Page 28 of The Roper & the Author

“Could we do something a little crazy?”

“Sure.” He folded his arms across his chest and arched an eyebrow.

Kiss the rest of the day away, she longed to say but she restrained herself. “Let’s run to that picturesque lake and jump in. We’ll work up a sweat running and the cold therapy will be perfect.”

His face transformed as his slow grin took him from ultra-handsome to better looking than any hero from Greek mythology. “I like it.”

“Muy bueno,” she said softly, thinking specifically of him rather than the crazy plan.

They walked out of the barn and picked up the pace to a quick jog as he led her to a trail. As they ran, she asked him every question she could think of about roping.

“Is this all research for a book?” he asked when she ran out of questions.

“Well, of course. I’m always working even when I’m not working.”

“I can see that.”

They popped out of the trees and into the clearing with the lake. A beautiful ribbon of river flowed into the lake from above and ran out of it from below.

“Will jumping in a cold mountain lake be research too?” he asked as they walked to the edge.

“For sure. Especially with my handsome cowboy as my guide.”

He gave her a look that felt almost … challenging. Then he slid his shirt off and dropped it on the ground.

She stared at him. Her mouth gaped open, and she was certain her eyes bugged out of her head.

His chest, shoulders, arms, and abs were exquisitely formed and enhanced by his weight-lifting routine and all the hard work of being a cowboy. This guy belonged on the cover of romance novels. With the lake, trees, and mountain rising to the east, the setting was almost as ideal as the man, and it fit him. He was as solid and steady as a mountain. She wanted to get up close and personal with him just as she did the soaring peaks nearby.

His lips turned up in an undeniable smirk. “Is staring at me part of your research?”

“Si, senor,” she said, gasping for air as her oxygen supply was very, very low. If she was brave, she’d ask to touch the smooth skin of his shoulder, find out if it was as solid as the nearby rock outcroppings, but she wasn’t brave at the moment.

He bent down and slipped off his shoes and socks. She forced herself to look away from his muscles moving smoothly under his firm skin and slide off her own shoes and socks.

“Rope swing or jump?” he asked, pointing to the ten-foot ledge.

“Jump first,” she said. She grabbed his hand and tugged him toward the edge.

He grinned as they leapt.

“Olé,” she screamed.

They hit the cold water and plunged down, their hands ripping apart. Icy pinpricks stabbed at her skin. The freezing liquid surrounded her, pressing in, freezing muscles, compressing her lungs, turning her skin to painful tautness. How could water be this cold and heavy? It pressed in on her like cold dirt surrounding a coffin.

Shocked and terrified, she touched the bottom and pushed off, rotating her arms and legs to help her ascend. Bursting out of the water, she sucked in fresh air and screamed, “Frio helado!”

Walker was close by, treading water. He chuckled.

“Get me out of here,” she cried out, swimming as fast as she could for the shore. She touched the murky bottom and scrambled up onto the rocky shoreline and then climbed the slope to where they’d jumped. Chilly water dripped down her skin. The sun was bright in the sky, but not warm enough on this September day.

She lay down on the grass and dirt on her back and closed her eyes, willing the sun to warm her.

Footsteps approached and a shadow crossed her. She blinked her eyes open, staring up at the manly perfection of Walker Coleville.

“You’re blocking my sun,” she told him. Patting the ground next to her, she said. “Lay down. It helps.”

He laughed at her but obeyed, lying down next to her. Really close next to her. Their hands and arms brushed. She shivered and then wrapped her hand around his and rotated her head to the side to stare at him. Her gaze traced over his incredible upper body and then she noticed something that helped warm her up—he was staring at her too.

---