by Elle Thorpe
I should thank the Shepherds for interrupting and bringing me back down to earth.
At mid-morning, I abandoned my chores and headed for the training ring. I found Summer hanging around the bucking chutes, watching her dad with a group of people I didn’t recognize. “Who’re they?” I nudged her with my elbow.
She jumped, spinning in my direction. Her eyes were wide. “Shit, Hallie. Don’t sneak up on a girl like that.”
“Was hardly sneaking. You were just lost in thought. Who are they?” I asked again.
I’d never seen Frost quite so animated. His smile was ear to ear as he embraced a man about the same age he was, maybe late forties or early fifties. A tiny woman with long dark hair hugged him next, and Addie watched on, big grin on her face. A younger guy stood slightly behind the others, wide-brimmed hat on his head.
“They are the Wests. Old friends of my dad’s from when he used to ride. See the older guy? That’s Johnny. They toured together when he was with the WBRA. That’s his wife, Isabel, and their kid, Dominic.”
I raised my sunglasses to the top of my head. “Their kid? That ain’t no kid.”
Dominic had to be six foot four. His broad shoulders stretched the seams of his button-down shirt that was entirely too warm for this time of year. When he looked in our direction, I took in the stubble across his jawline, and his dark eyes. He raised a hand in greeting, and Summer waved.
“Yeah, I guess not. He’s the same age as we are, from memory. I haven’t seen them for years. They live in Wyoming.”
“What are they doing here?”
“No idea. But I think we’re about to find out.”
Frost strode across the training ring in our direction, Dominic and Johnny following after him. “You both remember my daughter, Summer, right? And this is our lead hand, Hallie.”
We both jumped down to greet the newcomers. I put my hand out to shake Johnny’s, then Dominic’s, and we exchanged pleasantries.
But Dominic’s attention kept swaying to Summer. “Did you get shorter?”
“Pretty sure you just became a giant,” she quipped. “You here to ride?”
“Yes, ma’am. You know it.”
Summer beamed at me. “Let’s get the man a bull then, huh?”
“Wait. Now?” Dominic asked.
Summer lifted one shoulder. “Sure, why not. No time like the present. I want to know if you’re still as bad as you were last time you were here.” She turned to me. “Last time he came out he thought he was better than me. Had to put him in his place.”
Frost chuckled at that. “Ah, my daughter. Not competitive at all, are you?”
Dominic grinned at her, too. “That was not exactly my recollection of the last time I rode here, but sure. Let’s do it. Get a bull in that chute, and I’ll show you how much I’ve ‘improved.’” He made air quotes as he said it, but there was a wide, friendly tilt to his lips that showed it was all in good fun. He smiled at Summer again, and I darted a look in her direction. Her grin was wide as she held his stare.
Whoa. I linked my arm through Summer’s and tugged her toward the bulls waiting patiently in holding pens. “What the hell was that?” I whispered to her.
She looked confused. “What?”
“That flirting? That eye contact? The sparks flying in the air between the two of you?”
She elbowed me sharply. “Shh! Stop it. That wasn’t flirting. It was just friendly rivalry. He’s practically my brother.”
I frowned. “Oh, come off it. You haven’t seen the guy in years. He is not practically your brother, nor should you want him to be, because he’s flipping gorgeous and obviously totally into you.”
“Stop! He’s not. He knows I have a boyfriend. He met Austin last time he stayed here.”
I glanced back over my shoulder at where Dominic was undoing the buttons on his shirt. He kept shooting little glances in Summer’s direction.
“Mmm hmm. If you say so.”
Summer ignored me, but when she turned around to call out to Dominic, her mouth fell open.
Couldn’t blame her. Shirtless Dominic was a thing of beauty. His olive skin gleamed in the sunlight, black and gray tattoos covering his arms and chest. In only a cowboy hat and a pair of Wranglers, he could have stepped right out of a magazine or a Hollywood movie.
“Still got that accountant boyfriend who can’t ride and doesn’t support your dreams, Summer?” I asked sweetly.
She shot me a dirty look and closed her mouth, busying herself with the bulls. “I know what you’re doing.”
I raised an eyebrow. “What’s that?”
“You’re deflecting. You haven’t even mentioned your date last night.”
My smile fell. “I wasn’t deliberately not mentioning it, there’s just not much to tell.”
Summer shooed a bull into the chute and locked it in place behind him. “So you just went over there for dinner and ate a meal with the man you’ve been pining over for as long as I’ve known you?”
I bent to scoop up a rope and threw it across the bull’s back. Then glanced around to see if anyone else was in earshot. Frost, Johnny, and their wives had taken up spots outside the ring to watch. Dominic was laughing at something his dad had said while he hung his shirt over the fence.
“Fine. There was more than just eating.”
Summer let out a whoop. “Yes! Was it as amazing as you’ve been dreaming of?”
The corner of my mouth lifted. “We didn’t have sex…but what we did do made me pretty certain it would be better than my daydreams.”
“Wow, big praise. So what’s the problem?”
My smile fell. “The problem is that Nate doesn’t live here anymore. Sure, his mail might go to his old house, but he’s never there. So what exactly am I doing with him?”
“Having mind-blowing sex?” Summer said it so simply, as if it were completely obvious.
“Yeah, maybe. But then when he leaves, what am I left with?”
“Sexual satisfaction?”
“And a broken heart.”
Summer sighed, eyeing Dominic advancing toward us. “You’ve had a broken heart all these years anyway. Trust me. Have some fun now while he’s here, and while you can. Before you’re old and married like I am.”
“You’re twenty-two and you are not married, Summer Hunt. Nobody is forcing you to stay with Austin.”
“I love him.”
“Do you?”
Dominic cleared his throat, his hands shoved deep in his pockets, making his jeans even lower on his hips.
Good Lord, Summer had rocks in her head.
“Am I interrupting?” His gaze trailed over Summer’s face, too slowly and with too much concern to be entirely platonic.
Just as I’d suspected.
“No,” Summer said too quickly. “We’re about ready. Climb up.”
Then we were all about getting Dominic on his ride, and there was no further chance to dissect my love life. Or Summer’s.
13
Hallie
I spent the entire afternoon hauling ropes, opening gates, and climbing fences if the bulls got too close. There had been twenty or so cowboys, plus Summer and Dominic who all rode multiple times, before Frost finally called it a day on practice. By then, my arms and shoulders ached, and I was covered head to toe in dirt.
I headed back to my place, desperately looking forward a long soak in a hot bath and an early night.
But when I pulled into my driveway there was a big, sinfully handsome cowboy sitting on my front steps, blocking my entrance.
“What are you doing here?” I smoothed back my hair self-consciously, hoping it wasn’t sticking up in weird angles from my hat.
Nate stood and approached with slow, cautious steps like I was a pissed-off bull. “I wanted to check in on you and make sure you really were okay after last night. But I realized I don’t even have your phone number anymore.”
“I changed it after you left.”
He nodded. “I still had your mo
m’s landline, though. She told me you bought this place.” His smile relaxed. “It’s amazing.”
I trudged past him and up the stairs to the front door. “It’s a dump. But it will be something when I’m done with it. It’s just slow going. I don’t have the money to pay someone to renovate it, so I have to do it myself, around my hours at the ranch.”
I left the door open behind me, and he followed me inside, gazing around at the entranceway. I couldn’t help but smile. His expression was identical to the one I’d worn the day I first saw it, too. This house was ancient, but there was a magic in the high ceilings and ornate staircases. I could so clearly see in my mind how it must have been in its heyday, with gleaming polished floors, overstuffed couches, and hidden nooks where you could tuck yourself away with a book or gaze out the window at the gardens.
It currently had none of those things, but one day…
Nate could see it, too. I could tell.
“You want a tour?” I asked.
He shook his head. “You’re exhausted. I actually came to ask if I could take you out. But now maybe I’m asking if I can run you a bath and cook you dinner?”
My heart squeezed. He still knew how to read me. He always knew what I was thinking, or needing, without me even saying it.
Well, except for that one time when I’d fallen in love with him.
He hadn’t seen that coming.
There was still the fact he was leaving in a few days, but was I really going to push him away? All it took was one look at his face, and I knew I couldn’t. If I only got a few days with him, then I would take it, even knowing he’d break my heart again when he left.
The alternative was breaking my own heart right now. And I just couldn’t do it. Not yet, when he was right here, in my home, trying to take care of me, and so sinfully hot doing it. Summer was right on that account. I’d lived with a broken heart all these years; it couldn’t be any worse. I might as well make some memories that might get me through the next round of Nate-induced angst. “I’ve got a claw-foot bathtub. It’s big enough for two, if you want to join me?”
He stepped in closer, his fingers brushing over my arms, shooting tingles across my skin. “Is that what you really want? I thought after last night…”
I waved a hand around like last night didn’t matter. “I get it, Nate. You have a life, and you’re leaving to go back to it. This is just for fun.” I grabbed the waistband of his jeans and tugged him closer. “Do you really want to talk about leaving when I’m right here, asking you to get naked with me?”
A slow grin spread across his face. “Well, if you put it that way.” He gripped my hips, and in one quick movement, I was slung over his shoulder in a fireman’s hold as he stormed up the stairs.
I laughed, dangling down his back. “Left at the top!”
He followed directions, finding the master bathroom with ease and fitting the plug to the drain before turning on the faucet. Water fell from the spout, splashing against the white porcelain, and he added a squirt of the perfumed bubble bath solution I kept on the bathroom shelf.
“This room was the first one I renovated,” I told him, watching the water level rise and liquid froth into bubbles.
“Not surprised. You always did love to take baths. Every time I went to your place to pick you up for anything, I’d have to wait an extra thirty minutes because you’d still be soaking.”
I smiled at the memory. “Do you still hate them?”
He shrugged. “I don’t think I’ve had one since I left. Our hotel rooms are nice enough, but they aren’t fancy. There’s normally only a shower.”
I pouted at that. “Life on the road doesn’t sound all that glamorous.”
“It’s not. Living out of a suitcase. Eating out every night. Missing people.” His gaze collided with mine. “I miss you. All the time.”
I closed my eyes, the intensity of his stare too much. “Don’t. Please.”
He fingered the hem of my T-shirt then lifted it.
I raised my arms so he could remove it before opening my eyes. “Don’t say things like that. Not when you have to leave again. It’s too hard.”
He gave a small sad smile, then nodded. “You’re right. I’m sorry.”
I put a finger to his lips. “Don’t be. It is what it is.” I traced it over his chin, then lower to run down his chest and abs until I bunched my fingers into the fabric of his shirt and pushed it up. He helped, pulling it off the rest of the way.
“We still have a few days,” I murmured. “Let’s just make the most of it.” I popped the button on his jeans and undid the zipper of his fly.
He watched me, his gaze growing heated with every second that passed.
“I want to see you,” I admitted, tugging his jeans lower.
His breath hitched, but he leaned in, grasping my chin and tilting my face up. He kissed me softly. “I want that, too.” His fingers trailed over my bare shoulders to the clasp of my bra. “Can I take this off you?”
I nodded. He was so sweet and respectful. He always had been. It was one of the things I loved about him.
Not that I could tell him.
I busied myself with his jeans again so he wouldn’t see the truth in my eyes. My bra fell away, and he cupped my breasts, pinching my nipples in just the way I liked. A spike of pleasure soared through me, and I picked up the pace in getting him naked. We’d been interrupted last night, before I could touch him, and I planned to rectify that now.
I tucked my fingers into the elastic of his boxer briefs and pushed them down his hips. His cock was already half hard, and I ran my hand over it experimentally, watching it stiffen beneath my touch.
He groaned, his dick standing at full mast instantly. I bit my lip. He was big. Bigger than any of the guys I’d been with. I looked up at him and couldn’t help but laugh.
He raised an eyebrow. “Wow, Hal. Can’t say that’s the usual reaction I get when I get naked with a woman. Thanks for putting me in my place.”
I laughed. “No, no, your dick is great. Perfect. Super big.”
He snorted at that. “But?”
“It’s just kinda weird that I’m seeing you naked.”
He reached over to turn off the faucet. “You’re half naked, too, you know.”
“Yeah, but you already saw my boobs last night. I’ve definitely never seen your…snake.”
He cracked up laughing. “My snake?”
“Dick, cock, whatever.”
“At least tell me it’s an anaconda?”
“Don’t flatter yourself.”
He caught me around the waist and picked me right off the floor. “You’re paying for that!” He scooped my legs up from beneath me and put me down in the bath, still wearing my jeans.
“Nate!” I squealed.
He seemed smugly satisfied with himself.
“Joke’s on you, buddy. Do you know how difficult it is to get off wet denim?”
His face fell. “I might have made a grave error.”
“Just get in here.”
I undid the button on my jeans and lay back, letting the warm water slide over my torso. I closed my eyes for the briefest of moments, just enjoying it, even though my jeans were plastered to my body. But then Nate was out of his boots and sliding into the other end of the bath. He dropped down into the water and immediately tugged at my jeans, too. It was a mammoth effort to get them off, but then we were both naked and staring at each other across a bubble-filled tub.
“Never done this with you before,” he said with a grin.
“Nope.”
He grabbed my bodywash from the shelf and squeezed a dollop onto his wet palm. “Come here.”
I glided through the water to sit between his widespread legs and turned around so my back was to him. He dripped the bodywash across my shoulders then kneaded in in, massaging my aching muscles.
I sank a little in the water, going completely boneless at the sensation. “That feels amazing. Don’t stop. Ever. I don’t care how cold
this bath gets, or how wrinkled and waterlogged our skin gets, we’re never getting out.”
He chuckled, but he didn’t disagree. His fingers slid across my shoulders, and then lower, kneading along my biceps, until I slumped back against his chest, half delirious from how good it felt.
I’d never really had a boyfriend. There’d been a few guys I’d seen more than once or twice, but they had always fizzled out quickly. None of them had ever taken their time with me like this, just touching me because it felt good, without any expectation of anything in return.
None of them had ever cared about me, and that was what felt different here.
Nate cared.
Like he could read my mind, his fingers slipped from the muscles of my arms, across to my breasts, lathering them up with soap. He squeezed them in his big hands, and warmth shot through my body. His fingers clamped around my nipples, rolling them and working them, until I moaned and writhed. He shifted forward and reached lower, skating over my mound to find my clit.
“Oh.” My fingers dug into the strong muscles of his thighs clamped around me. His dick was hard at my back, and I tried to reach around to grasp him, but there wasn’t enough room.
Nate’s mouth lowered to my ear. “Stop wriggling. Let me make you come.”
I stubbornly shook my head. He’d already done that once last night. I stood, water sluicing off my body in rivulets, and spun to face him. “It’s my t—”
He grabbed my ass and planted his mouth over my pussy, which was right at his eye height, with him sitting and me standing. He moved so quickly, and took me by such surprise, that my legs wobbled and I had to clutch at his head to steady myself. “Nate!”
His tongue speared between my legs, licking over my folds and through my core. The next time I said his name it was more of a breathy moan than a shout.
He lapped at me, taking away the water from the bath and urging me to widen my stance as far as I could. His stubble rasped over the sensitive skin of my inner thighs, only adding to the maddening sensation building within me.
“Put one foot up on the edge,” he encouraged me.
I did as I was told, opening myself up fully to him. I ran my fingers through his dark blond hair, half-stroking him, half-holding him to me, because now that he’d started, I couldn’t bear for him to stop. He edged his way beneath me, tonguing from my clit, all the way back to my ass. My hips rolled wantonly, as if they had a mind of their own, and he devoured my arousal with every swipe of his tongue.
