Page 64 of Texas Kissing

He pushed back his hat and scratched his head. “I said only bring the essentials.”

“Thesearethe essentials.” I looked at his pick up. “There’s plenty of room.”

He burst out laughing—that big, booming laugh that was as large as he was. “This is a camping trip. We’re not taking a car.” And he led Caliope and Apollo out of the stable.

I looked at the horses and then at my stuff. “How muchcanI take?” I asked.

“I already got food and bedding rolls. You can takeone little bag. Some clothes. That’s all you need.”

One small bag?!I looked at my laptop bag.If I don’t change my clothes for the whole trip, or take any toiletries....

No. I had to face up to it: I was going to have to go a day without a computer. Glowering, I packed everything except a few changes of clothes and my wash bag back into the car.

This time, I managed to get up onto Caliope after only a few attempts and I wasn’t half as nervous. Maybe I was starting to get used to being around big, powerful animals.

I glanced across at Bull and my smile came back.

51

Bull

There aresome mighty fine sights in Texas. Sunsets. Cattle drives. A pitcher of ice cold beer.

But the sight of Lily’s perfect, round ass bouncing up and down in her saddle...that beat every last one of them. It was even better than when we’d been horse riding. Back then, I’d had to imagine what it’d feel like to have her bouncing on top of me. Now I knew and the memory of it made my cock rise every time I saw that tight denim hit the leather.

And now, we’d gotten rid of all the tension because she’d finally spilled her big secret. I should have figured it out on my own. Whatwouldmake a forger so twitchy and nervous? Of course the FBI had been on her tail. I could fill in the blanks myself. They must have nearly caught her in New York and that’s why she’d had to skip town. It explained everything.

I even knew why she hadn’t told me. She’d figured—correctly—that I’d beat the hell out of anyone who tried to take her away from me. If I ever saw that Calahan guy again....

“Your boss is definitely okay with this?” Lily asked over her shoulder. “I don’t want you getting in trouble.”

I shook my head. “He was eager to get me outta there. Truth is, I barely ever use my vacation time. I enjoy what I do, you know? Why would I want to sit around at home when I can be on the ranch?”

I was taking us in a different direction, this time, into some low hills where there was some greenery and a lake. Only a short ride—two, two and a half hours.

After only an hour, though, Lily was getting antsy. She was looking around at the desert scrub, clearly seeing something I wasn’t. “What?” I asked.

“There’s just...nothing,” she said. “No buildings. No roads. Not even a telegraph pole. I bet I don’t even have a cell phone signal.” She dug her phone out of her pocket. “I don’t.”

“That’s the general idea.”

“What if we run into a snake?”

“I’ll stamp on it,” I told her.

“What if the horses run off and we run out of water and die of thirst?”

“I’ll find us a creek.”

“What if—”

“You really don’t like the country, do you?” I asked, amused.

“I do like it. I mean, it’s beautiful. I like looking at it.” She gazed around, shrinking down in her saddle. “I’m just not sure about beinginit.”

I rode closer and leaned sideways in my saddle so that our shoulders touched. We rode on like that for a few minutes and I gradually felt her relax.

We began to climb into the hills. We weren’tfollowing any trail, but the route was clear in my mind. I’d ridden out here to clear my head plenty of times when some local girl had flipped out and raged at me, just because I’d slept with her best friend. It was weird, but I couldn’t imagine doing that to Lily.

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