Page 206 of Ride a Cowboy

“Well,” Matt said, reaching forward to help her rise from her seat. He pulled her toward him—too close for comfort. He whispered in her ear in a voice only she could hear. “Shall we settle up the terms of our wager?”

Mark slapped Todd on the shoulder in a friendly gesture. “Great game. Enjoyed trouncing you again.”

“Again?” Bridget asked, taking a step away from the incredible heat of Matt’s body. She was used to being the tallest woman in most rooms and often used her height to her advantage in situations where she wanted to intimidate. Matt and Mark eclipsed her five foot eleven frame by almost half a foot. She suddenly found herself in the overshadowed position.

“How many times have we played charades with you guys?” Matt asked as Todd shrugged.

“I don’t know,” Steven replied. “Maybe ten, twelve times.”

“And how many times have we won?”

Todd groaned. “Every time.”

“Every time?” Bridget asked. Matt shamelessly winked at her and she knew she’d been bamboozled.

“Who wants coffee?” Stephen asked, clearly unaware of the undercurrents flowing between her and the twins she had every intention of kneeing in the balls the second the opportunity presented itself.

“I’ll have some.” Jacob stood up. “In fact, I’ll make it if you copy down the recipe for that stew you made tonight. Jessie loved it, and I was thinking I could make it for her birthday.”

Stephen looked around the room. “Where is Jessie?”

Todd wiggled his eyebrows. “She asked for the key to the guest house. She and Caleb snuck out about forty minutes ago.”

Jacob shook his head. “Jeez. I swear, sometimes I think I’m gonna have to turn the hose on those two before they burn the house down with all those heated looks.”

Mark laughed. “I keep waiting for some of that passion to burn out, but it hasn’t yet.”

“It’s getting worse. Who knows? Maybe tonight will be the night he finally pops the question.” Matt placed a friendly arm around Bridget’s shoulder when she took a step toward the stairs and her room. She’d promised Rodney she’d behave, but that vow was getting pretty damn hard to keep.

She thought she could escape while the men were preoccupied with talk of Jessie and Caleb. She’d met the couple tonight at dinner. Their undeniable love for each other nearly took her breath away. She wasn’t sure she’d ever seen such a bond between two people. She had no doubt her parents loved each other, but by the time she was old enough to recognize that emotion, theirs had cooled to the lukewarm companionship evident in most long marriages.

“Goin’ somewhere, darlin’?” Mark drawled.

She was well and truly stuck. “Doesn’t look like it.”

“That’s right,” Matt agreed. “You made a bet, so it looks like you’ll just have to stick around a couple more days to make good on it.”

“I wasn’t aware that I was working with a handicap taking on Todd and Steven as my partners. You cheated.”

Mark chuckled. “Didn’t peg you as the type to renege on a bet.”

“I’m not going back on my word. I’m simply saying you knew the cards were stacked against me and you still pressed for the wager.”

Rodney turned to look at her. “Wager?”

Mark saved her from answering. “Deal was if we won, she’d let us teach her how to ride a horse.”

Matt pulled her closer. “We’ll start first thing in the morning. Takes a while to get the hang of it though, so y’all might have to put off leaving for a couple days.”

She expected Rodney to lose his temper over her foolishness. What she did not expect was for him to shrug as if he didn’t have a care in the world. “That’s fine. No rush.” He glanced at Jacob. “Want some help making that coffee?”

She grinned at her friend’s transparent new attitude, especially when he checked out Jacob’s ass as they followed Steven and Todd to the kitchen.

She turned around to gloat about the hookup, but Mark held up his hand. “Don’t even say it. You were right. A man would have to be blind to miss the sparks flying between those two.”

“And you guys are okay with that?” She was surprised to discover two hardcore alpha cowboys living in the heart of the West who weren’t squicked out about their brother’s homosexuality.

Matt shook his head. “We’ve known about our brother’s sexual preference for a very long time. Had plenty of time to get used to the idea. It’s not a life I’d choose for myself—I like boobies too much—but if he’s happy, I’m happy.”

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