Page 203 of Ride a Cowboy

Matt scooted his chair closer and grasped her hand. “I doubt she’s looking for some boring stick in the mud. Be my Valentine, Bridget, and I’ll show you a good time.”

Her face flushed as she envisioned how good that time could really be. She needed to get a grip. “You two are incorrigible. I’m not really in the market for a Valentine, so how about if I just promise to keep you in mind if that changes?”

“You got a boyfriend?” Mark asked.

She shook her head. “No, that’s not it.”

Matt squeezed her hand. “Then I’ve still got a chance.”

She laughed. “Maybe you didn’t hear my brother, Rodney. We’re leaving soon.”

Mark shrugged as if unconcerned. “Maybe we can convince you to stay longer.”

It would take very little for either man to convince her to stay. They looked at her with an unnerving hunger in their gazes. Her body was responding to it—hook, line and sinker.

She considered herself passably pretty, though certainly not what anyone would call a raving beauty. She didn’t wear makeup and usually wore her long hair pulled back. In New York, she dressed in more conservative, professional attire at work. However, since arriving in Wyoming, she hadn’t been out of blue jeans.

She’d had her fair share of dates and even lovers, but none of them had ever looked at her like Matt and Mark were looking her at that moment. Worst of all was the fact she was attracted to both of them. What the hell was she supposed to do with that unnatural feeling? If they stuck around and she indulged in a little play, she’d have to choose. For the life of her, she couldn’t decide which James brother appealed to her more.

Rodney saved her from having to respond. “You’re welcome to try to convince her, but it won’t work. We really do need to leave.”

Todd began clearing away the dirty dishes. “I hope nothing bad has come up to disrupt your vacation.”

Rodney shook his head. “No. Just some things we need to take care of at home.”

All of them rose from the table. The James twins picked up their hats and put them back on. She had never realized how sexy the cowboy look truly was until she’d met these two men who wore it so damn well.

“Well, I guess Matt and I should head back to the ranch. We’ll be back later for dinner. Save me a seat next to you, Bridget.”

Matt wrapped his arms around her shoulders and leaned down to whisper in her ear. “Save the other side for me.”

She wasn’t sure if she’d truly heard the sexy innuendo in his tone or if it was wishful thinking on her part.

Her power of speech temporarily left her, so she merely nodded.

“See you later, Bridget,” Matt added, placing a friendly kiss on her cheek.

Mark shook Rodney’s hand and the two of them left as Todd returned to the kitchen.

Rodney glanced around the room to make sure they were alone. “Damn. Looks like you’ve made quite an impression on those guys. Might be better if we left now. They’re both eyeballing you like you’re the prime rib at a banquet.”

She grinned at his analogy, but didn’t bother to deny the truth of it. She didn’t even want to deny it. It felt too good. Two of the hottest men she’d ever laid eyes on were attracted to her. She was going to hold on to this high for as long as it lasted. Given her current position, it didn’t appear she’d manage to maintain it for longer than a day.

“Did you find somewhere for us to stay?” she asked.

Rodney shook his head. “I found a couple possibilities—cabins in pretty secluded areas, but the issue is going to be money. I asked Steven if I could borrow his truck to do a little exploring. I’m just about to head out to take a look at them.”

“Why bother if money is going to be an issue?” Bridget wanted to stay at the B&B. A city girl at heart, she took comfort in having more people around. Hiding out in quiet cabins unnerved her. She’d had no idea how loud nature was, how much squirrels scampering in leaves could sound like a villain with a gun sneaking up behind her.

“You’re not going to like this, but I’m checking to see if we could hole up in one without going through the realtor. I got the impression from the rental website that neither of these places gets used much in the winter. Weather tends to be an issue.”

She looked at Rodney with amazement. He was the most honest, law-abiding person she’d ever met. “You’re going to break in?”

“Bridget. We’re low on money and running out of options. The trial starts in three weeks. We just have to hang in there that long. I’ll call my partner a couple days before we need to return, explain why we took off and ask him to secure us transportation back to the city.”

“We came here to try to find the information Lyle had on the judge. We can’t exactly do that if we’re stuck on some mountainside, squatting in someone else’s house.”

“Yeah, about that.” Rodney took Lyle’s letter from his pocket. “I was playing around with this earlier and I want to show you something.”

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