Page 47 of Untamed Heart
‘All right,’ he growled, reaching up and slowly taking off his hat, running his fingers through his long dark hair. Gently, reverently, he placed it on my head. I felt the rush of blood to my cheeks. ‘What’s your favourite way to ride?’
Before I could stop myself, I pulled his face closer.
‘Slowly,’ I began, feeling him peeling back one side of my shirt, my bra strap falling. ‘With the door locked and a guarantee of no interruptions for hours.’
‘Hours, huh?’ he murmured, smiling as he reached over to kiss my shoulder, lips tracing lower and lower. ‘I’m not sure it would be enough.’
I closed my eyes, committing the feeling to memory, but they were startled open again as I felt his lips on mine, teasing them open with his tongue. Unable to stifle it, I moaned as he kissed me, his fingers brushing my nipple as he moved into my bra.
Everything began to move quickly with the urgency of his lips, the pure, burning heat between us. He removed his hat from my head, cupping my face in his hands as I moved to his shirt buttons, then made way for his fingers as he undid them more quickly than I could. Just as I reached for his belt buckle, pulling it back to loosen it, the front door of the ranch slammed shut.
‘Lottie?’
Lil’s voice echoed down the hall and Cole leapt off me, moving up and wedging himself behind the door with surprising agility for a man of his size. His shirt hung open and my eyes lingered for a few seconds too long.
‘Yeah, hold up, just getting changed,’ I lied, taking off my shirt and ignoring the pointed look from Cole at my entirely exposed bra. Grabbing a fresh shirt from the closet, I swung it on and started doing up the buttons, walking over to the doorway to prevent Lil from walking in.
‘You’re not gonna believe this,’ she said, finally appearing, holding up her phone to show me. ‘An email – someone asking about availability for the cabins this winter! They said they saw us on social media.’
Focusing on my buttons, I hoped her own excitement would distract her from my own, feeling it stamped across my cheeks like a blazing trail.
‘Told you!’ I smiled, tucking my shirt in and turning back to my bed to look for my hat, then realizing with horror that Cole’s was still lying there instead, right by the scrunched-up mess of my bedcover, all but revealing the imprint of our bodies from moments before. ‘I’ll be out in a moment, just need the bathroom, okay?’
‘Oh – sure, sure,’ she muttered, reading through the email and heading back towards her office. ‘I’ll call them back now, check for any other messages.’
With a sigh, I closed the door behind her, watching as Cole finished buttoning his own shirt.
‘That was . . . umm . . . close,’ I said, smiling, scuffing my boot against the floor.
He surveyed me for a moment as he tucked in his shirt, his eyes on my mouth as I bit my lip. There definitely wasn’t enough room in his jeans.
‘We’ve got this the wrong way round,’ he started, keeping his voice quiet. ‘Lottie, would you go out with me, on a date?’
‘A date?’ I repeated, eyes widening. ‘Afterthat, you just want a date?’
He stifled a laugh, moving forward to stand in front of me, very consciously keeping his hands to himself.
‘No,’ he said, voice soft. ‘I want you on that bed, wearing nothing but my hat and doing everything I’ve imagined and then some.’ He paused, grinning at my embarrassment. ‘But you’re right. I’d love to know more about you, and you about me. So come out with me, somewhere without any interruptions. A well-behaved, good ol’-fashioned date.’
I raised an eyebrow, desperate to say yes but knowing I’d have to speak to Lil first, get whatever was or wasn’t between them straight.
‘Even if I’m not staying?’ I whispered, watching as his face fell.
‘Even then. I’ll take whatever time I’ve got.’
I felt it then, a jolt, deep down. As though a fissure had appeared, threatening to tear me open. Stepping to him, I reached up on tiptoes and kissed him again. This time it was gentle, a question and answer twining together. His response was sweet, slow and full of the promise we’d almost made on my bed.
‘Okay, a date,’ I said as I drew back eventually. ‘Just one condition.’ He raised his eyebrows. ‘No whiskey. Slippery slope.’
CHAPTER13
Jesse enjoyed roping for the camera so much that it even encouraged Cole into the ring. The sight of the two of them at work was more than I could bear, even with their shirts on. To the sound of their knowing laughter, I’d taken myself back up to the ranch to grab some more shots of the house and the view from the back porch, and film some room tours of the cabins. Then, after a break and a cold shower, I started the editing process, mixing the cowboy and ranch content, satisfied that the blend of the two would set the rapidly growing number of followers on fire.
The last two days had been a flurry of cautious excitement as a steady stream of enquiries came in, along with another booking for the winter season and me setting up an online booking system for the ranch’s website. Two more posts – another of Jesse, roping in slow motion, then one of the view across the long meadow, now coming alive with wildflowers – had only accelerated the response, bringing the kind of numbers that would’ve set jaws dropping in my old job.
It was all a distraction from my date with Cole, which was set for this evening, on what would’ve been my last day at the Diamond Back. I’d yet to talk to Lil about it, needing to find the words to explain how rapidly my feelings were growing for her ranch manager. Even though Cole had promised the date would be well behaved, I wasn’t sure I could put it off until afterwards, given the way things always seemed to escalate between us.
Ignoring the judgy pokes from my own conscience, I’d moved my flights home, giving myself another two weeks to get things going for Lil. My savings would cover my rent and bills for a few months yet, but I didn’t want to run them down quite that far if I could help it. The online interview for job one had been somewhat underwhelming – a disconcerting lack of nerves on my part had made it easier to answer their questions, but the disconnection I felt from that world was far greater than I’d expected. The other interview was scheduled for tomorrow, but right now, other than the date, there was only one thing on my mind.
