Page 19 of Road to a Cowboy

“Here.” In what seemed to Cal like fervent desperation, Austin thrust the bag of Twizzlers at him. “Have some.”

Unsure what else to do, Cal did.

* * *

Austin was a hot mess.

Or rather, Cal had been a hot mess this morning, all sweaty and grease-stained and looking competent as hell with his head bent under the hood of Chester’s car, which, in turn, had made Austin hot under the collar. His fantasies had jumped from one to the other like a series of snapshots.

Austin stepping into Cal’s space.

Cal’s face registering surprise.

Austin fisting one hand in Cal’s T-shirt and backing him up against the garage door.

Cal’s expression shifting to desire.

Austin pressing himself up against Cal’s strong body, muscles pressed against muscles.

Austin kissing the daylights out of him.

Cal’s arms coming around him and pulling him closer.

Jesus.

Austin suppressed a shiver and almost had to fan himself.

And Cal had thought he was ill.

Honestly, it was almost funny.

He’d seemed to clue in eventually, though neither of them had said anything about it. Austin because it hadn’t been the time or place to tell Cal how he felt, and Cal because getting him to open up was about as likely as a bull getting pregnant.

Austin had his work cut out for him.

Speaking of bulls, the pastures outside the window of Derek March’s office were littered with cows. Cows and cowboys. Which, right now, kind of sounded like the title of Austin’s autobiography.

“What do you think, Austin? Is that doable?”

Austin turned away from the window with a grimace and faced Derek March, co-owner and chief marketing officer of Windsor Ranch. Derek was both tall and stocky, and his T-shirt strained over his chest.

“Sorry,” Austin said. “My mind wandered.”

“I was saying that I’d like to develop a brochure specifically for the outdoor outfitters in town,” Alice Windsor-March said from her seat at the table in Derek’s spacious office in the Windsor home. Like her brother, she too was involved in Windsor Ranch business. But whereas Las was all about ranching, Alice worked with their dad on the guest services and marketing side. “Something that showcases the outdoor activities we offer,” she continued, her nearly black eyes alight with excitement. She was tall, almost six feet, and had the same creamy skin tone and dark hair color as Las, although where Las’s hair was short, Alice’s was long and sleek. “Do you have time next week to photograph guests in action while they’re doing those activities?”

“Sure.” Austin resumed his seat at the table. “All of them or only the most popular ones?”

“Horseback riding, hiking, archery, mountain biking, and canoeing for sure.” Alice ticked them off on each finger. “Let’s start there and see how the brochure shakes up. I’ll send you the activities schedule for next week, and you can plan to be here whenever it suits you.”

“That sounds fine.” Austin sat back and kicked his legs out. “You’ll have to send me a list of guests who haven’t consented to being photographed and which activities they’re participating in so I can avoid those.”

“I’ll do that right now,” Alice said, tugging her laptop closer.

“And since when do you offer archery?”

“It’s new this year,” Derek said. “I always thought it looked easy, but...” He pulled up the sleeve of his shirt, displaying a deep purple bruise that ran the entire length of the inside of his forearm.

Austin winced. “Ouch. How’d that happen?”

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