirt and I wanted to know if you had a little happy trail like most men with dark hair like yours do.”
“Oh, you kinky girl, you.”
He laughed. The rich, deep sound sent shivers down her back. Damn, the man could turn me inside out and upside down. She hadn’t even known him very long. This wasn’t good. How would she feel after being around him for several days? She hadn’t quite decided how long she planned to stay at the ranch, but she knew it would be more than a day or two. The opportunity to have firsthand knowledge of cowboys, how they work, etc. wasn’t something she wanted to pass up. “So?” she asked, her bravery waning now they were back at the ranch.
“Happy trail, huh? I’ve never heard anything referred to as that before. Explain what you mean.”
“You know. The trail of hair usually linking chest hair to pubic hair.” Her face flamed with heat. How did one discuss this kind of thing with a man?
“Oh that!” He laughed again. The bastard. “Yes, I have one. Wanna see?” He started unbuttoning his belt buckle as she shrieked.
“No! I mean not here.”
“I’ll show it to you any time you want.”
“You’re just teasing me now, Joel. It’s not funny.”
“I’m not teasing. I’m sure you’ve seen pictures of men nude before or in only underwear, right?”
“Well yes. Some have them and some don’t. I’m curious about you since the hero in my head is turning out to look a lot like you.”
“Aw, how sweet. I’m the hero in your next book?”
“It all depends on how the days I’m here at the ranch turn out.”
“How do you want them to turn out?” He waggled his eyebrows and grinned.
“You’re an impossible flirt.”
“Yep.”
“I bet every mama in this town turns their daughters’ head away from you and your brothers when you hit Main Street. The whole lot of you are like this, aren’t you?”
“Definitely, but the mamas are after every one of us to marry their daughters.”
“Really?” His eyes crinkled at the corner as he glanced out the window.
“It looks like Dad is headed to the barn. Let’s go see what’s up.”
“Oh. Great!”
She met him around the front of the car seconds later. He grabbed her hand again to help guide her to the barn he said, since darkness had fallen in an inky black curtain on the ranch. Soft country music wafted from the speakers next to the bonfire where several people sat around the crackling light. They would go there after the barn, she hoped. She hadn’t been to a bonfire since summer camp approximately fifteen years before. S’mores? Hmm. She’d have to ask Joel if they had chocolate, marshmallows, and graham crackers, but then again, if she had her choice, she’d take the chocolate dessert they had at dinner. The smooth chocolate and whipped cream mixture was what chocolate dreams were made of.
“Careful. It’s so dark you can hardly see your hand in front of your face. Without a flashlight, you could twist an ankle or something.”
“But look at all the stars.” She stopped so she could look up at the night sky. Billions of stars winked off and on lighting up the sky. “Look! A shooting star.” She closed her eyes to make a wish though she couldn’t believe she wished for a kiss.
“What did you wish for?”
“I can’t tell you or it won’t come true.”
“Sure you can. I won’t tell a soul. I promise.”
“All right. I wished you would kiss me.”
She could see the white of his teeth as he smiled. “Is that all?”
“Yes.” The word came out in a soft whisper.
He stepped in front of her and slipped his hand along her cheek to bury his fingers in her hair. God, it felt wonderful. The slight tug on her scalp set her heart to racing a hundred miles a minute. A flutter started in her belly, spreading lower until she felt on fire from his touch. She closed her eyes as his warm breath spread across her lips. Her lips parted on a sigh, accepting the warmth of his mouth. His lips were soft, yet strangely unyielding, like he wanted to absorb her strength through her mouth. One of his hands rested on her hip, pulling her into the curve of his body. His chest felt hard beneath her hands. The soft brush of his tongue on her lips parted them to his invasion. She wanted this, needed to feel alive, needed to be a woman again.
A soft moan escaped her as he took the kiss deeper, bringing both of his hands up to cup her face.
The sound of wolf whistles brought her back to the present as she heard the catcalls from his brothers near the fire. Joel stepped back, breaking the kiss.
“Sorry.”
“I’m not. It was totally worth it.”
He laughed and grabbed her hand again as they continued on their way to check on the foal.
The barn came into view when they rounded the corner of the house. The large, two story structure with wide doors stood outlined by the moon in the background. A single, bare light bulb in the middle of the row of stalls reflected the black, wrought iron parts of the upper doors where the horses could stick their heads through. The barn was pretty fancy from what she knew about barns. Wood surrounded the bottoms of the stalls and each one had a sliding door. One off to the right stood open. She could see Joel’s dad crouched on the floor next to the mare’s head.
“How is she, Dad?”
“She’s laboring pretty hard, son. I hope she foals soon.” His big hands ran down the heaving sides of the mare. “I think the foal is pretty big for her, but she could drop it shortly.”
“Do you mind if I stay and watch?” she asked.
“Oh, hi. I didn’t see you there.” He glanced back down to the mare. “You can stay as long as you like but it might be a while yet.”
“I don’t mind.” She took out the ever-present notebook from her purse and jotted down information. She wanted to get the whole thing on paper for her next book. There’s nothing like having a cowboy helping with a laboring horse to make the cowboy image stick in the reader’s mind. She wrote more details, the position of the horse, the coloring of her coat, the rapid breaths, the concentration on Joel’s father’s face, the worry line along his forehead like laugh lines around his eyes and mouth. It mesmerized her how he ran his hands on the mare’s stomach, calming her in the process. She could see the horse physically relax as he worked them down her side. She would have to ask more questions when all was said and done. Details like the gestation period for a horse, whether they could be ridden during pregnancy, how big a normal size foal is. All of this important information she needed…eventually. For now, the process looked worrisome for the two men.
Joel crouched down next to his father, balancing on the balls of his feet. “Want me to check her?”
“Sure. Maybe you can tell if things are progressing. I haven’t checked her in a bit.”
Joel stood and grabbed a long, plastic sleeve from the shelf outside the stall. Once he had it slipped on, covering his shirt to his armpit, he kneeled near the horse’s rump and moved her tail out of the way. A lump formed in her throat as he slid his hand into the back of the horse.
“Appears it’s in the right position,” he said. “I can feel the hooves and they seem to be right side up. Its nose is right there, too. I think she’ll deliver soon.” He peeled off the sleeve and tossed it into a bucket in the corner.
“We’ll just watch and wait then.”
“Do horses normally deliver without complications?” she asked with her pen posed to write down his answer in detail.
“Yes,” the older man answered. “The horse does all the work most of the time, although we do have to step in occasionally. There are times where they come nose first or with their hooves upside down, which can be a problem. With something like that, we call the vet.”
“Fascinating.” The horse grunted as her legs flailed for a few seconds. Mesa could see her side ripple with a contraction. Moments later, two tiny hooves appeared.
“Looks like it’s time,” Joel said, moving away from the horse.
With a gush of fluid, the foal made his entrance into the world. Slimy mucus hung from its body. The mare struggled to her feet, and then began licking the foal clean.
“Oh, it’s beautiful!” Tears stung her eyes. She’d never witnessed anything so precious in her life. “Will it start nursing right away?”
“Usually within a couple of hours. The mother will clean it up first.”
The baby stood on wobbly legs for a few seconds before it nuzzled against its mother seeking out her nipple. “Oh look! It’s already trying to walk and feed. This has been fabulous. Thank you.”
“We didn’t do anything.” Joel’s father chuckled. “The horse did all the work.”
“But you allowed me to witness this. I’ve got some great notes for my next book. I can’t thank you enough.”
“Our pleasure.” Joel moved closer to her and slipped his arm around her shoulders. “I’m glad you got to watch the birth. She’s the only one we have close to delivery.”
She smiled, snuggling into his side to absorb his warmth. The wind seemed to have kicked up a bit, cooling down the heat of the day.
“How about we head to the fire so you can get your fill of that, too?”
“I’d love to.”
“I’ll check on her later, Dad, if you want me to.”
“Thanks, Joel. I’ll stay with her for a bit to make sure the foal is nursing. If you want to check her before you head to bed, I would appreciate it.”
“Sure.”
“Have fun by the fire. The weather seems to be cooling down with the wind kicking up.”
“Yeah, you never know about Texas weather in April and May. It can be unpredictable.”
Joel spun her around and headed toward the barn doors with his arm still around her shoulders. The weather had indeed cooled down, and goose bumps rose on her arms—though she wasn’t sure if they were from the wind chill or the sexy cowboy next to her.
The flames rose into the night sky, stretching like fingers toward the inky blackness. Several people surrounded the warmth, absorbing the heat into their fingers by holding their hands or feet out toward the fire. Joel found them a carved out seat made from an old log. The bottom had been smoothed out of the cut log to make a great chair.
“Would you like a couple of marshmallows to roast?”
“Sure.”
“I’ll be right back.” A large picnic table sat nearby with chocolate, marshmallows, and graham crackers for S’mores. “Do you want the whole fixin’s?”
“No. Just the marshmallow is fine. If I try to make S’mores, they’ll make me sick with all the sweetness. I love chocolate but too much doesn’t like me, since I had the chocolate dessert earlier.”
The rich sound of his laughter sent chills down her spine.
“A woman who can’t handle chocolate. That’s a first for me.”
Heat rose up her neck in embarrassment. It was hard not being able to tolerate chocolate too much. She usually had to have a white cake with whipped cream frosting as a child because her stomach couldn’t handle too much.
Joel returned to her side with a straight wire holder containing two prongs. With a marshmallow stuck on both ends, it would serve as their roasting stick. “Do like them barely roasted or black?”
“Sort of dark, but not too burnt.”
He shook his head and handed her the stick. “Why don’t you roast them and I’ll eat whatever you fix? I don’t care how they are roasted. I just like the sticky sweetness in my mouth.”
Laughing, she shook her head. So much for being the difficult cowboy. He seemed almost too sweet to be true. She needed him to be a little more arrogant and self-centered to be the hero of her novel. Oh well. She could always tweak his personality a bit to make him difficult for the heroine to deal with. Ah, the job of a romance writer.
Within moments, the marshmallows caught fire and she lifted them toward her mouth to blow out the flames. Just right. Squishy but not burnt. “One for you and one for me,” she said, holding out the stick so Joel could slide one of the fluffy things off the end of the metal contraption.
“Perfect.” He stuck one between his full lips, grinning like a kid on Christmas.
Her body tingled in all the important places as he licked the sticky substance off his fingers. She wanted to lick him all right. Everywhere.
“Aren’t you going to eat yours?” he asked, winking.
I’d like to eat something. “I’m letting it cool a bit.”
The grin grew wider like he knew exactly what she had on her mind. I wanted him a little more arrogant. I got it.
“Have you always been such a ladies’ man?”
“I’ve had my share of women.”
“I bet you have.”
“Jealous?”
She shrugged, trying to be nonchalant about the whole thing. “Nah. Just not surprised, is all. I bet all of your brothers are the same way. The women of Bandera and San Antonio better watch out when you all are on the prowl.”
“When I find the one, I won’t be prowling anymore.”
The marshmallow melted on her tongue as she slid it between her lips. Joel’s lips parted as one eyebrow arched over his left eye. Damn, he looked sexy as hell with the little smirk of a smile on his mouth. She wanted to kiss him again. Wanted to do other things with him. Not a good idea.
“Good?”
“Yes,” she whispered, wondering whether she meant him or the marshmallow. The sticky sweetness on her fingers had her licking it off as she watched his eyes dilate in the firelight. He sure seemed like he might be a little into her. The whole thing seemed weird, though. Surely a guy like him wasn’t attracted to a girl like her. She knew her hips were too wide and her butt seemed a bit too big for her liking. Getting guys like him to notice her didn’t come with instructions. Popular wasn’t an affliction she had growing up. She was the quiet, shy girl. Something she had to get over rather quickly as a writer, since she was in front of dozens of people at times, but she never quite managed to be outgoing with men.
Jason sauntered over. “Hey you two.”
“Jason.”
“Would you like more marshmallows, Mesa? You seemed to be enjoying them.”
“Sure. Thanks.”
Jason took her stick from her hand and headed back to the table.
“Don’t get too close to him.” The serious tone of Joel’s voice had her on edge.
“Close?”
“I mean be careful.”
“Why? He seems like a nice guy. You wouldn’t warn me away from one of your own brothers, would you?”
“He’s my brother, yes, and I love him but he likes to play with women.”
“I don’t understand,” she said, sitting forward on her seat to hear him better.
Joel grasped her hand in his. “If you want the bad boy for your novel, he’s your man. He’s more into one-night stands than any of my other brothers. Women are like playthings for him. He doesn’t get serious about women at all.”
“You know, he does sound like the bad boy of the group.”
“Well, we all are to some extent, but he seems like the worst. I don’t know if he’ll ever settle down.”
“Why don’t you tell me about each one in turn? Give me details of their lives, their personalities. You know. Those kinds of things. I can morph all of your personality traits into one kick-ass hero.”
Jason returned with her marshmallow stick. “Here you go.”
“Thanks.”
&nb
sp; “Don’t listen to Joel about me. He’s a bit biased because he’s not as attractive as I am.”
She laughed at his words. They were identical in most ways, especially looks. “You two are terrible to tease me like that.”
The two men laughed. Jason sauntered back to his spot, flashing her a wicked grin and a wink from his seat several feet away.
“Okay. You want to know more about each of us. I’ll start with Jeff. He’s the eldest at thirty-four. I already told you he’d been married once before.”
“Yes.” She pulled her pen and paper out to jot down some notes.
“Jeff is Mom and Dad’s pride and joy. The prodigal older son. He helps Dad run things around here. He’s kind of bossy, but he’s a good guy. We all hated when his marriage broke up because he really loved her. On the other hand, we were glad because she wasn’t the right woman for him. I hated to see him so heartbroken. He’s very adamant about running this place as a working cattle ranch. He didn’t like when we went to accepting guests here to supplement the income. Sometimes I think he was born in the wrong time. He’s cowboy to the bone. I hate to see the woman he really falls hard for because she better be country through and through to win his heart. He won’t settle for some high rise, corporate type.”
Mesa quickly wrote down Joel’s description of his older brother along with a few notes on the woman who would turn out to be someone he could live the rest of his life with. As a romance author, she grinned. The hero didn’t always fall in love with the woman he thought he would. She giggled a little.
“Jackson is the second eldest. He does what he has to do around here, but sometimes I think he hates playing the cowboy. He rides a motorcycle more than he does a horse. He has several tattoos, gets a bit rowdy when he drinks, but overall he’s a great guy and good friend. He’s saved my ass more than once in a bar fight.”
“Do you fight often?”
“No. I try to be the peacekeeper more than anything. Jackson likes the ladies, too.”
“Don’t you all?”
Joel grinned. “Yeah, I guess so. The women seem really attracted to his bad boy persona, though. I think it’s the tats.”
“Could be.”
“He’s really a big teddy bear, though. I think he got more of Dad’s personality whereas some of the rest of us are more like Mom. Jacob is third. He’s thirty this year and is feeling every bit of it, I think. He’s been drinking a lot lately. I’m not sure if he’s debating his life—. Not that he would ever hurt himself or anything, but I wonder sometimes if he knows where his life is going. He’s kind of quiet. More so than the rest of us. He just does his work around here and spends a lot of time in his room. Doing what, I’m not sure. He didn’t do sports in school like most of us did. He’s more the creative, artsy type.”
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