Page 35 of Untamed Heart
I smiled, not able to help myself at that description.
I was relieved when he returned it. ‘He sounds great,’ I said gently.
‘He would’ve liked you, I know it. Would’ve had a lot to say about something like this outfit right here.’
At this shift in the conversation, I looked down, startled as he took one last step towards me, his fingers lifting my chin. Looking up into his beautiful face, close enough to see the dark stubble across his jaw, I saw a very different emotion in his eyes now.
‘Cole, I—’
He let the rope go and it fell at my feet.
‘Tell me you don’t want to pick up where we left off at the bar,’ he breathed, cutting me off, his free hand now trailing across my chest, just above the neckline. ‘This damn dress is here to fucking torture me, ain’t it?’
I was stunned into silence yet again, the very last slither of my self-control dissolving as he moved his fingers up to trace my lips, parting under the pressure, and I willed him to close the gap between us.
‘Cole?’ Bailey’s voice rang out across the yard. ‘Can you give me a hand with this ramp? Damn thing’s stuck.’
We sprang apart, Cole immediately walking away towards the stalls, leaving me to recalibrate my breathing. Needing to do something with my trembling hands, I reached down for the rope on the ground, gathering it up into some kind of loop. Jesse led his horse past the corral, heading for the trailer attached to a huge red Dodge Ram truck.
‘Lottie, bring that with you – you’re riding with me, honey.’
CHAPTER10
The rodeo was everything I remembered from all that time ago.
Tendrils of gold and apricot slid across the snow-tipped mountain peaks beyond the banked seating, and as day bled into night, the atmosphere under the floodlights changed. The whole town seemed to have arrived, locals and tourists blending into a noisy mass of conversation, music, and announcements over the tannoy.
‘First one of the season,’ Lil announced as we made our way in. ‘Let’s get some drinks before it gets going. Bailey’s up first, I think, so we need to get some good seats at the front.’
We cut through the growing crowd, Lil leading me through towards the covered stand and the less busy food stalls around the back. I’d lost sight of Jesse after he’d dropped me at the front entrance, Bailey and Cole also swallowed up in the masses, prepping Dunkin somewhere. I tried to convince myself that I wasn’t looking for Cole, watching out for his tall, broad shoulders amongst the crowd.
‘So I know it’s fun,’ I started, distracting myself from the memory of his fingers on my chest. ‘But is there any other reason that everyone competes? I know there’s prize money, but surely that’s not enough incentive to risk getting your head cracked open by a bull?’
Lil smiled as we reached the stall, ordering her drink and letting me do mine.
‘From a business point of view, it gets our name out there,’ she said, gesturing to the ranch name embroidered on the back of her jacket. ‘But it’s more than that. Bailey, Jesse – all cowboys work damn hard. They can let off steam, get recognized for their skills and make some extra money. Above all, though, it’s just tradition – it’s what we do here.’
She tilted her drink towards the seats she was aiming for.
‘There are so many tourists,’ I said, seeing enthralled expressions, selfie after selfie being taken against theJackson Hole Rodeosign. ‘Is the ranch on social media?’
‘Come on now,’ Lil laughed, shaking her head as we slid between the seats and found two near the front. ‘You’ve seen a week at the ranch already – when do you reckon we would’ve had time for that?’
I shrugged. ‘It’s not that hard once you’ve got the basics set up. There’s almost too much to film and capture.’
My mind immediately led back to Cole, to think of the storm it would cause to film him in the hot springs pool and post it on socials. The way his eyes had held mine through the steam, the water sluicing from his bare torso, running down his abs towards his—
‘You okay? You seem a little distracted since the drive,’ Lil said, forcing me to take a breath, then a deep drink from my beer.
I shrugged, filling her in on the job interview requests and Kyle’s tirade of gaslighting.
‘That man sounds like a real snake,’ Lil said, shaking her head as the stands filled around us, the anticipation for the events now a physical thrumming energy.
‘Bailey told me to just get drunk and find myself a cowboy,’ I said, throwing her a speculative look.
Eyes narrowing for a moment, she cocked her head.
‘You asking for permission or something, honey?’
