Page 174 of Ride a Cowboy

“Josh has never driven a truck.”

Daniel grasped her hand, pulling her from the booth. “Well, you’re in luck. Because I am in possession of the ranch truck tonight. Spotted a little lane off the main highway on our way here. What do you say we refuse to grow up one more night?”

“How do we do that?”

“You and me are going to go parking.”

An hour later, Sienna lay on her back with her head resting in Daniel’s lap. The steamy heat of sex fogged up the windows of the truck, but she wasn’t interested in seeing what was outside. She stared at Daniel’s face, his eyes closed, his head pressed against the back of the seat.

Once again, he’d wiped away all of her inhibitions, anxieties, everything. When she was in his arms, the world disappeared.

Until tonight that release carried over, kept her going, made her strong.

Until tonight…

Now as she lay gazing at his peaceful face she could only think of one thing.

She’d forgotten the rules of spontaneity and kicked the concept of going with the flow to the curb.

She’d done something she’d never done before.

Jumped from the safety of the reliable frying pan straight into the raging, uncontrollable fire. There was no way she wasn’t going to get burned now.

Chapter 10

Daniel watched Mark Parker tug Sienna into his arms as they danced way too close for his comfort. His temper had been on a slow burn all night, but jealousy was seriously kicking in now, adding fuel to the flames. He stood near the edge of the dance floor, forcing air into his lungs. It wouldn’t do for him to march over to the couple, drag Mark away from Sienna and punch the guy’s lights out.

For one thing, he and Sienna weren’t a couple. Though they’d come to the dance together, he’d heard her tell more than a few people they were just there as friends. When Daniel called her on it, she said it was to protect his job. Fuck his job. He’d stuck by the decision to remain silent about their affair more for her than for him. Seth wouldn’t fire him for his affair with Sienna. While his boss might not be thrilled, Daniel knew Seth well enough to realize he was fair, a straight shooter. Her father would probably issue a warning, threaten to take a slice out of Daniel’s hide if he hurt Sienna. It wouldn’t matter because Daniel had no intention of hurting Sienna. Not now. Not ever.

No. There was something else driving her desire to keep him a secret. And he aimed to find out what it was. That was…if he could get within ten feet of her.

Unfortunately, more than a few of the young bucks at the dance had taken notice of a very sexy, very free Sienna, and the sharks had started to circle. No doubt Mark had caught wind of Sienna’s “Daniel and I are just friends” bullshit and felt safe to issue his invitation to dance.

What the fuck was she doing? Daniel had made it clear at Spurs this was going to be a date. His jaw tightened. He knew what he’d done. He’d scared her off. For a second, at the table, he thought he’d spotted a flash of panic when he dropped his guard and asked her to be his date tonight. Rather than address the concern, he’d tried to brush it aside, dragging her out to the truck and reverting to form. He’d been a dumbass, thinking he could fuck away her fears.

Now Sienna was running scared. If he could keep his shit together, he’d pull her aside and they’d find a way to work this out…without bloodshed. Mark’s hands drifted lower on Sienna’s ass.

Fuck it. No, they couldn’t.

Daniel had only taken two steps onto the dance floor when Sterling blocked his path. “Easy there, cowboy.”

He shook his head. “Get out of my way, Sterling.”

“No. I think you need to take a deep breath. Maybe go outside for some fresh air. Think about what you’re about to do.”

He tried to play off his anger, but Sterling was too savvy to be fooled. “There’s nothing wrong with what I’m about to do.”

“Oh yeah? Tell me what you’re planning.”

He gestured to Sienna and her dance partner. “I’m going to go over there and break Mark Parker’s neck.”

Sterling grinned. “Yeah. That’s what I thought. I’m not going to let you.”

“Why not?”

“Because you’re too close to succeeding with See to fuck it all up now.”

It was the only thing Sterling could have said that would have stopped him. “I’m close?”

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