Stone Cold Cowboy

by Jennifer Ryan

“You’re the one who left them here,” Rory pointed out.

  “I pay my debts.”

  Rory rolled his eyes. “I’m not doing this with you anymore. If you want to ride, you’re welcome to do so any time you like.”

  “You mean it?”

  “Why wouldn’t I?”

  “That’s really nice. Thank you.”

  “Why do you think I’m not nice?”

  “I don’t. It’s just . . . I don’t know . . . You don’t seem like you want me here.”

  “I don’t want you paying off debts that aren’t yours. Doesn’t mean I don’t like you here. I do.”

  “Yeah, your brothers can’t stop talking about my cooking.”

  “Best food we’ve had in years around here.”

  Her eyebrows shot up. “You never say anything about my cooking.”

  “Who can get a word in with my brothers tripping over themselves to beg you to cook even more?”

  “They’ve got some hearty appetites.”

  “Yeah, well, so do I.”

  She cocked her head to the side and stared down at him. Yeah, she got his meaning.

  He let his gaze drop to her thigh in front of him and her hand resting over the place she’d been cut. He wanted to ask if she got her stitches out, but the red marks on her forearm caught his attention. He took her hand and held it in front of him, tracing the marks lightly with his fingertips. “What happened?”

  She tried to pull free, but he held on. “It’s nothing.”

  “This isn’t nothing, sweetheart. Who did this?”

  She put her free hand over his. “Rory, please, let it go.”

  It hit him all at once. “Your brother did this to you.” He looked her up and down. “Are you hurt anywhere else?”

  She squeezed his hand. “I’m fine. He was at my house when I got home.”

  “That’s why you were late.”

  “Yeah, sorry about that.”

  “Fuck sorry. He hurt you. Where the hell were the cops? They’re supposed to drive by your place several times a day.”

  “They can’t watch me and my house every second of the day.”

  Rory brushed his fingers over her arm again, offering comfort, but noticing it made her tense, then settle again.

  She didn’t let go of his hand. “I made him leave.”

  “He didn’t go willingly.” Rory indicated the marks on her.

  “Not without stealing the money out of my purse.”

  “What the hell?”

  “I know. I begged him to turn himself in. He refused of course. When I told him to leave or I’d call the cops myself, he got a little physical. He won’t be back.”

  “How do you know that?”

  “He’s not stupid when it comes to saving his own ass.” She slipped her hand from his and set it on his shoulder. “Thanks for looking out for me.”

  “Seems to be my favorite thing.”

  “Why?” she asked, a shyness in her voice he’d never heard.

  It took him a second to get the words out. “I like looking at you.”

  “It might help me to believe that if you smiled.”

  “You smile at me and I’ll smile back.”

  Skeptical, one of her eyebrows went up. “Because you want to, or because I’m asking you to.”

  “Every time I think about or see you, I’m smiling on the inside.” He set his hand on her thigh in front of him and squeezed softly. This time, he didn’t look away, but stared into her pretty eyes. “Which means I’m smiling on the inside all the time, because I can’t stop thinking about you.” The gruffness in his voice probably told her that admission didn’t come easy.

  “Um, I don’t know what to say. You barely speak to me, and when you do, you say that.”

  “Tell me it’s just me and I won’t say anything like it again.”

  Her hand contracted on his shoulder. He leaned in closer. She bit the inside of her bottom lip. The way it twisted her mouth made him want to kiss her even more.

  “It’s not just you.” The shyness in her words didn’t dim the reality of what she’d just admitted.

  Those words hit him square in the chest. She liked him. She felt something for him. Taking a chance for once in his life, his next words tumbled out of his mouth quicker than he expected. “Would you like to go to a movie tonight?” He held his breath, hoping she said yes.

  “A date?”

  “Yeah, you know, one of those things where we go out, get to know each other better without being watched by my brothers and grandfather.”

  She looked past him. He had no doubt Ford and Colt had stopped unloading the feed to stare at them. His grandfather was probably staring out the top-floor window.

  He didn’t care. He was tired of looking at her from afar. Right now, he was a foot away. Still too far for his liking, but he’d take it over watching her in a store, from across the street, or from the booth at the back of the diner.

  “I would love to see a movie with you, but . . .”

  “Can we stop with the buts?”

  She laughed and he smiled up at her. One of her eyebrows shot up. “There it is.”

  “What?”

  “Your smile.”

  She did something completely unexpected and touched her fingertips to his cheek. “You’re really handsome when you smile.”

  “And when I’m not smiling?”

  “You’re a whole lot of intimidating.”

  “I’ve perfected it over the years, I guess, trying to keep my brothers in line.”

  “I know how you feel. You’ve done a much better job than I ever did.”

  “That’s because I’m bigger than you, little bit.”

  She laughed again and the knot in his stomach loosened up again.

  “I noticed.” Her gaze slid over him.

  Heat spread through him like wildfire across a dry field, igniting something inside him he hadn’t felt in a long time, if ever. God, how he wanted her.

  “What is the but?” he asked, trying to keep things on track and get her to accept a date with him.

  “I need to stop by my place after I finish up here and check on my father. I don’t like to leave him these days. His confusion is getting worse.”

  “I’m sorry, sweetheart. If you want, go on home and watch over him. I’ll pick you up later.”

  She shook her head. Stubborn woman.

  “You’re not going to give up paying me back, are you?”

  “No. I owe you, plus . . . It gives me a reason to see you.” She shrugged like that should be obvious to him. It hadn’t occurred to him that she’d set this up to get to know him better. “I kind of got used to having you around at the hospital.”

  “I had a hard time leaving you at your place.”

  “Then stop trying to send me away all the time.”

  He smiled up at her. “Stay, but you don’t have to work here.”

  “Here I thought you liked my cooking. I was going to make you some of those fried potatoes you liked so much the other day.”

  “Oh God, I will be your slave for more of those.”

  She laughed again and slid her hand from his shoulder up his neck to his hair. Her fingers toyed with the strands, sending a shiver of electricity down his spine. He stilled beside her; his hand on her thigh contracted.

  She stopped her fiddling and pulled her hand back. “Sorry. I, uh . . .”

  “It’s fine, Sadie. Don’t stop. More. All you want.” He smiled to keep things light. He teased, but not really. If she saw that he could be fun and lighthearted, all the better. She made him want to be that way.

  She let out a nervous laugh. “Um, where do you want these horses?”

  “Running away?”

  “Stopping the show.” She tilted her head up toward the house. “I’d rather we keep this between us.”

  “Just so you know, Sadie, whatever happens between us is up to us. It has nothing to do with my family, or yours.”

  She nodded, but he didn’t th
ink she really believed him. This thing with her brother weighed heavily on her. She didn’t like that her brother wronged Rory’s family. She wanted to make things right. He got it. If it had been one of his brothers, he’d have done the same thing. He had to respect her for that.

  “Take the horses past that first gate to the second one that’s open.” He pointed down the fence line for her to see where he meant her to go.

  “Got it. Watch this, cowboy.” Sadie gave her horse a soft kick and turned her back to the herd patiently waiting behind them.

  Rory moved out of the way and went to open the gate for her to take the horses out. She circled around the corral once and picked up about five of the horses. They followed her around one more time, gathering another eight horses. The dust kicked up as Sadie and her followers passed him again. This time, she rode out of the corral with all the horses following, the stallion at the back, watching over his ladies. He had to hand it to her, she’d trained her horses well. She thought her palomino was the alpha in that group, but he saw deeper to the love the horses had for their mistress. They followed Sadie.

  God, she was a sight, riding bareback along the dirt road and straight into the pasture he’d pointed her toward. Once all the horses ran through the gate, Ford closed and latched it. Sadie didn’t quit; she ran the horses in a wide circle around the grass, letting them get their run on.

  Rory stood beside Ford. Colt joined them a minute later. They stood side by side as Sadie passed them, a huge smile on her face, her blond hair flying on the wind just like the palomino’s mane and tail.

  “Damn, that’s a pretty sight.” Colt nudged Rory’s arm.

  “She’s beautiful.”

  “Did you finally ask her out?” Ford eyed him, one eyebrow cocked. “Because if you wait any longer, I’m going to.”

  “Not before me,” Colt added.

  Rory stood in the middle of them, planted one hand on each of their shoulders, and shoved them away. They stumbled sideways, righted themselves, and came back to slam into his shoulders, squishing him between them. “Keep this up and someone’s going to get punched.”

  His brothers laughed. All in good fun. This is how life had been since their parents died. He appreciated the normalcy of it all when his world felt like it was about to change, because of the woman on the back of a horse flying across the field.

  “We’re going out to a movie tonight. Please don’t give her a hard time about this. It’s new and could fall apart any second. We barely know each other. This thing with her brother is still between us.”

  Ford clamped a hand on Rory’s shoulder. “Stop talking yourself out of this.”

  “Yeah, turn the grump down and the happy up and you’ll be fine.” Colt stared across the field as Sadie rode toward them. “Let her pick the movie and the snacks. Hold her hand during the movie. Kiss her good night.”

  Rory rolled his eyes. “I am not taking dating advice from my little brother.”

  “You should. The last date you went on was before the last Ice Age, which accounts for your sour moods.” Colt took a step away, anticipating the swat Rory threw at him. Rory didn’t miss, making Colt flinch. “Seriously, she’s pretty, she can cook, she’s nice, she can cook, and for God knows what reason she likes you. Don’t fuck this up.”

  “You said the cooking thing twice,” Rory pointed out.

  “Yes, it’s worth mentioning again. We haven’t eaten this good since Mom was here.” Ford sighed.

  They all felt the impact of their parents’ absence the same way and in their own way. After all these years living on the ranch, just them boys, it was nice to have a woman in the house, a reminder of their mother in some small way.

  Sadie had already left her mark. The house smelled different, felt different, was different when she was in it.

  “Don’t you cowboys have anything better to do than stare at me,” Sadie called from atop her horse.

  “No,” they said in unison.

  Sadie laughed and so did all of them.

  Rory climbed over the fence and dropped down on the other side. Sadie’s gaze locked on him as he closed the distance between them. Her gaze dropped from his face, over his shoulders and chest. He had an overwhelming urge to flex, but didn’t. Not with his brothers standing there taking in the show, watching every little nuance between him and Sadie.

  Him and Sadie. He liked that. The idea. The reality. The possibilities of what they could share.

  “Your horses are where you want them.” She swung her leg over the horse’s neck to slide down, but Rory caught her under the arms and lifted her off the horse and gently set her on the ground in front of him. “I can manage on my own.”

  “What fun would that be for me?”

  She shyly ducked her head and stepped back, so she could look up at him without craning her neck. “I’m heading up to the house to make dinner.” She turned to leave, but glanced over her shoulder. “See you later?”

  “Nothing will keep me from you and dinner.”

  That made her smile at him again. She walked toward the house. Fifteen feet away, she turned back. “Are you staring at my ass?”

  Yep, that sexy, sweet smile just might kill him.

  “What else would I be doing?”

  “Go feed the horses or mend a fence or something, anything else.”

  “If you’re walking, sweetheart, I’m watching.” He couldn’t help the smile. He liked the feeling. He liked the way he was with her—somehow the weight he carried on his shoulders lessened when she was near.

  She spun back around and continued on to the house, checking over her shoulder a couple times to see if he watched her. The smiles she sent his way, the little extra swing she put in her hips, cast a spell over him. He wanted her, no doubt, but he found he liked her more and more. Everything about her drew him in and made him wish for things he’d only ever thought of in the abstract but now wanted to make a reality.

  CHAPTER 10

  Headlights swept across the front windows. Sadie’s stomach did a strange rise and fall like she’d raced down a huge dip on a roller coaster. Butterflies swarmed her belly. She tried to hold back a nervous smile, but failed. She couldn’t help it. She’d been on other first dates—too many of which never turned into a second date—but this one with Rory felt different in a good way. In a way that she didn’t quite get. Maybe because she didn’t quite get Rory, but it still felt right. He felt right.

  “There’s your guy. You look real pretty, honey.” Her father stared up at her from his favorite chair in the living room, a celebrity news program on the TV. “You look so much like your mother.”

  Sadie smiled, remembering her mother leaning over the counter toward the mirror, putting on lipstick to go out on a date with her father. She’d pressed her lips together and made a funny popping noise, then smiled down at Sadie. She’d kissed Sadie goodbye that night and Sadie made that same popping noise as her mother waved goodbye and left her and Connor with the sitter to go out with their dad. “I miss her so much.”

  “Me too. Go, sweetheart. Have fun tonight. Be young and happy. You deserve it.”

  “I love you, Dad. I’ll be back in a couple of hours.” She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.

  The smile he gave her was real. His eyes were clear. No sign of the confusion he suffered more and more lately.

  She walked out her front door light of heart. It stuttered when Rory walked around the front of his truck and toward her wearing a navy blue thermal Henley, dark blue jeans, and black cowboy boots. The deep blue shirt made his golden hair brighter and his hazel eyes greener. He smiled at her, and her heart fluttered and lifted in her chest. She pressed a hand to her belly, but it didn’t calm those swarming butterflies.

  Rory’s gaze scanned over her hair and face. She’d taken extra time to curl her long straight hair into chunky waves and added a touch of soft pink eye shadow to her usual eyeliner and mascara. She’d even dabbed on some tinted lip balm. His eyes stopped on her mouth,
before his gaze swept over her rosy pink top down to the floral skirt that hugged her hips and flared out in a ruffle, ending several inches above her knees. She completed the outfit with her favorite pair of brown cowboy boots and executed a little shimmy, circling for him to see the whole outfit, hoping the cute clothes distracted him from the healing cuts across her thigh and knee, the nicks and scabs on her arms.

  “You like?” The slight tremble in her words revealed her nerves and how self-conscious she felt about her scars and his approval.

  “You’re beautiful. Nice moves.” His voice came out gruff.

  “Maybe next time you’ll take me dancing.”

  He shook his head. “Only if you want me to step on your feet.”

  She smiled and walked down the first step, but hesitated when all of a sudden his sheer size and narrowed gaze turned those nervous butterflies into a tremble of fear. Ridiculous. She set aside the nightmares that kept her up at night, and walked down the other three treads, standing close to him, but still up on the last stair so she could look him nearly in the eye. God, the man was tall. And built.

  She covered her hesitation to approach him by saying, “I love to dance.”

  “I’ve got two left feet,” he admitted with a self-deprecating grin.

  “Are you really a bad dancer, or have you never been taught how to do it?”

  “Both. About all I’m good for his holding you and swaying back and forth.”

  “Well, that’s something.”

  He put his hands on her hips. She jumped, but settled quickly when his warmth seeped through her clothes and into her skin. He held her gently, sensing she needed a second, but he didn’t ask about her odd reaction. To reassure him and steady herself, she swept her hands over the sides of his wide shoulders and set them on top.

  “Maybe that’s all I want,” she admitted, liking having him close enough to smell his light, woodsy scent mixed with something uniquely him.

  “We don’t have to go dancing for you to get me to hold you.” He reached up and traced a curl spiraling along her face. His gaze held hers.

  Hers dipped to his mouth, the bottom lip just a touch fuller than the top. She slid her hand up his shoulder to the back of his neck and pulled him in for the kiss she didn’t just want but needed. She hesitated a breath from his lips and stared into his eyes. The hunger there matched her own. She’d never felt this overwhelming urge to be close to someone, let alone a man, but something about Rory drew her in and made her want to stay.