Page 63 of A Cowboy in the Streets

Adam’s gaze snagged mine. The heat there made my insides tremble. Did that lyric make him think of what he said to me in the hotel room before we fell asleep? I kissed you because I was cold, and you are the fucking sun. Because suddenly that was all I could think about.

“You can dance to it,” Adam said. “Come here, James. We’ll show him.”

I could feel my skin flush as I let him pull me gently into his arms. My ribs hurt too much to lift my hands to his shoulders, so instead I wrapped them around his waist. His arms circled me like a hug. As we swayed to the music, our bodies flush against each other, his hand swept up my back and under my hair, where he gently squeezed my neck. The first power chords burst through.

Baby, I get chills when I’m with you.

But it wasn’t just the music coming from the record player I heard. It was Adam’s rough whisper in my ear as he sang the lyrics to me. My skin erupted in gooseflesh. Everything around us faded as the intimacy of the moment wrapped us up like a warm blanket. A sweet, achy feeling bloomed in my chest.

Oh, hell.

I was in trouble.

I knew it as the last strains faded and Adam slowly released me. Sex with Adam had been mind-bogglingly good. But this? The way he had so gently washed my hair? And now, dancing in the kitchen? This was something else.

This was something that could break my heart.

Chapter 26

Adam

“What do you think?” I asked after Blaine eased Belle from a lope to a trot and then slowed to a walk. Next to me, James practically vibrated with excitement.

Blaine shook his head side to side, the movements slow and shocked. “I can’t believe I’m sitting here on Belle the Bitch. Thought she’d dust me for sure.”

“Hey!” James protested. “Don’t call her that. She’s a horse. She doesn’t know you’re joking.”

I snorted, and she flashed me a cheeky grin. I soaked up all that warmth like she was the last of my wood stores in a brutal winter and the groundhog had just predicted a late spring. My girl had blown hot and cold since the night we danced in my kitchen. Sometimes I could swear she was avoiding me. But other times I managed to get her off Lodestar Ranch property long enough to remind her how things were when I wasn’t her boss.

In the week since her accident, James and Blaine had worked together to keep Belle’s training moving forward. James had re-introduced Belle to the bit and bridle the same way she had with everything else—one slow step at a time. She had started her on the bridle without a rider. Just walking around, learning it didn’t have to hurt. Yesterday Blaine had gotten on for one ride around the ring at a sedate walk.

Today marked her first real ride.

A fucking miracle.

“You did great, Blaine,” James said. “Nice, quiet hands, just like we talked about.”

He slid from the saddle and patted her on the neck before he handed the reins to Jesse for her cooldown and grooming. “You were right. She has a sensitive mouth.”

For some reason, that made him frown. Maybe he was remembering all the mistakes we had made that had led us here. All of us thinking what Belle needed was an attitude adjustment and a firm hand when really the opposite was true. Each new trainer more determined than the last to be the one to bring her in line. I rubbed my jaw. I didn’t like being the cause of a horse’s pain, and because Blaine wasn’t an asshole, I was willing to bet he felt the same way.

I turned to James, but her eyes were on the stable.

“I’m going to help Jesse,” she said, pushing away from the rail.

Avoiding me again.

“She says her ribs barely hurt anymore,” Blaine said. He tugged his hat off, swiped the sweat from his forehead with his shirt sleeve.

I nodded. “Another week or two and she’ll be good to ride again.” That was good news, so I was surprised when Blaine frowned again. “Something on your mind?”

“Been thinking about the bridle. She told you she suspected Belle’s issues were in her mouth?”

“She did. We talked it over before we went to Colorado Springs for the rodeo.”

“Right. She told me, too.” He turned the brim of his hat in his hands. “Makes me wonder why Steven came out here that day, swinging the bridle around like a fucking fool. Knowing James was on Belle and Belle was afraid of the bridle.”

I stilled. “He said he didn’t know.”

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