Page 35 of Hold Me Until Morning

He had to be the most arrogant man I’d ever met.

Too bad every single one of those molecules trembled right then.

Me

Believe me, Cowboy, I have zero interest.

I was far too eager waiting on his reply, staring at my phone for so long that when a text did come through, I frowned at what it said.

Unknown

Yeah. That’s what I thought.

That’s when I felt it. The stir in the air. I followed the enchantment of it, my attention traveling to the far end of the stables. In the distance, I saw him leaning against a stall, one boot kicked back on the gate as he smirked my way.

Thinking he’d caught me red-handed.

My teeth ground and my fingers flew across the screen.

Me

I’d suggest you get back to work, Mr. Cooper. You wouldn’t want to be caught slacking off, flirting with the staff. It wouldn’t look good.

I put as much spite into it as I could, an undercut of warning, even though there wasn’t a chance that I would report him.

I could feel the low roll of a chuckle that was too far away to actually hear permeate the space.

A lure.

A trap.

Unknown

You tell yourself what you need to, Shortcake. I’ll be right here when you’re willing to admit it.

I wanted to screech or maybe stamp my foot in frustration the way Maddie did when she didn’t get her way.

Because the man was infuriating.

I glanced around again to make sure no one was around before I turned back to where Cody loitered in the distance. When I found no one around, I lifted my hand and gave him the finger.

There.

Maybe he’d get the message then.

Only I could see his chest jerk with laughter, amusement shaking his head as he pushed from the gate. He turned his back to me and strode for the doors at the end of the stables.

So tall and overbearing, the ground vibrating below him.

He pushed out, and the bright glare of the sun swallowed him whole as he walked out.

One second later, the door slammed shut behind him, and metal clanked in the distance.

I gritted my teeth to stop myself from making something more of the interaction than I should.

To stop myself from letting my mind wander into what that might be like.

Letting him touch me.

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